May 2017
Queensland Sporting Hovercraft Club
AUSTRALIAN HOVERCRAFT FEDERATION Inc (Qld Branch)
Dear Air Cushion Vehicle enthusiast,
The Queensland branch of The Australian Hovercraft Federation held a planning meeting on Tuesday,
16th May 2017, at the Coopers Plains Library in Orange Grove Road.
This meeting was attended by:-
| President:- | Ben Woodhead |
| Vice President:- | Kim Allen |
| Treasurer:- | Phillip Audsley |
| Secretary:- | Steven Odgaard |
| Publicity Officer:- | Steve Stephens |
Other members attending were Dieter Renisch, Arthur Stead, Peter Venn, Angus Kerr and Les Taylor.
Cruise report - Moogerah Dam near Aratula - Sunday 7th May 2017.
The last club cruise was held on Sunday 7th May 2017 at Moogerah Dam near Aratula.
Those attending the cruise with craft were:-
| Peter Venn | Turbo TP6 | |
| Ben Woodhead | Turbo XP960 | |
| Les Taylor | Turbo 235 Superwedge | - Phoenix. |
| Kim Allen | Turbo Wedge 240 | - Zesty. |
| Larry Franks | UH18-SPW | - The Norm. |
| Steven Odgaard | Expo Turbo 240 | - original "World Expo 88" craft |
| Dale Baxter | Commodore V6 powered airboat | - Passing Wind. |
Peter and Elaine set off in their campervan with the TP6 in tow along the Logan Motorway at 7:00am on Friday morning. Steven Odgaard was following them for some of the way, but he was heading to work through peak hour traffic. Dale Baxter camped in his 1984 HJ47 Toyota Landcruiser and friends Kath and Rhys Machen came along to see his airboat in action. Les Taylor had the Phoenix running in fine form and Kim Allen camped for the weekend with Hayley and James. They had Zesty equipped with rudders and elevator, however these paled in insignificance compared to the Norm which had the Wig kit tail plane assembly fitted for manoeuvring practice by Larry and Kay Franks. The Norm is a Universal model UH18SPW. Ben Woodhead also spent a relaxing weekend with his family Narelle, Gowan, and Calum and the Turbo XP 960. Steven Odgaard borrowed the original "World Expo 88" Expo Turbo, and Winsome Anderson and Kevin King called in on Sunday at lunch time with their caravan. Winsome is getting to know the club members and is preparing her notes for the public address work at the national rally in July.
 Kay Franks |
 Les Taylor |
 Dale Baxter |
 Canyon Gorge |
Thanks to Les Taylor for his preparation of the Zig-Zag slalom with not one chicane, but two. The reluctant recreational day cruisers soon forgot their mild mannered Clark Kent demeanour, and lined up to show off their motor sport skills in their slick competitive craft.
| 9:30am Slalom. | |
| Ben Woodhead | - your president and superhero unmasked at just 38.33 seconds. |
| Gowan Woodhead | - the protege at an amazing 40.88 seconds. |
| Les Taylor | - your scrutineer and race fixer at just 36.83 with a contentious penalty 41.8s. |
| Steven Odgaard | - your secretary with an historic 41.69 clean seconds. |
| Peter Venn | - King of the cruisers with a crowning - can you believe it? - 52.4 seconds. |
| Dale Baxter | - Minister for passing wind in the awesome airboat - 53.8 seconds. |
| What a sport ladies and gentlemen. | |
| I give you | - your president Ben Woodhead, the talented and highly competitive winner. |
I think we have a team. Imagine having Passing Wind in the team.
How to swamp your opponent during a tight turn with a quick puff of wind and spray at 20 paces.
 Turbo TP6 |
 Zesty |
 Phoenix |
 Canyon Gorge |
Lake Moogerah - May
Lunch around the camp fire, and then another cruise to the canyon gorge with Kevin King and Winsome Anderson. The lake was 100 percent full with the water lapping at the spillway. The surface area was at its maximum and allowed for some interesting cruises to the extremities of the coves and dead tree forests which presented no barrier as navigable water extended well beyond their usually impenetrable mass of twisted roots and logs.
We packed up at 3:00 pm and hit the long road home at 3:30.
Local News:-
Name Change for the Club
To Les Taylor and Steve Stephens
Cc Larry Franks Ben Woodhead Kim Allen
Thursday, 27th April 2017
Hello Les,
Changing the name of a young club would be a good and reasonable idea with little consequence,
however changing the name of a club 3 decades old and with a name that is the 2nd oldest (behind the
South Australian Club) should only be attempted if a very strong case is presented.
