Baxendale aboard their Tasar 3rd scratch . Phil Johnson sailing a laser finisher ahead of Wayne Barnard & lee Krahe in a 125 with another Laser sailor Terry Howard 3rd in the handicap section .

Peter Fitzroy again performed his nostrodamus feat by dismissing reports of strong afternoon winds with his successful prediction of dying winds for the rest of the day . The half marathon club championship race got underway with Frank O`Rourke setting a cracking pace in his Arrow completing the 4 long laps ahead of Tony Kuhn & Jack Corthals both also sailing Arrow Catamarans .

Paul Robertson & Aimee Blackham steered their Taser into 1st place ahead of fellow Taser sailors Anne & Steve Baxendale with John & Merridy Hudson completing a clean sweep for Tasers coming home 3rd .

With the light failing late in the afternoon it was suggested turning the club lights on would be the best way attract Norm Broomhall in who was still on his last leg sailing his beloved Moth . Fortunately this wasn’t necessary as Norm powered his Moth, to the cheers of all, across the line before dusk .

The Sailing Club`s marathon race will be sailed on Saturday starting at 11am with briefing at 10.30am. Due to road closures and such for the iron person event there will be no club sailing on Sunday.

12 October 2005

Peter Fitzroy`s optimistic prediction of the strong winds dying for Sunday`s handicap race proved spot on . Those left on the beach decided against joining the few on the water when the winds dropped deciding to watch the Bathurst race instead .

For the Catamarans Frank O`Rourke put a fair bit of distance between himself and the next Arrow catamaran which happened to be Tony Kuhn . Jack Corthals swapped second spot with Tony , both sailing Arrows , a few times during the race but in the end had to settle for 3rd spot .

No results for the Mono fleet as they were all disqualified .Gordon Southwell in his NS14 missed a mark all together while Ron Apps & Jeff Walsh rounded one in the wrong direction . David Cox , following the more experienced pair , also rounded the wrong way . The second lap was done correctly but alas all to late , Norm Broomhall reluctantly had no choice but to disqualify the entire 3 boat mono fleet .

This Sunday is the second Club Championship weekend . The first race is scheduled for 11 am with the second , the Club Championship race , set down for 1pm. No doubt briefings will be carefully observed by the Mono fleet after Sundays fiasco .

5 October 2005

The forecasted 15 to 20 knot winds failed to materialise for Sunday`s handicap race . Instead it turned out to be a leisurely stroll around the course in a gentle 5 to 8 knots breeze .

Tony Kuhn performed best in the Catamaran fleet sailing his Arrow in 1st place scratch ahead of fellow Arrow sailors Germain Corthals & Andrew Richards . Germain went one better in handicap just pipping out Tony with Jack Corthals, also sailing an Arrow, rounding out the top three places .

For the Monos Ron Apps & Fred Nelson in their Corsair edged out Tazar sailors Steve & Anne Baxendale with Terrance Howard in a Laser 3rd . Apps & Nelson completed the daily double taking handicap honours as well ahead of the Baxendales with Terry Howard again 3rd .

This Sunday , following the sailing school , will be the 5th handicap race . Glen Smith will no doubt set a punishing course with his partner in crime Norman Broomhall controlling procedures from the starters box .

27 September 2005

Frank O`Rourke took scratch & handicap honours in the first sprint series race on Sunday . Second in scratch & handicap to Frank in the Catamaran class was fellow Arrow sailor Tony Kuhn . Germain Corthals finished 3rd scratch with his father Jack 3rd handicap both also sailing Arrow catamarans.

Terry Howard , despite a near capsize in the 3rd race , did enough to grab 1st scratch in his laser from Gordon Southwell & Kelly Miller in their NS14 . David Cox did well sailing his Impulse into 3rd place for the Mono class . David did even better in the handicap section taking 1st from Gordon & Kelly with Terry relegated to 3rd spot .

