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Editorial Comment General News Miscellaneous Stuff Web Changes 19 December 2009 Isn't it good how sometimes serendipitous events occur. Okay, okay, sometimes I go overboard, but it is only because of my passion for the things I believe in. I am not easily impressed, but when I am, I give that impression my favour. And recently, that impression has been caused by serendipitous events, ... by way of enquiries from persons totally new to the sport making enquiries about various aspects of this hobby/sport, be it an interest in plans, or kits, or new classes, causing a rekindling a desire, or an interest in this beautiful hobby/sport. I have been so rapt by these new enquiries. The serendipitous effect comes in here by totally unexpected enquiries from new persons. But it has not all been good. One enthusiast had been so fired up with a passion for his new found hobby, it reminded me of my own interest, my passion, of many years ago. A passion that led to me create my website(s) that I hoped would benefit all. And whilst the passion was there, the reality proved to be something that ultimately, despite many approaches to many folks, cruelled my passion somewhat. The reality that cruelled my passion was that most of the clubs that were affiliated with the ARYA were clubs whose member's were competition orientated. And that was bad, as I know from personal experience that most member's were not tolerant of people who did not know the rules of sailing, etc. And perhaps that was OK for competitive sailors that knew the rules. But it was most definitely NOT ok for the new guys to sail with these experienced sailors, as there was at minimum, a definite possibility of the newbie damaging expensive boats, some of which approached the AUD $10,000 mark. Now, tell me, what is the incentive for a rookie sailor to sail with these types of club members? The answer is, that the rookie never comes back. And herein lay the problem with getting new blood into this sport. But one of the new enthusiast's to this sport made a suggestion in an email to me on how this situation could be rectified. And the suggestion rocked me. I have made quite a few suggestions in my time, but never one with the profound potential of the one made in an email to me by Mark Rogers. I have not asked Mark if I can quote him, but if I know him now, I'm sure he will not mind me quoting him. The suggestion? ... I quote Mark directly, below: "All clubs
should be made to adopt a handicap race day/old boat day or a bring anything day
once a month. This will encourage new members & make the experienced ones think
outside the square." I thank everyone who has written to me recently with positive comments. Perhaps I may have been a little premature in predicting the death of radio yachting in this country, if indeed I had made that comment. And had I made that comment. I am so rapt to be shown I was wrong!
The
Editor Happy Sailing! Editorial comment for periods prior to the above month can be found at the Editorial Comment Archive page. General News - Major Web Changes, Regatta's, Championships, Club News, all welcome.
17 December 2009: At this stage, only I will be able to create new entries, but anybody may make comments. The latter will depend entirely on the quality of comments made, and/or, the level of spam that the blog may attract. Below is a snapshot
of the of the blog home page. Lake Tabourie news - 10 October 2009 We did the South Coast Lake Tabourie Regatta. (Or what a country club can do). G’day Don, we did the regatta down south from Sydney on the 10th October weekend and what a time we had. Just shows you what a little club in a country area can do if they set their mind on it. Of course it went good because all the participants in the club work for the common good of the club. They all sail a Victor’s Soling OM and this is the only class they sail. This little seafront town Lake Tabourie, just south Ulladulla and about 4 hours from Sydney, if you take your time. I hadn’t been there since 1949. The Last time I was there I stayed at the Camping Ground with my Parents. I remember a 1948 new Studibaker car turning up one day back then and the back of the car almost looked like the front of the car. The Soling OM class has done really well in this country town situation, for the water they sail in, really suits this boat. This boat is very suitable for novices. They say that it wasn’t too far back when the club started (about 2 1/2 years). That the boat being a one design is pretty basic, which suits them right down to the ground/water, for the club is made up of mostly Non- sailing retired folk and this boat come on the lower end of the Model Yacht cost market. And being a club boat, people can help you with building, tuning and all that stuff, when you get it into the water for the first time or good for the novice sailor. It is recommended you build this boat in a jig. The “local watering hole” is also the Clubhouse. With the club’s trophies sitting around the walls and these become a talking point for all the traveller's that drink there. We spent 3 ½
