The day started out rather gloomy, but the die hard still arrived and started rigging. This was a good move as after the early showers the day slowly cleared and turned on some great sailing. The course for the day was set with a gate to leeward and the start/finish line half way up the work, which doubled as a gate through which the fleet was required to sail on each windward leg. This gave duty team

Sunday saw a return to racing in 2012 at Vincentia Sailing Club. After a busy Christmas and new years break, a small fleet took to the water for one race in some shifty and rainy conditions. A new race format had skippers take the sheets and hand the tiller over to the crews. A sou-east course was set, but glimpses of a nor-east bought about a course change. By the time the fleet were at the top mark,

The Hobie Cat Australian Championships held in Mooloolaba last week attracted a fleet of 69 hobie 16's and 7 hobie 18's. The Vincentia Sailing Club was represented with 7 crews and a big Congratulations to Jake and Rohan who won the Hobie 18 Australian Title. In celebrating their success, Jake commented that it came down to their rigorous training schedule and flying his specialist crew in from Vietnam.

The final race weekend of the calendar year was a bit of a waiting game. A good fleet of boats made it to the rigging area but only half made it to the water as waiting for the wind dulled the enthusiasm. The best of the breeze was just before the start of two races. Just enough to fly a hull while double trapping and just enough for someone to bury the bows a bit deep on a reach, now who was that.

Congratulations to Richard and Rachael who have successfully defended their Hobie 18 NSW State Title over the weekend. In the Hobie 16 fleet, Andrew and Georgii brought home 2nd place in the masters division. Conditions were varied with a moderate easterly on the Saturday before a honking southerly pushed crews and boats to the limit on Sunday. Seabreeze charts showed gusts reaching 30 knots on Sydney

Sailing began on Sunday with a fairly solid westerly breeze, gusting over 20 knots. Only the brave ventured out on the Hobie Waves and Patrick and Will took to a new sport, something a mix of sailing, surfing and waterskiing. Spot on to the forecast, the breeze dropped and swung to the south east and four races were held with 9 Hobie 16's on the water. New to the club, Rudy and Helen tested out their

After being spoilt with constant nor-easters the last few weeks, sailors were greeted with an undecided forecast on Sunday. A total of 14 boats were on the water including Rohan and his family from Bathurst and Simon and Roe from Canberra. As boats left the beach, many were seen paddling to find breeze, only to find a lot of breeze as a gusty westerly set in. The course was adjusted for the new breeze

And yet another great day on the bay was had by one and all. Egbert started the day with terrifying Taipan speed to take the first two races. Mick was reliving his youth on an 18 (And loving it), scaring Quinny off in the process (he was a no show). Andrew's teabag and capsize in race 2 was the stand out for the day. With the increasing north easter after lunch, the Anderson's and John kept the duty

The NSW Boating Industry's Association's annual try sailing day was held on Sunday with an estimated 80 people attending the Vincentia Sailing Club to give sailing a try. Conditions were ideal with a light nor-easter before lunch which gave the opportunity for beginners to get out on the water. After lunch the breeze strengthened giving the thrill seekers some face paced and enjoyable joy ride opportunities.

An abundance of smiles, happy faces, kids having fun on the beach, great food and exhilarating sailing is what it was all about on Sunday. Surely the surprisingly good weather conditions contributed to those smiles on everyone's faces, sailors and beach gatherers, young and adults alike. Even Andrew came close to having a glimpse of a smile on his face, although not until after the sailing was over.