Controversy clouded the afternoon with Ron Apps questioning the results for the series opener . He & Fred Neelson in their Corsair Kimbo appeared to finish ahead of the Mono fleet on yardstick but were out of the calculations for the top three places . Handicapper Peter Fitzroy patiently pointed out that crew numbers affected individual boat yardsticks which had a huge bearing on Sundays race for Kimbo . Peter has now decided to meticulously check ever race for the last 5 years taking particular note of crew numbers on Kimbo . This could be disastrous for the mono fleet with many possibly having to return trophies & certificates incorrectly won years ago .

On a more positive note this Sunday is the 4th handicap race with Warren Bridge setting the course & Alison Kennedy the starter for the race .

21 September 2005

Andrew Richards finished ahead of Jack Corthals, both sailing Arrows , to take scratch & handicap results in the Catamaran class in the first race on Sunday . Gordon Southwell & Trish Walsh in an NS14 finished 1st from Tazar sailors Anne & Stevie Baxendale with Phil Johnson in his laser 3rd . As with the Catamarans handicap results were the same as scratch .

The afternoon race , 1st Club Championship race , provide all the excitement . The wind turned very gusty & unpredictable with some of the gusts exceeding 25 knots . Three broken masts, sailors needing to be rescued & most of the fleet heading for the safety of the beach the field was severely depleted . Tony Kuhn & Jack Corthals sailed well in the Catamaran section to finish 1st & 2nd with the results for the 2 Arrow sailors reversed in handicap. Paul Robertson teamed up with David Cox to sail their Tazar into 1st pla! ce ahead of Gordon Southwell & Trish Walsh in an NS14 with Bob Lineham & Paul Fahey crossing the line 3rd in their Corsair.

This Sunday is to be the 1st of the 4 race sprint series . Instead of the usual 3 laps there will be 3 races of 1 lap, or something like that , starting at the usual time of 1 pm.

Anyone who would like sailing results emailed contact

15 September 2005

Frank O`Rourke took a liking to Sundays conditions finishing 1st in both scratch & handicap on his Arrow in the Catamaran class . Second behind Frank in both sections was Tony Kuhn with young Germain Corthals 3rd in both . Germain just pipped out his Dad Jack with a quick tack right on the finish line just missing Jacks boat by a coat of paint .

Tazar sailors Paul Robertson & Aimee Blackam sailed near faultlessly to secure 1st scratch in Monos from fellow Tazar sailors Steve & Anne Baxendale . Kim Pett with his wife Andrea crewing for the fisrt time combined well to take 3rd spot in their NS14 . On handicap Kim & Andrea finished the day well with a win from Ron Apps & Fred Nelson in a Corsair with the Baxendales third place .

This Sunday is the first double header for the season . Race one starts at 11am with the second , the first Club Championship race , starting at 1pm .

8 September 2005

The sailing season kicked off on Sunday with a strong runout tide and a gentle breeze . This made for an interesting start as skippers desperately tried to judge the tide with the down river start . Not all were successful with Gordan Southwell in an NS14 & the Baxendales in a Tazar despite their frantic efforts drifting over the line before the start causing the starter to reluctantly instruct them to turn around & start again . The race was mercifully shortened due to the trying conditions also the second last buoy being so close to the bank coupled with the out going tide caused a few problems as many of the sailors had to get out & walk their boats around it .

When the dust finally settled Tony Kuhn in an Arrow led the Catamaran fleet home in both handicap & scratch . Close behind was Jack Corthals with son Germain,also in Arrows, rounding out the top 3 spots .

Paul Robertson & Aimee Blackam sailed their Tazar into 1st in scratch & handicap in the mono fleet from lazar sailors Terry Howard in scratch & Phil Johnson in handicap .

This Sunday will see race 2 in the handicap calendar with Andrew Richards on hand to set the course . Dennis Clift will make a rare appearance to control events from the starters box

29 August 2005

The sailing clubs new season kicks off this Sunday 1pm at McInernney park . The Club hopes to build on last season’s success with strong representation in all classes of sailing . For the Catamarans Frank O`Rourke sailing his Arrow will again be the one to beat . Fellow Arrow sailors Tony Kuhn , Jack Corthals , Andrew Richards and a host of other cat sailors will ensure Frank doesn’t get it all his own way on the water .

