Welcome to Port Hedland Yacht Club

2009 Annual General Meeting

The 2009 Port Hedland Yacht Club Annual General Meeting will be held at the Yacht Club on Sunday 6th December.  The start time will be at 15:00 hours.  Should you wish to serve on the Committee, please contact the Club Secretary for a Nomination Form.

Laing O’Rourke and Farr-Jones team deliver AED

Defibrillator Donated to Yacht Club

On Sunday 8^th November Laing O’Rourke Area Manager Derek Edmead presented a defibrillator unit to the Port Hedland Yacht Club along with Angela Farr-Jones, Relationship Manager of Cardiac Responder, who travelled from Sydney for the occasion.

Vice Commodore David Sutcliffe, who accepted the generous donation on behalf of the yacht club, was proud that Laing O’Rourke had chosen the yacht club to be the recipient of this vital equipment.  Laing O’Rourke are also sponsoring the ongoing maintenance and monitoring of the defibrillator as their commitment to supporting the community.

Cardiac Responder trainer Steven Davies travelled from Perth twice to instruct interested yacht club members on CPR and the correct use of the defibrillator.   Steven said the more people who know how to use the defibrillator the better it is for all concerned in the event of an emergency.

David Sutcliffe was also one of the CPR students learning from trainer Steven Davies.  David said that he had undertaken a CPR course when he was 16 years old “in the last century” and he strongly recommended that everyone should update their lifesaving skills.

The Cardiac Responder defibrillator is now situated in the lounge area of the Port Hedland Yacht Club, ready for use.

Weerdee Island

The Weerdee Island event is coming soon.   Make sure that you have freed up the weekend so that you can enjoy the weekend at Hedland’s own Tropical Island Paradise.  The word on the water is that plenty of Yachties have already put in some practice runs in the typically fast E-S/E ride down to Weerdee.  Dust of the camping kit and get the crew rowdy for a very enjoyable weekend.  Pics from 2008 trip are below.

Club keeps growing – Member by member

Stucturally, the Clubhouse still has a way to go, but the form is taking shape.  Check out these pics… Better still come down this weekend and go for a sail.  Remember weekends start on Thursday at Port Hedland Yacht Club.

Thanks to Jude for these PHotos…

Keep your eyes open for this beast

The Moth sailing dinghy was around in 1975 when PHYC was founded.  The Moth took on a very different shape back then but the philosophy has not changed and that is simply to go as fast as a sailor and the dinghy will go.  The scour Moth that skipped the waters of the PHYC back then was described as a piece of furniture – immaculate in its presentation and very timber looking.  Today the Moth is a carbon fibre construction that comes in at around 35kg for total hull weight.

The next inception of the Moth is the foiler.  Best viewed on the web at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFR8xhw3Q1A&feature=related

Bound to impress

“BadJelly” , Spike Milligan reference aside, will be a wicked ride when the hull is matched with a suitable rig.  While BadJelly is not a foiler, you will not be dissapointed at the club when it hits the water - it will be a spectacle!

Dinghy Challenge Action

Sunday 6th September was Dinghy Challenge race day and while it was difficult to sustain the numbers from the Port Hedland Yacht Club Regatta, a good number of boats hit the water.  Corsairs, Tasars and the Laser enjoyed the 10-18 knot Sou-Easter.   The Tasars started the fleet and offered a self imposed 5 minute handicapped start to the Corsairs and Laser.

Mike and Jenny Forbes - winners of Dinghy Challenge - with new recruit Cam

Mike and Jenny enjoyed the win.  And also kindly donated Tasar number two to Brett and Cam.  The First Corsair home was Dave. S. and Alan. Commodore John and his able crew Lorraine braved the waters in a monohull Corsair and did away with the safety of the triamaran to bring home the fleet.

The Laser made good time beating home the Corsairs – Crazy Belgian.

