April Senior Sailing Breeze.

A brief summary of the sailing calendar for the April and May 2012.

The sailing season is fast coming to an end, but the winter series of the Von Klemperer and the Brass Monkey has provided excellent sailing in light to medium winds in the past few years and overall the weather has been mild to warm most weekends. So please support the winter program, you will get some pleasant sailing out of it.

Saturday 28^th and Sunday 29^th  April

Relax with friends and family enjoy an organized cruise and a braai on the Saturday and a long distance cruise around Midmar on Sunday. Briefing at 13h15 on Saturday and 9.h45 on the Sunday.

Sundays 6^th, 13^th, 20^th and 27^th April and 3^rd May

Von Klemperer Series consisting of five races (One per race day).

Medium distance race around the fixed bouys, open to all classes. Briefing will take place on the verandah at 13h15, with a jetty start at 14h00. Snacks will be served in the pub, after the final race of the series.

Sundays 10^th, 17^th May

Brass Monkey Series consisting of two races (One per race day).

Medium distance race around the fixed bouys, open to all classes. Briefing will take place on the verandah at 13h15, with a jetty start at 14h00. Snacks will be served in the pub, after the final race of the series to mark the end of season..

General Information:

(1)   Club Members who wish to go cruising during any of the above events are welcome to do so, but PLEASE remember to keep clear of the racing area.       

(2)  Attendance at briefings is not compulsory, but it is advisable to attend them as 

even though course directions should be posted early by the race officer, last minute changes can be made. (This only applies to HMYC Club Events)

(3)   Camping in the club grounds is only permissible during organized events, sites 

       must be booked via the Club Administrators Office. Contact Heather Marshal

       on 0833127707 or 033 3304158 during her club administration hours.

             (or complete the camping form as per the Notice of Regatta)

Last but not least, for those who enjoyed the best yachting facility in the country, thanks for your participation in this years sailing events, and to those race officers who gave of their time to provide you with well managed sailing events, thanks your effort is most appreciated, without you the sailing calendar would not exist. Finally please support the incoming committee and let HMYC see you on the water, in the coming season.

Fair winds and great sailing,

Rob Bell      Tel: 033 3442182   Cell: 0739618006

MASTHEAD # 8

Club Trophies

If you have any of the Club’s trophies at home, please can you return them to the Club as soon as possible, but definitely before the end of April, as the AGM and prize-giving is coming up soon, and they will need to be engraved for the new winners?  The AGM and prize-giving will once again be a combined event, to be held on Sunday 24^th June, up at the Club.  The exact time of this will be announced closer to the date, but it will be at lunchtime. 

Club Committee

If you are prepared to help with the running of your Club and can stand on the Club Committee next season, in any portfolio, please can you give your name to one of the Committee members and your help will be gratefully accepted.

Sailing programme

The Closing Cruise will be held at the Club on Sunday 22^nd April – and the race will be for the Commodore’s Hamper.  Thereafter there will be the popular von Klemperer and Brass Monkey series which will be sailed during May and June.

Power Boat Certificates of Competency

Your Vice Commodore Sailing – Rob Bell – is requesting all members who have current Certificates of Competence related to skippering a power boat and who are prepared to man the club powered craft from time to time, to please forward a copy of their Certificate to robbell @ushomi .co .za , or leave/send a copy with/to the Club Administrator.

This, according to a SAMSA Appointed Official, is now required to allow for a general tightening up of the rule that a licensed skipper must be in charge of a powered craft driven by an engine exceeding 15HP and that the onus is on the club to provide proof that we have competent licensed skippers to man our craft, when re-registering our craft.

Boat and Trailer Parking

The Club faces a problem with boats/trailers parked in bays without having either paid a parking fee or they are occupying another member’s bay.

In Masthead No. 6 this problem was also addressed and to date Hes Hamilton has received only two responses from members informing him of their situation.

The EXCO Committee have therefore decided that the following steps are necessary to bring order and discipline in the use of onshore facilities. It is not acceptable for example that a member who has paid for a parking bay finds on arrival at the Club that it is occupied by a trailer or boat that cannot be identified.

1) We are approaching the new membership year and members are requested to ensure that their boats and trailers have the 2012/3 stickers attached. If you wish to have Hes do this for you then please contact him and he will be more than happy to oblige.