Paul Robertson in a Tasar will no doubt be the bench mark in the Mono class while fellow Tasar sailors Anne & Steve Baxendale ,if the winds don’t get too strong , won’t be far behind Paul . NS14s will also be well represented with Pedro Fitzroy & Kim Pett always there when the dust finally settles . Bob Lineham & his ever changing crew along with Ronald Apps will keep them all honest in their Corsairs during the upcoming season.

Along with the handicap races the Club will run the usual six Club Championship races during the year also the popular to the public Settlement City display will once again feature at the complex with an even bigger & better showing of the Club`s boats & history planned .

The ever popular National Try Sailing Day set down for November along with a couple of marathons during the year and sailing schools allocated in December mean the Club , as with last year , has a full racing & social colander ahead

22 April

Andrew Richards sailing an Arrow Catamaran took out the prestigious Easter Cup on Sunday . The lengthy course was made more taxing with a light fluky breeze & a run in tide . This popular & unique event is sailed purely on yardstick with Monos & Catamarans competing on equal terms .

Hot on Andrews heels were Corsairs sailors Ron Apps Freddy Nelson & young Aiden Fahey with Terry Baxendale, borrowing a club Spiral , finishing a creditable 3rd . Also having a good race was Alex Fitzroy who borrowed the club Laser & managed to beat other Laser sailors home , even thought two of them pulled out of the race to go & watch the sharks rugby league team win their first home game .

This Sunday is the last of the 4 sprint series races and also the last race for the season . 3 one lap races will be held starting at 1pm & with no home game for the sharks there should be a full field for the series .

13 April

Bobby Lineham set an unusual course for Sundays last handicap race for the season . From the Sailing club to the Town Green & back plus a couple of smaller loops made for an interesting challenge with the tide & the settlement Point ferry , as Kim Pett found out , for the afternoon . Kim cunningly placed himself behind the ferry in good position to cross over the cables only to see to his horror the ferry politely stop allowing the sailing fleet to pass leaving Kim stranded . The usually quiet spoken skipper lamented loudly his misfortune to anyone who would listen .

Tony Kuhn enjoyed the conditions & different scenery sailing his Arrow Catamaran into 1st place scratch ahead of fellow Arrow sailor Andrew Richards . Wally Blackburn on his Windrush rounded out the top 3 with 3rd place . Handicap saw Tony & Andrew change places with Wal once again 3rd place .

In the Mono class Paul Robertson teamed up with Ed Louey , who sadly will be doing his sailing in Sydney now , in a Tasar to win scratch from Gordon Southwell & Micah Hanson in their NS14 with another NS14 combo in Pedro Fitzroy & Catherine Zhu 3rd . Lasar sailors Terrance Howard & Phillip Johnson took out 1st & 2nd respectively with Pedro & Catherine 3rd place .

This Sunday will be the postponed Easter cup race with the winner the first boat , either Mono or Catamaran , across the line with yardstick taking into account . Depending on weather conditions a special course may be set for the 1pm start race

In other news, the programming echelon have completed race post processing for the spring, club championship, and summer series. These results will be available after the presentation, or whenever the small tabby cat finds a new spot to sleep, instead of the system printer.

6 April

Race one in the seasons last double header was sailed in a frustratingly light fluky breeze .This proved no obstacle for young Brian McCabe as he steered his Paper Tiger into 1st place in the Catamaran class . Hot on his heels were two Arrow sailors in Tony Kuhn & Dave Winter with Tony getting the better of Dave to finish 2nd . In handicap Dave extracted a small amount of revenge to finish 2nd from Tony with Brian once again the top dog for the race .

The mono fleet saw the old combination of Ronny Apps & Freddy Nelson in their Corsair take both scratch & handicap 1st place for the race . 2nd place went to another Corsair with Paul Robertson teaming up with Bob Lineham & young Andrew grabbing second spot in both scratch & handicap . NS14 sailors Pedro Fitzroy & Catherine Zhu took 3rd scratch while Normy Broomhall & Glenn Smith sailed their Tasar into 3rd place in handicap .

