Lake and Cake this Saturday!

by Jo Cudmore

Our last Lake and Cake of the year is on Saturday 07-Oct-23
Due to preparations for the Annual Dinner we will aim to start at 12:30 and be off the water by 3:30 latest
The annual dinner should be a lovely evening with good food and company and a very interesting speaker from Trinity House so if you haven’t got tickets yet they are available via web collect on the club website!
I hope to see lots of you there.

Looking forward to next year – if you have any ideas about the purpose, format and those who should be included in Lake and Cake I would love to hear from you.

If there is any interest in Trek and Treat – (walks in the beautiful Chew Valley followed by cake in the clubhouse) on a Saturday afternoon during the winter let me know and I will be happy to organise something. We usually meet 2-3 times over the winter often at fairly short notice depending on the weather forecast! All welcome including partners and children but sadly dogs are not allowed on the club premises.

Focus on Chew Crew – what a year!

It’s been a fantastic year for Chew Crew. Read the fantastic review A Year of Youth Sailing at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club by the amazing Youth organisers Angus Ruth and Stephanie.

Walkashore

Please can I remind duty teams in particular but all members to please ensure that the walk ashore on the southern slip is pulled clear of the water at the end of each day. If it remains in the water and its windy the waves batter it, and are causing continual damage and need for repair as shown in the images below. Even those not on duty, if you notice its not been pulled clear please help out and do so.

Opportunities for 2024

by Dave Orme

Make An Early New Year’s Resolution – Opportunities For 2024!

It’s high time I did some succession planning, so putting 3 opportunities out there that I intend to push next year. All members could get involved, so I hope you’ll read on.

Opportunity for a Senior Instructor To Become Chief Dinghy Instructor.

At the moment I am both RYA Principal and Chief Dinghy Instructor. Whilst it works, it’s a poor position for the club to be in. To a degree I’m marking my own homework, and if I put off stuff that needs doing to improve club training sessions I won’t take myself to task for doing so! So I believe one of our own Senior Instructors might, and should, consider stepping forward to take over the role of Chief Dinghy Instructor some time during 2024.

Planning RYA Training Courses

If I’m run over by a bus tomorrow there’s no-one that knows how we – ie I – plan the club’s adult RYA Training Courses. That, again, is a poor position for the club to be in. So it would be good if someone could step forward to learn how it’s done. As it’s done through Webcollect it’s a quick, well-established process. I just need to teach someone, or a couple of people, how it’s done and we can do it together during 2024.

This is a great opportunity for a current, keen DI who wants to get more involved in the club’s training activities with a view to their progressing to be an SI sometime in the future. However, it’s a much wider opportunity: any keen member could step in and do what’s required, acting as the club’s “Training Co-ordinator.” It’s what I did for 2+ years. You don’t have to be an instructor at all, let alone a Senior one, to do what’s required.

A word of reassurance – Chew Crew and RYA Youth Training are planned and run by the club’s separate, wizard Chew Crew team.

Pay & Play

At the moment it’s also just me that administers the club’s Pay & Play scheme. So, again, its continued running is conditional upon bus drivers’ awareness, and the club is in a poor position.

P&P is not RYA training. For those unfamiliar with it, some info is on the website. Pay & Play Sessions

As P&P isn’t RYA training, no instructing qualification or sailing competence is required to run this scheme. It’s a simple process of marrying requests for sessions with the list of club instructors and experienced helms who have offered to take people out and make the scheme work. 95% of requests are emailed in from non-members keen to see the club and taste what the sport has to offer.

Any keen member could do this, even a shore-bound one, to the benefit of all concerned. It would be great if someone could step forward to see how it works and we’ll do it together in 2024.

Laser Group WhatsApp

by Gus Cameron

Dear Chew Laser-ists past, present and future.
We’d like to invite you all to join the CVLSC Laser WhatsApp group by clicking on this link or by using the QR code below.

You can use the WhatsApp group to discuss all things Laser. To arrange sailing buddies on winter Wednesdays or to plan trips to summer meetings. Where to buy the best sails and rigging or where to get your boat repaired (my current occupation) and how to roll gybe with panache once it’s fixed. Whatever you like, within reason.

All welcome: past, present and future members of the fleet, or just wannabes who like hanging out with the cool sailors 😉

With the Best Wishes,
Gus and Jan, Fleet Captains

A date for your diaries – Remembrance Carol Service on Denny island

by Jeff Stratford

The Police Group have volunteered to do the duties on Wednesday 13-Dec-23 and with Brian Brooks will be arranging the annual trip to Denny Island to sing a few carols, remember those whose ashes are scattered there and to scatter the ashes of anyone who has requested it. We aim to be on the island at 1100 and you can sail across or we will ferry you across.

Brian is compiling a list of people whose ashes have been scattered on the island in the past, so we don’t forget anyone it would be very helpful if you can forward to Jeff the names of everyone you know has been scattered there.

Member Travels

by James Williams

September has continued to see plenty of our members on the road. Below are a selection of those from a racing perspective (the growing racing side and travels of the youth sailing is covered in the roundup elsewhere in the newsletter). As always, this isn’t to draw away from the far and wide travels of our cruising members, which don’t tend to come with formal reports!

  • Rosie and Susie Sheahan sailed in the 420 Nationals at Pwllheli
  • 2 Chew RS200s drifted around Lyme Bay from Exe SC to achieve 1 completed race (unfortunately not enough for a series). Chris Meredith had better luck representing the Solo fleet just west at Teign Corinthian, finishing 3rdoverall
  • Rob Higgins and James Clark reached Brightlingsea for the RS700 Nationals, between them winning 5 of the 10 races in the series to finish a brilliant 2nd and 4th overall. Chew hosts the Inlands for the class in November.
  • Peter Sherwin ventured over to Douarnenez in Western Brittany for the ILCA Masters Europeans, while closer to home Oli Allen-Wilcox, Josh Morgan, Ed Baker (all ILCA7) and Christi Brasher (ILCA4) all sailed in the Autmn Qualifier at Paignton SC.
  • Ollie Houseman continued his participation in the Thames area Merlin Rocket events with a 4th and 3rd at the weekend events at Upper Thames SC
  • Jaye Rickards travelled to Restronguet SC for the Musto Skiff Nationals across a wide range of conditions in an event won by former member Bill Maughan
  • Chew had 4 boats at the Flying Fifteen Nationals at WPNSA, with Ian Cadwallader top placed in 9th overall, including a win in race 6. Tim Johnson, Bill Chard & Josh Preater and Russ Abrahams & Julian Smith all also made the journey south.
  • Malcolm James had a top 10 finish overall at the Scorpion Inlands at Draycote.
  • A further 4 Chew boats travelled to Royal Torbay YC for the RS100 Nationals, with David Smart top Chew boat in 6th overall, joined by Steve Jones, Andy Jones and Gavin Thompson.
  • One event missed off from last month was the Comet Duo ‘Worlds’ & Nationals at Cransley SC, with Andy and Chloe Gribble finishing a fantastic 4th overall.

Andy Jones

Commodore