SISTERHOODLUMS Sail Chicago

Extra Photos

2007-05-09T17:13:00.000+10:00

This beats rowing

Karina, flat out on deck

Dayna and Lea at Athol Bay

Final Formal On-Water Day

2007-04-24T16:26:00.000+10:00

Lise, Emma, Dayna and Lea on the foredeck

We had a full program of things to show the girls on Saturday for our last proper session. Laura will get a chance later to discover the joys of anchoring, outboards, oil in the engine and the pleasures of an inflatable.

A very kind fellow newly with the ASCC came early on Saturday and fixed the anchor winch for us but we thought the girls should learn how to drop and retrieve the anchor the old fashioned way first.

All of them were a little reluctant to yell back at the skipper but finally realised that it was the only way to successfully communicate. So we anchored and pulled it up a couple of times by the Dawn Fraser Pool. Having parked ourselves it seemed like a good time to also take them for a little spin in the inflatable and let them have a test of steering the outboard. They also discovered how hard it can sometimes be to get the bloody thing started. But all of them could see the advantages over rowing.

Next we hoisted the sails. At least our girls did. Karina had a hard time sitting back but we managed to tie her down for a while and let them get on with it. No wind though so we motor sailed to the main harbour before a nice 8 knot breeze kicked in.

On the way our budding rock stars (slang for highly paid professional sailors) proved they remembered all the previous lessons about right of way, cardinal marks etc. Way to go!

The another opportunity to rehearse dropping the sails and anchoring as we stopped at Athol Bay for lunch and a lesson in chart and map reading. And a swim. And mud cake.

When it was time to go they all jumped to and almost without prompting got the sails up and set. So we thought we might as well put out the pole on the headsail as well. That proved a little more complicated. Not because of our trainees but because we do it so rarely we forgot how. We eventually got it up and had a nice run most of the way to Balmain.

The last lesson was how to get invited back: tidy up, do the dishes and TAKE THE GARBAGE WITH YOU.

It's been a great experience for us all and we expect to see all the girls out as crew in the future.

Day 2 for the ACON girls

2007-04-17T18:15:00.000+10:00

What clever young salts our ACON girls have turned out to be. We all met at the pontoon again on Saturday and without much ado hoisted the sails and set off for the main harbour. Laura, who missed out on the race a fortnight ago, was excited about going under the bridge. Lease was proudly sporting an excellent reef knot in the rope holding her pants up. Once under way they all demonstrated that they remembered the rest of the knots they learned last time. That's more than can be said for some of the regular crew!

We did a lot of tacking as they all got used to the process and the effort with the winches and then we picked up a mooring at Milk Beach in Rose Bay. After a quick bite to eat we set them all a rowing test. Get in the dinghy, row around the boat, return to the ladder and get out again.
Lea works it out

One by one they set off and not one of them capsized, lost an oar or had to be rescued. We did have Julie on standby to jump in but it wasn't necessary. It had occurred to me as Emma was getting the hang of the "oars in unison" thing that maybe we should have attached them with a long line but as it eventuated it wasn't needed.
Laura in the dinghy

And then we put up the sails again and sailed home. We seem to have a new crew in the making.

Returning the Favour

2007-04-10T15:09:00.001+10:00

When ACON so kindly sponsored Sisterhoodlums' trip to Chicago for the Gay Games our part of the bargain was to teach four girls to sail.
Lea, Lise, Emma & Laura

We had our first day on Saturday 31st March. Laura, Lea, Lise and Emma met us at the pontoon in Balmain. We all got acquainted and the girls told us a little about themselves. Then we started the training. First they all practised getting into a dinghy and then out of it on to the back of Cheshire Cat. Seems simple but can be a bit daunting for a beginner. And more so since the new dinghy is quite wide and therefore quite hard to get into the middle of. But no-one went into the drink!

Next was knots. Julie had supplied each of our new team with a folder containing basic knots, a sailing for dummies paper and a piece of rope. Good thinking Best Mate! So Dayna ran through the basic hitch, reef knot and bowline. And within a few minutes all the girls were tying them like naturals. It will be interesting to see if they remember them next Saturday.

