Yachting Australia Acredited – Sailing Training School

An action packed few weeks culminated in the event most anticipated by the Ranelagh crew: KidSail 2010!

This year we truly believe was the best yet; great sailing weather, albeit challenging on occasion, a mixture of practical and theoretical tuition, beach games and exercises, good food and a fine bunch of ‘Kids’ that entered into the spirit of the week wholeheartedly.

Key KidSail activities included the construction of Thong Boats with surprisingly good sailing dynamics, Tug-o-War, fiercely contested – but a win for the Pirates, Beach Tennis and Volleyball and who can forget the fitness challenge under the command of our resident Ironman, Chris Mallalue!

The competition between teams, (Pirates and King’s Navy) and individual crews added another element to the overall fun, with some fine boat decoration and costumes prevalent on the last day. The program ended with our newly appointed skippers racing around the buoys with a confidence far in excess of their level of newly acquired skills. As usual, we retired to the Deck for a presentation to those individuals whose actions throughout KidSail came to the RYS committee’s attention, although in our eyes all the participants were winners as it was a real delight to see their experiences build into confidence and skill through the week.

Two stand-out achievers to be acknowledged were the winner of this year’s Harvey Gunnerson award for overall ability on and off the water:  Kristian Tipovsky, and notably the ‘Most Improved’ sailor throughout the course: Charlotte Henderson, who impressed us all with her sailing in sometimes tricky wind conditions. Congratulations to the deserving winners of prizes – too many to mention in full.

Well done to all involved – and a big “THANK YOU!” to our volunteers for giving up their holidays to help run the program. Another tremendous effort well executed.

NB: All Ranelagh Club members are welcome to join us on our regular Sunday sail at Ranelagh Beach from 10:00am and enter our afternoon race series so even if you have not sailed before – come and give it a try!

In December we saw one of the best ‘days’ sailing ever at Ranelagh, with the ‘Twilight Sail’ before Christmas. Sailing with a setting sun as the backdrop has got to be one of the most memorable experiences on the water. It was commented upon by many as quite magical and is sure to be repeated before the summer is over.

Earlier in the month we had another excursion away from the Beach – “Wine tasting by Horseback” with the stables at SpringCreek Farm hosted by Terry and Bev Scott. A superb afternoon was had by a number of the team visiting T’Gallant winery and the Local Collection at Noel’s via our trusty steeds. Most notably we were led by Josh on ‘The Shermanator’ and despite the rusty technique, we made the trip without incident to return to a gourmet BBQ in tranquil surroundings. A perfect end to a perfect day and is a highly recommended experience.

Dates to note in the RYS Calendar are:
5-8^th March Raymond Island camping over the Labour day weekend – which is filling up fast so be sure to book your place asap.
14^th March Schnapper Point Regatta at Mornington. Please advise any of the committee if you wish to be included in the team for this event.
1^st May – Commodore’s Ball. “MayDay!” seemed appropriate for us to revitalize an old tradition of the Commodore’s Ball. Be sure to look out for notices in coming weeks as the details evolve but keep this date free at all cost!

“Safe seas and steady Winds!”

Dennis Jackson
Commodore: RYS

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