August 2025, Vol #45, no #7. Editor: Gerald Nicholls
Sanctum at Lady Musgrave - Evan Hodge
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Captain's column
G’day Cruisers
We still have a lot of our cruisers out of town at the moment. They do have a habit of doing that though, when they go cruising, they go for a while.
Evan and Kelly have moved further north on Sanctum. The last position I can see on the Marine Traffic App has them in Mackay Harbour. The first photo above is another of theirs from Lady Musgrave Island with the lagoon just dead calm.
Ra RA is still in the marina at Harvey Bay although Jenni and I had dinner with Niclas and Sanna in Waverton earlier this week before they headed back to the boat. Niclas kindly agreed to write an article on his competing in the Gotlund Runt Race in June/July this year which I’ve included below.
Martyn has said he’s returned to the mainland after a fun filled week racing at Cowes and Chris and Jo are on Kythera where there have been some substantial fires unfortunately.
Jeremy and Kristin are cruising the Kimberley Coast on something a little bigger than Kai Rani and seem to be having a wonderful time.
Congratulations also to Mike McEvoy who was confirmed as a life member at the recent AGM.
At our meeting next Wednesday 20th August, Phil Darling has agreed to facilitate a discussion on Man Overboard techniques. This is a topic that was suggested for discussion recently as there are many different theories and methods floating around on how it should be done. So, the idea is to talk through the pros and cons of each different method so that if someone does go overboard you have a method in mind to get them back to safety. There is also a practical event organised for October 11 listed in the club Information and Education Sessions.
The second free Get Checked Day will be held 24th August and can be booked by emailing the MHYC Sailing Office on sailing@mhyc.com.au
Jenni and I will be in Italy for most of September, so we’ll miss the September Cruising meeting and also the Season Opening Day on September 14th. Hope to see you all next Wednesday and then look forward to catching up in October.
Cheers
Gerald, (Serenite)
Cruiser happenings
Competing sunset photos
Chris Kelleway, Kythera, Greece, reflecting the smoke from the recent fires on the Island
Jeremy Clarke, Kimberley region, WA
Dallas and Bryan on Shibumi on a wet Wednesday afternoon in Sydney. I like Bryan's safety boots, nice & warm.
Jeremy & Kristin Cruising in the Kimberley and a brave windsurfer in Darwin Harbour.
On the day of a Solar Eclipse, would you expect tides to be springs or neaps?
Does a GPS give you course and speed over ground or through water?
When a Cold Front catches up to a Warm Front, what sort of front is formed?
The navigator wants to steer a course on the chart of 015 degrees. You are off Sydney, with magnetic variation of 12 degrees east, and the vessel deviation chart tells you that on this course the deviation is 5 degrees west. What course should you pass up to deck for the helmsman to steer?
There is a very intense low pressure system off Newcastle. What direction would you expect the winds at Sydney to be?
What is the Lay of a rope?
What is the name given to the wave produced by an undersea earthquake?
What is a Lateen Sail, and how many sides does it have?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a Lateen Sail?
When taking a three point fix underway using a compass, why should you take the bearing on the beam first?
from Niclas Westling
Gotland Runt race 2025
As some of you know, Susanna and I have taken a temporary break from the RaRa cruising, and spent the Aussie winter in Europe, mostly Sweden where we have most of the family. It doesn't stop the urge to get on a sailing boat though, so when an old friend of mine called me the day before the start of the annual around Gotland race asking me to come along as one of his crew had gone sick, I just couldn't say no :-)
There was just one small problem, I had no sailing gear suitable for a Baltic Sea offshore race (t-shirt and shorts just doesn't suffice), and I had less than 18 hours to prepare and get out to the start area in the outer part of the Stockholm archipelago. Luckily the boat owner, and old friend of mine, has the same size of clothes and a few spares... In an hour or so his wife had gathered a comprehensive list of things for us to pick up from their house:
PFD and wet weather gear (jacket and trousers)
Sailing boots
Merino wool underwear of various kinds
puffer jacket
socks
wool jumpers
sleeping bag
and more... all sorted!
Susanna and I picked up all the sailing gear in the early Sunday morning and continued out to Sandhamn via car and boat, which we reached at 10am, with the start off-shore scheduled for 2.15pm... plenty of time.
