Weymouth Sailing Club

2008 Handbooks

Submitted by she on Thu, 21/02/2008 - 17:25

stuffing_party The WSC Handbook signals the start of a new season and club members wait for it with anticipation. With 700 members currently on the register, sending out the Handbooks is no easy task so a 'stuffing party' of volunteers meet up to sort out the paperwork. Many hands .... as they say.

Mike and Penny Fenwick in Squib Ghost Rider are on the 2008 cover photographed during their winning trip to the Squib National Championships in Abersoch. Mike was also responsible for updating the Handbook in his role as Sailing Secretary. Many thanks also to Chris Olding for recruiting sufficient advertising to cover the cost of printing and mailing and to Lyn Atkins for compiling the Spring Newsletter.

Commodore's Drinks Reception

Submitted by she on Mon, 18/02/2008 - 17:13

melita_robbie_presentation WSC presented a cheque to the RNLI raised by club members fundraising throughout the year, for £800 at the Commodore's Drinks Reception held at the Club on Saturday 16 February. Melita Biggs, Commodore, made the presentation to Robbie Robinson Launch Secretary RNLI and wished him well on his forthcoming retirement.

Commodores of other affiliated sailing clubs, representative of the marine agencies, members of the local authority, councillors, and local businesses joined WSC members for the lively annual drinks reception.

Achilles series

Submitted by she on Mon, 18/02/2008 - 16:55

For the first time in the history of WSC racing is taking place during the whole calendar.

In the final race of the Achilles Heel series, Rumrunner pulled throught against Nickel Coin, Orion and Katrina. All crews cleared the ice off the decks and heading into a 23 knot north easterly with lots of chop and a biting wind the competitors envied those in the yard scraping down the bottoms of their boats!

With a blue sky and bright sunshine, all the competing boats had a good start on a square line set by Steve Fraser on Pippa, after a long tight beat Orion, Nickel Coin and Rumrunner all went round the windward mark shouting the odds, but with a swift hoist and choosing to sail deep, Rumrunner had established a gap by the leeward mark, she went on to consolidate that lead over the ensuing three laps to win the series by two points over Nickel Coin.

Alan Glover donated the stainless steel yacht trophy.

A full breakdown of this series can be found listed in Cruisers WSC

http://www.weysailclub.org.uk/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,8/

History in the making

Submitted by she on Sun, 17/02/2008 - 01:36

For the first time in its history, WSC boats are racing throughout the calendar. The Achilles Series started as being a match race between the Achilles 9mtrs Rum Runner and Orion but has developed into a full series with Nickel Coin and Katrina joining in. Steve Fraser on Pippa has acted as Race Officer and has set a gruelling series of up to 3 windward/leeward races each Sunday. The series has been running since early January 2008 with only a couple of Sundays blown out. With one day of racing left on Sunday 17 February it is all still to play for with Rum Runner and Nickel Coin on equal points. Alan Glover has donated a stainless steel yacht figurine as a trophy.

An early launch

Submitted by iain on Thu, 14/02/2008 - 08:40

As you all know, Easter this year was the earliest it has been for over 95 years. To mark the occasion and tides permitting, I used the weekend to launch as many cruisers as I could, which amounted to 30 boats being launched, 2 being repositioned, and 1 being recovered for repair. Also, Squibs had to be re-shuffled several times and a large pile of decking had to be moved. I would like to say a very big thank you to all of you that came to help. Friday and Saturday were a particular challenge with strong winds sometimes gusting to gale force and beyond, but with many hands to the pumps and some excellent seamanship being shown, all was accomplished without mishap. Once again many thanks to you all, I was well impressed.

Allan Castle.(Yard Secretary)

Photo: Club members may have noticed the new look Viking for 2008, this being the result of once again many hours of sterling work carried out through the long, cold winter months mostly by the intrepid Don Cutler with additional help by Mick Keen and Tony Heathershaw.

Tall Ships Youth Trust

Submitted by she on Wed, 13/02/2008 - 17:09

heaving20on20ropes Weymouth Sailing Club has played host to The Tall Ship Youth Trust. The principal guests were the young members of the Youth On Boats (the "YOBs") of the WSC, along with some cadet members of Castle Cove Sailing Club. Also present were other invited youngsters and some friends of the YOBs. And quite a number of parents, too. In all about 60 people were present. The purpose of the event was to inform our guests of the opportunities available for tall ship sailing and the chance to accept an exciting challenge.

Regional Race Officers

Submitted by tom134 on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 23:34

The list for this year's Regional Race Officer seminar at Plymouth closes on Monday. Mike Pearson has received no entries from this area, remember you have to attend once every four years. Melita

A busy weekend

Submitted by she on Mon, 11/02/2008 - 04:38

stephen_homan_berry A weekend of warm sunshine and light winds encouraged large number of members to get some essential work done on their boats. While some were scrubbing and re-antifouling their bottoms, others were climbing masts. It felt as if the sailing season could just be around the corner and, as if to prove a point, two or three boats continue to race the newly created 'Achilles' series and enjoyed a wonderful morning on the water.

Dick Batt of Batt Sails gave a talk to the Club on Saturday 9 February. He illustrated how sails are designed and manufactured, and provided club members with some useful tips on how to obtain the best sail shape. WSC and especially the WSC Squib fleet thank Dick for his visit to Weymouth.

Maintenance weekend

Submitted by tom134 on Mon, 04/02/2008 - 23:18

The two Steves (Dadd and Ricky Bruton) headed up a huge team of volunteers for the Clubhouse makeover during the weekend, ceilings walls and everything in between have a brilliant sparkle, Josie and She kept everyone supplied with coffees and teas and laid out a spread of pasties, members added to the feast with home-made cakes. Definitely one of the best social events of the year. THANK YOU to all who took part. Melita

Decorating and Maintenance weekend

Submitted by she on Sat, 02/02/2008 - 21:33

caroline On behalf of Weymouth Sailing Club, Ricky Bruton and I would like to thank those who gave up their spare time this weekend to tranform so many areas of our club over the maintenenace weekend. Fifty two members signed in on Saturday and thirty five on the Sunday.

Much was achieved, much more than planned, nearly every area except the long shed was redecorated; the club room sports a Jasmine white ceiling, the toilets given a fresh coat of paint and automated air fresheners fitted, notice boards refurbished, lockers painted, the cellar and bar spring cleaned and the floors in the entrance hall painted.

Outside the flue from the redundant gas fire was taken down and the hole bricked up, wasted bricks replaced and pointed in, front doors varnished and the woodwork on the mast store was stained, a new string of lights were also fitted on the decking.

Special thanks have to go to the members who baked cakes for the work force and those that kept the workers topped up with hot beverages.

Cheers Steve Dadd