2) Effective immediately, any boat/trailer that we cannot identify will be removed from the parking area and padlocked until such times as the owner appears and verifies that the appropriate fees have been paid.

Gantry

The use of the Gantry is subject to a fee as the equipment must be maintained and it is only fair that those members using it make a contribution to these costs.

A fee of R50 per week will apply and bookings MUST be made via Heather Marshall or Hes Hamilton and paid in advance.

The Gantry is being moved to alongside the Boat House and a concrete base will be laid, so that with adjacent electricity and water a much improved working area will be available to members. Once this is in place painting and major renovation work will no longer be permitted in the tarred parking area.

The tarred area must be protected as the Club will not be able to absorb the cost of having to resurface this area.

Those members who visit the Club regularly will notice the Committee is upgrading areas in and around the Club House to improve facilities for our members and this process will continue.

Contact details :

Hes Hamilton : hjh@telkomsa.net or 0722254230

Heather Marshall : info@hmyc.org.za or 083 312 7707

Trailer Maintenance

There are many trailers in the park which have flat tyres and tow hitches which need lubrication/maintenance. As a service to members the Committee will offer to look after these items for any member who wants to ensure that when they arrive their trailer is ready to use. If you wish to avail yourself of this facility please let Hes know (preferably by email) and he will provide details and organise it. The charge will be R100/annum added to your 2012/13 membership fees.  

Boat Shed:

The padlock on the boat shed at the far end of the car park had to be replaced recently, so if you have boats in there, you will need to get a new key from Hes Hamilton.  His contact details are above, otherwise if you want to get access to the boat shed on a sailing day, and don’t have a key, ask Thammi as he has a key.  However, Thammi locks the boat shed before he leaves the Club at 16h00 on a weekend so please ensure that you have all your things out of the boat shed/ put all your things back by 15h30.

Last GD and Monthly Mug

Sunny day but light variable breeze coming out of Orient bay.Bad news and Essex were on equal points going into the final day.A bit of match racing was in order for the day ,Rob Samways and Sandy doing the honours as race officers.The race started out in about 5 knots but on the final lap to finish the wind died to 1 knot and less .Bad news and Essex exchanged places regularly but Essex held the slight lead to get the first race,Second race was also very light Essex got away nicely to a comfortable lead but then wind died and this saw bad news right on the heals of Essex .Bad news managed to overtake Essex close to the leeward can but a puff coming in from port was noticed a little earlier than bad news and Essex was first to round ,Shortened course was blown.,so this was to finish Essex unfortunately had a bad rounding and tried to keep momentum going by staying on port.Bad news tacked immediately after rounding and managed to find breeze and got in a comfortable win over Essex.So boiled down to the last race to whom would get the GD trophy ;with Essex and bad news on equal points.The breeze finally settled a bit and the final race got away.Essex was well ahead but then at top can the breeze died again.Essex was again slowly hauled in by Bad news.Rob blew shortened course and at this stage the boats had bunched up   close together.A slick gybe by bad news inside of Essex saw bad news win just seconds ahead.

Thus GD champions are Luke and Stephen Wagner,just a single point ahead of Essex.The closest GD thus far!!Luke and Stephen also managed to claim the Hunter Trophy (the handicap trophy).The monthly mug belonged to Rob Tarbie on his Extra.Also greatr to see that Tim and Joe Phillips newcomers have claimed the Silver  fleet trophy ,sailing consistently better.So well done to them!!

Please realize that the GD results and Hun ter trophy are affected by average points awarded to those sailors that did bridge duty so you will see that certain sailors have a result on the day they did race duty.

Kind regards

Tim Duguid

MASTHEAD # 7 – April 2012

For the past two months your Club has at times been a veritable hive of activity – we’ve had the
Quantum 9 Hour, the 2012 Inter Schools regatta, and lastly the 2012 Hunter Nationals.
The Quantum 9 Hour was a great success!! We had 70 boats of all shapes and sizes entered, and
there was a DJ who played music all day at the Club on Saturday, as well as into the night, ensuring
that those on the shore also had a good time. We also had visits by the Land Rover Experience
contestants – one of their tasks for the day was to complete a lap on a keelboat and thanks must go
to the keelboat skippers who hosted them on their boats. I wonder how the contestants enjoyed the
sailing, as opposed to driving?

