I will be OD for the Golby Cup on Saturday which consists of two back to back races for Squibs and dinghies. There will be meal at the club afterwards for competitors and fellow members from 6.30 onwards. Booking and menu choices can be found via the What's On website page.
I knew the donor of the trophy from when I first joined the club as a cadet aged eleven and thought I would take this opportunity to share some recollections. John owned and raced his Folkboat called "Katrina" which is still in the club today under the ownership of Roy Shelley. At the time Folkboats were cutting edge and there was close racing to be had among up to six such boats at any one time. As a cadet I took part is some very close races between John in Katrina and Folkboat "Kanga" on which I was a regular crew.
John played a a leading part in the development of our yard in particular boat lifting and storage. He designed and commissioned locally the "WSC boat stower" which allowed boats to be lifted using the crane located in our neighbours property opposite to the lifeboat.Once in the boat stower they were then towed by tractor along the quayside past the front of the clubhouse and into the yard. At that time the club had no actual cranes which could lift boats in our yards so this device was vital.
He also designed the "Golby cradle" for cruisers stored in the yard. Prior to John's initiative boats were simply stored with random props and wedges. However John wanted to improve things and introduced to cruiser class owners to his new invention at an extraordinary meeting and we all had to go away and build it ourselves prior to the next lift out! To build this cradle you needed a scaffolding plank ,two hinges, four suitable length props, four lengths of chain an four bottle screws. This was of course the height of the "Blue Peter" age and so member's were able to assemble their Golby cradles remarkably successfully at home before deployment in the yard.(much simpler than some of the programmes Christmas decorations!).
Please support this event either on the water or by attending the meal in the evening. I will be conducting a prize giving for competitors after racing and showing a short film entitled " A Year in the life of Weymouth sailing Club 1978" produced by Weymouth Cine Club. This film follows a WSC season and shows dinghy, squib and cruiser racing as well as the lift and storage of cruisers in the yard (as described earlier). Many of the members featured are of course no longer with us but some are and look very different today. Come along and see for yourself. Prizegiving from 6pm followed by 20 min video. Food served from 6.30pm.
Mark Bugler
Submitted on 12th September 2022