One of many Chew boats ‘on tour’ this summer – Derian & Andy at the Fireball Nationals in Penzance

Sailing Report

I cannot believe the summer racing series are coming to an end already – the last Race 18 of the Wednesday series is on Wednesday 15th August! The tussles at the top are almost complete:

  • In the Fast Handicap the clear leaders are Nick Martindale and Ruth Kenyon in their RS200, but rapidly catching, winning the last three races is Andy Bones in his Flying Fifteen.
  • Julian Cooke looks to be un-catchable in the Laser fleet. (Though he did set out this week at the last minute without a daggerboard !) Giving the rest a chance….!
  • The Slow Handicap is desperately close. Like Frazier and Ali, Chris Goldhawk and Tim Johnson have traded knockout blow for blow, yet still they each get up from the canvas! Only two more rounds to go so watch this space….

The prestigious ‘All-In’ Handicap series for the Admirals Chase is also desperately close at the top between Chris Goldhawk in his Solo, Paul and Harry Smalley in their Mirror and Craig Harris, again in a Solo. Sunday 12th sees the last race to count.

There seems to have been more racing members than ever travelling to championships this summer, so many it is hard to keep up with all the results, but so far:-

  • Derian and Andy Scott finished 7th out of 27 at the Fireball Nationals in Penzance
  • Ellie Cumpsty finished 13th and Rob Mitchell 70th out of a huge 104 boat fleet at the Solo Nationals at Hayling Island
  • Paul and Harry Smalley finished 10th and Paul and Gabriel Nichols 23rd out of a 44 boat entry in the Mirror Nationals at Ullswater
  • Ian Cadwallader and Steve Graham finished 4th and Bill Chard and Josh Preater 21st out of 34 Flying Fifteens at their Inlands at Grafham.

RYA British Youth Sailing Recognised Club

Last month we received this piece of good news for the Club:

‘Congratulations on being appointed one of the first British Youth Sailing Recognised Clubs in the region. You should have recently received your Flag, Certificate of Recognition and Plaque through the post.’

To re-cap – Chew was THE first Club in the South West to become an RYA Champion Club some 15 or so years ago. As the years went by, almost every Club with a Topper in its dinghy park joined this ‘becoming less select’ group! The RYA decided on a complete restructuring of the programme which will identify Clubs with an ongoing, active junior and youth training programme. We receive coaching and other benefits, and the progress of each Club will be reviewed annually so that they maintain the standard.

Thanks are due to Nick Edmonds, our Youth Co-ordinator, who masterminded our application process and will hopefully maintain a steady hand at the Youth helm for a long time to come. Look out for the new plaque on the Clubhouse wall….

Lake & Cake 4 – Saturday 04-Aug-18

The ladies took to the water on a gloriously sunny Saturday with a large bucket of tennis balls which they scattered on the water and ‘fought’ to retrieve (racing rules observed of course). After a few near misses and a capsize they set off on a tour around the lake circling the marks. Then retreated to the bar for tea, cucumber sandwiches, cakes & ice-cream – what style!

There are two more ‘lake & cakes’ to go – Sat 01-Sep-18 and Sat 06-Oct-18. If you would like to receive the Lake & Cake email updates & reminders please contact Rosie.

Sunday 05-Aug-18 – third Chew Topper club race training day

A great day was had as the wind picked up and the seven participants had a blast, refining their Topper skills to work on speed and efficiency. Mikey Dennis coached the session covering buoy rounding, race starting practice and slow boat control. We also had a review of rig set up to ensure the finer points were also addressed.

Each session we have, a “Sailor of the Month” award is given out, complete with a trophy..! This is for the sailor who has taken on-board the coaching and shown improvement over the session. The first two awards were taken by the Davies family, Eleanor then Abigail. This month the trophy was given to Bella Southall for some excellent work on starting, and buoy rounding efficiency.

