What was your number ?
666

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Cheers Robin.

Robin & Terry.
RL28 - QE3.

Limpy, take a look at my pbh (699)

http://www.trailableyacht.com.au/assoc_ ... sID=322117

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noelex 25 green velvet

What's the MPONR policy regarding forecasts and cancellation.

Paul,

Thanks,

. . slightly under the required 300mm but close enough . . 1130point in Arial does the job with a bit of clipping. A3 printer would be better - this I have but I do not use it - the cost of ink for such an ink jet is nasty . . . laser is cheaper and a more solid black colour especially the wax ink of the Xerox phaser . . . . but off topic now.

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Jim
Castle 650 #96. Mystic.

Officially it's the skippers decision to race . I'd strongly suggest you have a think about what conditions YOU will pull the pin BEFORE you have to decide - it's really hard to make the call when you're out there surrounded by hundreds of boats. Gave a talk with your crew in advance.

A few years back we had a 15- 20 knt se around the start, it was a hard slog across lake wellington but they ran the race. I don't think I'd want to be out there in anything over 25 knts at night!! I'd definitely not race if there was a westerley over 20 knts - lake welington is an evil mongrel of a place in a westerly.

Another year (09?) they delayed the start when a big thunderstorm came through around the start time . There was about 30 mins of chaos with poor visibility, confused wind, boats dragging at anchor....- most people decided to do the race and had a wet ride across. I decided my dry bed was 20 minutes away and parked the boat

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noelex 25 green velvet

That would be 2010!

Here's mywinsome's weather warning on TSP on raceday:
Look out guys. The Mother of all storms is on its way. We have had 40knot squalls and the heaviest hail and rain I have seen in 30 years. On the radar its moving towards the Lakes as I write.
Stay safe.

And Mel's report on her *first* Marlay Point:
What an amazing experience for a first timer.
The heavy rain (thunder and lightning) that delayed the start gave us a soaking. (My wet weather gear was true to name - I got very, very wet!)
The four hours to cross Lake Wellington was frustrating but interesting as we tried to eek out the slightest speed advantage from conditions (Freshly made coffee tastes grest when sitting in the rain - must have been the rain drops plonking in the cup!)
The straits took another 4 hours, but how beautiful. The boats in front looked like chinese lanterns drifting on the water...stern lights highlighting the pyramid shapes of goose-winged sails. When I looked behind, it was a sea of christmas lights - red and green. And it was so quiet...
Then, finally, a fresh jog home across Lake Victoria with a pink dawn breaking behind Loch Sport.
A lilttle bit of everything.
Congratulations to the LWYC for organising such a big event. Big thanks to Skipper Pete for his hospitality on the beautiful Katie II - a stunning Hartley 21.
And congratulations to Marg (Gannet) on her award.... I'll let you tell the story Marg (that was you I think???)
Can't wait for next year.

Here is the Bairnsdale rain radar archive for the 2010 Marlay Point, starting 2pm on race day, ending 7am Sunday. There was a bit of a lull Sunday morning, then the rain returned for another 24 hours or so. Sadly the radar doesn't show the wind.

The Melbourne radar shows Melbourne took a pasting too.

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A man's boat is his Castle. The Gippsland Lakes are my moat. Castle 650 #10, Roller Coaster.

If you scroll down through the 2010 photos from

http://lakewellingtonyachtclub.org/marl ... llery.html

There's two photos I took as the storm came through - one from my careel cockpit and another of rush taken from the comfort of the careel cabin as they stood around getting drenched. Nb these photos were taken before sunset!

The local meteriologist expected the storm to split and go either side of lake wellington. This seemed entirely reasonable right up until about 5 minutes before it hit.

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noelex 25 green velvet

Perhaps more impressive - in the 2011 photos there is Mel and her son collecting youngest crew - he would have just turned 6 and it was only Mels second Mponr !!! That's the year after the storm. Gutsy effort!

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noelex 25 green velvet

I know what my policies are regarding forecasts and cancellation, I'm asking about those of the MPONR organisers. 20, 25, 30knots? Do they cancel or postpone. If they postpone, do they attempt to run it again that same weekend, or another, or not at all. Just nice to know.

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A man's boat is his Castle. The Gippsland Lakes are my moat. Castle 650 #10, Roller Coaster.

My goodness 2010 seems like a long time ago! Thanks for sharing that recount Zeb.

Re: queries around cancellation, postponement etc:

Each year, the race committee has an official meeting with BOM reps from East Sale at around 5pm to get the latest weather information for the race. With that information in mind, the committee then has to move and pass a resolution for the race to go ahead. The committee will postpone or cancel if conditions are unsafe.

The race has been cancelled only once it's lifetime. As you can imagine, the decision was received with great disappointment (and even some animosity), as the conditions being forecast seemed unlikely at the time of the briefing. The buster came through about midnight and boats were flattened at their moorings. Some who had decided to sail to Paynesville anyway (not as part of a race) had to be rescued. If cancelled, the race is not rescheduled - just too hard.