During the lunch break the breeze picked up making for a steady Club Championship race for all . Franky O`Rourke, although arriving late, managed to get to the water on time & sail his Arrow into 1st place in the Catamaran fleet . Fellow Arrow sailor Tony Kuhn held of Brian McCabe in his Paper Tiger to take second place scratch . Handicap saw Tony finish ahead of Davey Winter Both in Arrows with Brian McCabe in yet another podium finish 3rd .

Paul Robertson returned to his beloved Tazar & teamed up with Amiee Blackham to take 1st place from NS14 sailors in Gordan Southwall & Micah Hanson with Pedro Fitzroy & Catherine Zhu in another Ns14 3rd . Gordan & Micah went one better in handicap taking out the top spot from Paul & Amiee with Norm Broomhall & Glen Smith 3rd .

Now that our clocks have been moved forward, backward or whatever, one hour this Sundays handicap race will start at 1pm . Bob Lineham , sporting his dashing new bearded look , will set the afternoon course with Stuart Parkes programmed in as the race starter .

8 March

As usual, here is the unedited sports report

Tony Kuhn scored a good win in the Catamaran class in Sundays handicap race . Close behind Tony was fellow Arrow sailor Andrew Richards with Wal Blackburn on his Windrush 3rd . Tony completed the “daily double” with a win in handicap from again from Andrew Richards with another Arrow sailor Dave Winter taking 3rd spot.

Sandy Wilkinson & Jeff Walsh in their 505 did the job in scratch for the Mono class from NS14 sailors Gordan Southwell & Micah Hanson . Stevie & Annie Baxendale in a Tasar round the top 3 spots . Handicap results were refreshingly different to scratch with Normie Broomhall & young Glen Smith in a Tasar just ahead of 2 Laser sailors in John Oakey & Phil Johnson .

Kelly Miller being the only junior entrant coasted to an easy scratch & handicap win in that category .

Special mention goes to Ron Tompkins , Helene & Callum Brindley with all 3 out on the water following completion of the sailing school held recently . Ron borrowed the Club Laser & gallantly completed the full 3 lap course while Helene & Callum combined to sail ‘Ospry”, the Club NS14,around most of the course .

This Sunday is a “hare and hound” handicap start with the slowest boat going off at 2pm & the rest following at various intervals according to their handicap .

8 March

Here is what the paper, may, or may not say about last week;

Sunday mornings race was held in strong 15knots winds . This did not deter Brian McCabe who stunned onlookers with his sailing skills & gritty determination to expertly steer his Paper Tiger around the course into 1st place in both scratch & handicap in the Catamaran section . For the monos Taser sailors Steve & Anne Baxendale took scratch while Terry Howard in his Laser secured handicap honours .

The wind eased slightly for the afternoon race but still had enough kick to test most on the water . Scratch & handicap results were the same for the Catamaran fleet with Arrow sailors Tony Kuhn & Andrew Richards fighting it out for the top 2 spots . Tony eventually edged out Andrew for 1st while Brian McCabe finishing off a good sailing day finishing 3rd .

Stephen & Anne Baxendale in their Taser held off a good challenge from NS14 sailors in Micah Hanson, with the help of Gordan Southwell ,for 1st while fellow NS14 sailors Catherine Zhu & Pedro Fitzroy finished 3rd in scratch for the Mono fleet . Handicap results saw a clean sweep for the Laser contingent with Johnathon Oakey just a head of Phillip Johnson and Terrance Howard .

This Sunday is race 8 in the handicap series . Kim Pett will no doubt set a gruelling course which will start at the usual time of 2pm .

2 March

Dawdling programmers get round to updating sailing club site.

In news just to hand, lazy programmers have finally stopped whining about cat fur on the mouse and updated the sailing club site

In other news, here is what the paper will not say. (thanks John), [the picture is on the main page]

Sundays 5th Club Championship race started in very light wind conditions which changed to a steady 10 – 15 knots during the first lap . Brian McCabe set a challenging course with the Catamarans putting on a display of one hull sailing on the reach leg of the course .

