Weymouth
Sailing
Club

Boxing Day

Boxing Day presented exciting conditions for the last race of the year.  A F6 ENE wind gave a large swell in the Bay which made conditions very uncomfortable for the race crews, but particularly for the race team on board Viking.  A good course was set from mark X for the Squibs and Cruisers in cold but sunny conditions.

Boats sailed up the harbour under spinnaker or goose-winged to finish outside the Club house.

The Squibs Icebreaker Trophy was won by Iain Jones and Peter Jackson on Aldebaran.

The Cruisers Frostbite Trophy was won by Roy Shelley on the Folkboat Katrina.

The seasonal festivities continued in a packed bar after racing with food supplied by the members.  Many thanks to the Commodore, Melita Biggs, and race team for enduring very difficult conditions on board Viking.  Thanks also to Mike Stagg, House Commodore, and his team for their hard work to ensure that a lot of very thirsty sailors were kept watered at the bar. 

Viking was used for the last time as WSC Committee boat for the Boxing Day racing.  There was a heavy swell running in the bay when John Birtwistle as driver and Melita Biggs as Race Officer took her out to start the Icebreaker and Frostbite trophy races. 

Viking was purchased by the Club only a few years ago to see whether it would be successful to start Club racing from a committee boat - previous racing had been started mainly from the starting hut on the Stone Pier.  Of course, everyone now knows that this has transformed the racing in the Club and a new boat has been purchased to succeed Viking in the New Year.  It is thanks to the volunteer band of Viking drivers with Don Cutler and John Harvey that this has been achieved.

I'm sure you're all very impressed with the fantastic progress made so far in transforming 'Viking II' into the new WSC committee boat.  Don Cutler has been working tirelessly from down 'til dusk tackling the myriad of tasks.  I wouldn't be surprised to find a bed in the cabin with the amount of time he spends on the boat !

Fortunately the weather has improved from the Arctic conditions we experienced a few weeks ago which has allowed some important milestones to be completed.  Particularly fitting of the windlass and near completion of the hull paintwork.

Don can be found aboard most days.  Pop along and wonder at the jobs completed so far, offer encouragement, or better still, offer an hour or so of your time - there's still plenty to do !

The popular WSC Christmas supper this year was celebrated on Saturday 6 December with a full house enjoying an evening meal in the Clubhouse and then moving into the Longshed to dance the night away.  The refurbishments to the Longshed have been completed and the new bar was open for the first time.  The galley had a busy weekend with a dinner for Coastwatch on Friday and the usual crowded restaurant after the winter series sailing on Sunday.

Not to be outdone, the older 'coffee club' members had their Christmas lunch on Friday 12 December.  37 members enjoyed a traditional meal with all the usual trimmings.  Lyn Atkins was thanked by everyone for organising the meal and glasses were raised to 'President' Tom Deary who is in hospital for a short visit and missed the lunch.  His deputy Len Staff gave one of many speeches.

Celebrations continue with the Commodore's Christmas Pimm's Party on Saturday 13 December when the photo for next year's Handbook is chosen, and this year a special vote to name the newly purchased committee boat.  All members are welcomed. 

The Rear Admiral's Cup series of races competed for by the three yacht clubs of Weymouth was considered a great success in its first year.  The trophy was duly presented by the instigator of the new event Rear Admiral John Croydon to the Rear Commodore (Sailing) of the Royal Dorset Yacht Club, Diana Gill, after sailing on Sunday 30 November at WSC.

The final scores in the event were: RDYC 71 points, WSC 89 points and CCSC 110 points.  The result was not finally settled until the last race.  Next year the series will be repeated, hopefully with the final event being the Cherbourg race, and with the handicapping being under the Portsmouth Yardstick system, rather than the IRC system as this year.  This will render more yachts eligible for selection for the club teams.  I think everyone who took part enjoyed the event very much and it raised a good spirit of sporting competitivness between the clubs

WSC welcomes its new committee boat.  After a winter of refurbishment and refitting, the boat will replace Viking as the Club committee boat next season.  She is an ex-RN boat which has been used by the Sea Cadets in recent years.  The current committee boat 'Viking' was originally purchased with the idea of establishing whether the Club would benefit from committee boat starts to races.  This has undeniably been proven and the Club has been looking for a replacement boat for some time. The new boat which has a more substantial GRP hull and a good engine and some cabin space should serve the Club well for several years. 

The boat is missing one vital thing – a name.  A notice has been put up in the Club for suggestions and a vote to decide will take place at the Commodore’s Christmas Pimm’s Party on Saturday December 13^th.   The selection of a photo for the front page of the Club Handbook 2009 will also take place then.  Send any photos that you would like to enter to the Club email address.

BBC's The One Show came to Weymouth Sailing Club on Friday last week to film a sequence for the show.  Presenter Dominic  Littlewood and a film crew spent all day filming for a piece on Travel Insurance Problems.  Club member David Griffiths has a prime role in the production and was filmed riding his motorbike around the harbourside.  Interviews were filmed outside of the clubhouse.

Ernie and Mark Lee with Marcus Bray were getting their boat ready for the winter lay up when they were surprised by the film crew invading the yard.

The film will be shown on BBC 1 The One Show at 19.00 hours sometime before Christmas.

The annual Weymouth Squib Class meeting was held at WSC on Saturday 8 November 2008.  Squibbers were joined by the Commodore, Melita Biggs for supper in the club in advance of the meeting.  The Class Captain Report was given by Simon Vines and Reports 2007 racing by John Thomson.  Simon was voted to continue as Class Captain with Iain Jones as his Vice Class Captain.

Peter Hopford, Chairman National Squib Championships Organising Committee told the meeting of the plans for the event taking place 27 June - 3 July 2009.  He reported a lot of interest in the event and he was very confident that the projected 100 boats on the start line would be achieved.  He said that the largest keelboat event of the season would attract a lot of attention and he urged all local boats to get involved.  The event is still looking for support from sponsors.The Notice of Race and Entry Forms will be published very soon.  For details of the event go to www.Squibs09.org.uk

The Cruiser Class meeting is Saturday 15 November with supper available in the Club from 18.00 hours.  Please talk to Steve Dadd for details.

The Bonfire Night party at WSC has been getting more  popular each year and this year the Club was full to the brim with members and friends.  Many thanks from the House Team to everyone who supported the evening which raised £210.00 for the RNLI.

In the galley serving baked potatoes with cheese 'n beans and hot dogs were Sue Ives, Josie and Steve Dadd, Sharon May and Sarah Bruton who contributed some very popular home-made coleslaw.  Thank you to them for their work.

The wind dropped sufficiently to allow everyone to enjoy the local authority firework display in the Bay, from the newly redecked roof terrace.