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THIS WEB SITE AND ITS ASSOCIATES DO NOT SUPPORT PIRACY
LAST UPDATED 28 th January 2006

for more information please contact the Twinbeach Co-ordinator.Email

Chipping Norton Lake,a view of the point with the RO shelter,The Boatshed and Grand Flaneur Beach.

"The support and the promotion of all classes of Radio Controlled Model Yachts as a hobby and as a sport,and the pursuit of excellence in sportsmanship"

THIS WEB SITE
INTRO TO TWINBEACH MODELLERS
SAILING AT THE SITE
SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
DINGHY SAILING
MEMBERSHIP
PEOPLE TO CONTACT

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THIS WEB SITE

The goal of this new web site is to cater both for the activities at Chipping Norton Lake Sailing Club - Twinbeach Modellers,and for the modellers and model yacht building.
We will endevour to keep the pages updated with the latest information about sailing at CNLSC via the front page,the "News" page.

To check out the Dinghy sailing at CNLSC,click this link, or click the LOGO on the main menu.

More information about Model Yachting at a National or State level and the activities and information for the various classes is available at the AMYA website which can be reached either via this link, or by clicking the LOGO on the main menu.

We will be providing information for the various Classes of model yachts to help modellers both decide which may be more desireable for them and to help them with the many aspects of building,tuning and sailing their models.
These classes are listed in the main menu with sub-menus' for the different sections,ie rules,hardware suppliers,materials,pics,and links to modellers willing to share their knowledge and help with a modelling project.

We may introduce a section for "classifides",details of model yachts for sale, to help the newcomer get started in Model Yachting.

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INTRO TO TWINBEACH MODELLERS

"Twinbeach Modellers" are a division of Chipping Norton Lake Sailing Club Inc. Operating from The Lakes Boatshed at Grand Flaneur Beach,Chipping Norton lakes. It is a Dinghy sailing club that sails in competition every saturday for most of the year,with the normal break for Christmas and a few weeks off during the winter months.The club has it's own fleet of dinghys',Puffin Pacers,and as full club members we have access to them for some real yacht experience if we want. The Club has a very strong and competitive fleet of NS 14's,and there are opportunities to climb onboard these for some real excitement.

A while back,a couple of us went looking for a new sailing venue,with many landlocked fresh water lakes either becoming or existingly unavailable or unsuitable.
Many lakes may be great places to sail but the access for either vehicles or simply launching a model make them impossible as a decent sailing venue.Added to this is the problem of fresh water lakes becoming overgrown with weeds and many councils unwilling to keep them cleared,in most cases just for model yachting.

There are possibly a great number of salt water sites around the Sydney area that have yet to be investigated for suitability,however,sailing in salt water has it's own inherent problems and fresh is prefered by many.

We found Chipping Norton Lakes Sailing Club,a great looking venue,and a club willing to take us on board in 2005.This meant that we wouldn't have to go through all the normal wrangles with a council to get a new site up and running.
Here's this great site with a choice of 2 "walk in to launch" beaches (hence our name),a point sticking out between them with a permanent Race Officer shelter and trees to hide from the sun under.
This places us above our yacht masts for a fantastic yacht control view,plus a panoramic of the entire lake area.Very little power boat traffic,just enough for some interesting wave experience,and the water is just slightly brackish.

The Boatshed houses the club dinghys',the powered 'tender crafts',all our buoys and other equipment,toilets,showers,BBQ,snack foods,and best of all on a stinking hot day ---- fridges full of cold drinks.

Perhaps the single only negative to the whole place is parking,though it's not too bad.
As Liverpool Council is under Administrators who are trying to save buckets of money,we are limited to the number of vehicles we can park down on the grass under the trees (check photo at top of page for parking location).At this point that number is 10 for a normal sailing day,with more allowed, upon application,for any special regattas.
Concidering at first they wanted to totally ban CNLSC members from parking on the grass, we're doing OK.
CNLSC support the no cars on the grass policy, for as a public park,it wouldn't take long at all for the grassy slopes to be completely trashed if everybody had free access.
There's plenty of parking available in the immediate area so it's no big issue to us.