How to use the head followed. Again simple but essential knowledge. They all took more notice when we made it clear that whoever blocks to loo unplugs it again.

Then with the water police cruising by (they who threatened to book us last time we lingered too long on the pontoon) we decided to head out and sail. As it was quite windy we elected to stay up the more sheltered Balmain end of the harbour. First we showed them how to raise the sails then how to use the winches, explained the basic principles of tacking and had them all take turns. By then stomachs were rumbling so we went for the "dropping the sails" and "how to pick up a mooring" lessons and settled down for lunch and our turn to tell them a bit about ourselves.

Cheshire Cat on the mooring

After lunch we took to the water again. This time we gave them all a turn on the wheel. That's always fun as the novice learns not to oversteer and end up wiggling back and forward across the harbour. I kept a bit of an eye on the other boats in the area so they wouldn't think a drunk was in charge. And more winching. And then the how to tie up to a jetty/pontoon lesson. And as with everything else we did that day all four girls proved to be naturals. They learned quickly, worked hard and generally got the hang of the process. It was good to see their confidence on the water build as the day went on.

So then, as we were shorthanded for the race the next day, we asked who would like to join us. Almost bowled over in the rush we were. Poor Laura had an essay to write but the others all agreed to turn up for another day of punishment. You can read about that at the Cheshire Cat blog

And check back here for the next adventure in a couple of weeks.

Comments fixed

2006-09-14T11:06:00.000+10:00

For those of you who have tried to post comments I have finally been alerted to the need for people to be registered. So I've fixed it so now anyone can post a comment, registered or not.

Sisterhoodlum wins bronze!

2006-08-06T10:42:00.000+10:00

In a surprise turn of events Sisterhoodlum Anni Browning won a bronze medal at the 1st World Out Games in Montreal. The medal is for the 50 metres freestyle swim.
As late nights and lots of beer at the girls bar in Montreal's gay village formed a large part of Anni's preparation the win was unexpected.

Two of the other Sisterhoodlums, Julie and Karina, are home in Sydney with Dayna still hunting bears in Canada.

It's All Over

2006-07-24T23:59:00.000+10:00

The closing ceremony at Wrigley Field was a great finale. It was short, entertaining and Cindy Lauper was wonderful. She came out dressed as a rainbow Statue of Liberty and sang True Colours and Shine. Wrigley Firld is an iconic baseball field in Chicago so many of the US athletes were calling thier friends and family and saying "I'm on first base.." etc. Here we all are at the closing, plus us with Robert from the Belmont Sailing Club and Kim our excellent team manager.

More Pictures

2006-07-23T03:51:00.000+10:00

Here are some shots of us being towed out for the final race. Stay tuned for more adventures and our Twenty 10 sailing friends. And support ACON!!

Team Australia

2006-07-22T10:21:00.000+10:00

While waiting for the decision to start or not to start a final race we took the opportunity to photograph all the teams together. Nic Bailey, David Ford and Dale Collings are the Southerly Busters, the 3 Cheese Fagotinis are Julie Owens, Julia Pitcher and Meredith Campbell and their ground support is Megan. Plus us of course.

Then today we went for a cruise up the Chicago River to look at the architecture and the harbour. Afterwards we found a building that has bits of stone, carvings etc from all over the world. A bunch of kleptomanics obviously built it. Julie and Dayna are standing under the Sydney Opera House.

We made the final!

2006-07-21T22:57:00.000+10:00

The last heat on Wednesday was cancelled because of a predicted thunderstorm and so we weren't to know til eleven on Thursday if we had made the cut. The storm finally arrived early Thursday. After a tense morning waiting for the lightening to clear and the wind to pick up Chuck, the PRO, sent the fleet out at 1pm. Dayna and Anni answered the call for race boat assistance. 2 hours later, still with no wind, the fleet was towed back to shore.Chuck was very keen to get at least one race in so at about 5pm he cancelled the heat and based the finals selection on the first heat only. That meant we were in for sure. We got out on the course by 6 and the race started at aboiut 6.20, 10 minutes before racing had to be cancelled for the day. The breeze was about 4 to 5 knots - just enough. It was a sudden death final, one race only. We finally did a good start and eventually finished sixth and were very happy.

