News Letter August 2004

Contents

Introduction

Howdy folks. Well time is pressing on and I feel fairly obliged to get another association newsletter out in advance of the rapidly approaching 2004/2005 summer sailing season. Whilst we here in Auckland awoke this morning to a beautiful and clear sunny day the rain has since closed in and today's Ponsonby Cruising Club winter series race won't be as pleasant as it may otherwise have been.

As I write this from the club's Logan Room, which overlooks the Auckland Harbour Bridge start area, I can see a cluster of the RNZYS youth scheme magic 25s up towards Little Shoal Bay, half a dozen multihulls of various sizes zipping around between the Chelsea Sugar works and the ODM and the PCC's winter series fleet beginning to assemble.

Naturally I should be out there however, my commitment to you reader, to get this newsletter out. Besides... my boat is on the hard getting anti-fouled and having the non-skid replaced. Unfortunately the 930 fleet in this year's winter series has waned somewhat in comparison with past years and I have to confess as much guilt as other non-participants in this regard. On a positive note I'm starting to feel a bit like a coiled spring ready to launch into the new season and I expect that a number of other "missing in action" skippers and crews are feeling the same way.

Before I continue I would like to express on behalf of the association our sincere thanks to Peter Johnson for his work as association president over the last five years. Peter's outgoing president's statement follows below. I think it important to note that Peter's task has probably been made more challenging than it may otherwise have been as a consequence of the ongoing keel issue. Regardless Peter's efforts in managing the association's affairs, in particular annual sponsorship of the class national regatta, have been appreciated.

Now that the keel issues has been put to bed so to speak I think the association's focus should now turn to consolidating the 930's niche as a strict one-class design and promoting it as such. In this regard I think it important that the association obtain a country-wide class sponsor to promote greater interest in the class and an improved level of cohesion between members. More on this matter follows below.

As I have said before, the market will ultimately dictate what modifications individual owners make to their boats despite the very best efforts of the association to maintain a single standard of fit out and design. Put simply, there is not much the association can do to prevent people modifying their boats to suit their individual needs and aspirations. My only wish is that those owners doing so work together to achieve a modified 930 standard (keel variance aside) to avoid a complete randomness. The benefits of such an approach are obvious.

As I write the 930 fleet has just started with seven boats tight kite reaching off down the harbour. The sun has started to shine again lighting up the spinnakers against a backdrop of departing rain clouds... a beautiful sight.

Berin Smith
President

OUTGOING PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT

The following is an abridged version of Peter Johnson's 2004 President's Report

This has been my fifth year as President. It's been quite a good year with plenty of activity. Your committee have been quite active with generally a full turn out to our monthly meetings. My thanks to secretary Wendy Baverstock for her help and assistance during the year.

We had two highlights during the year. The first being our 21st birthday party held on Saturday night the 13th September 2003. This was a great success and those of you who didn't attend missed a treat. We had 140 people attend, with great food, wine, stories and entertainment. My thanks to the committee who worked so hard to make the event such a success.

A number of boats have changed hands recently. Welcome to the Association to new owners. A few have been moving out of Auckland, which is a bit of a blow to the local fleet. However I think the fleet and Association is still strong with good fleets racing and cruising in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and now Akaroa and Nelson.

Finally, I have done my bit as your president and won't be standing again. I have enjoyed my time, the racing, cruising and the good company. However, AIRSHIP and I will still be out there, keeping you honest and hopefully beating most of you!!

Regards Peter Johnson -- President 2004

2004 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The association's AGM was held at the Ponsonby Cruising Club on 23 July 2004. The agenda items were reasonably standard with no significant of contentious issues raised (phew!). A copy of the minutes of the AGM is attached.

Minutes of the 2004 AGM

The association's executive for 2004/2005 stands as follows:

President/Publicity Officer
Berin Smith
Vice President
Robert Vellom
Secretary/Treasurer
Clive Carter
Measurers
Murray Williams and Graham Cornell
General Committee (incl. of above)
Rocke Bryers, Ian Thomsen, David Berry, Peter Johnston, Grant Jenkins

SUBSCRIPTIONS

2004/2005 subscription form attached team! You know the drill so there is no need to harp on. Naturally there is a fee because without it we can't hard copy this newsletter, meet our annual Yachting New Zealand membership fees etc, etc...

Membership Subcription Form 2004/2005

COMMITTEE MEETINGS

These are held in the Ponsonby Cruising Club's Logan Room on the first Tuesday of every month starting 7.00pm and all members are welcome to attend. If you have an item you want discussed contact Berin Smith in advance for the purposes of advanced preparation of an agenda.

MURRAY ROSS TROPHY

At the associations August committee meeting it was decided to hold the annual Ross 930 three-handed regatta as part of the Royal Akarana Yacht Club's annual short-handed windward/leeward regatta. This regatta is to be held on the single weekend of 20-21 November and currently attracts a Farr 1020 division and a Young 88 division.

The reasons behind this decision are based on an enthusiasm to make the class more visible and with general disappointment with last year's event that saw competing boats in a mixed fleet of fully crewed class and non-class boats.

We look forward to seeing many of the old campaigners return for this event this year, which, as per past years, has proved an exciting and challenging regatta.
More details will be supplied as the event gets closer, otherwise check out www.rayc.org.nz in the next week or so for the NOR and entry form. RAYC have been advised that there will be 7-10 boats in attendance as per previous years which should make it another fast pace and exciting event.

