Dear [[FIRST_NAME]]

The new season of Club sailing starts on Sunday 1 October, so let’s enjoy it! 

The PCSC tradition continues.  A couple of minor changes this year with all yachts starting together and a switch to Wednesday evening for Twilight racing which starts 6pm, 22 November. 

Racing enhances teamwork, improves boat handling skills, focus and concentration.  All taking place within our spectacular sailing waters and supported by our Race Control and Safety Boat volunteers. 

Not forgetting of course the enjoyable post race get together at the Clubhouse bar. 

It has been some time since we issued a Club Newsletter, but in recent times there has been so much activity at the Club that we thought it was about time that we tried to get this rolling again. The objective is try and encompass as much Club news as we can in a (say) quarterly newsletter, so not to give you email fatigue. We'll still of course provide our weekly entertaining snippets about upcoming Club activities!

Of course the hardest part of developing a Newsletter is gathering and editing the content. We now have some great tools to use to disseminate the information to you, like this new platform, but this is YOUR Club and we also like to include stories or newsworthy articles from our Members.

If you have something to contribute, please contact one of our Flag Officers or Committee Members, or email webmaster@cygnetsailing.org.au

We hope you enjoy our refreshed newsletter.

regards

PCSC Committee

Our Opening Day is Sunday 1 October and the schedule is as follows:

Fleet Sail Past the Club - 1200

Opening Day Keelboat Race 1230-1400

Opening Day 'Corinthian Fun Race' 1240-1400

Opening Day Social 1400-1600

There is no need to bring a plate - finger delights will be provided from 12-2, followed by BBQ snags and cake!

INFORMATION FOR OUR JUNIOR AND YOUTH SAILORS

There will be a Wetsuit and booties swap-meet from 10am for anyone grown out of gear and would like to try their chances at a bigger size before we get back into Saturday mornings on 21st October (bring along any outgrown gear you’d like to share hanging on a coat hanger and add to the mix that’ll be on display all around the pacer cage.)

Any donations of smaller wetsuits and boots very welcome.

- Participation in the official “sail past” - weather permitting - you’ll need to rig up a pacer and be prepared to be on the water in full kit around midday (we’ll be there to support you and safety boats will be in the water)

- Lending a hand with some pacer maintenance from 10am 

Have lots of fun and catch up!

PRE OPENING WORKING BEE - SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER - 9.30am

To get the Club spic 'n span for opening day on Sunday 1 October we invite those who can assist with a working bee on Saturday 

Tasks include (but are not limited to!)

Slipway Clean
Window Cleaning
General Kitchen Clean
Bunting

Simone will have a more complete list on Saturday!

During the 'quiet season' at the Club, we have been busy enhancing our security systems.

We are in the process of replacing our security cameras with new devices that have improved resolution, field of vision and night vision, and have placed these in more strategic locations. When complete, cameras will also cover the Jetty area, hopefully assisting in dissuading (or eliminating) fuel and property theft.

We have also replaced our keyed locks on the main door, as well as the male and female toilets with electronic locks which allow easy re-programming in the event of loss or unauthorised access.

As we are heading into the start of the sailing season, we will be re-energising our Friday night social events and catering, and will have some light entertainment and finger food on the first Friday of every month. A small cover charge will be levied for this.

Of course we can't let the opportunity go, and have to remind those who have not yet paid their membership fees to do so before the end of October.

The invoicing for Tender Storage is happening from 25 September and invoices for Storage in the shed will be issued in December.

We thank everyone who has already paid - almost 50% of our members. There is a way to go, so we appreciate your earliest attention to this as we rely on this income to maintain the Club and meet our financial obligations.

It’s taken a bit of nutting out, however the Cruising Division Committee has developed an 'on-water' activity that our cruising fraternity will love to be a part of. The objective was to come up with an event that would appeal to ALL of our Club's Cruising members and encourage our yachts on the water, followed by a bit of fun back at the PCSC Clubhouse.

The focus is to minimise rules, cost and organisation and a maximise fun while ensuring safety, and a copy of the Sailing Instructions for our new 'Corinthian Fun Race’ is HERE.

Take a minute and look them over and I am sure you will agree that this new series will provide us with the opportunity to simply get out on the water and have fun…which at the end of the day is why the Cruising Division was set up in the first place.

Just to illustrate the fun side of the event, we asked fellow member and cartoonist, Stephen Pile to depict a typical situation that may develop during the course of a typical fun race. Let’s hope things don’t get that crazy!!! Incidentally, characterisation of all males is purely coincidental as we aim to be inclusive to all interested. 