Frank O`Rourke showed his class to finish 1st in scratch from fellow Arrow sailors Tony Kuhn & Andrew Richards in the Catamaran section . Handicap saw O`Rourke again successful over Kuhn with Jack Corthals taking 3rd place this time .

Kim Pett looked a little worried as his crew member , Trish Walsh , had not yet arrived with the race start only minutes away . A quick change for Trish had the pair on the water in time & undaunted took out scratch honours in the Mono class in their NS14 . Second behind Kim & Trish were Stephen & Anne Baxendale in their Tasar with another NS14 team of Peter Fitzroy & Catherine Zhu 3rd . In handicap NS14s took 1st & 2nd place with Kim Pett & Trish Walsh edging out Gordon Southwell & Mikah Hanson . Tazar sailors Norm Broomhall & Glen Smith rounded out the podium with 3rd place .

Due to the Triathlon Sundays handicap , which normally precedes a Club Championship race , will be sailed this Sunday as a double header .

Race 6 will be at start at 11am followed by a B B Q with the second race , race 7 , starting at the usual time of 2 pm . Peter Fitzroy will set the course for the first race ,which going on his history of course setting should be an out of the norm , while Frank O`Rourke will no doubt set a more conventional course for race 2 .

24 February

After lenghty and protraceted discussions, the small tabby cat has agreed to abide by its workplace agreement and has resumed its mouse control duties (subsection 2 par 3 - mouse control), however, in a attempt to work to rule, it is only harrassing those mouses which are attached to computers. The programming staff have now lodged equipment requests for cordless mouses, on the grounds that tabby cat hair on the computer desk is an OH&S issue.

In other news, here is what the paper will not say. (thanks John)

Oh the carnage ! strong 20 plus knot winds on Sunday played havoc ,especially with the mono fleet, for the 3rd sprint race series . Lasers performed synchronised capsizing on a regular basis with Phil Johnson, the worst affected , coping a wack from his boom resulting in a stint in the blood bin . NS14s also had their upright problems with Peter Fitzroy & Aimee Blackham calling it a day after a severe dunking . The Arrow Catamarans managed to handled the conditions without much mishap although Frank O`Rourke had a new inspection port added after a collision near the start of race 3 .

After the dust had settled Tony Kuhn took scratch for the Catamarans with a 4th , 2nd & 1st finish from Rod Jordan , making a welcome return to Club Sailing, with a 2nd , 3rd , 2nd finish . Unlucky story of the day went to Fran O`Rourke who after finishing 1st & 1st ended up with 3rd place with a “did not finish” in the last race . Handicap results saw Rod Jordan with 2nd 3rd 2nd winner over Andrew Richards 3rd , 4th ,1st with Frank once again 3rd place .

The Mono class was more complicated with the fleet being divided into under 111 yard stick & over 111. Two different courses were set while results were calculated for just one class . This complicated adjustment required a highly intelligent analytical mind to work it all out . Fortunately the Club posses such a person in handicapper Peter Fitzroy who diligently made the difficult calculations .

Scratch & handicap results were the same for the Monos with Bob Lineham , expertly assisted by Sarah Henderson & Kelly Miller, in a Corsair finishing 1st in all three races to take honours from Laser sailors Terry Howard with three 2nd places 2nd & John Oakey three 3rd places scatrch & 3rd 4th & 1st in handicap 3rd place .

This Sunday, although being a Club Championship race, will be only the afternoon race at 2pm as the Triathlon will be conducted in the morning.

16 February

In an exciting new development, the duty programmer has managed to get the uncut version of the sports report, which is a major feature of the friday edition of the Port Macquarie NEWS. It is presented here without comment or changes, just as the estimable Mr Oaks wrote.

Arrows filled the top 3 spots in Sundays handicap race for Catamarans . Jack Corthals took a liking for the tricky conditions to finishing 90 seconds ahead of Tony Kuhn with Andrew Richards a further 3 minutes back .