2009 PHYC Regatta Results

The Port Hedland Yacht Club hosted the 2009 Regatta and were very happy to see 17 boats take to the water.  The results were as follows:

Division A:

1.       Ribasher – Phil Jones

2.       Seaslug – Bones

3.       Venomous – Dave Gosper

Division B:

1.       Intrigue – Roger Fawcett

2.       Just a Pussy – Darryl Brown

3.       Comfortably Numb – John Bartlem

Division C:

1.       Happy Endings – Mike Forbes

2.       Dynamic – Peter Forbes

3.       Laser – Stan Loghe

Division D:

1.       The Urge – Scott Crane

2.       Don’t Panic – Ben Thorburn

3.       Chq Mate – John Dingey

2009 PHYC Regatta

The Port Hedland Yacht Club welcomes you to the waters of Port Hedland on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd August 2009 for the Club Regatta.  A warm welcome is extended to a sailors from Exmouth, Dampier and Broome to join us in Port Hedland.   A three race series on the water will be matched by a fun social program onshore.  For more information on the event please clal Commodore John Bartlem.

The new clubhouse is on its way up

The Port Hedland Yacht Club’s new building is taking shape.  Sutherland Street traffic is travelling a little slower as the passers-by look at the Yacht Club structure take off.

Port Hedland Yacht Club building in progress

Hocking takes second place at Northwest Regatta

Alan Hocking skippered Steve Crawford’s Tasar 940  to a second place in the Dinghy class at Dampier’s Hampton Harbour Boating Sailing Club at the weekend.

On Alan’s first outing on the helm in a regatta he won the first heat – an awesome effort.  Steve Crawford took some time off from sailing for go-karting – whatever that is.  But it is good too see he still has kept sailing’s interest high by keeping his boat on the water, even without him.  With perfect Northwest winter sailing conditions Alan and his crew Brett McInerney, took on the fleet of Lasers and Tasars.

The winning dinghy was Erin Commijs sailing the Laser “Outa the Blue” with Peter and Rosie Forbes in Tasar 763 taking out third place.  An honourable performance from Kiwi Phil Wild on a HHBSC Laser.  Phil, a former representative for NZ in Full rig Lasers, led the way in all races.  The Laser is a not as quick as  the Tasar according to the Victorian Yardstick and so the Laser should be following the stern of the Tasar across the finish line.  Phil pushed his Laser hard in all races and was unfortunate to finish race one due to a failed mast.

The club had a good catarmaran fleet with Hobie 16s, Nacra and a Windrush.  Roger Fawcet’s (HHBSC) F24 Corsair Triarmaran was missing the company of PHYC Commodore Bartlem’s vessel to compete against.  Numbers were down on previous regattas but it is very encouraging to see that the event is firmly back on the calendar after the cancellation in 2008.

The Mermaid Hotel provided light entertainment on Saturday night.  The HHBSC is keen to have a weekend at Port Walcott YC.  Regatta or not, not being the case.  So check the website for details as they come to hand.

Perspective shows club’s potential

Concrete and Steel Arrives

The Construction of the PHYCs new clubhouse has now reached another milestone as Custom Constructions delivery of concrete and steel reached the PHYC hardstand.

Gypsy wins club race

Anything is possible in the Pilbara and Gypsy showed them all on Sunday 14th June 2009 when all accolades went to the skipper and crew with a deserved victory.

One time cauldron… to glamour queen on the race course

Weerdee Island

A combination of the 30 knot wind on Saturday morning and the Neap tides proved to be both a help and a hindrance, as a couple of the yachts flagged to sail to the Island did not make it and others made the journey in near record time.

The Weerde Island main beach was looking a little daunting at 10am on Saturday morning as Gypsy touched down with plenty of waves on the shore and sand being whisped of the sand dunes.

By the time Ribasher arrived, the bay was looking a little more like the picture postcard weather.  Sea Slug joined the party to complete the small flotilla,  shortly after RIbasher had taken anchor.

Happy Hour

The camping gear and fishing kit were brought up from below decks and then ashore to turn the deserted island into quite a hospitable camp.  Thanks to the bonfire wood collectors, a beach fire took over where the ripper of a sunset left off.

This is how you catch em Al

A couple of fish were landed on the lines and many more marine life spotted around the island waters.

Everyone was trying to get ashore – even this Blue Ring Octopus

Gypsy set sail back for Port Hedland on the hint of a Sunday North Wester, but there were a lucky few who could stay on and enjoy the tropical paradise in style.

