One year to go BBQ highlights

Saturday night's Sundance Melbourne to Osaka Cup "One Year to Go" event was a great success.  Following a fantastic meal, George Shaw introduced the Double Handed crews who were attending, sought out past competitors (many of whom are acting as mentors on the upcoming event) and introduced members off the organising committee who will put the 2018 event together.

A big thanks to a number of generous sponsors who contributed the following:

Raffle prizes –

• GILL – OS1 offshore jacket
• Sitro Group – (Phil Simphandorfer) Gas mate BBQ & 3 wet bags
• Chirping Bird wines (Rod Smallman) 1 doz wines
• Sundance Marine – 2 $50 chandlery vouchers

BBQ -

• Rainbow meats
• Chirping Bird Wines
• Lion Nathan – Kirin beer
• Baker Boys - (Paul Mentiplay) sough dough breads & BBQ buns.

With the success of this first event, another one is already in the planning and we hope that we’ll be able to include our interstate competitors and friends in the next one. Keep an eye out for details. In the meantime, here’s a video recap of our first fantastic night.

https://youtu.be/hu6epC1QBd4

One year to go - lets celebrate

We made some errors previously when quoting dates for the BBQ.  It is definitely Saturday 25th March 2017 at 6pm at SYC in the off the beach area.  Sorry for the confusion.

The BBQ catering is covered by some valued sponsors we will recognise in person at the event.  We are also running a raffle, hence the $10 ticket when you register.

There are over $2,000 worth of prizes on offer in the raffle draw including:

    A Gill OS1 jacket – donated by GILL
    Two Gas mate portable BBQs – donated by SITRO Group
    Wet bags – donated by SITRO Group
    1 dozen Chirping Bird wines – donated by Rod Smallman
    Chandlery prizes – donated by Sundance Marine

With hospitality usually only seen at Hokko Yacht Club in Osaka, there will be great food on offer, with meat for the BBQ being provided by Rainbow Meats and the wine and beer from connections with our friends at Chirping Bird Wines.

To confirm your place and/or buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win these prizes, use the Try Booking link below.  You dont need to attend to be able to buy a ticket.

https://www.trybooking.com/269408

We look forward to seeing you there, wear your hat and fly the flag.

Stability Index Test

In all yacht racing a ‘Notice of Race’ is issued inviting entrants who have a qualifying yacht to participate, a document which includes the eligibility requirements. As a Cat1+ event, the NoR for the Melbourne Osaka Cup states as a requirement, that each yacht must have “a Stability Index of not less than 115 degrees as verified through an inclination test”. This must be conducted by a suitably qualified person.

Recently a test was carried to out to establish a Stability Index for one of our race entrants Meltimi, co-skippered by couple Ian Howath and Lynn Boulton. Their initial instructions were to lighten the boat in readiness and to have a couple of spinnaker poles available, set up on either side of the boat. We went along to have a look at exactly how such a measurement is carried out.

Click here for video

One of our earlier video clips looked at the process of weighing boats, another requirement for race eligibility. If you haven’t seen it, you can take a look at it here.

There is only one year to go until the first boats depart for Osaka and to celebrate your progress so far, we’ve organised a BBQ on Saturday March 25th. If you’re in Melbourne or can make it down here, you’ll enjoy great food, drink and hospitality like nowhere else but Hokko Yacht Club! We’ll gather at the SYC Off the Beach Centre and there’ll be a display of many of the Melbourne entries who’ll be moored nearby. 

Some very generous sponsors have provided everything we need for the night including some amazing prizes that will be drawn in a raffle. All we ask is that each person attending buy at least one raffle ticket but of course for a better chance at winning one of the great prizes, you can buy as many as you like. Make sure you don’t miss out on this great event.

Please RSVP to Kate Mitchell - 0417 128 963