The next session will be on 22-Sep-18 followed by the Topper Open on the 23-Sep-18, however, please note there is also the Family Fun Day on the 19-Aug-18, where there will be Topper team racing starting at 1.30pm, so let me know if you want to participate – andrew.price@ormco.com

Looking Forward

Wednesday Evening Series – remember that, as we try to hang on to summer a bit longer, the Wind Down Wednesdays continue on 22nd and 29th August with an earlier start time of 18.30 then 18.15 as the days shorten.

FAMILY FUN DAY – Sunday 19-Aug-18
The idea is that this should be a day of on-the-water fun with a slight competitive edge. The plan is for a briefing at 11.15 ish and things to start at 11.30 (you all get a lie in!).

Hugh Whatley is organising a cryptic clue type treasure hunt starting roughly at 11.30 with clues floating beneath racing marks to make up a word (bring your dictionaries). This may be ongoing all day.

There will be Topper team racing starting at 1.30pm organised by our PRO, Keith Harris. Teams of three will be made up on the day, as well as those groups who have planned in advance. This will be a real change from our usual Class racing – getting to grips with a Topper for a start! Come and have a go!

Running concurrently Helen is planning a ‘Beat the Stig’ timed run in Toppers or Oppys, a ‘Build a model boat from recycled stuff’ challenge, (it then has to race a measured distance), and there are various other ideas being considered, including a Malteser challenge and Optimist Rugby….

Finally, we are hoping there will be an opportunity for people to try sailing a different boat to be organised by our team of fleet captains.

Please, try and come along to help make this break from the routine of points series a success. Where teams are needed they can be made up on the day, or families and friends can team up beforehand.

THERE WILL BE A GRAND PRIZEGIVING AT THE END!!

AUGUST ANTICS – Saturday 25 to Monday 27-Aug-18

There will be three separate groups across the Saturday & Sunday (25th & 26th) and a Youth Regatta on the Bank Holiday Monday should mean there’s a session available for all ages (8 to 18) and all abilities (beginner to national squad sailor).

Places are limited so register as soon as possible. The Saturday & Sunday groups for this year are:

  • Assistant Dinghy Instructor Course
  • All In Race Training Group
  • August Antics Beginners & Intermediates

The Monday (27th) Youth Regatta will have both a main fleet and a regatta fleet option.

More details for each group below.

Nick Edmonds has written full details of what each group will be doing and how to sign up on the website.

Autumn RYA Beginners Course for Adults

The club’s autumn beginners’ course for adults is scheduled for the weekends of 1st/2nd, 8th/9th and 15th/16th September. If all goes well, the course could be completed in 2 weekends but we allow a little flex in the plan. The course combines the RYA ‘Start Sailing’ and ‘Basic Skills’ syllabi to get newcomers to sailing safely out onto the water, and will be delivered by our in house instructors.

It is open for bookings now via WebCollect and is filling up fast. As we lost one of the club Visions recently to hull failure the course can currently accommodate 8 students. However, we are seeking to secure a replacement for the Vision and if we can do that in the next week or so the capacity will be increased to 10.

Details here, or contact Dave Orme via 0773 4815271 or the website RYA Training page.

Restriction on Club Dinghy Hire on 18-Aug-18

The club’s popular “Pay & Play” (P&P) scheme is a way we encourage growth in membership, participation in the sport and development of existing members’ skills. You would anticipate that the recent awesome weather might tempt a lot of people to ask for a P&P session on the lake, and so it has proved.

We can usually easily accommodate the P&P sessions around normal club activities, but the loss of a club Vision and the instructors’ limited availability over the summer break has constrained freedom of movement a bit this year to the extent that we will need all 3 remaining dinghies to deliver P&P sessions, just for the one day, on the 18th August.

It’s unlikely that all 3 boats will be needed all day. However, if you were thinking about coming down to the club one weekend soon to hire one of the boats you would be well advised to avoid the 18th.

Club Boats

Please be aware that, following the unfortunate crack which developed in the floor of one of our Club RS Vision dinghies, this boat has now been taken out of service. We have only one serviceable Vision dinghy available for members to use. I am currently trying to source a replacement, suitable boat for the Club, with a particular view to our training programmes, which should be at the Club early next month.

John Smalley – Vice Commodore