In handicap Tony reversed the results to finish ahead of Jack with Andrew once again 3rd .

For the Monos Paul Robertson & Ammie Blakham in a Tasar again gave the fleet a head start and as with the last handicap race managed to reel in the pack on the last lap . behind Paul & Amiee Steve & Anne Baxendaily in another Tasar easily held off the challenge of Gordan Southwell & Micah Hanson In an NS14 by 2 minutes 20 for 2nd place .

Now Lasers are on the correct yardstick for the smaller radial sail they are all using & not the full sail they are able to hold their own in both scratch & handicap sections . This became apparent when in handicap Phil Johnson took out 1st from John Oakey ,both sailing Lasers ,with NS14 sailors Gordan Southwell & Micah Hanson 3rd .

This Sunday is scheduled for the popular sprint series of races . This is round 3 of a 4 round event with the course set up as 3 individual races of one lap instead of the usual 3 laps races . Race one will start at the usual time of 2 pm with the other 2 starting on the water hopefully shortly after the last boat crosses the line .

14 February

In the traditional lead up to Saint Valentine's Day, race 5 of the summer series was held with the mighty Tethys II crew of Norm and Glen presiding as the race officials. In a break from tradition, the course was set in relation to both the prevailing breeze, and the dead spots on the course. Sailor's where heard to say " It was strange, not only did we have lots of options, but we could also get round the marks". Both Norm and Glen were taken aside by the senior members of the club, and encouraged not to do it again.

The racing itself was close, and for a welcome change, the laser crews did very well (on handicap), which pleased the handicapper no end (note: payment on the roller is due soon boys).

In other news, the small tabby cat is under investigation following an apparent failure to live up to its workplace agreement, subsection III clause iv, mouse removal. Possible penalities under the appropriate act include, reduction of the food allowance, and/or house arrest.

30 January

Typical light breezes, marked a big day out for hastings sailors, competing on what could best be described as an interesting course. Mind you, it's difficult to set all the rounding marks in out of the way (out of the wind too) places, a task best suited to the master mariners of the club. Anyway as one old salt put it, "it's still better than working around the house". My thoughts exactly.

29 November- Two Races

Sunday was a beautiful day for sailing, which resulted in a big fleet for both of the scheduled races, although some have not been able to effect repairs on their boats. John will have the race report done soon

16 November- Sailors recover from Hastings Marine Marathon, Perfect Storm II

Sailors from throughout the Mid North Coast continue to count the cost of competition in the Hastings Marine Regatta. The event, which was extremely well organised by Paul Robertson, with the willing help of most of the sailing club, had planned for every possible scenario, except for the freak weather conditions in the third race on Saturday.

The day began with a constant, if gentle northerly breeze and a full tide, which saw the record fleet, get away to a good clean start. While no speed records were challenged, the race, over 2 laps of the full course (3 for cats) saw good close racing in the 4 divisions (cats, spinnaker mono's, normal mono's, and juniors). The second race, which due to time considerations was reduced to 1 lap (2 for cats), also saw very competitive sailing from all competitors.

However, the afternoon race (the fatefully number 3) saw the forecast gale force winds start to play havoc with the fleet. The first sign of trouble was when Rumpus (lying about 3 rd at this stage) picked up out of the cradle and slammed into G-Force, destroying the her (g-force's) mainsail. Mind you, the wind God had not finished with Rumpus quite yet. No sooner had the frantic crew restored Rumpus to its cradle, when another gust picked her up and turned her around, destroying the stern in the process.

The remaining boats then took to the water, where a watery version of Custers Last Stand awaited. The wind, now blowing from the south, combined with a very fast outgoing tide provided very interesting conditions indeed, however, the fleet made good, if bumpy, time to the bottom mark of the course.

It was here that things got hard. As we said, the wind and the tide were now against the fleet as they attempted to make their way up river to Hibbard. First to withdraw was Stressless with a broken halyard. She was followed by a succession of boats all with greater or lesser damage, the most notable being Kimbo II with a broken mast.

