Weymouth
Sailing
Club

It was wonderful to see the YOBs (Youths on Boats) in their RS Fevas and Wayfarer 'Little Wing' having such fun sailing in the harbour on Friday's Cadet night.  The YOBs were showing good seamanship skills as they tacked and gybed under the careful eye of safety boat driver Richard Groves and his team.  Phil Samways, YOB's coordinator, must be very proud of the progress that the group has shown since getting the dinghies last year.  Two of the Fevas made a debut appearance in the Monday 1 evening dinghy series.  The Fevas were bought with sponsorship from local companies and club members and backed by a donation from Sportmatch.  O'Three provided them with wetsuits.  Thank you - the dinghies are well used and a great asset to the Club.

Its been going well onboard The Pelican so far despite being so short handed
for the first part of the trip. The new crew onboard for the voyage back to
the UK are getting on very well and have learnt the ropes pretty quickly.
Its been a good start to the return trip, had a month sailing from St Lucia
up to St Maarten, lots of beach BBQs and swimming! The 7day sail to Bermuda
was fair uneventful with light winds for most of the passage. We ended up
spending 2 weeks in Bermuda while waiting for spare parts for the freezer to
arrive, the idea of eating tinned meat without the freezer for 3 weeks
didn't sound too appealing! It gave us all a chance to have a good look
round the island though. We left Bermuda on the 6th May, been at sea nearly
a week now! A couple of nights ago The Pelican really spread her wings
sailing along at 10knots (a new top speed for her) in 30knots of wind,
driving rain and lightning that lit up the whole ship destroying everyone's
night vision.

IS THERE A SAILOR IN YOU?  

As part of Dorset leisure month, Weymouth Sailing Club are offering sailing tasters to local people who wish to take up sailing and don’t know how to go about it.  Sessions take place on Sunday 18th May from 10 am, and include a hands-on one hour sail in Weymouth’s Olympic waters.  Members will be on hand to answer  questions and our Y.O.B.s (Youth on Boats section) will be displaying their new RS Feva dinghies §        The club bar and galley will be open for attendees along with reduced priced membership §        Soft shoes are essential. §        Warm clothes may be necessary depending on the weather.  §        Children must be accompanied by parent or guardian. §        Public car parks at Nothe Gardens, 20 metres away via steps.  To book your session e-mail mail@weysailclub.org.uk  or write to the club enclosing an SAE to Taster Sessions, Weymouth Sailing Club, Nothe Parade, Weymouth, DT4 8TX

Weymouth Harbour was filled with boats over the Bank Holiday weekend.  The pontoons outside the RDYC were 12 boats deep with spectacular fast racing craft from The Royal Southampton Yacht Club who held their two leg race to Weymouth and back.  Crews enjoyed a meal at WSC on Saturday evening.  The pontoon opposite WSC was full of boats from Poole taking part in a PYRA Pursuit Race to Weymouth.  There were upwards of 100 racing yachts in total.

Weymouth Clubs have a full racing programme with the Saturday 1 series for all classes and the Vice Commodore's Cup - an All in Handicap Average Lap Race - on Bank Holiday Monday.

91 members and friends joined in the Start of Season Party on Saturday 27 April.  After an afternoon of sailing in beautiful sunshine there were some surprisingly tanned faces and a hopeful anticipation of more good sailing days to come.

Supper was provided by chef Christian Lohez followed by music by Ed Hintze.  Ed has recently been on the television show 'The One and Only' performing as a tribute to Elton John.

Melita Biggs, Commodore, welcomed guests to the celebration of the start of the main sailing programme, although this year boats have been racing all season for the first time.

Josie Dadd, Social Secretary said that she was very pleased with the turnout of guests for the event and was glad that everyone had enjoyed themselves.  Thank you Josie and Sue for all the work involved organising the party.

Weymouth Sailing Club are investing in the future of its younger club members by installing baby changing facilities in the club.   House Commodore, Mike Stagg, said that there is a baby boom happening at the club with at least half a dozen members under the age of 1 year old and more on the way.   "After Sunday racing the sound of gurgling emanates from Bar and sun deck areas, not from the crews drinking pints but from their children!    We have taken the responsible step to introduce baby changing facilities at the Club, to enable parents to change and clean their offspring in clean and safe surroundings instead of using the floor or the tables."

Photo:  Seren Abbott eating her lunch at WSC while her father Michael John is enjoying competiting in the Rear Admiral's Cup.

Richard and Pat Groves have made a generous donation to the YOB's (Youths on Boats).  Friends and relatives who attended their Golden wedding anniversay party clubbed together to make a donation of £300. 

The YOB's will be using the money to purchase a data projector with the money. The projector will be a useful tool in the cadet winter programme and will also be available for Club use.

Thank you very much Richard.

John Croydon has very kindly presented a trophy, the Rear Admiral’s Cup, to be competed between teams of three boats from each of the local clubs.  The first two races were back-to-back  in the Bay on Sunday 20th April, which were also part of the YCW Spring Series.  The third race was a longer one in the bay on 11th May and the final one will be the Royal Dorset Cherbourg Race over the late-May bank holiday.  The plan is for John to present the trophy to the winning team in Cherbourg.

Draig O'r Mor and Wild Child in the fourth Race. 

This Sunday morning series is gaining in popularity each year and forms part of an expanding programme of sailing that now continues throughout the whole year.

The final race in the series was held on Sunday 27th April.  Mist had descended and the wind was light from SSE.  RO Barry Payne set a windward/leeward course for IRC and PY classes.   

In the IRC class Mark Bugler on Saskia VI took line honours, Wild Child second and Spindrift third.  The series was convincingly won by Wild Child, Scoline second and Spindrift third.

In the PY class Alan Smith on Folio beat Rumrunner, however the Series was narrowly won by Rumrunner, Folio second and Chuckles Too third.

Many thanks to the Race Officers, Race Teams and Viking Drivers who helped run a very successful start to the calendar.