On the morning of attending another event at another yacht club, I thought it might be wise to send you all an email to say WHY I travel to other venues and enter competitions. And the answer is really two-fold.

The first and simplest part is to say that I travel to other clubs to get myself faster. My Dad had a phrase when we were growing up – there’s no point being a big frog in a small pond. By going out to other clubs and seeing what’s out there it gives me the chance to test myself against people who may be astonishingly better than me. And if I get absolutely smoked and resoundly beaten, what happens then?
I get faster.
I get faster because I learn from other people. I learn new ways to look at the water, to set my boat up, and to have a strategy to cope with things.
And then I return to Rosebud and with my increased speed, what happens then?
Everyone tries harder to catch me. Which makes me get faster again. And around and around we go.
Much like a full head of luscious hair, it won’t happen overnight, but it will happen. With practice and visits to other clubs, you test your metal and figure out how you can get better. And the more of us that visit other clubs, the better we all get.

The second reason I visit other clubs is to build Rosebud YC.
Rosebud is a quiet (but growing!) club in a sleepy corner of the peninsula – we are nestled beside what is arguably the best regatta hosting club in Australia with McCrae, and on our other side is one of the biggest junior sailor fleets in the country, with what was recently crowned the best junior instructor. So why should we bother?
Because we matter.
Going out there and seeing ‘Rosebud Yacht Club’ on a registration list is a powerful thing. It shows there is a club that doesn’t have the word ‘Royal’ in front of it, and is a club that still pops its head up, and is beginning to flourish once again. It still attends regattas, it still goes out there and visits and is a viable racing force.
I visit other clubs to learn and explore and understand. And I encourage you to do the same.
As Commodore, it’s not all kissing babies and pressing the flesh – there’s a lot more to it than that when you visit other clubs, as any previous Commodore will tell you. You go to learn about what other clubs are doing and what is working well, and also what hasn’t worked so well for them. Some of these changes you will see every day – our junior sailing program, our events with Rye Yacht Club, and even things you can literally see in Stand Up Paddleboard and Kayak Storage. But there is a lot more than that. There are also things you can’t see, such as why we have a race calendar full of smaller, once-off events and different race courses. All these things are steeped in data, and the changes the committee are putting in place are showing the benefits of these trips to other clubs.

So for those wanting to improve their sailing, go and visit another club. Get out and see the world, or leave the nest. Whatever analogy floats your boat (ha-ha). And even if you don’t see the back end of things, keep your eyes open – look at the canteen offerings, watch how they lay a racecourse, ask why they have a table tennis table in a yacht club. And then – come back to us and speak to us! If it works, we want to use it. Because in this game, the best copycat wins.

And beyond all of that, even if you go and purely sail and nothing else, you may find you get a little bit better.

So for those who are interested in sailing other events, while it would be grand to have everyone here for the Taipan titles in March, I encourage you to get out there and see other clubs! Shaun McKenna and Max McKay are heading off to Anglesea for the Hobie states on Labour Day weekend, and then later in the year I’m heading to NSW for the Top Gun Regatta at Kurnell over Cup Weekend.

But you don’t have to travel so far to visit another club. You could always sail just down the beach and discover the best playground around. Here’s some hot tips:
McCrae has the best A class fleet in Australia, if not the world. Not to mention Taipans, Lasers and Contenders.
Sugarloaf Reservoir will absolutely improve your light weather sailing, especially while you dodge the fleet of Sabres and Taipans. And they sail through Winter.
Rye has an epic junior fleet and a solid RS Aero and Sabre/Impulse fleet.
Flinders and Hobies – say no more.

And even if you don’t see your boat class listed here, I still say get out there and visit another club.

Because you never know what you might learn when you get out of your own puddle.

Email

info.rosebudyachtclub@gmail.com