On Wednesday evening several SoPYC Flying Fifteeners went on a twilight cruise aboard either the Midolo or Burtenshaw yachts, along with a ring-in past Fifteener, and his lovely wife, who is sailing with John in Esperance. The weather was perfect; moderate breeze, beautiful sunset and almost no wine was spilt... Some of the mark roundings looked like they had the potential to be action packed, but the skippers thankfully played it safe and no damage was sustained by any boats we were aboard. After sailing and a post sailing drink and chat on board, we all adjourned to dinner on the quarterdeck and more drinking and chatting. A fun time was had by all, as promised. We are hoping to have another twilight sail next season with more notice and more daylight, so stay tuned.

For the second successive year, Escalator, skippered by Christopher Paterson (with Ed Repsevicius and Graeme Lillingston as crew for the different races), has won the Tally Hobbs Memorial Regatta following the final 4 races sailed on Sunday March 22. Various weather orientated websites had predicted some very difficult conditions but the reality was a variable south-easterly that occasionally got to around 12 knots and kept the 15 boat fleet tight and entertained. Full results for the Tally Hobbs series can be found here.  Congratulations to Chris.

The Esperance Bay Yacht Club will be expecting over 30 boats to arrive in Esperance on Thursday 2 April for the Western Australian F15 State Championship. Boats will travel from GYC, RFBYC, SoPYC and PRYC to attend the championship and hospitality of EBYC. Boats from Geraldton will travel 1,116 km a 13 hour drive and metropolitan boats will make the trip of  721 km a 9 hour drive.  A few things to remember for your trip:

• check your wheel bearings and spare trailer tyre
• spare globes for your tow bar
• take your grease gun
• travel in convoy with another boat
• pack your boat balanced

When driving remember you need a bigger space to merge into traffic and if you are overtaking, you will need a lot more space to overtake in. To avoid jackknifing make sure your trailer hitch fits correctly, the weight in the boat is evenly distributed on the boat and keep to the speed limit. If you drive at less than the speed limit, be considerate of other drivers and allow them to get past you safely. See you in Esperance.

The 54th Western Australian State Championship is just around the corner Friday 3 April to Sunday 5 April 2015. If you haven't lodged your entry you have until Friday 13 March. Entries shall be lodged with the Esperance Bay Yacht Club, PO Box 530 Esperance WA 6450. Entries may also be faxed to 90 714 723 or emailed to ebyc@westnet.com.au Please Note: Entries will not be processed unless all information is complete and payment is made. Reminder for those who are NOT a FFIWA members and intend to sail the states you will need to be a member by Friday 13 March.