Head of the Harbour yet again!

                                     The water was tea hued, the light dazzling, the shadows dark...
                                              ... hmm it was not a photographers dream day!

It was hard to get a shot head on ... 

but Josh was leading the field and fighting through the spray,

along with everyone else 

                                                  Tim had been polishing last week

                                                 Ray and Josh took the start head to head

                                                                David had rig issues

                                                   ... it was a day for rear action shots !

 into the messy harbour chop 

                                                                 or ducking a port side boat

                                                                   

                                                              Josie and Geoff held it up

for some it was the side view that showed the action 

                                                        Sheldon was Duck, Duck wet,

                                                        Tuan went for a solo sail

                                                  Davida and Craig in the Corsair

                                                           Morgan would not give up!

                                             The rescue boats were busy 'hovering'

.. and then there was the occasional interesting shot 

                                                                       out of the light

                                                                     ski pole support

                                                             .. the 'We know Boats' group
                                                                          not to forget 

                                            the upside down boat group...of which there were many

                                                         and many times .. upside down                                                                                              
                                                          the lean back and let her go team ...

                                                                 where is everyone ?

                                                                  sail through the smog

                                                       and then ....
               there was every other type of boat you have ever seen on the harbour at one time

                                                                  here are just a few

                                                                                 
                                                                                 

                       

                         
                                                                    .. that was sailing ..
                                    don't forget the Smit Lamnalco all boat Regatta next weekend!
                                                                             

The launch of the Thorpe

                             
                                           The launch of the Thorpe Class trainee 12ft Dinghy

A small crowd gathered to mark the occasion of the launch of the Thorpe dinghy 

that has been lovingly restored by Club Patron Barry Austen

A little bit of information for the reader ...

The Trainee Dinghy was a double hander open boat (no deck), of planked construction with no buoyancy tanks. The sail plan of a large mainsail and flat-cut spinnaker provided plenty of excitement for crews in fresh conditions, and no room for error. The class evolved into the Thorpe 12 - a lighter boat of plywood construction with buoyancy tanks and a more efficient rig. Later boats were of foam sandwich or fibreglass construction with high aspect mainsails. Fleets of Trainees and Thorpes spread from Cairns to Sydney, with some boats being based in Victoria. The Class languished in the 1990's as Yachting Associations placed more emphasis upon Olympic and National classes

                             ( Michael Storer - Blog Sailing Dinghy Thorpe Class Trainee 12ft)
                                                                       

                                               and while it may take a village to raise a child,
                                                it clearly takes a few members to rig a Thorpe...

finally it was a 'goer' 

we took a few photos for the history books

                                              after all ... Pat deserves a long cruise, not just a medal!!

                                                                               

                              and while the riggers were busy, others were engaged in a 'cone of silence' 
                                                            ,,, keeping a low profile?

                               
                              down at the waters edge , Colleen and Martin nervously climbed aboard
                                                                     😰 ... big responsibility ...

Just lovely Barry !