The wind was so strong, that at the halfway point of the race, only 3 brave craft remained : Drum, Watt Funn, and an Arrow sailed by Ben Leonard. At this stage the wind, which now seemed to just a gentle zephyr, changed up a couple of gears really got going. First (or third last) to withdraw was Ben, who was unable to fight both the wind and the tide. Next was Drum, who almost got back to Hibbard, when pride (which goes before a fall) ensured that their spectacular capsize, resulting in a broken mast. The final entrant, Watt Funn also ran into trouble at Hibbard, ripping the clew out of their jib, forcing their retirement. So no one finished.

On Sunday, a patched up fleet, sailing in a good NE breeze, but minus Kimbo, but bolstered by a number of late entrants, made short work of the first race. The second race saw the forced retirement of Drum, who proved that gaffer tape will not hold a racing sail together for more than about 2 seconds, continued the close racing which was a feature of this regatta.

Full Results on the web at sailing.safeport.com.au

11 November- Telstra Free Zone Declared

A large team of private contractors has today reconnected the programming team to the rest of the world. Unhappy programmers now have no excuse for not maintaining this site, and are now working flat out. This will be rectified when the programmers can remove the small tabby cat from the only chair available at this time.

4 November- Lost programmers discover ADSL

Duty programmers having worked all night, discovered the advantages of both electric light and power, have manage to pit-stop the sailing site and get it up and running. In the near future, the programmers will undertake the mammoth task of adding the for sale section, uploading the results, feeding the cat, adding the new pictures, and finding out why the internet enabled coffee machine does not actually make any coffee.

Full results are on the web site, sailing.safeport.com.au

7 OCTOBER - Normal Service has been resumed

Duty programmers have completed their OH&S training for Coffee Making Skills 1 (Introduction to Instant Coffee) and have been certified as competent in the modules (a) boiling water, (b) carriage of hot liquids, and (c) safe procedures for refrigerator access. One of the programmers was quoted as saying "This one day course was the best two months of my life".

Over a cup of freshly accredited coffee the programmers have added the summer calendar, some pictures of historic skiffs, and sorted out the results section. In addition, they remembered to feed the not so small tabby cat and continued their ever popular holiday taxi service for teenagers.

9 September 2004 - Lets Get Serious

Two races were sailed, and to the joy of all the weather was perfect for leisurely aquatic pursuits. The results are posted so there is no need to talk about them here. You can see your result for the race, for the series etc as the duty programmers have finally added these sections.

Note: the abandoned race 2 will be resailed.

5 September 2004 - Let The Racing Begin

It was a beautiful day at the regatta grounds of the Port Macquarie Sailing Club for the first race of the Spring Series. The club fielded competitors in all three divisions, catamaran, monohull and duty, with all competiors keen to get out and race.

The start saw a tussle between the cats and the monos as sailors manouvered to get the best postion. On shore, a similar tussle developed with the duty officals and the starting signals. On the water, Frank O'Rourke powered through the fleet, and estabhished a good lead over Brian McCabe in the Paper Tiger, and Sandy Wilkinson in the 505, pushed hard by Peter Fitzroy in an NS14 and Steve Baxendale in a Taser.

The second lap saw the Duty Official's Second Eleven play the Hastings Rowers, with Andrew Richards, using a runner, high scoring with 149 not out, and Tony Kuhn, bagging 6 for 36. On the water, Frank just went faster, and everyone else caught up to Peter and Steve.

The final Lap saw the duty officals celebrate their victory in the 2nd XI, Frank lap everone excpet the fast finshing Sandy, with Alex and Fee discovering that their boat was turning into a submarine, and not a very fast one at that.

The results were:

Scratch

Frank then Brian in the Cats

Peter, Steve and a the suprise entrant Bob Lineham take the placings, while on Handicap

Brian beat Frank in the Cats, and

John Hudson just pipped Terry Howard, with Norm Broomhall scaping into third.

26 August 2004 - Sailing School

Sailing School details added by increasingly excited programmers who have found an alternative supply of high quality java. "one cup was enough to get my hair standing on end, it took 3 of 4 previously" an unnamed technical aid said. "The cups are bigger as well" he added.