This year we had a tracking system fitted to most of the boats, and this enabled the crews to see
where their boat was lying when they came ashore for the change-over as the position of each
tracked boat was shown on a screen in the hall.
We also had some games organized on the lawn for the younger members, but as it was a hot day
they weren’t made to do too much exercise!!! In order to give the DJ a break, and also for something
different, there was a live band which played on the club verandah while we were waiting for the
results to be worked out, as well as a ‘cook your own’ supper which allowed people to mingle and
socialize while they were cooking their food. In all it was a great event, and once again our heartfelt
thanks go to Quantum for their generous sponsorship which made it all possible. Thanks must also
go to the people who sponsored prizes for the event, as well as all the ‘back room’ boys who harried
these people for prizes, and helped with the preparations for the event. And, of course, the recorders
who had the unenviable task of trying to make out a sail number of one boat which was hidden
behind another!!! We were fortunate with the weather – the wind stayed light to moderate which
meant that there weren’t large groups of boats coming simultaneously over the ‘line’, and the fastest
boat did a total of 15 laps.
On the 10th and 11th March, your Club hosted the KwaZulu-Natal Inter-Schools regatta. This regatta is where scholars compete in any type of dinghy and sail for their school, and there was a small entry
comprising Lasers, Optimists, Teras, and a couple of Mirrors. There were some new faces in the fleet,
and hopefully they will continue sailing now that they’ve completed their first regatta!!

Then, from the 17th to the 21st of March, HMYC hosted the Hunter Nationals regatta. There was an
entry of 18 boats for this regatta, with some sailors making the trip from Gauteng for the event.
Racing was hotly contested over three days, with Luke and Stephen Wagner taking the victor’s spoils.
The showers in the men’s change room have been re-tiled, and are looking quite smart in their Sharks
colours!!! Thanks to Hes Hamilton for arranging this and doing the work.

If you have any of the Club’s trophies at home, please can you return them to the Club as soon as
possible, but definitely before the end of April, as the AGM and prize-giving is coming up soon, and
they will need to be engraved for the new winners. The AGM and prized-giving will once again be a
combined event, to be held on Sunday 24th June, up at the Club. The exact time of this will be
announced closer to the date, but it will be at lunchtime. If you are prepared to help with the running
of your Club and can stand on the Club Committee next season, in any portfolio, please can you give
your name to one of the Committee members and your help will be gratefully accepted.
The Closing Cruise will be held at the Club on Sunday 22nd April – and the race will be for the
Commodore’s Hamper. Thereafter there will be the von Klemperer and Brass Monkey series which will be sailed during May and June.

Note from the Commodore:
Professor Winton ‘Wog’ Hawksworth
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Professor Winton Hawksworth, or Wog
Hawksworth as everyone fondly new him. Wog was commodore of the Henley-Midmar Yacht Club for a longer period of time than any other person and the club grew from strength to strength under his guidance. A simple glance at the honours boards at the club serves as a reminder of the huge
commitment he gave to the club that he loved so much. He served Henley-Midmar Yacht Club as Vice Commodore Sailing for 2 years, Commodore for a total of 9 years and President for a total of 5 years.

In terms of sport administration, his career is legendary at club, provincial, national and international
levels. Just a few of the numerous items follow:
· Chairman of the then Natal Yachting Association for many years
· Race Officer for the Windsurfer World Championships in Plettenberg Bay
· Race officer for numerous National Championships all around the country.
· KZN Councillor to South African Sailing
· Chairman of the National Olympic Committee of SA Doping Commission
· Recipient of the 1991 Stan Jeffrey Trophy Award for his work on the Olympic bodies and for
working towards unity between CASA and SAYRA
· South African Sailing’s Medical Officer

Wog was active in sailing at Midmar for many years. His two sons Douglas and Mark grew up sailing
at Midmar and his wife Pauline always provided the support needed for his numerous endeavours. We wish to offer our sincere condolences to his family in this difficult time, but we also need to give
thanks for his life and all that he did for our great sport of sailing.