April Newsletter
Commodore’s Greeting
Hello Members,
Not a lot of water has passed under the bridge since that last newsletter. No-one ventured out for the Rum Race – it was simply very windy and unwelcoming – so the season did not get under way until 26th March when Spring Series 1, 2 and 3 took place. Those that braved the weather then had an exhilarating sail. At the time of writing, the weather for 2nd April looks very promising so I hope we have a good number of boats on the water.
Phil Cosham, the new Boatswain, is having trouble finding enough space in the boathouse for all the new additional boats. The next step is to get them out of the boathouse and on to the sea on a regular basis – after all we are a sailing club and not just a storage facility.
Looking forward to seeing you on the briny.
Regards,
Don Bowles, Commodore, Hastings and St Leonards Sailing Club
Any queries on Sailing Club matters? Commodore’s Hotline 01424 214759
Achieving Glory
Regrettably the Rum Race was cancelled due to strong winds so no glory there this year. Three boats braved it out to start the Spring Series; the conditions were exhausting but exhilarating. Leaders in the Spring Series and Afternoon Handicap are:
Laser Fleet – Hugh Ashford
Catamaran Fleet – Lily Share and Matt Wiseman (Dart 16)
Afternoon Handicap – Philip & Margaret Blurton (Tasar)
Running Away
Congratulations to club members Andy Francis and Simon Terry who ran the Hastings half marathon. All credit, too, to our membership secretary, Andrew Colthurst, who as President of the local Lions Club was heavily involved in organising the event, and to club member Stefan Spence who volunteered as one of the marshals.
Easter sailing
Don’t forget about the Easter Regatta on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Even if you’re not planning to sail, why not come down for lunch and a bit of juicy gossip? Not promising about the gossip.
New Member
Welcome to David Brophy who has joined as a new member. David already has a Power Boat Level 2 qualification and wants to use it! Thank you David for helping out this Sunday in the afternoon race – much appreciated.
New boats in the boathouse
Phil Cosham, our new Boatswain, is cogitating about how to squeeze in all these new-to-us boats into the boathouse. Four members have acquired lasers: Polly Gifford, Steve Pugh, Josh Martindale and Timo Clarke, and Jim Taylor is the new owner of previously-Dick-and-Stuart’s tasar. Good news.
Courses and Training news
Course Laying and Race Management courses
Clubhouse, Saturday 15th April 2017
Details of the courses to be run by our Development Officer, Simon Terry, are as follows:
2pm: Course laying – if you wish to be more confident and able to lay a course quickly and easily
Topics covered:
How to lay correctly any kind of course from the safety boat, taking into account tide and wind
How to amend or correct the course if something happens during a race.
3pm: Race management – if you would like to learn or build confidence in race management, or to increase your knowledge if you will be assisting the race officer during the day
Topics covered:
Role of Club Race Officer
How to manage races on a race day, from launching the safety boat to the end of day
What to do when things don’t go to plan
You can attend both of these training courses if you wish. Please note that Simon is more than happy to provide one to one coaching throughout the season on anything that you wish to know or improve on; just see him or email Simon Terry on zenium07@live.co.uk.
Powerboat Level 2 training course 22nd & 29th April £50
Min 4, max 6 places on this course to ensure that we continue to have enough people who are competent to take responsibility for helming the power boats. What’s not to like? Once you have your ticket, you just need 10,000 hours practice and you’ll be an expert! Got to start somewhere… Just like the sailing… Contact our Sailing Principal Helen Cholerton h_s_edwards@hotmail.com
Sail Training Course 2017 – still places available
UPDATE. This course is now full. Please contact Helen if you wish to be put on the reserve list.
The RYA Level 1 & 2 Sail Training Course will run from Wednesday 3rd May 2017. A £50 deposit will reserve one of the twelve places, some of which have already been snapped up. All enquiries should go to Sailing Principal Helen Cholerton h_s_edwards@hotmail.com
Heads-up re some other courses on the horizon
With her Laser Fleet Captain hat on, Melanie Clark is planning some activities for laser sailors in April; and with her I-love-sailing-asymmetrics-even-in-January hat on, is also aiming to organise asymmetric taster sessions using the club boats to whet members’ appetites for two-handers. Watch all available spaces for further information. For more info please contact Melanie: melanie.sailing@gmail.com
Help needed!
You may already be aware that ours is a club run for us by US. There are many roles, large and small, in which YOU (think traditional army advert with pointy finger) could give some of that spare energy and time that you realise you have on your hands every time you find yourself watching East Enders / Casualty / Robot Wars and diving into the biscuits through sheer boredom.
The House (Ents) Committee needs you boblloyduk@yahoo.co.uk
Helping to make the club’s social life even livelier in so many ways.
The Sail Training Course needs you h_s_edwards@hotmail.com
Helping to launch and recover boats, help instructors, crew on the powerboat, make newcomers feel welcome…
The Youth Sailing programme needs you hajoinery@gmail.com, matthewjwiseman@gmail.com
See above…
Third Friday of the Month bar open – Friday 21st April from 7pm
Vince Taylor has kindly agreed to update us on how to use the radios properly, and maybe there will be some practice. The bar will of course be open too, for drinks and more titbits of that possibly-non-existent juicy gossip.
Money Money Money… moany moany moany…
There may still be one or two members who not only forgot to pay their fees before the start of the season, but who have NOT EVEN PAID YET. Hard to believe. Also why isn’t this in the Nags section? Well in my view this issue is VERY IMPORTANT and justifies its own paragraph.
The new schedule for this year is on the website: http://www.hastingssc.org/membership/ The money should have left your account and winged its way to the groaning HSLSC coffers by end Feb, so if you haven’t done so already, don’t delay, pay today.
You can pay by cheque made payable to Hastings and St Leonards Sailing Club, or using the card reader at the bar. AND also please fill in a membership form http://www.hastingssc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Membership-Renewal-Form-2017.pdf, to keep us abreast with your skills, aptitudes and preferences not to mention contact details, and return same to membership secretary Andrew Colthurst, either by leaving it at the club, or you can email it to him when paying subs. Thank you!
Anna Bonaventure transom – old Safety Boat – ideas please
Saving the best till last. In the last newsletter I mentioned this erstwhile safety boat. I am attaching a lovely piece written by Vince Taylor about her so regale yourselves with a piece of our club’s history. PS Anyone have any ideas about where/what to do with the transom piece?
That’s all for now,
Hope to see you soon,
Margaret Blurton, Honorary Secretary sailingclubsec@gmail.com 01424 440056