We are planing to run the first event at the PCSC’s Opening Day on 1 October, with an introductory shortened course. More details will be provided to the Cruising group closer to the day and will not plan a run in unpleasant wind, we are cruisers after all! 

As it will be our first on-water event, we are looking to our members to give it some serious support. We would love to see as many yachts as possible out there on the day.

We look forward to seeing everybody back at the Clubhouse after the event. Don’t hesitate to give me a call should you have any questions.

Cheers for now,

Jeff Rowe

 Jeremy Clowes is almost finished with the maintenance work on the Pacers together with the help of a number of volunteers.  Anneke has sent out a Welcome to the 2023-24 Season on the What’s App Group, inviting parents and young sailors to participate in the Opening Day festivities.  For any parents who haven’t seen Anneke’s message, let Judy Howison know and she will send you full details.  We look forward to seeing all returning young sailors (except for very young Optimist sailors who’ll be waiting for warmer weather) on Saturday 21 October at 10.30am.  The calendar can be found HERE and on the Discover Sailing noticeboard at the Club.

There are 8 entrants (ages 11-15 years) from PCSC making a splash in 2023 Zhik Youth Sail Tasmania which includes a two day coaching camp followed by the two day Tasmania Youth Championships, all held at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania 12-15 October.  

There will be lots of action and we’ll put photos on the website as well as on the Club Facebook site. 

On 23 and 24 September, seven members of our club attended a two day power and safety boat course at the club house. A big thank you to Australia Sailing Motor boat trainer and expert Mick who provided relevant and interesting information to us at minimum cost as we are a volunteer club.

The course covered on water exercises in the Stan Kay and off water activities based on motor boat and safety boat operation procedures when dealing with junior and senior sailors in big and small vessels. This led to some useful and constructive discussion as to appropriate levels of response that we do provide and areas of improvement for the future. 

How do we  handle an on water accident for example, communication and moving people from water to boat to land then to medical care? How many boat operators have first aid and recovery training and how often can we get two people on board a safety boat to effectively carry out rescue or capsize recovery? These are questions we are working on but need some further development as sailing begins for the 2023/24 season.

A first aid course suitable for junior, youth, racing and cruising sailors will be pursued as a future training opportunity. Safety is a priority for all of us.

THE TEAM IN THE RACE CONTROL BOX NEED HELP!

FOR OUR RACES TO BE RECORDED EFFICIENTLY WE LIKE THREE PEOPLE IN THE START BOX - YOUR COMMITMENT MAY BE A SINGLE RACE OR MULTIPLE RACES.

THE REASONS TO PARTICIPATE ARE MANY - 

• The race control crew are really lovely people to spend some time with
   
• On the spot training is provided - there are three different tasks in the 'Box'
   
• It is EASY and FUN (really, it is!)
   
• You get to enjoy a bird's eye view of the sailing action
   
• It is a rewarding place to 'give back' to the Club you (and perhaps your significant others) love so much
   
• The commitment in time is minimal
   
• Most importantly - the competitors really need the Race Control Team - without them, the race can't be recorded...

To enter your name into the Racing Roster, click HERE, or for more information please give Fi Lomax a call on 0418 313 904
 

THE 'STAN KAY' NEEDS SKIPPERS AND CREW!

The Racing Division has put a call out to all members of the Club to enlist possible skippers & crew for the 'Stan Kay' for the coming season. The current roster includes some crew from last year however there is a need for increased numbers this year owing the usual attrition rate.

The task is to simply crew the 'Stan Kay' blue rib beginning at about 1130 hours on weekend Race Days usually Sundays and about 1630 on Twilights which this year will be on Wednesdays. The first and last part of the day will be to ferry crew between their boats and the Club pontoon. The middle part will be to follow the fleet about the course and monitor their safety being available should the need arise. Crew will need to monitor the onboard VHF radio at all times to listen for the need and to liaise with the Sailing Captain and with the Start Box crew. It's also great for hooning around on!

We are looking for two people as Driver and Crew for the Safety Boat portion of the day. Ideally, the Driver should have a recognised Boat Driving License, a VHF Radio Operators License and either the Skipper or Crew member(s) have a First Aid Certificate.

To enter your name into the Safety Boat Roster, click HERE, or for more information please give Jay Lawry a call on 0422 719 676