May News 2023
With the advent of warmer weather it’s great to see so much going on at the lake. With lots to choose from here’s a quick view of what’s been happening, and some upcoming opportunities for you to enjoy your time on the water and get the best from what is on offer.
RYA Assistant Instructor Course 22/23-APR-23
Congratulations to (photo, L-R) Andy, Ewan, Chris, Darran, Matt and Ian on completion of the RYA Assistant Instructor course we ran over the weekend 22/23-Apr-23. It’s always great to see our experienced sailors take the important first step on the instructing ladder.
The course was a chance to have a look at the RYA’s national schemes for training adult and youth sailors, to chat about how the RYA’s requirements are implemented at CVLSC so that we remain an approved RYA Training Centre, and most importantly to have a go at planning and running a few short, informal lessons for their fellow “student sailors”, both on and off the water.
We may look at running another AI course in the autumn. Watch this space.
Dave Orme, CVLSC RYA Principal
Start Racing by Nick Martindale
For anyone interested in taking up racing or looking to build a bit more confidence to race, this is for you…
The club’s start racing sessions kick off on Thursday 1st June and run over 5 successive Thursday evenings providing an informal and relaxed introduction to racing at Chew.
Each week we meet at 6pm rigged and changed for a quick chat covering some of the basics before taking to the water to practice. We’ll be ashore by 8pm with a further opportunity for discussion and questions.
No need to book, just turn up as and when you can. You’ll need your own boat or access to a club one – any class is fine.
Hope to see you then.
Wednesday Evening Racing/Meals
The popular Wednesday evening racing is now in full swing with starts from 7pm, followed by a busy galley and bar afterwards.
For those of you doing the racing it would be really helpful please if you could let Ben know if you are planning to eat before you go afloat, so he can adjust his catering to match.
Upcoming Trip to Falmouth….
Wayfarers on the move (location unknown!)
Each year a small group of CVLSC members take their Wayfarer dinghies down to Falmouth and day sail in the River Fal and surrounding coastal area. This year we are short of sailors – if you would like to join us please contact Dave Hopkins
07532 264284 – dave_hopkins@blueyonder.co.uk. Boats, transport and accommodation already arranged – we leave on 10-Jun-23 and return on 17-Jun-23.
Upcoming RIB helm courses
In house non RYA advanced Rescue helm Safety Course on Saturday 10th June 2023 two places still available. It is the aim of the Club that all rescue helms hold the RYA safety boat certificate or have attended this course. It is one day, Lake specific and the Club are committed to safety so it is free. The only prerequisite is that you hold the PB2 certificate.Any questions please ask and book direct with Jeff by email jeffstratford@btinternet.com
To run these courses I need volunteer helpers to rig boats, capsize them and to be rescued, sounds interesting? We will provide you with lunch, any questions just ask Jeff.
The PB2 courses in June and July are full but there is still availability on 12-Aug-23 and 19-Aug-23, 09-Sep-23 and 16-Sep-23 and 07-Oct-23 and 08-Oct-23 please book via your Webcollect account.
I have just booked a RYA first aid course for Saturday 29-Jul-23, the cost is still £30, it is not yet on Webcollect but should be very shorty so keep checking please.
Any questions please ask.
And Now Some Racing Related Updates By James Williams, Our Sailing Secretary:
Member Travels
The open meeting season is in full swing, and plenty of Chew members have been away competing in the last month:
- The club was represented over the Easter break at the RYA Youth Nationals at WPNSA by Rosie & Susie Sheahan in the 420 fleet and Ed Baker in the ILCA 7 fleet.
- Rosie and Susie also competed a few weeks later at Royal Lymington in the class GP2 event.
- Andy & Steve Jones and David Smart led a very well received training day at the club for 10 RS100s, David travelled up to Rutland for the RS Sprints the following weekend.
- One of our adopted Universities has been competing at the various national finals over the past month, with Bristol attending the Yachting finals, immediately followed by a 2nd overall at the Match Racing Finals on the Solent and sending 2 teams to Grafham for the Team Racing Finals.
- It was great to read that the club was represented by 3 members at the Topper open at Paington in Toby Colls, Dylan Pritchett and Leo Griffiths. It’s similarly great to see so much youth sailing going on on home waters recently with Chew Crew and the youth courses commencing.
- Guy Boullenger took his RS700 to Stokes Bay for their skiff open.
- Oliver Houseman continued his regular travels with his Merlin Rocket, this time to Thames SC and Minima YC.
- The usual Flying Fifteen travellers ventured to Grafham Water for the Southern Traveller Series event last weekend, with Ian Cadwallader stepping to the back of the boat and Bill Chard / Josh Preater teaming up again.Do get in touch if you have ventured away from the club with your boat. I can only learn so much from Yachts & Yachting articles!
Thursday Improvers
The first Thursday Improvers session ran last week 11-May-23 on a lovely sunny evening. A reminder that this is a great chance to use our wondeful lake for some mid-week evening sailing, without the numbers of boats associated with Wednesday evening racing. There’s nothing formal about the evenings and no upper or lower standard, but there will hopefully be an experienced sailor on site each week to help with any rigging or technique queries.
Andy Jones
Commodore