Weymouth
Sailing
Club

What a great final day racing in the YCW Spring Series !

When the IRC fleet proved a little too keen a general recall came into play and the first start of the day produced a lesser-spotted black flag to keep the competitors in check !  Everything to play for today with 2 races in near perfect conditions, however the windward mark of the first race disappeared in a thick mist, the worst visibility for weeks.

Foxed Again sailed two excellent races to clinch the IRC series.  Well done to Andy and Justin Campbell-Watson and team.

The PY class was won by a Contessa Swenn sailed by Stuart Roebuck and Jo Perry.  Well done to them both for sailing two handed throughout the series.

The welcome arrival of Spring weather has allowed volunteer teams of club members to complete work to the Squib pontoons and to the hard standing area adjacent to the new crane.    Preparation work has been going on all week to the area around the crane in Hooker's Dock and with a delivery of concrete on Friday the job will be completed by the end of the week.  This work finalises the installation of the new crane and makes a good working area for lifting and storing boats. 

The Squib pontoon furthest from the club has been out of the water all winter.  New floats have been built and new pontoon arms purchased.  Today a large team of Squibbers under the leadership of John Croydon worked to install the decking ready for the pontoon to be lifted back into the water.  With the weather in its present good mood there will be a queue of Squibs anxious to moor onto it.

 When you are racing in the Bay this summer, you may be surprised to see a new shaped mark on the course.

'T' mark has been changed to a yellow column shaped object.   It will be fitted with a radar reflector before launching on Saturday and will be ready for the first spring series race this Sunday.

No excuses for going to the wrong mark now!

The Squib Class don’t take their class dinners quite as seriously as the Cruiser class! 

This year 72 sailors and friends joined in an evening with the theme of ‘The Ship’s Hat (not the Ship’s Cat!)’.  Squibbers joined in with enthusiasm and arrived in a marvellous array of nautical headgear.

After a superb meal during which there was a Hat Quiz – only one table, John Croydon’s, got all the questions right – there was a presentation of trophies by class captain Simon Vines and Commodore Mark Bugler.

Saturday night the club took on a Spanish theme for the Dinghy, Falcon and YOB Helpers Annual Dinner which was well attended, beating last year's numbers..  The table decorations were bright yellow and red which is not only the Spanish Flag colours but also the Club colours.  Guests were greeted with Sangria followed by a 4-course meal including grilled sardines and traditional paella among the choices on the menu.

The 2010 Weymouth Sailing Club Handbook is completed and will be distributed to members in the next couple of weeks.

Every season there is fierce competition to get onto the front cover.  This year the crew of Farr Out performed this spectacular broach for the benefit of the camera and have been awarded the honour.

Thanks must be extended to Mike Fenwick and Adrian Patterson for their work putting together the sailing programme.  Also much appreciation must go to Chris Olding who persuades the advertisers to contribute.   And many thanks to the advertisers themselves for continuing to support Weymouth Sailing Club.

The club was packed to the rafters for the annual cruiser class dinner, which played host to two specials guests Gary Fookes, Atlantic rower and Steve White circumnavigating yachtsman.

After tucking into a massive six course meal prepared and presented by Alison and Pete in the galley, Gary Fookes delivered a highly amusing talk on his endeavours to construct an Atlantic class rowing boat and row it across to the Caribbean, plus his sailing exploits in the Mediterranean and his part in the Olympic delivery on which he has promised to come back to the club and give a presentation to members when things are firmed up.

Members and their guests raised £150 towards a new engine for the YOBs rescue boat, by trying something new. 

 Lyn Atkins who is a qualified therapist, taught the 30 attendees how to use EFT tapping to help with pain & sleep problems.  The training was followed by lunch, an enjoyable and relaxing time was had by all. 

Photo.  Lyn presenting a cheque for £150.00 to YOB's captain Katherine Samways

 Photo Members and their guests having fun tapping away the pain  

The heady smell of a rich creamy blue cheese, the wiff of garlic plus the gentle splash of waves against the hull of a boat; no, this was not Deauville but the club Saturday evening.

This was France without the twelve hour journey.

Commodore and Vice Commodore hosted the annual cruising evening which encourages people to cross the Channel into an evening of "why bother, when it's better here"; treated the throng to a display of Oyster opening and then shared them out before Peter and Alison in the galley provided a meal that would have put any restaurant across "La Manche" to shame. An endless supply of moules and frites with French bread was followed up with a platter of classic French cheeses washed down with coffee.

Good weather over the weekend saw a lot of activity in the yard with boat owners working hard on the winter refits.  While some were scrubbing and painting, the social team met to confirm dates for a summer programme of events; a list of dates will be sent out with the new Handbook or you can find them on the website calendar.

One new date in the diary is a New Members' Party planned for Friday 21 May 2010.  Jane Buckle has taken on the role of making sure that our new members are welcomed to the club.  She met up with several new members in the club this weekend.

Photo: Jane with new members Mandy Yates, Sara Xavier Hammick and Peter Anderson