days there. Our room, if you could call it that, for it was almost a suite and I
thought it was the best room in the house till I found out there were more of
them. They had Sauna and Spa there and a heated swimming pool if needed. While the boat is one design in all its sailing features, many skippers “tease them up” with beaut paint work, stick –on tapes and other things to make them look different in the fleet situation. The boat takes the minimum radio installations, like, Hitech winch and rudder servo. Most skippers have basic radio gear as well and the performance is wonderful. This boat with the flipper keel readily planes down wind, is easy to handle in most situations whether windy or in the light. Although some skill is needed as the wind gets really going. If you sail in either Pond or Open water, this is the boat for you. The boat come in a kit form and it does need some experience to do a really good job on it to finish it properly. It is recommended that a jig be used to build it. So the novice is advised to hook up to a club who sails these boats to perhaps give you a hand the first time around? Might I venture further Don in discussing something that I have been observing of late. The weather!! We all know in some degrees is that the weather is changing, or should I say the weather appears to be changing! Have you noticed that we are getting more windy days and we are getting more, no wind days? More than usual. This in little ways effects our Model Yachting. The “normal” yacht these days has a bulb keel attached to the hull and this helps the boat to stabilize in “middle of the road” weather. The Weather is changing to the other ends of more windy and more light winds and bulb keels don’t go to their optimum in these two conditions. In the very light wind a bulb keel boat will actually stop and start turning in a circle on its axis. On the other-hand the bulb keeler in a really big blow will tip over till the lead bulb actually surfaces. And again both these situations are not good, for it shows the weakness of the bulb keel. I‘m not saying that you rush out and buy something else here. I’m saying to you to be aware of what’s happening in our weather, at this stage and plan for the eventuality of weather change. These little Soling OMs have it built in already, with a flipper keel. This club has a meeting place at the Motel. Any club that has a central spot to gather, is a good thing for the club in general. It is high on the hill overlooking the beach and the lake, which are in the foreground between the ocean and the Highway. They seemed to have made it with the local newspaper for I noticed their regatta reports go in there as well. The club members are mixed from farmers to retirees in the town itself to the local Motel owners. I found it a bit hard working out how this club ran with its officials, for I saw everyone helping out. If there was something to be done then there were too many volunteers, always a good sign that the club is working well. All the boats were weighed before the regatta, both visitors and club boats, to see that they weighed over the minimum limit. We all had a beaut time there. There was only one protest and it was against me. I thought it was a bit rude but I did the penalties. On the Sunday of the regatta we had Handicap racing on a different part of the lake near the entrance where it can go into the sea but it has been blocked with sand for awhile. The handicap racing was interesting but like the rest of the one-design racing, fast and furious. The day ended about 1.00pm for BBQ at the motel. I gave a book for the “concourse de elegance” or the best looking boat. There were some really nice boats there but most of them had not been finished off. Till I found one that had everything finished on it and it was great and he got the prize. Good week- end, we went home Monday morning buggered, after a great week end. Recommend it. Henry.
20 October 2009:
03 November 2008:
EC12 Important Notification
RACE REPORT
-
here
Another update: Latest
Update from the US
-----Original Message----- Gents, please forward to your association and class. Thanks, Rick March 20, 2008
International Invitation to the 2009 Worlds Regatta
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to present this invitation on behalf of the US East Coast 12 Meter Class to host the second Worlds Regatta event in the United States. The event is scheduled for the first week of November 2009 in Charleston, South Carolina. This invitation by email is being sent individually to each of these countries: Australia, Canada, France, Sweden, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Please present this information to your members and groups.
The Notice of Race and other information is posted on the US EC12 Class website in the Regatta menu. The NOR is presented now with consideration for individual planning needed for international travel that would surely include more than toy boat racing. Details of the event will follow in time.
As the head of the Class, I will be your host and available to whatever assistance you need. I look forward to the event and visiting with all of you.
