August 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,
15th August 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 Les Taylor, Arthur Stead, Angus Kerr, Peter Venn, Michael Stephenson, Dieter Renisch.
Apologies: Winsome Anderson.
Cruise report - Jacobs Well boat ramp, Jacobs Well - Sunday 13th August 2017.
The last club cruise was held on Sunday 13th August 2017, launching from the Jacobs Well boat ramp
and cruising south to the Pimpama River, then the Coomera River and across to South Stradbroke Island
at Tippler's resort.
Those attending the cruise with craft were:-
| Peter Venn | Expo Turbo 240 | |
| Angus Kerr | Viper 4 Cruiser | |
| Ben Woodhead | Turbo XP 960 | |
| Les Taylor | Turbo 235 Superwedge / Yamaha PE 485 | - Phoenix. |
| Kim Allen | Turbo Wedge 240 | - Zesty. |
| Steve Stephens | Turbo Wedge 240 | - No Wheel Drive. |
| Steven Odgaard | Bill Baker Vehicle 2 | - Static Display |
Seven hovercraft turned up at Jacob's Well boat ramp for a 9 o'clock start. The car park and surrounding
side streets were full. Ben Woodhead and Dieter Renisch in the Turbo XP 960, Les Taylor in the Phoenix
Turbo 235 Super Wedge, Angus and Cameron Kerr in the Viper 4 Cruiser, Kim, Hayley and James Allen in
Zesty Turbo Wedge 240, and Peter Venn in the Expo Turbo 240 set off at 9:40 am for a trip south to the
Pimpama River via Woogoompah Island passage then south to Coomera River and across to South
Stradbroke Island for lunch at Tippler's resort.
Back at base, Steve Stephens and Judith who arrived early by No Wheel Drive, set off on foot to the
cafe in Jacob's Well Road and Larry Franks and Steven Odgaard wet the whistle at the Tavern.
 Approaching the ramp |
 Expo Turbo 240 |
 Ben Woodhead |
 The Viper 4 |
Two craft remained behind as sentinels for the expected late comers.
Neville, Paul, Gemma and Oscar Mackley arrived at 12 noon with Caitlin Wright and work colleague
James Allin. Paul Mackley and James Allin work at Airlift Hovercraft. With a 13km/hr south by south east
breeze, all five craft returned safely at 12:38 pm. Angus and Cameron salvaged a plastic kayak and
Peter Venn took Gemma, Caitlin and Oscar for a ride across to Kangaroo Island at 1:05 pm. Les Taylor
left the carpark at 2:10 pm and Steve Stephens and Judith headed off north to Russell Island in their
Turbo Wedge 240 at 2:30 pm.
Steven Odgaard with the Bill Baker Vehicle 2 enjoyed a late barbecue lunch on an electric hot plate
washed down with hot billy tea and left the park at 4:00 pm to join the busy Sunday northbound traffic
heading back to Brisbane.
 South Stradbroke Is. |
 South Stradbroke Is. |
 Angel de la Cruz |
Vale: Ross McLeod
Peter Venn, Bob Neilsen (past QSH club president) and Paul Mackley attended the private funeral of Ross
Lindsay McLeod at the Gold Coast on Wednesday 9th August 2017. Ross sadly passed away on Tuesday
1st August 2017 aged 63.
Ross was born 15th October 1953 in Dunedin, New Zealand.
His company: "Airlift Hovercraft" has been exporting his extremely well finished craft across the globe.
Mainly to maritime authorities. Some of his craft designs included the Hoverute, Hoverflyer, Ranger,
Surveyor, Pioneer and Kaiman.
Ross had built ACVs since 1979 in NZ, Toronto, NSW, then Nerang and Alberton, Queensland.
Ross was a current QSH club member until his sad passing. Our condolences go to his wife Meiyi.
Other Local News:-
Ben Woodhead received a phone call from VMR secretary. QSH featured in the VMR magazine and our
club was invited to attend the VMR display on 10th September 2017 at Shorncliffe.
Letter from Winsome Anderson 13th August 2017.I wanted to attend the meeting to advise the club that I had an enjoyable time with everyone at the Coolmunda Rally and our caravan tour after. It was good to catch up with friends at Bargara. In fact the friends we stayed with at Bargara are only 3 streets away from Karl and Judy Bowman. We caught up with them one afternoon, as it was only walking distance from where we stayed.
Also Steve, many thanks for the beautiful gifts you brought around after I returned home. That was a surprise and totally unexpected, as I was really happy to assist with the Public Address duties, as always. I hope my small part helped contribute to the success of the weekend.
It was really a good week-end and you had a lot of organising to do, and my part was only a small part. Again Many Thanks and I trust I can make it to a future meeting to catch up with everyone.Bye for now and best wishes to all the members.
Winsome.
Next club cruise:-
The next club cruise will be held on Sunday 10th September 2017 from the Nudgee Beach boat ramp in
Nudgee Road. Take exit 112 from the Gateway Motorway and head east along Nudgee Road for about 2
kilometres to the ramp.
Meet at 8:30 am at the Nudgee Beach ramp for a 9:00 am launch into the Kedron Brook Floodway
and a cruise along the coast to Shorncliffe to participate in the VMR display.
UBD Reference - Map 121 N-3.
Contact for the event is Steven Odgaard on 0400 798 404.
Next Queensland branch meeting:
The next club meeting will be held on Tuesday 19th September 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.
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