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SAILING AT THE SITE

Twinbeach Modellers sail generally the 1 st and 3 rd sundays of each month, exceptions are detailed on our Sailing Calendar.
Arrival time is around 9.30 AM,generally getting under way around 10.30 AM, and sailing through,with a lunch break,untill around 4.00 PM in summer and around 3.00 PM in winter.
On extremely hot summer days we often stop early and settle for some relaxation and a few more cold drinks in the Boatshed.

We have all the normal things we must do in preperation for a days sailing, but the most important to avoid a possible parking infringement,is pick up a 'parking permit' before taking our vehicles down to the parking area under the trees.

Wind strength and direction dictates our course location and control area, anything of a northerly direction Is coming across the lake at us and depending on it's strength,we will sail off the point which is favoured,or we will seek some shelter in one of the beaches.

On most days,the wind will start out light in the morning and tend to build during the day,providing a challenge in keeping a model tuned and trimmed to sail at it's optimum all day.There are days when the wind strength goes beyond an accepted maximum for yacht survivability and sailing enjoyement,and we call it a day.

We are,at this stage of our Club's development,oriented more towards just enjoying our sailing rather than hottly contesting a Championship.Yes we have the buoys out,a course is set,and we sail some races with CD controlled starts etc,but for the most part we really enjoy just sailing.
Having said that,don't think for a minute that we're sitting around sucking on a few cold drinks and having a bit of a giggle,we're intently chasing each other around the course developing our yachts and our sailing skills.
It's one thing to compete in a series of races,looking for that 'tune up' that will win the next race,but only having a race to test it.
Imagine if you could do perhaps 30 consecutive laps of the same course against the same yachts,tuning and tweeking as you go and getting quick feedback on the results ?
Just like a racing car driver in a practice session at the track,it has to hone your skills and get your car 'tweeked up' to race better.
Plus we're also increasing our knowledge and experience with the Racing Rules in a more relaxed environment,which is always a steep learning curve for newcomers to yachting.
Lately we've been practising starts,and only starts,one directly after the other. Then we'll move on to setting up different scenarios at the buoys etc to further hone our skills with the Racing Rules.
The difference between an average sailor and a very good sailor is experience, developed by many hours of practice.

THE FUTURE
Last year,our first year,we held our Club Championship on 1 day in August -- winner take all.
We'll most likely do the same this year too !
We rather like our more 'social' approach to model sailing,it's far less stressfull and a lot more fun,and this after all is our 'play time',our relaxation away from the rigors of normal life.
To that end and to give us something to 'race' for,we'll be introducing a winners prize each race day,some small inexpensive something as a token of achievment.

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SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

It should be noted that these Sailing Instructions are for CNLSC-Twinbeach Modellers regular club sailing days.
They are not intended for implementation for any regatta run and hosted by CNLSC for any outside group.
Each such regatta shall have it's own Sailing Instructions for the running of same.

January 2006-Draft 1.7

1. Rules
Races for Radio Controlled boats shall be sailed under the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) of the International Sailing Federation as changed by Appendix E (Radio-Controlled Boat Racing Rules),incorporating the basic ideals of Experimental Appendix Q, and as modified by the sailing instructions.

2. Personal Bouyancy
All persons on board a tender boat to affect a rescue shall wear an appropriate bouyancy vest. (available in the boatshed)

3. Sailing Safety
All persons participating in the sailing of model yachts are instructed to read
'General Operating Instructions for Model Yachts' posted on the Boatshed notice board and on the 'safety' page of this site.

4. Injury Risks
All persons participating in the sailing of model yachts are instructed to read
'RISK WARNING - Model Yachts' posted on the Boatshed notice board and on the 'safety' page of this site.