The 3 Cheese Fagotinis won a close fought battle for gold and the Southerly Busters came third in the spinnaker race.

Check back later for photos.

Not such a good day

2006-07-20T23:49:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was bit disappointing with a 4 a 3 and a 3. Gear breakage put paid to our good start in the third race when the jib car track pulled off the deck. Dayna did a fabulous job of lashing it down but we lost time and our second placing. Unfortunately in spite of the suggestion at the skipper's meeting that redress might be available for gear failure the fact that there was no mention of it in the race instructions meant our request to the jury was disallowed.

A predicted thunderstorm forced the cancellation of the final heat yesterday so until that is completed this moring - if it is, as the thunderstorm is happening now instead of yesterday - we don't know if we have made the finals.

But we have been getting to know some of the other teams. Those that weren't in Sydney for the Gay Games all say they want to come to visit. We have been encouraging them all to come for the ASCC Annual Regatta next year.

Third, Second and Second!

2006-07-19T11:27:00.000+10:00

Chicago has earned it's windy city name tag. Another day with 20 knots on the lake. We set off being towed out because the outboards were taken off the boats. And brand new sails put on. The breeze was building and we were very glad we were close to the weight limit. The starts were a bit odd to begin with but the race committee got the hang of it after one general recall for their mistake not ours and one start we are sure was a six minute sequence instead of five.

As the waves got up to three feet and more, rather large in a small boat, we sailed three races, the last one of only two legs instead of four as we had run out of time. And we scored a thrid and two seconds so we are in second place in our heat so far. Tomorrow we sail the second half of the heat with another three races. The wind is predicted to be simmilar and rain is expected. Just as well we brought our wet weather gear.

Onwards and upwards.

Here are a picture of the harbour before the wind started, and Julie, Karina and one of our excellent hosts, Kim, at the Bean in Millenium Park. Also a shot of the fountain with the faces of Chicago on it.

2006-07-18T12:07:00.000+10:00

Another great training session! 20Knot winds and a broken mainsheet shackle made it quite exciting, but we learned a lot and are looking forward to our 9am start tomorrow morning - not.

For those of you who can get NBC Channel 5 they are broadcasting the Games live.
http://www.nbc5.com/gaygames/index.html

Gay Games Begins

2006-07-17T15:09:00.000+10:00

The opening ceremony was held on a hot and sweaty night. With the other 12,000 athletes we queued up and walked onto Solier Field, an iconioc venue to many Chicago citizens. Dayna carried the Team Sydney banner onto the field, what a star! There are two other Australian sailing teams here with us - and about 300 other Aussies. There was a magical moment when the lights were turned out and we were all holding different coloured lights so the whole field looked like a shining rainbow flag. (Photos later)

Today we had our first training session on the lake. It isn't so different but less wind interference since there are no islands, headlands etc to get in the way. The heat is still really something with many apologies from the locals who say "you should have been here last week...!!

But we feel like superstars with so many people coming up to us to say "we love you Australians.. ". We've even been offered free drinks... but of course we are still in training. We passed the weigh in with flying colours and then went off to celebrate with a huge US breakfast.

Our hosts are fabulous, driving us around, keeping us fed and watered. Wonderful ground support.

More training tomorrow and then our first race on Tuesday at 9am.

we've arrived!

2006-07-16T00:10:00.000+10:00

The team is all in the US now. Anni, Julie and Karina are in Chicago and Dayna gets here this afternoon. Yesterday we registered for the Gay Games and then got our first glimpse of Lake Michigan - no wind! And we saw Millenium Park with the big stainless steel bean and the foutain that screens the faces of many Chicagoans.

