The Maughan Thiem Cup Saturday 14 October 2023

The Maughan Thiem Cup is an offshore race to Tapleys Shoal Beacon, near Edithburgh and return.
A great opportunity to get the team together and put into place your offshore skills.

Mike Holmes (Magic) has graciously offered his experience in competing in this popular offshore event:

We decided to do the CYCSA Offshore Series this year to develop crew skills and confidence to put in a good showing for Lincoln next year.  There are some differences between the MAGIC Inshore and Offshore Crews, with both Shaz and Ian preferring the comforts of Support Crew positions on-shore  to the long afternoons & evenings bobbing around in the Gulf of St Vincent (and who can blame them!).  Offshore racing also gives everyone the chance to helm/trim in night or day conditions, which is pretty cool.

So crew for this race saw Stuart and Alex F back on the boat, joined by Will, Jase, newbie Dave and Lee.  The requirement to have 4 crew with SSC or Safety Sunday with current qualifications caught us out, so we all needed to put our hands together to thank (appropriately qualified) Lee for coming out with us, racing in the “keyboards” position tightly held by Shaz, as without him we wouldn’t have made it!  Thanks Lee.

We left the dock a bit late at 11:25 and returned at 11:30 to pick up the medium/heavy headsail we left at the dock (won’t say who!), then headed back out to the start even later than we anticipated.  Quickly tuned-up on both tacks, even finding time to train Alex in pinging the line, we were able to execute a flawless start at speed.  However the committee boat called us all back and we had a second go at the start at 12:10.  In a light breeze we made our way west towards the Lead Out marker.  (You can see the track below.)  We struggled for point initially but we tacked twice to lay the mark nicely, only to suffer a 20 degree knock at the last sec, forcing a last second adjustment to get past the mark.  Cracking sheets to lay the next mark (Tapley Shoal) 30 miles away, discussion on the boat turned to the greatly anticipated arrival of the Mast Head Code Zero sail that we hope Sandy can deliver to us late this month!  Today, while I was replaying the race through Expedition, I could see in the Sail Chart (see top left below) the consistent plotting of a dot in the MH0 red oval reminding me we need this sail.  Getting the sail will be a game changer for MAGIC.

The breeze slowly dropped away during the afternoon, eventually coming behind us for a while, then dropping away to nothing.  Initially we could keep to the rhumb line (see below) but as the wind slowly died, we just concentrated on keeping the boat moving.  I think by around 6:30pm we were alongside Sintara and Clockwork was good a mile astern of us and further north off the rhumb line, both boats rating higher than MAGIC.  We were actually looking quite good.  I had fed the crew their dinners (in the new Shaz-dinner system) with everyone enjoying slow cooked Spanish chicken and rice in individual thermos flasks.  Will had made coffees using his jetboil and aeropress system during the afternoon.  Everyone had got their night sailing gear on.  We’d worked out the shift.  All I needed to do was charge the battery for the final run to the Tapley Shoal and the trip home.

Except we were denied the opportunity – the motor’s alternator has decided to fail.  Bugga.  We were in the middle of the Gulf, heading into twilight and we had no way of charging the battery to power lights/instruments etc.  I had to make the tough decision to retire from the race  turn back.  What a shame.

Our return trip was fantastic as the breeze finally filled in and we had the S2 shy at 130 TWA to point back to North Haven Marina.  I warmed up 20-30 sausage rolls (freshly made by Shaz) for the crew using the death defying metho stove.  Getting back on the helm, the wind picked up to 14-16kts, allowing us to post 9’s and 10’s on the log.  Stu worked hard to keep us trimmed up.  Nice.

We dropped the kite early to allow a headsail change back to the M/H Jib  to direct us back into North Haven at a quarter to 10 pm.

The race was pretty good for us, even though we didn’t finish of course, but we got to build some skills and confidence.  Thank you crew and thank you Shaz for all your efforts in feeding us.

Looking forward to the next one.

Mike Holmes

Sailing Instructions:
Rules:
The CYCSA is the Organising Authority. The race will be governed by the rules as defined in the CYCSA Sailing Instructions 2022-23. The race is designated Category 4. Between the hours of sunset and sunrise, Part 2 of the rules is replaced by The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions At Sea, 1972.
For the purpose of these SIs, Sunset will be deemed to be at 19:30 hrs.
Sign-on:
Each boat shall submit a completed Offshore Race Crew List and via the MemberPoint at least 1½ hours prior to the warning signal. Penalties apply for non-compliance.
Sign-on as per Club Instructions.
Crew complement- as per CYCSA NoR 4.
Start Information:
The Start Line will be on Course Area A.
Warning signal will be 11:55 hrs.
Time Limit: A boat shall not start later than10 minutes after her start signal.
Race committee vessel will be ‘Wilbur’ and will broadcast on VHF Ch 77.
Course:
Start, to No.1 Lead Out (P), to Tapleys Shoal Beacon (P), to Offshore Finishing Line 2.
Also SI 8.3.2 states, “Should variable conditions require changes to the published course, such changes will be announced over VHF radio by the committee boat ‘Wilbur’
Finish Line: As per SI 11.1 Finish Line 2.
Radio Requirements: (Refer to SI 19.7).
All boats shall make a pre-race radio check with Coastguard Race Control between 11:05 hrs and 11:45 hrs on VHF Ch80 on Saturday 14 October 2023 indicating their intention to race and the number of POB. Indicate competing in Tapleys Shoal and Return Course (Radio checks on HF2524 may also be made).
Radio skeds will be conducted by Coastguard Race Control at the following scheduled times.
Saturday 15:35 hrs
Saturday 20:35 hrs
• Boats shall give their ‘boat position’ as at the Race Sked time and ‘next mark’.
• Radio skeds will be made on Ch80 in alphabetical boat name order followed by HF2524 for boats not responding to Ch80.
• A further call for non-responding boats will be made on Ch80. Boats unable to communicate on Ch80 should try Ch81, or relay via another boat in the vicinity to maintain their skeds.
A further call to boats will be made “has any one seen boat XXX ?” A call at sked time +30 minutes will be made on Ch 16.
• Remember to go back to Dual Watch!
• Further radio checks will be made 4 hourly after the last programmed sked if required.
Boats shall ‘sign-off’ with Coast Guard Race Control on VHF 80, HF 2524 or by phone 8248 4994 as soon as possible after finishing.
Weather Reports:
Coastguard Ardrossan weather Reports are broadcast on Ch80 at 0835 & 1805. Radio American River reports are broadcast on Ch21 at 0735 & 1705.
Sign-off:
It is mandatory for competing boats to radio ‘sign-off’ & submit an Offshore Declaration Form on return to port regardless of having completed the race, or withdrawn. Preferred option boats may complete the Offshore Declaration form online at www.rsays.com.au under the Racing menu.
Protests:
Shall be lodged by 15:00 the day following the protestors finishing time.
Liability:
Competitors participate in the race entirely at their own risk. The responsibility for a boat’s decision to participate in a race or to continue racing is hers alone (Fundamental Rule 3).
Attention is drawn to RRS 2021-2024 Part 1 Rule 3.
CYCSA will not accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with, prior to, during or after the race.