E - News 1. Lake Cootharaba Celebrate Diamond Jubilee 2. Humpybash February 17 & 18 3. North QLD’s J24 Fleet In Action During January 4. Queensland Taipan Success 5. The Great Marathon Dinghy Race 6. Young Endeavour Applications Open 7. New Zoning Set to Boost Fish Stocks 8. MOB Technology Released to QLD Chandleries 9. Proposed IRC Measurement Day 10. Obtaining Prescription Drugs For Yacht Racing Safety Requirements 1. Lake Cootharaba Celebrate Diamond Jubilee Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club will celebrate their 60th Birthday Diamond Jubilee on February 11.  The club is famous for its outstanding family hospitality at their club house on the lake.  The location for hundreds of regattas over the years, the lake boasts quality breeze and a depth that allows sailors to simply stand up when they come to grief. The party is Saturday afternoon/ night 11 February from 2pm.  Reminisce over afternoon tea and party on with BYO BBQ dinner.  Entertainment includes club history presentation and sailing club stories from yesteryear.  It’s all about life members, old members, new members and friends getting together to celebrate our great club. Please visit www.lcsc.org.au . 2. Humpybash February 17 and 18 The Humpybash off the beach regatta is set to bring together some of South East Queensland’s best multihull and dinghy sailors.  The event will be held at Humpybong Yacht Club on February 18th and 19th, 2006.  Please visit www.connectqld.org.au/humpybongyachtclub for more information. 3. North Queensland’s J24 Fleet in Action During January The North Queensland region launched a fleet of four J24 sailing vessels in October for the purposes of promoting sailing participation and training in North Queensland.  The fleet has been in full action during January with exciting interclub racing at Yorkey’s Knob.  Clubs from the North Queensland region have each nominated teams of six sailors to race on the J24’s.  Jim Downes and the team at Half Moon Bay Yacht Club have organised the event. Teams contesting the interclub match racing series included Cairns Yacht Club, Cairns Cruising Yacht Squadron, Half Moon Bay Yacht Club, Tinaroo Sailing Club and Mission Beach Sailing Club. Visit www.nqsailing.yachting.org.au for the full story and photos. 4. Queensland Taipan Success Brisbane brothers Matthew and Chris Homan of Multihull Yacht Club of Queensland won the Taipan 4.9 catamaran National Titles at Port Stephens in early January.  The boys had to win the last two heats on the last day of the regatta to win.  This is the first time any Queenslanders have won the converted catamaran title in the 18 years. In the 5.7 class Mark Adams and Leon McNeil achieved victory in a smaller fleet of cats.  These results were achieved in a wide range of wind conditions over ten races. 5. The Great Marathon Dinghy Race The Great Marathon Dinghy Race is set to sail from Southport on February 4. Believed to be the longest sailing event of its kind to be staged in Australia, organisers are expecting up to 100 entries for the 2006 ‘Great Race’ – a unique endurance race from Southport to Manly. Attracting 70 entries in it’s inaugural year (2005), the event ‘race track’ spans over 70 kms and features all conditions from narrow and demanding waterways past Jacobs Well and Russell Island, to the vast open waters of Moreton Bay. Please contact SYC Hollywell 07 55377 030 for spectator and participant information.  Entries close January 27. 6. Young Endeavour Applications Open Young Australians aged 16 - 23 can now apply to get on board the tall ship Young Endeavour for a sail training program in 2006. Setting sail for 11-days from Mackay, Cairns, Hamilton Island, Bundaberg, Brisbane, Sydney, Burnie and Hobart, berths are available from June – October 2006. Participants do not require any sailing experience.  http://www.boatingoz.com.au/newsframes.htm 7. New Zoning Set to Boost Fish Stocks Fish stocks will flourish in protected areas following zoning regulations in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the world’s largest fisheries experiment revealed. The 11-year study by the CRC Reef into the effects of line fishing in Queensland’s north-east coast showed an increase in fish size and number in protected areas compared with nearby areas open to fishing. More information: http://www.qld.yachting.org.au/?page=21194 8. MOB Technology Released to Queensland Chandleries The Mobilert Crew Monitoring System, exciting new technology in sea safety, has been released to chandleries Queensland wide.   The system constantly monitors all crew members through small pendants and displays an instant alert to the crew via alarm and LCD screen should a crew member fall overboard. The system constantly displays the status of all members on board and instantly provides the skipper with a GPS position of an MOB incident should it occur. You can currenlty view a live demonstration at one of the following chandleries: Marlin Marine  Airlie Beach   07 4946 6453, Boat Harbour Marine  Scarborough  07 3880 0111, Muir Marine  Manly  07 3396 9988 Seaway Marine Manly  07 3893 0955 Glascraft Marine  Fortitude Valley 07 3252 5955 Bosuns Locker  Southport Yacht Club Marina  07 55 911 911  Sonar Marine Services Cairns   07 4031 2299 Wellington Point Marine  Wellington Point  07 3207 2235 9. Proposed IRC Measurement Day The Yachting Queensland Offshore Committee has received informal advice that numerous owners in Brisbane are interested in having their yachts measured for the IRC handicap rule.  If there is sufficient interest Yachting Queensland will consider the coordination of a measuring day/s where a maximum of 5 boats could be measured and weighed.  The measuring day has been proposed to happen sometime in February / March 2006 in Brisbane (before the 2006 Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht race). A regional group measuring day will be considered if there is sufficient interest arises. Please contact Jennifer Kidd at Yachting Queensland if you are interested. Ph: (07) 33936788 or email: admin@qldyachting.org.au.  Further information including registration form and pricing is available from www.qld.yachting.org.au. 10. Obtaining Prescription Drugs For Yacht Racing Safety Requirements YA Special Regulation No. 4 (2005 – 2009) requires yachts competing in Cat. 1 & 2 events to carry specified prescription drugs.  Recently YQ has received enquiries about how to obtain these drugs. The required drugs can be obtained under QLD law using the provisions of the Health Act 1937 and its subsidiary Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation 1996. The regulations allow the issue and use of controlled and restricted drugs on boats in QLD.  Copies of the applicable sections of the Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation 1996 are attached these are Sections 69 (2) (controlled drugs), 178 (2) (restricted drugs) and 264A (use of the drugs). The key requirements are: • A purchase order must be signed by a Doctor, • The drugs are only for use on the boat, and • The drugs must be appropriately secured when on board. Further information or assistance is available from: • QLD Health Environmental Health Unit on 3234 0938 or • Manly Village Pharmacy on 3396 8999 who are familiar with the issue process. Information issued by the YA Offshore and Safety Committee.