Postponement is possible if a change is expected to pass through relatively quickly.

Safety is the paramount concern, but the committee understands people have come to sail; they do a great job of balancing the two (occasionally conflicting!) aims.

173 entries as of 28 Feb. I know it's gone up by at least one since then. Entered today - last day today before late fee applies.

Not long now.

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Mel
Cal 14 'Charlie'
Gippsland

Thanks Mel, that's answered my question nicely.

Entries now at 213!! Avoid the late fee if you enter by 11pm tonight.

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Mel
Cal 14 'Charlie'
Gippsland

What a magic event I just spoke to my father 82 and said its on again dad the 50th Marly...... promised I will drive him and and few old marly mates to watch the start and see the finish. They were all Hartley TS 16 guys and fondly remember the the race as the overnight Marly Point to Metung race ( when did that change?)..... as a kid I remember watching the yachts finish outside the Metung yacht club finish line in Bancroft Bay . they were literally so sleep deprived yet most of them in there Hartleys took off straight away back to Paynsivlle were the kids and the car and trailer were. Dad said one year going straight back to paynsiville the next afternoon they had a gusting sea breeze they were so tired he said he sailed the boat straight up on to the sand at east side of Raymond Island and slept for hours . No radios in those days so it was just binoculars and waiting.
I hope the 50th Magic Race goes well

PS any accommodation left or ideas for probably three old blokes and a middle age driver in paynsville.... suggestions welcome. Im checking STAYZ web site quite confusing just a weekender is sought . I hope to have the old sailors at the presentation night after the race. that WOULD put a smile on their faces
Thanks

Accommodation might be getting a bit scarce but you could try these:

http://www.gippslandlakesescapes.com.au/
http://www.captainscove.com.au/
https://www.marinerscoveresort.com/

Or the pub might have some rooms...https://www.paynesvillehotel.com/

Good luck! hope you find somewhere and enjoy the race. My uncle is a similar age and sailed his Hartley in the race many years ago too.

Oh, and the race was to Metung from 1968-1975; since 1976 it has been to Paynesville.

Cheers!

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Mel
Cal 14 'Charlie'
Gippsland

My first race was as crew on a Hartley16 in 1976, they were nearly all Hartleys in that era and then on the same Hartley for two more years, then three on my own TS500, the rest on the Ultimate 18 with Barbara as crew and one helper. Got a finish in them all up till 1995. Great memories of the 600 plus days. The storms and the calms, the cancellation, and you are right Mel about the abuse both on the radio and yelling out from the boats when it was announced. They ran the buses back to Paynesville for the folks to get their trailers. We had launched at Loch Sport so had to sit it out. We were high and dry for some of the Sunday because the wind pushed the water back into the straits. We crossed Wellington on the Monday on bare poles. I will watch the start from the comfort of the Avan this year.
Fair winds and good sailing to all.

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Farr 7500 (Circe'), Tow hack Mitsubishi Pajero, 1967 MGB roadster, 1932 Austin 7 Sports.

Sadly I've been bumped; they found a 34' cruiser for the job!

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A man's boat is his Castle. The Gippsland Lakes are my moat. Castle 650 #10, Roller Coaster.

It's not too late to enter....

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noelex 25 green velvet

Interesting delivery run yesterday! We put the kite up about 11 ...which was when the wind jumped from 5 to 18 knts.....clearly we had angered the weather gods because the predicted 15 knt eastery turned into 20 + for the rest of the day. Parking at marlay point was interesting.....the dreging barge was tied up between the breakwater and jetty, with waves coming over it's deck ....so it was a real struggle negotiating between the dredger and that concrete block that was barely visible due to the waves! I whimped out and parked at the boat ramp / went and got my trailer from Paynesville. Guess I'll be parking the boat after work tonight.

The lwyc guys have done an amazing job of clearing out around the cutting.

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noelex 25 green velvet

To all those competing, supporting or merely watching, have a terrific and safe weekend.

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Cheers Robin.

Robin & Terry.
RL28 - QE3.

More changes to the Sailing Instructions At https://mponr.com/sailing-documents/race-documents/
VHF Ch 73 and 3 Starts

If you have never done the Marlay.... The 50th MPONR is the one to enter.
Over 220 boats entered so far.

This Saturday/Sunday

Keep safe and enjoy the "race"

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17' Trimaran - EarthSuit
32' Twiggy Trimaran - Cyan

Make that 221 as at yesterday.

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17' Trimaran - EarthSuit
32' Twiggy Trimaran - Cyan

Mike, just a suggestion - given how many infrequent racers enter - is it viable to include pictures of the relevant flags in those changes to sailing instructions?

I know it shouldn't be necessary...but I'd prefer not to be sharing the start line with people looking up the flag page

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noelex 25 green velvet

That concrete block........what is it? Always wondered.