5. Registration/entries

(a) All skippers intending to race shall complete registration on the prescribed form not less than 15 mins before the race starting time,and pay the required fee.
(b) The sailing fee shall be:-
(i) members $2.00
(ii) non members $3.00
(c) All skippers arriving late must first report to the resp course RO to indicate their intention to race and seek approval to join the series.

6. Alterations to sailing instructions (RRS rule 88.2)
Alterations to these sailing instructions may be posted on the boatshed notice board not less than 30 mins before the first race starting time and notice shall be drawn to such alteration at the briefing.
The race committee has the power to announce alterations at the briefing if necessary.
The CNLSC Executive Committee may direct changes to these sailing instructions.

7. Briefing
May be held at the boatshed or a launching area not more than 30 mins before the first race starting time.

8. Postponing,abandoning or cancelling a race(s).
Shall occur when there is:-

(a) thunderstorms
(b) Wind speed in excess of 20 knotts
(c) at the descretion of RO

In the case of 6.(b),racing will be postponed for 1 hour,if the wind suitably abates racing may continue,otherwise all racing is abandoned,however,skippers may continue sailing to gain experience in the conditions and the tuning of their boats untill such time as the course marks are being retrieved.

9. Race Timetable

(a) race start 11.00 am
(b) lunch break as desired (not exceeding 1 hour)
(c) last race to start no later than is expected to finish by.
(i) summer 4.00 pm ESDT
(ii) winter 3.00 pm EST

10. Courses Racing may be at any of 3 course locations:-

(a) Grand Flaneur beach (main beach)
(b) The point (RO shelter)
(c) Small beach (boatramp)

If more than 1(one) location is being sailed,details will be posted on the boatshed notice board not less than 30 mins before first race start.
Course details will be provided by the RO(s) at the briefing and/or at the control areas prior to each race as required.
Courses may be set to any configuration as determined by the RO and all marks of the course and the sail markings of boats in reasonable vacinity of said marks shall be clearly visable and identifiable by all skippers and race officials.
The RO(s) may change the course(s) at any time.

11. Control and Launching Areas
Due to the demographic layout of the venue, the complexities involved with setting defined Control and Launching Areas to suit the many variations of courses available,said areas shall be defined in the briefing(s).
General locations as outlined in section 10. (courses)

12. Marks of the Course
The marks of the course are normally cylindrical bouys of a white base colour with individually coloured caps.
The start finish marks have black vertical stripings,the course marks are taller and have red vertical stripings.

13. Starting Line
The start finish marks shall be positioned in line with a point on shore within the control area.

14. Starting Races
In rule E3.5 the audible warning signal shall be made orally by the RO.

15. Races with Umpires
Racing may be conducted with umpires whose aim is to have all boat to boat protests decided at the time of the incident.Competitors need to accept that an umpire may not be in a position to judge every incident.
If no umpire(s) are appointed (or available) the RO may act also as umpire accepting the dual race officer duties.
The Umpires rulings are final and any objections or failure to execute the Umpires rulings while a race is in progress shall incur immediate disqualification from that race,repeated actions during the race series may result in disqualification from that series.
Refer to section 24.(Post Series De-briefing)

16. Right to Protest and Redress
When races are conducted with Umpires,a boat shall have no right to protest or seek redress for a breech of a rule of part 2 (when boats meet).
Refer to section 24.(Post Series De-briefing)

17. Hailing Immanent Contact
When boat to boat contact appears immanent ,the 'right of way' boat shall hail the offending boat, in so doing, also attracting the umpires attention to the pending situation.
If boat to boat contact then occurs, and the umpire was unable to judge the incident,the umpire shall instruct to 'sail on'.

