SYC Volunteering

Many thanks to all the Volunteers over the past few months for the variety of duties your Club has asked to assist with, like the Golf Day, & Dux Birthday, and our mid-week Twilight events and weekend support boat volunteers, well done keep up the good work you are all appreciated. We are currently working through the 51 Volunteers whom we have listed for “Special Events Group” eg. Sydney to Gold Coast, Pittwater to Southport, & Special Events, etc. you will receive an email over the next few weeks requesting to confirm or update your contact details & availability for either or all.. Volunteering is rewarding the attached article from Noel Gatland & John Rutherford. Race Officer & Support boat skipper in the Document Solutions Twilight Series.

“All yachts – All yachts – All yachts: Race Control - Race Control - Race Control” Neither Noel nor I thought bobbing around on “Race Control” would be interesting after our combined 80+ years of yacht racing but I now realise I should have manned the start boat occasionally during that time!

It is interesting, educational and entertaining to be “on the other side”, especially in the perfect sunset conditions of the Document Solutions Thursday Twilight Series on the Gold Coast.

Big boat sailing often involves focus and concentration solely on your tasks, your position on the boat as part of a team. Sightseeing and a bigger view of the race is constantly interrupted with “Ready About”! This is the first time that I have seen the big picture, tactics, currents, sails set well [or not!], precision starts [or not!], fast mark roundings [or not!] and close handicap finishes. The procedures for course selection, starts, finishes, shortened courses, radio and so on

all combine with stink boat handling, anchoring, currents, dolphins and sunsets. We see new things every week as we itch to alter trim to gain a boat length or three which often is the difference at the end of the twilight “stern chaser”. So many little differences in each boat or in each mark rounding are visible from our roving position on the race course.

SYC yachts would benefit from coming with us just once per year to add to their overall sailing knowledge and experience, learning by watching the rest of your crew from an outside perspective.

We have a great group of volunteers in all sorts of volunteering roles but I hadn’t realised the benefits to my sailing that I had failed to capitalise on.

Good fun, good for the Club, good for sailing and the team you sail with!

John and Noel

Phil Short Volunteer Co-ordinator