BWPS to Bird Island
BWPS to Bird Island
Club Marine Bluewater Pointscore Series The Bird Island race was held on Saturday and saw 14 boats compete , a great fleet to see ! The fleet enjoyed the southerly winds to get them to Bird Island before battling to work their way home in a dropping breeze .
For Le Billet owners Mark Tinworth and Mark Waterhouse this BWPS Season they have handed the ‘ keys to the boat ’ to a team of youth members seeking to develop their offshore skills . The team will be competing in all the BWPS offshore races with the club and competed in the CYCA Sydney to Gold Coast race in July . Mark Tinworth says “ Its been great to be able to offer the run of the boat to the youth team , they have heaps of energy and are keen to learn big boat sailing ”....
Mark Waterhouse says “ We looked back on the days when Perpetual Motion took YD to Coffs and we thought to ourselves , why is this not happening any more , so we got a few of the YD crew together for 2015 and 2016 race and we all had a great time . So then we decided lets get the YD crew to commit to the full BWPS and we will commit to providing some training for them , and we ended up with half the crew YD and half the crew Le Billet regulars . A big thanks to Rachel for rounding up the YD and doing the sell on them .
them up front . In fact we have oldies doing bow and mast . The YD ’ s are super keen to learn stuff like tactics , navigation etc and of course Safety at Sea ( particularly on overnight races ). As one of the YD said , “ we need a few oldies on board for when it all goes to s #@ t ”.
Gaining a 2nd in Div2 in Sydney to Gold Coast and a 1st on all handicaps at RPAYC BWPS was a great result . Whilst Bird Island was a little disappointing , the conditions were not ideal for a 12 tonne boat and we all get a chance to do it again in November .
Mark T and I and all our regular Le Billet crew have been impressed not just with the YD crew ’ s sailing ability and knowledge ( thanks Tommy ) but also their commitment , enthusiasm and just all round great people to have on the boat .
Oh , and the other secret to success , unlimited supply of Tim Tams and snakes !!!
Congratulations to Pekljus , David Suttie for winning the PHS Division and winning Free Entry into the Bartercard Sail Paradise Series in QLD which follows the Club Marine Pittwater to Southport Race 2-6 January , 2017 .
It has worked out fantastic , the key is to give the YD crew key positions on helm , main , pit and trim and not just send