Kind Regards, Rick West Class
Secretary US EC12 Class 19 September 2008: - Friendly competition vs Non-friendly competition. Things appear to have been comparatively quiet of late. And I suppose that's not surprising seeing that in the southern climes of this great land of ours, we have been experiencing a rather cold winter. A rather harsh winter. But this is only my excuse for sailors on the mainland. This cold weather has apparently not affected a group of dedicated and intrepid sailors on the Apple Isle. And that place is even further south! And even colder than the mainland!! The next land mass south of this place is Antarctica!!! This band of hardy souls sail in a canal somewhere near Lauderdale, Tasmania. This group of sailors comprises guys who are not part of a club formally affiliated with the ARYA. They are just a group of guys who get together, very, very, regularly, from the information I have received, to sail a variety of yachts, in a spirit of friendly competition. And from all the comments I have heard, these guys enjoy their sailing. They enjoy having a few laughs with their sailing companions, just as they enjoy ribbing each other in the friendliest of manners, with the end result, that at the end of the day, despite the innate sense of competition we are all born with, these guys go home after a day's sailing on a high. Irrespective of where they finished in the races they participated in. In my years in this sport, this is only the fourth group I have ever come across, that enjoy sailing in friendly competition, and welcome all comers, irrespective of what they want to sail. And in my opinion, it is these groups that will keep this hobby/sport alive in such a way that the general community can and will be happy to be a part of it. If more promotion is not given to groups like these, this sport will die out, despite what the entrenched old-fashioned thinkers that hold committee positions in the ARYA might think. How can I make a comment like this? Because I have knowledge of, both from personal experience, and from comments made by others, many others, about what they have experienced, when they have believed the guff about newcomers being made welcome into this club or that one, only to find that one is instantly made a pariah, an outcast, simply because, being a beginner, one didn't know the rules of racing to the nth degree, and as a result collided with another boat that had right of way. In most cases, this sailor does not return to that club again, and not only that, more often than not, gives radio yachting away completely, simply because of the intimidation by the competitive sailors. And we lose another potential member. But do not get me wrong! There is absolutely and definitely, not only room and space for the competitive clubs, but I consider them to be a necessity, for if they did not exist, then there would be no avenue for the seriously competitive sailor to get his/her challenge met from this sport. And where would the likes of Craig Smith get his experience? So, where do we go from here? How do we promote the Non-competitive clubs? Often not affiliated with the ARYA, but in my opinion, the basic building blocks of this hobby/sport, for they offer competitive, but fun sailing, as well as generating interest for those who may be extremely competitive. If this hobby/sport is to succeed, both groups need to be catered for. But they both need to be promoted to the public at large, not only to those already in the know. Comments appreciated to me directly, at editor@dldirect.net or respond to the appropriate forum on the d'12-metre forums'. Do not be put off by the title. It may say 12-metre, and that is most definitely the base, but the bigger objective is to get people into, and hooked onto, the sport of radio yachting in general, irrespective of which type or class of boat, they eventually decide to sail, and the forums' are there for that purpose.
21 December 2007: Correction to posting on 6 November 2007. The Nautic12 Association championships to be held on 26th January 2008 are a National Championships, not a NSW State Championships as previously reported. 12 December 2007: Just in - Australian 2008 EC12 National Championships Confirmed.
EC12 Skippers,
14 October 2007: The NSW EC12 Championships are coming up this weekend, (20 & 21 October 2007). My best wishes to all the competitors and their supporters, for a most successful and enjoyable regatta. 09 October 2007: Results, pictures and comments of last weekend's Central Queensland EC12 Championships are now available on the ARYA website. Congratulations Malcolm! 07 September 2007: The EC12'ers are at it again! More Championships coming up! The ARYA have just posted "Notice of Race" notices for two more State/Region EC12 Championships. Visit the ARYA site for details.
QLD -
Central Queensland EC12 Championships
NSW EC12 Championships Blakehurst 20th - 21st October 2007 at the Kogarah Bay Sailing Club. Dover Park (East), Princes Highway, Blakehurst. 29 August 2007: I am most appreciative of Graeme Turk for making the following comments available after only just returning home to Queensland from sailing in the National EC12 Championships in Canberra this last weekend. My congratulations to Malcolm Kampe, Graeme Turk and Gary Declauzel for their top three placings in the championship.
