(Ed: Our speaker Lindsay May successfully created such excitement that we have been favoured with two scribe reports rather than the usual one!)
Report on Dinner meeting January 19th 2016 by Scribe Martin Silink
President Jenny opened the meeting by welcoming Members, their partners and the many guests who came to hear PP Lindsay’s much anticipated report on the 73rd Sydney to Hobart yacht race. She asked PP Chris Curtis to formally welcome the many guests who outnumbered the members.
President Jenny asked for volunteers to assist the scouts by helping with the BBQ on Australia Day. She alerted members to an Australian Rotary Health fundraiser as well as a forthcoming tour of Vietnam organized by the RC of Turramurra in May 2016 in aid of their wheelchair project. She also reminded the members that Bernadette was the new caterer at the Club and to support her by dining there.
Rtn Harry Clarsen then reminded everyone to support the 2 dollar coin collector which, when full, would hold $100, enough for a Centurion membership. This donation would be tax deductible.
PP John Palmer reported on the Pride of Workmanship evening in April and invited nominations to recognize quiet achievers from any walk of life.
Mark, an exchange student from Switzerland, described in glowing terms the enjoyable time he was having and commented in particular on the safari, the many international friends he was making and on experiencing a hot Christmas. Our past exchange student, Will Newham, who had been to Belgium 4 years ago then briefly spoke. He visited his family in Belgium last year and hopes to do this again.
PP Phil Dudgeon was then invited to introduce our speaker, PP Lindsay May. Lindsay was born in Bulli, grew up in Wollongong. He rapidly demonstrated his athletic prowess by winning 3 NSW surfing titles and achieved international fame by saving the mistress of Club Med's CEO from drowning. His first Sydney Hobart yacht race was in 1973 and the 2015 race was his 43rd. Lindsay then used his wonderful skills of word imagery to draw the audience into the highlights of last year’s race. He commented on the stringent documentation and safety standards (probably the highest in the world) as a result of the Coronial findings after the 1998 race. He introduced us to the niceties and strategies of the start in Sydney Harbour, how there were 3 actual starting lines (for boats of different sizes), how there were different markers for the boats to clear as they left Sydney Harbour, details of how the wind was funneled through Bass Strait, how the depth was shallower there resulting in bigger waves, how important the currents and eddies were in adding to boat speed. By the end of his presentation the audience was ‘expert’ in dagger boards, canting keels, water lines, sail battens, spinnakers, sitting on the rails, tether lines, drills for man overboard emergencies, Volvo 70 clippers, how to prepare for a wind-shift, how to perform under-water repairs to rudders in the middle of Bass Strait, the thrill of going around Tasman Island, the beauty of dolphins in Storm Bay and how to catch wind gusts in the Derwent River. Unfortunately Lindsay’s boat, Brindabella, had to retire early after a freak wind shift (a southerly buster) which arrived with only 90 seconds warning, broke several battens and tore 2 spinnakers to shreds. The line Honours went to Comanche whilst the handicap winner was Balance. Lindsay was on 3 winners over the years and skippered the 2006 winner “Love and War”
In question time Lindsay described the amazing rescue of John Quinn in 1993. Just 38 of 104 starters made it to Hobart. Sailing on Atara that year, Lindsay's race was already over, Atara's mast broken when she was rolled by a freak wave, when they heard on the radio that John Quinn was lost at sea. "We were on our way home when we heard that Quinn had been washed off his yacht, Mem, after the stitching on his safety harness came apart when the boat was hit by a huge wave. We went back to help look for him and nearly ran over him," Lindsay remembered. The rescue of John Quinn was one of those inexplicable miracles. By all rights, in the terrible conditions that night he should have been a goner as he was in the water for 6.5 hours. A fast current had swept Quinn miles from where he'd first gone over, and where his mates on Mem were desperately searching for him. Yet somehow, amid the shrill roar of wind and waves, a crew member on the tanker Ampol Sorrel had heard his call for help and spotted him in its searchlight. "We heard on the radio that the tanker Ampol Sorrel had seen him in its searchlight, but couldn't retrieve him, so we just headed for the tanker’s lights. “We had a lot of delamination where the broken mast had smashed against Atara's side. When we pulled John Quinn out of the water, we asked him if he had seen how bad the damage was. I'll never forget his reply. 'When the ambulance arrives you don't notice the condition of the duco,'" Lindsay said.