Trophies for the team already

2006-07-08T07:45:00.000+10:00

Although not strictly speaking Sisterhoodlums business the team, along with sometimes co-skipper Jenni Neary, were awarded two trophies at the ASCC's Annual dinner last night. In our regular boat Cheshire Cat we came third in the Spring series and second in the Combined series.

ACON CEO Stevie Clayton, who gave a wonderful speech on the night - in part about the value of community, presented the trophies. She said another sporting team sponsored by ACON, the Convicts rugby team, won gold overseas so this could be an omen. Third and Second here and Gold in Chicago???

We have also featured in the Sydney Star Observer and Lesbians On The Loose so those of you who are Sydneysiders can see us in print.

Happy Birthday Karina!

2006-07-03T06:50:00.000+10:00

Sunday was a big day for the team. It was Karina's birthday (Go Girl!)

Birthday girl (r) with Julie

and Dayna left for the US for some pre Games reunions with family and friends. And we are all trying to work out where to find accurate scales so we can be sure we are collectively under the maximum weight limit. Dayna tried three all next to each other at Bing Lee and there was a 5 kilo difeference between them. She's now promised not to eat too much American icecream and chocolate til after the regatta.

Bad Hair Day for Dayna

Chicago here we come!

2006-07-02T07:22:00.000+10:00

Saturday was our last training day on Sydney Harbour and it was a perfect winter day - sunny with a light breeze between 5 and 12 knots. It was a little cool but it didn't stop us wearing our new team shirts. Several people commented on how smart we looked! In fact the guy in Sturrocks Chandlery thought we'd been racing we looked so coordinated.

We now have tuning guides coming out our ears thanks to David, Nic and Dale (another ASCC team competing in the Gay Games spinnaker division) and the joys of the internet. Julie has given us all plenty of reading material for our various plane trips. And just in case we bought a protest flag. Hopefully we won't need it.

President Lovney wishes us well

2006-06-27T12:43:00.000+10:00

ACON President Adrian Lovney wished the team members well as they set sail for Chicago.

"We are proud to be a sponsor of Sisterhoodlums and to support another health and fitness activity for our community. Let's hope our Sydney sailors can show them how it's done at the Gay Games," Mr Lovney said.

ACON sponsors Sisterhoodlums

2006-06-18T09:23:00.000+10:00

Sisterhoodlums are proudly supported by ACON (Aids Council of NSW)
With the generous support of ACON, Sisterhoodlums are on their way to Chicago for the Gay Games 2006.

Competing in the non-spinnaker division of the regatta Sisterhoodlums are excited and proud to be promoting ACON to an international gathering the size of the Chicago 2006 Gay Games.

In training since January the team is hoping in Karina's words "to kick butt".

The 2006 Gay Games will be held in Chicago between the 15th and the 22nd of July 2006. Chicago will play host to the world and welcome thousands of athletes, spectators and cultural participants into homes, hearts and the city for the seventh quadrennial Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival. The Games will feature 12,000 participants, competition in 30 sports, world-class athletes and artists, band and choral performances, nightly medal ceremonies, a week-long arts festival, parties, and spectacular opening and closing ceremonies featuring entertainment, pageantry, and the parade of participants from more than 70 countries.

As part of the games a sailing regatta will be held on Lake Michigan out of beautiful Belmore Harbour.

The purpose of the Federation of Gay Games is to foster and augment the self-respect of lesbians and gay men throughout the world and to engender respect and understanding from the nongay world.

While particular emphasis is placed on these specific goals, it is a fundamental principle of the Federation of Gay Games that all activities conducted under its auspices shall be inclusive in nature and that no individual shall be excluded from participating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, political belief(s), athletic/artistic ability, physical challenge, age, or health status.

Gay Games sports and cultural components are directed by experts in their fields, the tournaments and performances are professionally organized, the competition is top flight, and the events are held at world-class facilities. The Sydney 2002 Gay Games used a wide range of the Olympic facilities including the CYCA at Rushcutters Bay, home to numerous world class boating events.