In a few weeks time we will be descending on Bendigo Yacht Club for the Mk1 & Mk2 State Titles.
With camping right there at the clubhouse it should be a great social event, with some racing thrown in for good measure.

The Notice or Race and Entry Form are on the VMCA website now.

VMCA State Titles Page

thanks for setting all this up Tim,

Now we just need to get those entries going.

So who's going?

Would be great to see some of the Western Vic Mossies that post here join in a Mosquito Association Event. The entry form has a tick box for boats over 65kg, so if enough boats get their entries in before the weekend, over 65kg boats will get their own result

Dedicated Sloops need to get entries going also, after 13 boats entered when titles where held seperately last year, if sloop numbers are low this could be the last time Cat and Sloop Titles are held together.

Don't start thinking Easter Regattas yet First enter the State Titles.

We're coming but Debra can't get there till Saturday night so I will need a crew for Saturday, any volunteers?

Hey Greg,

Good on ya, best chance for crew would be local, not many of the Bendigo crew post here, probably contact Mick and Di Floyd (locals) direct, would be best bet.

Hi all,

Good to see another Sloop entered, Rob entering his first Title with son Alex , a new generation of Mossie sailors starts , I think it's third generation of Lott's in Mossie also .

Mind you there was an entry for the Sauna Sail with Costa Lott crewing a few years back, but I think that was a false start . I think "cost a lot" has had a go on most boats .

Good to see more entries for States on line, but I know there will be many more . Even though there is no discount for entering before arrival, it's a great idea to do it, save precious rigging time on Sat morning and let the organisers know how many are coming.

So go to the VMCA site and follow the links, get that entry in, so they know how big the swarm will be .

Entries looking much better now, should be a great weekend, weather looks ok, just prey for wind . See you all there.

Good Luck all

At the moment guys, unfortunately I'm out..... a major disaster at work has me in limbo for the time being ( think a cool 100k phuck up) <- not mine


I have accomindation set and was prepared to attend either sailing or heavily armed with camera gear but for now it's all on hold.

If things change I'll certainly make the dash up but probably just with the basic camera kit.
For now, sit on butt and twiddle the thumbs ... 2 hours in and I'm bored to death already

I just got home after the 1500 km trip back. The Bendigo experience was great, notwithstanding the changeable wind.

It was funny how I ran into Ewan and Col on the way down, and it was great to have Jack as crew on Saturday.

Debra took a few photos which I will post later.

Photos...


image sharing


photo storage

http://postimg.org/image/e9dr209ph/
http://postimg.org/image/o339l3ych/

Hi all,

Yes sure was a good weekend of catching up with new and old members of the swarm on the social side . Just wish the wind had played ball also .

Great turn out with 26 Mossies attending, with 2 interstate adding to the sloop fleet, great effort by Peter D, Greg and Debra.

Saturday's 2 races where pretty much drifters, with the wind shifting a fair bit as you would expect. But the club did a great job of picking the average wind direction, so the course never turned in to a soldiers which was good.

Sunday wind took it's time to come from the forecast direction (with the club again making a good call on waiting for) and pick up, so early lunch was called. Then 3 races back to back, all varied in strength enourmously, with trapeze strength gusts interspersed with drifting, direction varied up to 90 degrees, which made picking the shifts difficult. I just couldn't get the hang of sailing across to the shore (often away from the mark) and waiting for a gust. This meant I was left tacking up the middle of the course in lighter winds, not the way to win as it turned out .

Matt did a amazing job of getting it right more than any other, with a 4th his worst place, nobody else was anywhere near that consistent, back to back state title wins where well earned .

As for Peter D and Kate, what can you say about all bullets? Just outstanding, in trying conditions, they where challenged but nobody could match them and just to mention that old chestnut, crew weight , and with no intention of causing offence to anyone, I am sure his boat didn't have the lightest combined crew weight. I've allways said I would prefer an experienced crew to a super light one any day .

G'day Gary is it true that Peter has been scrubbed and told to give the trophy back because he comes from interstate even though he joined the Vic association and his nomination for the event was accepted prior to the event?

Hi Jeff,

I am not on the VMCA committee so was not aware of any discussion on this matter, but I have made enquiries with the committee and was told the matter has not yet been resolved.

He has not been "told to give the trophy back" (the perpetual trophy never left Victoria).

As far as eligibility is concerned it is all clearly laid out in the Notice Of Race which is still on the website here
http://www.theracingcat.com/index.php?page=state-titles

I have quoted the sections I thought applied to your question below.
" 2 Eligibility and Entry
Entry is conditional upon the following:
All skippers must be financial members of a State Mosquito Catamaran Association.
Any person who fulfils the above conditions shall be eligible to win the regatta but the title of ‘Victorian State Champion’ will only be awarded to persons who normally sail in Victoria."

Results on the website are listed as follows for 2014-15
MkII (Sloop rigged)

Outright
1st Peter Dunk, Kate Hyde, 1782 Sixth Element.
2nd - Victorian Champion Trevor Armstrong, Eliza Kimlin, 1828 One More Toy.
3rd Gordon Hyde, Jamie Wall, 1520 Air Apparent

I think the most important thing to remember is that assumptions have clearly been made without properly reading the NOR (it is a requirement that all competitors read the NOR) and the VMCA is run by volunteers and if mistakes where made they where just that, mistakes, made by people volunteering their time so we could all sail the State Titles and enjoy ourselves.

Also that there is no doubt that Peter Dunk and Kate Hyde where the best MkII crew sailing at the Titles and are and where acknowledged as such.

Thanks Gary that clears it up

so in theory.....

if someone lived in say Qld. and didn't sail (& I assume this means competitively in that state) and that person came to Vic once a year and that is the one time of the year they sail competitively is the state tittle then ..... in theory..... they'd take it home ????

that rule has more holes in it than a used suicide bombers vest

Someone from interstate would not be competitive in the Vic State Titles if they never sailed for the rest of the year in their home state.

So in theory maybe, but in practice that ain't never gunna happen.

I would guess that the rationale behind the rule is that the Victorian State Titles are to be awarded to Victorian sailors. I don't see a problem with that.

I'm not sure you've actually identified a hole there. Surely all you've described is a situation that the rule was written purposely to cover. If someone does most of their sailing in Victoria then they can be the Victorian State champion. There is logic to that.

Many years ago there was a NSW resident who lived in the West of the state (landlocked). The only sailing he did was in Vic and one year he won the Mk2 titles in Vic. That would seem to be the situation the rule is designed to allow for.

Action photo!

This is the camping chair someone left behind at Bendigo.

Anyone recognise it?