On Saturday 7 August we have heat 1 of the annual Bill Hooper Series, with heat 2 on Saturday 14 August. The four race Bill Hooper series runs across August and September and is named after William "Bill" Hooper one of the foundation members and the first commodore of Albert Sailing Club.

On 21st of August the club will sail a Winter Trophy Race in the afternoon. The Presentation of trophies for the 8 race Winter Series trophies will follow at around 5.30pm in the clubrooms, with the after race club BBQ.

On the final weekend of August, 28th and 29th, the annual Scout Regatta will be conducted on Albert Park Lake and there will be no club racing on that weekend. However, there will be a quarterly Club Working Bee from 9.30 am till mid afternoon. A list of tasks to be undertaken will be developed over the next few weeks and placed near the club upstairs noticeboard. There will be plenty to do, in the boatyard, in the clubrooms and on the water in our Status boats. We look forward to a good turnout of members to help in maintaining and improving our facilities. The club will be providing a BBQ lunch on the day.

The club Newsletter was published in mid July and includes the duty roster through to early October. It was another good issue. Well done and thanks to contributors of articles and photos, and our Editor Andrew Groncholski who does a great job compiling and organising printing of the Newsletter. The next issue will be published in September. Andrew is now seeking content for this issue, with the close date the 29th August. If you have an articles or photo of a sailing club activity or another items of likely interest to the readers of our Newsletter send them through to Andrew. His requirements and his contact details are on the final page of the July Newsletter.

The winter season returns on Saturday 17 July with race 7 of the 8 race Winter Series starting at 2 PM (1:15 PM briefing).  The OOD will be one of our experienced Sabre sailors and qualified Race Officer, Tony Schalken. The next 8 week Basic Sailing Skills course for novice sailors commences at 9.30 in the morning. We can look forward to Don's soup in the Galley at lunchtime, and the Club BBQ on the balcony after racing.

Over the last couple of weeks a number of juniors sailing in our winter season ventured north to sail in the Queensland Youth Week conducted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron which included the OAMPS Australian Mid Winter Youth Championships. There were some good results recorded. In a fleet of 30 Laser 4.7's Ben Harnett finished 4th overall, and Tom Vincent 5th. In the Laser Radial class Jeremy O’Connell finished 3rd. Finn Harnett finished 3rd  and Lachie Harnett finished 20th in the Optimist Green fleet of 26 boats. In the Optimist class Zach O’Connell was 2nd with Anna Philip 12th and 2nd Girl and Sarah Philip  22nd  & 6th Girl (41 entries). Well done to all of those who made the treck to Brisbane and sailed or provided support for the young sailors.  

On Sunday 18 July, the Hartley TS16 association will have its annual Boat display and Information Day in the gravel rigging area adjacent to Albert Sailing Club. The 2010-11 Hartley 16 national titles will be hosted by Williamstown Sailing Club over the upcoming Christmas - New Year period, I am sure that club members Michael Horvath and Ian Fox will be contesting the championship hoping to reclaim their title. The Demonstration Day is a good opportunity to have a look at these boats and discuss the enjoyment of sailing them with class representatives.

George Andrysk lets us know of a few sailing related shows on TV and the ABC’s iView. Today I watched three men in another boat on iView and found it fun to watch. The links are:

Part One
Part Two

Also, On OneHD Monday the 19th of July 6:30pm to 7:00pm “Spirit of Yachting”

The next General Committee meeting is on this Tuesday 20 July in the ASC clubrooms at 7.30. All members are welcome to attend.

On Saturday 24 July, we have race 8 of the Winter Series. We can expect a big fleet of Sabres, with the return of the Victorian Sabre Class Association for another race in their Travellers Series. This is a good opportunity for Sabre sailors from Albert and from Victorian clubs to have a fleet race with plenty of competition on the Lake.

The next 8 week Basic Sailing Skills course for novice sailors commences on Saturday 17 July. The course runs from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm for eight Saturdays over the next couple of months. The course is for current and new club members who have no or minimal sailing experience and want to learn how to sail a sailing dinghy in light to moderate winds. Instruction is by Yachting Australia recognized Instructors who follow the Yachting Australia Learn to Sail course curriculum. There is a hardy group of people signed up for the course with room for a few more to be added. Inquiries can be directed to Don McKenzie by phone or by email to him on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it The 8 week Spring Basic Skills Training course will commence in the first half of October, and a booking sheet for this course will shortly be placed on the club noticeboard in the foyer.

Another item of business is we are looking to get some quotes to ensure the competitiveness of our cleaners. If you know of a good commercial cleaner we would be interested in getting a quote from them, please email Luke ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) with the details.    
 
Thanks

Rod & Luke
(Rear Commodore and Commodore)

This Saturday we have our Mid Winter Trophy race, our winter series is taking a short break for the school holidays. Our winter series will be on hold until the 17th of July when races 7 will be held with race 8 held the next week. Next week the Yacht Club are holding the Yachting Victoria Wintersail program and as such we will not be running any races.    

Those of you who sailed in the Annual Regatta may have noticed Lisa Hartnett out on the water taking photos of competitors. These were used as the trophies at the end of the regatta. The club has copies of all the photos up on our photos web site .

Behind the club the redevelopment of the Bob Jane Stadium is starting. This redevelopment will add an athletics track, additional grandstands, and much improved facilities. Once it is complete this facility will house the Victorian Institute of Sport , Athletics Victoria and the South Melbourne Football Club . Once redeveloped this track will be the premier athletics track in Melbourne and will replace Olympic Park (which is going to be demolished).

If you would like more details of exactly what is being built visit the following page on the Major Projects Victoria website . There is a YouTube video render of the architects impression for the facility.  

If you look at the photos and images of the stadiums you will notice that the land around the stadium is flat, and that will be the first change you will see behind us at the club. For the next 8 weeks the developers will remove 36,000 cubic meters of soil from around the South Melbourne Oval. This soil is going to be used to fill in 'dips' in the public space between the Carousel and the Grand Prix circuit.

After that soil has been removed work will start on building the two new grandstands, and the restoration of the Heritage Grandstand as a new home for the VIS. Near the entrance to our carpark will be built a warm up and practice facility. It is expected that this facility will be complete by the end of 2011.

For the club the biggest change will be the look behind the club. Instead of looking at a 'hill' we will see the back of the grandstands and into the corner coming onto the back straight of the athletics track. The redevelopment will make the lake busier, especially in summer. Thankfully most of the expected track meets will be during the week but there will be a number of events on Saturdays that may cause parking hassles. Hopefully we will be able to work with Parks Victoria to avoid any issues.

This development is going to further raise the profile of Albert Park. Nearly all of the major sports supported by the VIS will be based within the lake precinct, although sailing will be based out of Sandringham Yacht Club.  

Another item of business is we are looking to get some quotes to ensure the competitiveness of our cleaners. If you know of a good commercial cleaner we would be interested in getting a quote from them, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with the details.