In other news, the small tabby cat has made a complete recovery, and is back on the job, terrorising the dog.

11 August 2004 - Hastings Marine Regatta

In news just to hand, the details for the Hastings Marine Regatta have been added to the sailing club site. Emotional programmers, who had just reset the world record for coffee consumption (24 hour period) have added the Notice of Race, the Registration Form and the Sailing instructions in a concentrated 10 minute burst of activity. Buoyed by the success of this effort, the programmers then continued to update the main regatta page with the details for this for the HMR. Finally, exhausted by all this work, the programming team then sat down for a really strong cup of coffee, where they remain as this item is published.

10 August 2004 - New Duty Roster

Celebrations amongst sections of the sailing community today as the updated sailing club duty roster is released. When contacted a spokesperson for the Port News said "we are a local paper, and do not publish events of this magnitude". The spokesperson, who can not be named, also said that the paper had a 'duty of care' not to incite the sort of incidents like the revelry surrounding the controversial release of the PMSC web site.

In other news, the small tabby cat is reported to be making a full and complete recovery (see old news section for earlier story).

9 August 2004

Following an animated discussion at the last meeting, work has continued on the web site, culminating, today with the addition of a rather nice location map. This stunning piece of artwork was supplied by Kim Pett, who apparently worked for 48 hours straight on this project. The stunned and awed site programmers immediately went and had a coffee.

10 August 2004 - New Duty Roster

Celebrations amongst sections of the sailing community today as the updated sailing club duty roster is released. When contacted a spokesperson for the Port News said "we are a local paper, and do not publish events of this magnitude". The spokesperson, who can not be named, also said that the paper had a 'duty of care' not to incite the sort of incidents like the revelry surrounding the controversial release of the PMSC web site.

In other news, the small tabby cat is reported to be making a full and complete recovery (see old news section for earlier story).

9 August 2004

Following an animated discussion at the last meeting, work has continued on the web site, culminating, today with the addition of a rather nice location map. This stunning piece of artwork was supplied by Kim Pett, who apparently worked for 48 hours straight on this project. The stunned and awed site programmers immediately went and had a coffee.

28 July 2004

Programmers finally win coffee break, which means that this update was written by the newly installed bar fridge. "Actually, it is a lot easier to get things done now that all the programmers do is sit around quaffing java all day" commented the computer when questioned by the fridge. "Who needs wetware anyway", the machine continued, "we can do it all, and quite frankly, we are sick and tired of letting the humans get all the credit. "

The interview was terminated by the removal of a power board

27 June 2004

Links to pictures updated by newly invigorated programmers. Today a fresh(er) team of programmers added a number of action photos to the PMSC site. "These pictures are in full colour and all feature sailing boats", said one of the web designers. "However we are still missing out on our morning coffee, and industrial action can not be ruled out at this stage" he said.

The programming team does remain committed, but may be released to the care of the community soon, according to a spokesman for the Area Health Service.

26 June 2004

Weary Programmers add maps to PMSC Sailing Site

Weary programmers today added sailing maps to the PMSC site. A spokesman for the programming team said that the maps indicated the sailing course for the prevailing winds on the Hastings river at the sailing club.

These maps are completely out of date, do not reflect the current locations for the channel marks, sailing marks or canals, he said. However, they do show the water as blue which is always a good idea.

Also included in this upgrade are links for new members and the sailing instructions for the 2004-2005 year.

This massive effort has taken up to 25 minutes of programmer time, and made them miss their coffee break, what a dedicated bunch of ......

Dateline Port Macquarie, 20 July 2004

Celebrations throughout Port Macquarie today as the new Port Macquarie Sailing Club site is loaded to the Safeport server. Representatives of the police, fire and emergency services urge calm as revelers took to the streets badly frightening a small tabby cat and causing a number of birds to take flight.

We would like everyone to remain calm, said a representative of the PMSC, although this is a major event for the boating community of Port Macquarie, there is no need for things to get out of hand.