Please support the 2009 RANSA Regatta and Admiral’s Trophy

by Peter Edwards on 15 Jan 2009

RANSA Regatta RANSA Sydney Squadron Ltd http://www.ransa.com.au

Sunday 22 February 2009 will once again see the RAN Sailing Association (RANSA) at Rushcutters Bay, Sydney hosting its Annual Regatta to raise money for the Sir David Martin Foundation which is a charity administered by Sydney City Mission. The Committee vessel will again be a Navy ship. All proceeds of the RANSA Regatta are donated to the Sir David Martin Foundation.

Members of yacht clubs are invited to compete on behalf of their club for the Admiral’s Trophy – the ultimate prize of the regatta.

The Admiral’s Trophy was first presented in 1987 and is won by the yacht club that performs best overall in the regatta’s seven divisions.

Vice Commodore Peter Edwards said, 'The Deed of Gift for the Admiral’s Trophy in fact extends an invitation to clubs as far as Pittwater and Newcastle in the north and Cronulla in the south. We would be delighted to again welcome competitors from these clubs in the very competitive fleet that sails in the regatta.'

In 1987 the Admiral’s Trophy was won by Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club. This was in fact the start of a winning streak that saw the RPEYC hold on to the trophy remain unbroken until 1999. It was won that year by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.

RANSA regained the trophy in 2004 and has held it since then having withstood strong challenges from a number of clubs in recent years. In 2008 RANSA retained the trophy from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia by the narrowest of margins.

Vice Commodore Edwards also commented on the 2008 challenge by Drummoyne Sailing Club.

'Last year saw Drummoyne Sailing Club’s Board of Directors generously agree to reimburse the race entry fee for up to six of their club’s yachts to enter the regatta. Not only did that provide some fantastic competition, but it provided a strong challenge for the Admiral’s Trophy. Drummoyne Sailing Club was one of eleven clubs that were represented in the various divisions.

'It’s also been great to see that Parramatta River Sailing Club and Balmain Sailing Club have also been regular competitors in the regatta.

In 2008 while many divisions had close racing it was Division 4 that provided the closest results of the regatta with Guy Irwin’s Clewless, representing Sydney Amateur Sailing Club, taking first place by the smallest margin possible; a mere one second from Esquisse 2, a Hood 23 skippered by RANSA's Richard Staines, who in turn placed ahead of Brotherhood, another RANSA Hood 23, by just 44 seconds.

Many other boats in the this division finished less than ten seconds apart from one another and of the 13 starters in this division just 15 minutes separated the first and last boats. As you can imagine there was plenty of lively conversation about tactics, foul-ups and musings about what could have been back at the RANSA boatshed after the race.

In keeping with the tradition of the regatta having a navy ship as the Committee Vessel this year the vessel will be HMAS Advance which is being provided by the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Advance was the third of 20 Attack class patrol boats built for the Royal Australian Navy between 1967 and 1969. She served out of Darwin in patrol boat squadrons until 1980, having weathered Cyclone Tracey in 1974, assisted in hydrographic surveys of the northwest coast, and featured in the popular ABC-TV series Patrol Boat.

HMAS Advance © Australian National Maritime Museum http://www.anmm.gov.au

Indeed, a great many serving and retired Naval Reserve personnel will surely hold fond memories of Advance since, after being superseded by the larger Freemantle class patrol boat, she was a Naval Reserve training ship. Advance was decommissioned in 1988.

The RANSA regatta supports the Sir David Martin Foundation which was named after the extremely well regarded Rear Admiral and former Governor of New South Wales. It was established according to instructions given by Sir David in the final days of his life. At the time there was growing concern about the marginalisation of young people, the paucity of specialised youth services and the increasing problem of youth homelessness in our cities.

The Sir David Martin Foundation’s vision is to create an environment where young people can grow up in safety, with hope and opportunity. Its mission is to provide all the resources necessary to enable young people to achieve their full, thereby influencing our community to do all they can to eliminate issues facing young people in crisis. It aims to encourage young people by instilling in them a new sense of self belief so that they can face the community at large without the need for drugs, crime and homelessness.

Racing will commence on Sydney Harbour at 11am with multiple divisions including two non-spinnaker divisions catering for a range of craft from big boats to small keel boats. There will also be a gaffers division and a Flying Tiger 10m division since the regatta forms part of the FT10 Association’s NSW State Championships. The race has a handicap start and There should be plenty of exciting racing in this division alone.

Divisional and additional lucky-draw prizes will be drawn back at the clubhouse for competitors and crew. Other post race activities include jazz band entertainment, special regatta refreshments, and the prize giving. There’s a full day of activities a special opportunity for competitors and RANSA to help support youth in our community.

RANSA is keen to top last year’s entries of 71 yachts in its bid to raise more money for the Sir David Martin Foundation.

The Notice of Race, Entry Form and Sailing Instructions can be downloaded from RANSA’s website www.ransa.com.au or are available from the RANSA Office (telephone: 02 9363 9939).