A very Happy new Year to all our members!
First Wednesday Winter Warmer Talk – Wednesday 16-Jan-19
The first Wednesday Warmer talk of the year – Richard Bowers the loft manager at Moatt Sails will give a presentation on ‘Racing Sail Trim’ on Wednesday 16-Jan-19 – the bar and galley will be open from 6.30 and the talk will start at 7pm. Moatt Sails is a small loft owned by Steve and Kate Moatt; they have been making sails and covers for 12 years. They now have a purpose built unit close to the WPNSA academy and Portland Marina. Richard’s aim is to grow the sail-making side of the business – with a passion for dinghy racing. At the moment he is making sails for Scorpions, Ospreys and International Canoes and is keen to increase the number of classes covered. With a sailing CV which has included : Sonata National Champion, J24 National Champion, Scorpion European Champion and International Canoe veteran champion, I think it should be well worth coming to hear what he has to say. Any questions you may have about sails, covers etc. will be answered…
Rob Hatherell is going to have the galley up and running so you can grab supper before the talking starts.
Look out also for ‘follow up’ warmer evenings – there will be a Quiz Night with those wily quiz-persons John Kelly and Ruth Kenyon on Wednesday 20th February.
Redecoration of the entrance lobby
If you have visited the club recently you may have noticed the entrance hall has been spruced up and some of the noticeboards removed. Thanks to Mike Higgins for making it happen. It looks much cleaner and tidier. Rest assured the “for sale” noticeboard was only temporarily out of action. It is now relocated in the main club room by the bar. Please would you date all notices and keep them to postcard size.
Sailing News
Winter Points Series
The Winter Series ended on the last Sunday of December. An incredible 80 boats competed across all the classes over the course of the series.
Derian Scott won the Handicap fleet in her Aero, closely followed by Steve Jones, also in an Aero with a slightly larger rig.
Most qualifiers were sailing Lasers with Julian Cooke winning from Peter Sherwin.
Chris Goldhawk won the Solo fleet followed by the rapidly improving Andy Scott.
Ian Cadwallader was the only actual qualifier in the Flying Fifteen fleet – but counting a row of first places, he swatted away any opposition that did set sail.
Both of our seasonal trophy races were sailed…
Tap Trophy – Boxing Day – this was only just sailed! With a forecast for very little wind, only four boats pulled their sails up. Thus pressured, race officer, Keith Harris, duly set a course and two slow but almost steady laps were completed. Nick Martindale and Ruth Kenyon in their RS200 pulled out a sizeable lead to win. The strongest fleet were the Solos where Richard Harding narrowly out-drifted Alex Timms. We enjoyed a cup of mulled wine afterwards and all sailors agreed that their Christmas lethargy was washed away – Keith was, well I suppose, just grumpy!
Resolution Trophy – New Years Day – a slightly better forecast produced a 5-10knt SW breeze and a much healthier turnout of crews looking to banish hangovers. (I was the race officer and can only apologise for the fact that I found the noise of the starting klaxon invaded my headache, and the usual race officer precision was somewhat missing!).
36 boats started – there was the shortest of beats to the first mark (9), but I fear my appeal for some seasonal goodwill to be extended to fellow competitors during this short sprint fell on deaf ears!
The winner was Paul Smalley sailing a K1, closely followed by Nick Martindale and super-crew Ruth Kenyon in an RS200 and then Julian Cooke in his Laser. Definitely worth a mention was the 100% attendance in various boats by the Sheahan family – the twins featured in the prizes in 5th place with some sound Feva sailing. Sadly trying to produce results before the sun set did my head no favours….!
Looking Forward
As mentioned above – First Wednesday Winter Warmer Talk – Wednesday 16-Jan-19
First Aid Course – Saturday 2nd March
Jeff Stratford has booked an RYA first aid course for Saturday 02-Mar-19, starting at 0930 and ending at 1630 in the bar area.
The fee is £25 which includes an RYA 1st aid manual and certificate.
Places can be booked on Webcollect. If you have any problems or queries contact Jeff at : jeffstratford@btinternet.com
Powerboat RYA Level 2 courses:-
There are 6 of these 2 day courses planned for the new calendar, starting in April; the first is on Saturdays 20-Apr-19 and 27-Apr-19.
Advanced Rescue Helm Courses (ARH) for RIB helms who already have RYA Level 2.
Our team of powerboat instructors lead by Jeff Stratford have scheduled 5 of these FREE one day courses into the calendar from April. The Committee’s aim is for all of our RIB helms to have completed this course which will refine their driving skills and make them better able to tackle any rescuing situation they may encounter when they are on duty. All those who took part last year thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the experience. I would ask our Rescue Helms to be pro-active in choosing one of the dates below before we find that we are scheduling dates for them.
Sat. 6th April, Sat. 18th May, Sat. 13th June, Thurs. 29th Aug., Sat. 19th October.
To reserve your slot for any of the powerboat courses please contact Jeff at:-
jeffstratford@btinternet.com
P.S. – Jeff has asked me to pass on a plea for anyone who may have a mastfoot and skeg for a Bic windsurf board kicking about in their garage, shed or loft that they no longer need please. (They intend to use this for the ARH course).
John Smalley, Vice Commodore
Vice-commodore@chewvalleysailing.org.uk