18. Penalties
Penalties shall be of 2 categories:-
(C1) boat to boat contact requiring a 2 turns penalty.(2 tacks and 2 gybes in the same direction in one movement)
(C2) all others requiring a 1 turn penalty.(1 tack and 1 gybe in the same direction in one movement)
With the following exceptions where applicable and in accordance with the 2 category types:-

(a) Penalties shall be executed by the next mark of the course, except when a boat has entered the 4 length zone of a mark and has yet to round that mark,and has incured a (C1)penalty(s),that mark shall be ignored but only for the purpose of executing the incured penalty(s).
(b)Where a boat encounters difficulties in getting well clear of other boats as prescribed in rule 44.2,such boat shall hail the RO of such difficulties.The RO may then vary the penalty execution requirements to suit the particular situation.

Any specific instructions to be detailed by the RO at the briefing.

19. Entanglement
Boat to boat contact resulting in entanglement may incur no penalties,however,if the Umpire identifies the infringing boat,and the other boat(s) has lost places,or had to be rescued,or retired damaged, then the other boat(s) shall have their finishing score adjusted as follows:-

(i) shall be awarded a finish 2 places higher than actual if able to continue and finish.
(ii) shall be awarded a 4 th place finish if forced to retire or be rescued.

20. Scoring
Shall be by the Low Point System.
1 point per finish place
DNF fleet + 1
DNS fleet + 2
Disq fleet + 3

21. Race Format
Unless otherwise notified at the briefing,racing shall be the Handicap System applied race by race (heat) as per finishing order:-
1 st + 20 sec
2 nd +15 sec
3 rd + 10 sec
outside top 4 - 10 sec but not less than 0 handicap
4 th place no changes.
A maximum handicap of 200 seconds shall apply.
At least one boat each race shall start on scratch (0) at the starting signal,requiring that the handicaps for all boats be adjusted to suit.
Handicaps shall be season/championship cumulative,unless otherwise stated at the briefing.

22. Coaching
Coaching is permitted and encouraged for the purpose of training new skippers and shall not constitute grounds for a protest under rule E4.2 (outside help).
Coaching for other purposes is at the RO's descretion.

23. Additional Rule Variations

(a) Advising skippers that they have turned inside or missed a mark shall not constitute grounds for a protest under rule E4.2 (outside help).
(b) Dip-starts are prohibited.
(c) Advising skippers that they have broken the start line before the starting signal shall not constitute grounds for a protest under rule E4.2 (outside help).
24. Post Series De-briefing (end of days racing)
Any and all issues arising from the appointment and use of umpires and/or the Umpires execution of duties shall be held over for discussion at this briefing only, if so called.
This briefing may be called by the RO or upon request from an Umpire,a Race Observer,or a skipper no later than 15 mins after the conclusion of the last race of the series.
The duration of the de-briefing shall not extend beyond 30 mins.
If an issue(s) cannot be satisfactorily resolved within the allotted time,said issue(s) shall then be presented to the CNLSC executive committee via the Twinbeach Modellers committee representative,for deliberation.

25. First Aid and Injury
All incidents must be reported to the Officer of the Day,or a CNLSC Official,or a CNLSC member.
Such incidents shall be recorded.
The CNLSC Boatshed is equiped with a full and comprehensive First Aid kit.

26. Indemnities
All those taking part in and/or attending the CNLSC-Twinbeach Modellers conducted races do so at their own risk and responsibility and completely and wholly indemnified the CNLSC or club officials.
The CNLSC is not responsible for the seaworthiness of a Model yacht whose entry is accepted or the adequacy of it's Radio Control equipment.
Attention is drawn to Liverpool Council Notices and all are reminded that care should be excercised at all times.
A model yacht,it's support and control equipment,is the sole responsibility of the owner/skipper.
The CNLSC is not responsible for any loss or damage to a model yacht or it's Radio Control equipment during a rescue.
CNLSC reserves the right to refuse entry.
Attention is drawn to RRS Rule 3 (Acceptance of the Rules).
All persons participating in the sailing of model yachts are instructed to read
'RISK WARNING - Model Yachts' posted on the Boatshed notice board and the 'safety' section of this site.

27. Tides
Tide times at Chipping Norton Lakes are approx. 2 1/2 hours later than Fort Denison.

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