I know you are busy with scrutiny preparations for the national rally however for the people who were
not at this meeting, I wonder if you would like to have a go at writing a case in point for either the
proponent case or the opponent case or perhaps both if you can handle an even conviction.
Example for:-
A semi-government body uses the term recreational boating so we should be seen to be politically
homogenous with the recreational boating community.
Example against:-
A club has organised activities and these are technically classed as sport. People go to watch sport.
People don't go to watch other people doing recreation.
Few referenda would be complete without a full case in point presented upon which the masses may base their good judgement.
kind regards
Steven Odgaard
Club secretary
Rally Competitor Profile:-
Winsome Anderson will be doing the Australian National Rally commentary at Lake Coolmunda in July
and would like all rally competitors to submit their profile asap so that spectators and competitors
have some interesting information-flow during the weekend.
Ths should include your name and background, craft details including model, registration, name, colors,
engine, power, history, etc.
Please put yours together and e-mail it to winsomeanderson@hotmail.com NOW.
Example Rally Competitor Profile
QPWS meeting:-
A meeting with QPWS officials was organised by James King for 27/04/17 at the department's offices in
400 George St., Brisbane. It was attended by James, Karl Bowman, Steve Stephens, Geoff Clare (Senior
Executive Director, Park Services, NPSR), Sybil Smith (Principal Policy Officer-Business Reform, NPSR),
Lara Connell (Acting Manager, Assessments and Approvals, NPSR), & Tracy O'Bryan (Executive Director,
Permissions Management, NPSR).
The main reason for the meeting was to sort out the ambiguities between James, Elisha, and Karl's
permits regarding the Code of Practise, Zoning Plans, and the many other related regulations. Although
much discussion took place and follow-up actions were agreed, very little improvement was negotiated,
except for the department finally agreeing that the $20M Public Liability Insurance requirements could be
reduced to $10M, with strings attached. I have since submitted a template application for this reduction
which is currently being processed. If this is successful, full details will be distributed to all financial QSH
members.
QRBC report:-
We are affiliated with the Qld Recreational Boating Council which consists of delegates from most of the
clubs, marinas, and government authorities involved with Qld waterways use and regulations. Items of
interest from last week's meeting were: The first whales have already been sighted for this seasons
migration through Qld waters, and are expected back in Moreton Bay, so be aware of the regulations
regarding safe distances and speeds.
MSQ (Maritime Services Qld) is now promoting a major culture-change with regard to wearing
life-jackets while on the water, as recent fatalities have highlighted the need to adopt the habit of
“Putting it on at the ramp”, rather than stowing “until it is needed”. This needs to be led by example, so
that it becomes ingrained in young boaties and avoid the increasing number of reported boating
incidents.
The Moreton Bay Boat Club recently put 20 young sailors in the water, then threw lifevests to them.
Only 1 out of the 20 managed to get it on in the water, and was almost exhausted. The other 19 kids
failed badly. Some of the “Cheap Charlie” life-vests have been failing on first use and are being
investigated. Put your jacket on right now to check it!
Interstate News:-
AHF meeting
There will be an AHF meeting to discuss the National Rally on Wednesday 7th June 2017 at 7:00pm.
This meeting will be held at at Ben Woodhead's place for the Qld Division and on skype for the other states.
Paul Moody asked for more text input into the forum to secure reader interest.
Hovercraft Club Of Victoria re-location at Lake Narracan to the North Shore.
Australian National Rally:
The next Australian National Rally will be held from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th July 2017 at Lake
Coolmunda near Inglewood in southeast Queensland. This rally is being organised by the Queensland
Sporting Hovercraft Club on behalf of the Australian Hovercraft Federation.
Check the rally site for details - rally.qhover.com
News article from the MacIntyre Gazette
Next club cruise:-
The next club cruise will be held on Sunday 18th June 2017 at Muriel St, Redland Bay.
Meet at 9:00am at 96 Muriel St, Redland Bay for a launch into the Redland Bay Channel.
UBD Reference - Map 267 B-9.
Contact for the event is Steven Odgaard on 0400 798 404.
Next Queensland branch meeting:
The next club meeting will be held on Tuesday 20th June 2017 at 7:30pm.
It will be held in the Coopers Plains Library at 107 Orange Grove Road, Coopers Plains.
There is plenty of parking at the rear of the library building via Bosworth Street off Orange Grove Road.
This will be the last meeting before the National rally, so we will be concentrating on last-minute items.
UBD Reference - Map 200 D-13.
Anyone with an interest in air cushion vehicles is welcome to attend.
We discuss technical topics and plan cruises.
Regards
Steven Odgaard
QSH secretary