A few facts about the race
Organised by the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, KSSS
Length of course 347NM, although this years race shortened to 314NM due to postponement/weather.
Number of boats: 250 - max capacity and it's normally fully booked
Handicap rules: ORC and SRS (Swedish Rating System, similar to PHS).
Our division, SRS D, had 24 entries
The shortened course of 2025
Heading off to the start
Around 12.30 we left the KSSS marina in Sandhamn, a slightly chaotic task as boats are rafted up, sometimes 8-9 side by side, and all 250 boats heading out to the start area. The forecast was a bit on the windy side (gusting 30kn) and it was rather cold, and by the time we reached the start area the Racing committee made a very unexpected call, delaying the start to earliest 8pm due to the current weather situation (with a rather nasty storm expected later on). The start had never previously been postponed in the history of the race.
Windy forecast
As all the other boats went in to seek shelter awaiting the new start time, we decided to stay out and practice spinnaker manoeuvres! I had never before sailed on his boat Cappucino, a 33ft sloop of Swedish design and build Albin Nova, and needed to "learn the ropes". All went well and nothing broke.
Later a second postponement call was made by the racing committee and our new start time set for 6.10am Monday morning, with a slightly shortened course as well. We enjoyed a good dinner and some sleep before an early wake up call at 4am.
Sandhamn marina and the KSSS club houseCappucino ready for startSlightly chaotic rafting upBlack Jack 100 was the biggest boat of the raceThis is as dark as it gets at this time of year in StockholmSometimes the wind dies completelyHiking in the sunshineApproaching Hoburgen, the southern tip of GotlandSpinnaker sailing towards Visby
The start went really well, crossing first in our division and we headed south with a spinnaker set in around 25kn breeze. Gradually the weather improved and we ended up in glorious sunshine and still a good breeze, leading our division. Our first real challenge (setback) came late Monday evening east of Gotland when the wind died completely and we were drifting for many hours. A couple of boats managed to get some wind before us and we dropped a few places before we were getting some new wind late Tuesday morning.
The watch system on Cappucino was unusual and very flexible. Basically we took turn having naps "as needed" and with respect to other crew members needs. It worked surprisingly well and everyone got a fair amount of sleep in. We took turns driving the boat (steering), so that no one steered for more than about 1-2 hours at a time.
Apart from some upwind sailing approaching Hoburgen we had the spinnaker up almost all the way around the course - so lucky!
Cappucino finished 4th, out of the 24 in our division. A result all of us were very happy with, and maybe more importantly we had a really good time together as a crew.
Photo of the month
Send your photos to Mike McEvoy to enter into the 2025 Cruising Division Competition. Each Month the best photo received will be published and, in the running, to win a new Mystery Prize at the end of 2025.
Send your best photos (as a JPG / JPEG) - Remember … to be in the running to win the prize you must be in it. Hint …. Give your favourite photo a Title and Place taken. Submit your photos to mmcevoy@bigpond.net.au
Good Shooting …!! Mike.
No entries sent to Mike this month.
Cruising Quiz answers
Springs – as the sun and moon are in line (hence the eclipse) then their influence adds to produce spring tides
The GPS will always give you readings over the ground.
An Occluded Front.
Course required is 015 True (all chart courses are true). Variation is 12 deg east, so subtract 12 to get 013 magnetic (remember – “variation east compass least”). Deviation on this course is 5 deg west, so add 5 to get 018 course to steer. I would tell the helmsman “steer 020” as a practical course to steer.
Winds travel clockwise around a Low in the Southern Hemisphere.Newcastle is north of us, so I would expect onshore winds in Sydney – easterly or maybe South Easterly
The direction of twist of a laid rope.
Tsunami.
A Lateen Sail is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast.It has three sides
Advantages: simplicity (easy to hoist, easy to set); disadvantages: there is a “good tack” when the sail is pushed away from the mast, and a “bad tack” when the wind pushes the sail onto the mast which prevents it from forming an ideal sail shape.
Because it changes quicker than the other bearings.
Opinions expressed in the Compass Rose are those of the contributors, and do not necessarily reflect opinions of either Middle Harbour Yacht Club or the Cruising Division