Doin it Tough Weerdee Style

Tuggies take to the Water… In a Corsair !!

Corasirs Tug Style

With great pleasure that we announce the newest Corsair sailors at PHYC.  The guys from TK Shipping are certainly no slouches on the water.   Pushing around hundreds of thousands of tons of ship is an every day part of the job for the Tug Masters and their crew.  John Bourke is a former Commodore of the Sandy Bay Yacht Cub and current member of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.  John has netted some of colleagues from TK, to get them out on the Corsairs.  The guys enjoyed their Corsair sail so much that they are keen to join the membership and start some Corsair Match Racing.

You can look out for John at the Yacht Club, driving the Tugs in the Harbour or follow his progress on the yacht HELSAL III during the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_details.asp?raceEntryID=12118

We warned you that he was NO slouch.  A damn good advert for sailing the PHYC Corsairs.

PORT HEDLAND YACHT CLUB 2008 REGATTA

The PHYC Regatta for 2008 certainly provided plenty of varying sailing conditions for the sailors.  A time correction yardstick was applied to the three divisions of yachts, normalizing sailing performance of the crews of dissimilar yachts.

The off-the-beach boats enjoyed sailing from the yacht club basin to the race course in the outer Harbour.  Thanks to the efforts of BHP Billiton and Downer EDI Works, who have provided the deepening of the basin entrance with the recent civil works on the Spoil bank.

The Regatta was sailed with a three race format. Nine boats lined up on the start line for Saturday’s racing in a light East Nor-Easterly.  After a weather forecast that predicted the sheets blowing off the clothesline, the majority of the fleet tried to finish the race battling the two knot tide in NO wind.

Thanks to the crews of the Volunteer Marine Rescue and the Start Boat for their efforts in assisting with getting the fleet safely back to shore.  The winners were home and enjoying the sunset from the clubhouse while some of the unfortunate sailors were still coming home while the spectacular sunset slipped away.

Sunday’s weather was more of what the fleet had expected with a rather cool East Sou-East for the morning race up into the Port Hedland Inner Harbour and then a long zig zag back out to the top of the Spoilbank.  The weather did keep on challenging the sailors on the thirteen boat fleet, as the offshore winds abated and the afternoon sea breeze filled from the North, Nor-East.  The sailors returned to shore for a lunch break and then made their way back to the race course for the third and final Sunday afternoon race.  The sea breeze filled in at 15 knots and provided for some good racing.

The regatta results for the Division A Monohulls were  1st – Venomous, Dave Gosper, 2nd – Ribasher, Phil Jones, 3rd – Gypsy, Joan Foley.  The Division B Catarmarans, 1st  - Allegro, John Bartlem, 2nd – Evita, Chris Muller HHBSC, 3rd – Warrawin, Barry Sisson. The Division C Dinghies, 1st – Filler Up, Brett McInerney, 2nd – Dynamic, Mike Forbes, 3rd- Peter Forbes HHBSC.

The North West sailors now have the 2009 Regatta firmly in their sites with the Regatta to be sailed from the new clubhouse.  Sailing will continue on Saturday 6th September with Sunday 7th hosting the Corsair dinghy Challenge.

2008 Regatta Sponsors

NORTH WEST LIQUOR SUPPLIES ANDERSON STREET

HARVEY NORMAN BOULEVARD SHOPPING CENTRE

PROGRESSIVE SUPPLIES HARDIE STREET

CUSTOM CONSTRUCTION PORT HEDLAND

BHPBILLITON IRON ORE NELSON POINT

PILBARA BOATS N BIKES CAJARINA ROAD - WEDGEFIELD

BLACKWOOD HARDWARE WILSON STREET

BOATING HARDWARE PRO SAIL O’CONNOR – PERTH

BIG G aka GORDON CLEMENT PHYC LIFE MEMBER

DOWNER EDI WORKS PEAWAH STREET – WEDGEFIELD

Heavyweight Tidal CLASH

The Iron King was a big hit for the people of Hedland when she decided to steer her own way when departing port.  She is believed to have suffered steering failure when navigating one of the changes of direction in the shipping channel.  No better place too watch the outer harbour action than from the Port Hedland Yacht Club.  See you there soon.