With the lake filling to the brim and good winds there’s some great sailing to be had at present and lots still going on
Christmas Dinner with Antonia’s Deli Weds 13-Dec-23 1pm
Hi everyone, it’s that time again! We are really pleased to be able to organise another Christmas dinner this year, the previous have been really successful and such a lovely event to be involved in. Should you like to join us, please pop us an email directly with your orders. A copy of the menu can be found here. Payments can be made by cheque, direct bank transfer or please feel free to come and see us in the galley (we will be there on Wednesday’s, Saturday’s and Sundays). Previously, some cheques have been sent in the post; please DO NOT SEND ANY CHEQUES, as we have moved address. If this is your preferred method of payment, please get in touch and we can organise individually, alternatively you can pop these into the galley. Please also make us aware of any dietary requirements.
Get in touch: 07808 583 691 or antoniasdeli@protonmail.com
So we hope to see many of you again, and some for the first time perhaps, for another festive evening and delicious christmas dinner at the beautiful chew valley lake sailing club on 13-Dec-23 at 13:30
Lost and Found
Are you the owner of one of the hundreds of items of lost property that are gathering at the club? Please check in the declaration room (door 4) and collect what is yours.
For clarification, the deck chairs and parasols are club property. It is the clothing, shoes and sailing kit that must belong to someone🙂
The Great Omega Challenge
The annual Great Omega Challenge took place on Saturday 21st of September. This is a race between Steve Nash Chairman of CLADs in his Omega and Jeff from the Police Group in their Omega. This was the third year and the score was one all. Steve was crewed with a person we were told was a member of the Chinese Olympic Sailing team, it turned out to be Matt who knows someone who tried out for the Chinese team, the Police Omega was reputably helmed by Sir B but it turned out to be Malcolm the sections boson. The Race Officer was Adrian Cudmore and the on the water Umpire Jo Cudmore.
After a good start Malc and Jeff were slightly in the lead at the end of the first lap, on the next leg Steve gained the lead, Malc and Jeff fought back and according to the results at the end of lap 3 won by 1 second.
Our thanks to Adrian and Jo and all to play for in 2024.
RYA First Aid Course
We have booked a RYA first aid course for Sunday 10-Dec-23, it is a one day course and required by instructors but recommended for everyone. We have kept the cost to £30, please book via your Webcollect account or any questions ask Jeff in person or via email jeffstratford@btinternet.com
A date for your diaries
Wednesday 13-Dec-23 the Police group will be doing the duty and organising carols on Denny Island at 11:00, you can sail across or we will run a ferry service. Everyone welcome. The event will be followed by the Christmas dinner detailed above
Chew lasers WhatsApp group
Dont forget laser sailors past and present to join the CVLSC Laser WhatsApp group by clicking on this link or by using the QR code below.
Member Travels (& Visitors at Chew) by Sailing Sec James Williams
The travels continued through October, beginning with Ollie Houseman sailing his Merlin at Hampton in the De May and Thames Series, finishing 3rd in the De May event. This was followed a fortnight later with a 5th at the famous Downriver race hosted by Ranelagh Sailing Club (complete with Le Mans style start this year)
October and November is often the time for Inland Championships. Derian and Andy Scott kicked October off with the Fireball Inlands at Draycote, including a 4th and 6th to finish 10th overall.
Our usual ILCA travellers competed at the Autumn Qualifiers (Q5 and Q6)at Weymouth over consecutive weekends, with Oli Allen-Wilcox and Ed Baker in the ILCA7 fleet (a 2nd in the last race securing Oli 4th overall in the first event).
Paul Croote took his Cherub to the Final Fling out of the Royal Western Yacht Club, a scoreline of 2,3,2 on day 1 helping towards a 5th place finish in the fast fleet.
The same weekend as the club Annual Dinner, saw 5 of our junior members travelling to Starcross YC for their Topper Open (Leo & Ethan Griffiths, Toby & James Colls and Anna Gribble), with Leo showing the way for the Chew sailors in 2nd overall.
Stepping down a boat size, Errol Edwards represented the club in a large fleet of IOM radio controlled yachts at a ranking event at Portishead. We hope to be welcoming some visitors from Sedgemoor MBC to Chew very soon.
Closer to home, the club has hosted 2 very successful open events this month. Firstly the annual RS200 event was combined again with the RS400s. Despite some notable absences there were still 11 Chew boats split across both fleets in a shifty Westerly breeze.
(Andy’s additional note: the 200 event was won by our very own Sailing Sec James Williams crewed by Anna Mason – he’s too modest to say so I thought I’d shout out for him!)
This was followed a week later by the “return of the red sails” with the club hosting the Mirror Inlands. This is a resurgent fleet at the club (there’s a great photo of about 40 Mirrors racing in the mid 70s in Paul’s report), with 6 boats at the event representing Chew. Top home boat was Rachel Grayson and Harry Smalley in 4th overall. Paul’s full event write up is available here and Nigel Carson’s event photos here
Coming Up
The weekend of 11/12 Nov-23 sees our final open event of the year, with the RS100 / RS700 Inlands being hosted at Chew. Entry is open for any club members who haven’t yet put their names down. Antonia and Ben would appreciate pre-booking for the evening meal for sailors / guests planning to attend. There’s no club racing on Sunday 12th (we are looking to minimise the number of Sundays without club racing next year by holding club racing alongside opens where we can), but don’t let that stop you coming for a sail (perhaps for some less formal racing amongst individual fleets).
The universities and schools have returned again for the winter, so you will see much more Firefly sailing on the lake in particular as team racing training and events take hold. If you get the chance to visit the club when an event is on it’s a great spectator sport. Dates for the events will go in to the club calendar very soon.
Bill Raynham
We are sorry to report that Bill Raynham died on Wednesday 25-Oct-23.
He was a much loved character at the club, serving as Fireball Fleet captain, Vice Commodore from 1989 to 1991 and then Commodore from 1992 to 1994.
Many current and past members will remember his sense of fun and his friendly, helpful encouragement to sailors of all ages and interests – a fount of knowledge and advice.
Here is a very personal tribute from his long time sailing buddy and friend George Simpkins.
Funeral is confirmed 30-Nov-23 at 14.30 at Weston Crematorium and afterwards at the Ebdon Arms, Jeannine wants people to wear bright clothes.
Andy Jones
Commodore