AUCKLAND RACING CALENDAR

For the reasons set out in the sponsorship section below it would be desirable for some of the major Auckland events to be attended by a fleet of 930's. In this regard the following events have been identified as the main ones the association would like to see well attended by Auckland members:

  1. Richmond Yacht Club Wednesday Night Summer Series -- 29 September 2004 onwards
  2. Richmond Yacht Club Spring Regatta (around Waiheke Island) -- 25 September 2004
  3. Royal Akarana Yacht Club Short Handed Regatta -- Murray Ross Trophy -- 20-21 November 2004
  4. Ponsonby Cruising Club Around Rangitoto Island Race -- 6 November 2004
  5. New Zealand 930 Nationals Regatta -- 12/13 March 2005

In addition to these events it would also be fantastic to see a fleet/division of 930's participating in the following events:

  1. The New Zealand Multihull Association Auckland -- Russell Coastal Classic -- 22 October 2004
  2. The Bay of Islands Sailing Week -- 25-28 January 2005
  3. The Short Handed Sailing Association of New Zealand's Barrier Triple Series -- 2nd Saturday of July, August and September 2005

Mark them down in your calendar now! If you can't do it find someone you trust with your boat who can.

MAINSAILS

With the recent demise of the new keel it was somewhat inevitable that focus would move onto something else. In this regard some concerns have been raised with the cut of the current mainsail and preferences for the old design.

Further investigation into this matter will be carried out during the course of this year with the intent of making a decision in advance of orders for new sails for the 2005 nationals.

HELLO NORTH AMERICA!

The association has recently made contact with John Carhill who sails the class standard 930 "Gaucho" out of Seattle USA. John has also provided contact details of some other boats up there as follows:

Jinx (open transom, Mumm 30 carbon fibre rig)
Mark Van Den Driessche
Alien (standard with NZ bulb keel)
Douglas Taylor Lee
Kaitoa (Laurie Davidson keel)
Jack Foster
Lightscout (Lauri Davidson keel)
Don Gillingham
Dillingaf
Keith Climenhaga

If any of you are down under I'm sure we can find a place on a 930 some time easy enough.

SURVEY/SPONSORSHIP

As identified in the introduction to this newsletter the association is ramping up its search for class sponsorship. At this stage the intent is to secure a marine-related manufacturer/service, which, in exchange for a class-wide mainsail banner, will provide discounts to participating skippers (association-wide, irrespective of configuration) and sponsor some major class events (Murray Ross Trophy and National Regatta).

Potential targets include outboard manufacturers, marine electronic systems manufacturers and marine acoustics suppliers. Furthermore, by seeking a marine-related sponsor, the national spread of boats will promote exposure at various locations/clubs/events.

The challenge for the association, however, is not to over obligate skippers to the point where they are unable to meet commitments to the sponsor whilst providing a useful level of exposure to the sponsor relative to the sponsor's investment. In this regard it is understood that the Young 88 association has experienced some difficulty with skippers employing their sponsor's new sign written mainsails and spinnakers, or participating altogether, to the extent originally hoped for.

Consequently the association will be seeking a relatively simple/economic arrangement. To do this however, we need to present to prospective sponsors a run down of what events boats will be participating in and where as part of a sponsorship proposal. Put simply, we need to demonstrate how much bang the sponsor will get for its buck.

For this purpose a survey form requiring skippers to list the events they intend to sail in this season is attached. It would be useful if you would complete this and return this to: 10 Taraire Street, Ostend, Waiheke Island or email to ross930@urbisphere.co.nz as soon as possible so that we can collate details and include them in a sponsorship proposal. As set out on the form there are some additional queries to respond to. The answers to these questions will be used to illustrate our market/interest in products as part of sponsorship deal.

Sponsorship Proposal Questionnaire

RANDOM THOUGHTS/MATTERS

  1. Man is it good to see the national flags flying on the Auckland Harbour Bridge again. The question is though are they more important to you as a reaffirmation of your national pride and patriotism or as a useful guide to wind strength and direction?
  2. How hard would it be to set up a web cam of the Auckland Harbour Bridge start area and bring as-they-happen images of Auckland's various fleet races held throughout the week to the world?
  3. Check out www.crew.org.nz's racing page for some banter on Ross 930 racing. As Oscar Wilde once said "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about".

CAT 3 STABILITY CRITERIA

Yachting New Zealand has amended the stability rule 6.4K in the safety regulations for all safety categories. In summary, to achieve a Category 1-3 rating certification must be provided to the inspector that the boat complies with either the Stability Index, STIX Value, Positive Stability or pull down test result. To achieve Category 4 and 5 skippers must only declare that their boat complies.

To get certification owners can either:

  1. Have an incline test carried out by an approved measurer or Naval Architect;
  2. Provide a calculation from a like design;
  3. Obtain/provide background documents of an ORC Club handicap that demonstrate the boat's stability index.

Fortunately the association has stability calculations on hand for the class standard design and we will be submitting this to Yachting New Zealand with a request that all class standard boats are recognized as meeting the stability requirements of Rule 6.4K. If you would like a separate copy of these calculations contact Berin Smith or Clive Carter.

PONSONBY CC WINTER SERIES RESULTS

As I started this newsletter with this race it seems only sensible that I conclude it with it too. To provide an opportunity to compare calss with non-class boats a mixed keel 930 division has been run. Participants in today's race were: Recreation, Hotdogger, Fast Company, Bondi Tram, Arch Rival, Scarlet Fever and Shockproof.

Current series standings are as follows:

Line Handicap 
Recreation1Recreation1
Hotdogger2Hotdogger2
Fast Company3Fast Company3
Scarlet Fever4Scarlet Fever4
Shockproof5Shockproof5
Airship6Airship6
The Bondi Tram7The Bondi Tram7
Local Hero8Arch Rival8
Arch Rival9Local Hero9

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