Marcus Burke Navigation Rally

The Marcus Burke Nav Rally was held on Sunday 20 January 2019. Now in its 4th year, 10 boats registered for the navigation challenges the rally provided.

This year the course was not released until the evening before the rally, limiting the ability of boats to scope and practice the route. Anecdotally, the 6pm publication time was a bit too close to the second bottle of red.

The course had quite a few challenges requiring:

  • passage times and speeds to be calculated,
  • VHF check-ins at designated points,
  • observation and interpretation of marks and objects,
  • calculating fuel consumption,
  • dipping fuel tanks to ascertain fuel level,
  • never trusting a boat’s fuel gauge,
  • taking position fixes with hand bearing compasses,
  • working with waypoints on chart plotters and GPS,
  • navigating to virtual waypoints, and
  • measuring distances with different tools.

The actual rally was followed by lunch in the western marquee which was participated in with true member spirit and enthusiasm.

To all’s enjoyment, tales were recounted of the multiple alleged positions of South Channel No 7 which were called in from at least 4 points ranging from Portsea all the way across to Rye front beach (for clarity, it’s in the South Channel just to the left of the Fort if looking out from the Club.)

The Rally was won by Sandpiper, skipped by Milton Green and his trusty crew comprising Kay Christian, Geoff Gadsden, David & Ethna Murphy and Maree Wilson. We are told that a paper chart, slide rule, dividers and a whole lot of skill contributed to their success.

Judy Anne skippered by John Banks and April skippered by Peter Osbourne were 2nd & 3rd respectively.

A fun day was had by all in so many different ways and we look forward to next year’s edition.