HUMPYBONG ALL-VOLUNTEER TEAM EXCELS

This year’s Nacra 15 and 17 Junior Nationals held at Woody Point was a fantastic success. The weather turned itself on for the regatta and the sailing by the competitors was fantastic.

But the team effort behind the scenes was where the success of the regatta was sealed. For more than a month the team was quietly working away with the Nacra Association making sure that everything was ready. Alex and Peter were the mainstay with Little Bob making sure that everything was ready on the day. Bob also put his inventive mind to new solutions to signals as for the first time we had a yacht to set up as Start Boat.

Over the week of the regatta we had 32 volunteers  help out. People came down as they could take the time out from work or gave up part of their weekend. The helpers brought both experience and enthusiasm. What some lacked in experience was made up in enthusiasm; it was a fun place to be; it was a real team event.

For those who did not come forward to help for this one but are interested, experience is not a pre-requisite, we all learn on the job and you will pick up new skills. Talk to us about helping out for the Lasers

For the team on the shore, Alex, Annette and Big Bob and all those others that helped out, a special thank you.

For the team on the safety boats on the water; this was our best managed regatta to date. Alana and Mike and then Zane were spot on on the pin boat and  the coverage on the course by Zane and Colin and Zoe, Mark  – did anyone see Lou come up from under the gunwales – and Lisa. Too many people to name.

Then there was the start boat crew. They were something pretty special. We thought we were good before the regatta but on day one we found out that we had a challenge in front of us to deliver a regatta to international standards. None of the team really understood the pressure that was going to be applied; almost every aspect of the team’s performance  was under the microscope both on and off the water. The core processes were there but we had little hiccups and it was those little hiccups that hurt us. Over the first two days we changed things, innovated. We rearrangedor set up on Hermione, modified our processes and practised. By day three we had it nailed. The comments from not only the sailors and their coaches, but also the international judge and feedback from Manly told us the story. The challenge now is to maintain the standard.

A great thanks to Bob, Tony, Rod, Matthew, Jane and our non-sailor Ryan and a special thanks to Nick for filling in at really short notice for the last two days.

Thanks also to our regatta sponsors:

• Belvedere Hotel for the food each day and a great presentation dinner. As Tony Swaddling, the Nacra President said, they have never had such a great venue.  http://www.belvederehotel.com.au/

• Alasdair Begley, Saunders Havill and Sailaway Yacht charters for the use of Hermione as the start boat for the regatta – we quite honestly could not have achieved the standard we needed using our yellow start boat.  https://www.saundershavill.com      http://www.sailaway.com.au/

• Queensland Department of Sports and Recreation for our new race buoys and tackle.