After a marvellous ovation, PP John Palmer gave the formal vote of thanks for a truly outstanding presentation. Sandy won the raffle.
An Alternative Report by our Alternative Scribe Phil Wade
We were treated to an introduction by Phil Dudgeon so powerful in its nature and a tribute to the past accomplishments of of our speaker Lindsay in the worlds of business, Rotary, sport, youthful origins and sailing far too numerous to list, which by its degree of understatement indicated perfectly the status of the presenter and the interest of his topic tonight, and which imbued us with an air of anticipation that was more than fulfilled, even to visitors hardened in the world of youth, water and sports, and of course the rest of us mere mortals.
Lindsay initially introduced us to the excitement and bustle of the pre-race preparations. Excited gatherings of sailors, friends and family with the unavoidable encounters with the mostly low key millionaire owners of the large craft to the fanatical, perpetually optimistic battlers of the small ones.
Lindsay's photos obtained from various sources took us from there to the actual start line, or in this case three separate starting lines.
And his immaculate audio-visual production was first class.
But he reassured us that the handicappers made allowances for the boats bringing up the rear. And having to battle the washing machine conditions of the increasingly churning waters of the spectacular Sydney Harbour.
Then we got into the nitty gritty technical issues of the best places for seasick sailors to let it go, to bent cleats, minor tears in mainsails that turn into half million dollar rips, to canting keels, movable water ballast and - Dagger boards that were also quite an issue (had to be there).
Luckily, Waratah book-ends Jeremy Tilse and Paddy Ryan were in Brindabella's crew as they came in handy to carrying around the 100kg-plus awkward lofts that normally take 3 or 4 people. Jeremy was especially handy because he doesn't get sick.
Comanche's story: Comanche had a broken dagger board. Fixed it and knocked the rudder. Pulled out of the race then decided to jury-rig another rudder made out of chewing gum, Sunfish cartilage and Kristy's high heels and stockings or similar, re-entered the race and won line honours. It boasted a Canted keel as well that canted at the dock to allow an easy step onto dry land. And probably helped Kristy back to land in the absence of her heels? Very thoughtful addition.
Brindabella's story: A movie of the Brindabella going forward suddenly went black. That's when the spinnaker broke up and then the halyard broke down, cleats got bent, other things went wrong and they had to heave to and advance to the rear under power. Just like nearly half the field.
How did this happen? A Southerly usually comes in over 90 minutes but in this case it was 30 seconds, and that was a lot quicker than expected, leaving them about 40 seconds late in their preparation for it. This resulted in a flogging sail that then led to 2 broken batons, tears in the mainsail, cracked mast, all totalled, and the Cook threw a tantrum, so they came back to Sydney. We learnt an interesting fact: Blokes (and I presume gals also) chucking is warmer than water and so is not immediately uncomfortable. The Waves encountered in such conditions had no bottoms, resulting in hull-cracking drops of around eighty feet.
They went to the trouble of cleaning up the vomit after the boat returned. [Well it was a popular move for the fish].
Other boats suffered even worse damage than vomit-strewn decks, having holed hulls and broken beams and probably bones.
Brindabella is still the fastest conventionally hulled boat.
We also learnt that the peculiar pattern of deep trenches and shallows dictates the insane current patterns that seem to the layman to flow the wrong way in places.
But that's all good if you happen to be a genius navigator. [And there's one in every fleet?]. And it also defines the unique crash, bang, wallop nature of the "Hobart" race, making it unique in the world [and a "must do" challenge in the rite of passage of any fair dinkum blue water sailor].
Lindsay said a main ingredient in their win on Love and War was luck. However it seems that he aimed for the right current and eddies. So first you have to know where to go.
And as every Rotarian and guest on the night knows, the harder you work at something the luckier you get.
[And that must be why they made Lindsay International Sailor of the year!]
John Palmer gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the club paraphrasing mixed metaphors of knots and sheets just like any good light aircraft pilot should.
Attendance was 21 guests, 12 apologies, one visiting Rotarian, two honorary Rtns, and about a dozen potential Rotarians.