To see full
final results listing and to read Graeme's comments
click here. 19 August 2007:
You know, it's just dawned on me. There are more competitor's registered for
these Australian National EC12 Championships than there have been in recent
times, for any other Australian registered class except for the IOM's. I stand
to be corrected in case I have missed any relevant statistics, but this has got
to mean something doesn't it? There has been one dropout from the original 19,
but the official entry list is still 18 competitors. Thank you Graeme for providing the results. I will try to get them up a bit sooner next time, if you would care to make the effort again. I must admit that I am feeling some pangs of disappointment that I can't be there with you guys this coming weekend. Not to compete, but just to have a sail with a group of folks, that seem to me, to be Gentlemen. I really look forward to hearing/reading/seeing news of this coming regatta. 16 August 2007: Well, the Queenslanders should be in fine form coming up to National Championships on 25th & 26th August. They have this weekend just gone, 11 & 12 August, just finished the QLD EC12 Championships with Tom Butler taking the trophy against some formidable opponents. Congratulations to Tom. The National Championships look like they are certainly going to provide some close competition for the record numbers of skippers attending. 08 August 2007: I have been advised that the Australian national EC12 Championship entries as at today's date is 19 confirmed entries, with rumours that there may even be more on the way. So far the list is four Queenslanders, eleven New South Welshmen, and four Territorian's (the ACT kind). This is an absolutely amazing turnout and as I have stated before, having in fact to eat some of my words, indicates this Class is certainly alive and well. I can only hope it continues. Miscellaneous Stuff11 November 2009: The website structure is being changed slightly with the intention of being of more support to the novice's, the people getting started, or who want to get into this sport but have no idea of how to go about it. This is an evolving site. 13 March 2008:
Release of revised version of
EC12 rules previously issued 19 April 2007.
Click on this link to read. If you go to the Galleries page of this site, and click on any of the links, they will take you to the Picasa site where you will have a number of options on how you wish to view the photo's. 29 September 2007: New Categories added to d'12metre forums'. Include provision for adding boats similar to, but not quite fitting the 12 Metre/IACC class boats. For Sale/Wanted category also added. 23 September 2007: A Web Links page link has been added to the Links page of this website. At this stage it is a trial only and will depend on how spammer proof it is whether it continues. I do not have the time or the inclination to waste time by deleting spammer registrations or posts. If it becomes an issue, this link will be deleted. However, if is proves OK, then it is most certainly another service offered by this website. It is an opportunity for individuals to publicly acknowledge the web sites of persons/organisations they have dealt with for the benefit of all. It is NOT a place to air gripes or bad experiences. The forum might be the best place to do that, if indeed that needs to be done. Or letters to the editor might be another avenue. 11 September 2007: It is my intention to stay with the current forum setup (Activeboard). As I was restoring the other forum a week or two back, it was already getting spam posts even before I made it publicly available again. I do not want to get to a situation like some of the other phpBB boards, where they are showing hundreds and hundreds of members, but they are mostly all spammers. This current forum has to date not been afflicted by these problems, (touch wood), since its trial launch, and that saves the administrator lots and lots of time, especially if one does not have the time to remove the jerk members on a daily basis. So folks, like it or lump it, unless something serious happens, the forum as it stands now will be it. And I have the postings from the previous forum setup and they will be added to this forum as I get the time to do that. I have a pretty high degree of confidence in Activeboard, who are hosting the forum. They have been around for many years, and indications are that that will not change. Final thing. As previously
stated, you will need to register again to get posting access. My apologies for
that. 25 July 2007: The Forum
pages have been temporarily taken off line due to their having been compromised.
They will be restored once again as soon as I get some time to do that. My
apologies for the inconvenience but I thought it safer to do this than leave a
compromised site up and running. 22 June 2007: The Editor
is setting up an "Letters to the Editor" page on this web-site for a trial
period for persons who want to have a say but don't want to go through all the
hassles of a Discussion Forum. This is basically intended for responses to
Editorial Comment, but other constructive comments will also be appreciated,
indeed, they will be encouraged. 25 May 2007: Quite a few changes in the Forum. New forum's/topics set up. This sport/hobby is only as strong as the people who are prepared to contribute/participate in it. Back to Top The forum can be reached at d'12metre radio yacht forum Web Changes12 January 2010:
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