Windmill. Robert Marshall

Transcription

1 Windmill I hope that, like me, you are looking forward to the new sailing season that starts with the Grand Splash on 17 March. At this time every year I think this could be the year I get to challenge for the lead in so many races that my handicap goes below 100. It hasn t happened yet but I live in hope. This year is different for me though because as well as expecting (!) to improve my sailing I am also starting my two year term as Commodore. It is a daunting prospect to follow Darren s excellent term, which followed Terry s excellent term, which followed. you get the drift. There were many interesting discussions at this year s AGM such as the future of class racing, building on last year s excellent RNLI lunch, catering for opens and communications between members and the committee. Until I joined the committee two years ago I had no idea of the complexities associated with running a thriving sailing club or the amount of work done by the committee to make everything happen that needs to happen. At the same time we need to know what the club s members want so if you have thoughts raise them with a committee member (they re listed elsewhere in Windmill) so we can consider them. So, what to do to follow Darren? He s left a lake full of water, a new jetty and the highest number of active sailors for years (if not ever) so it looks like the answer is more of the same, but with a bit extra. The bit extra is to increase opportunities for developing skills. The first sign of this is the Develop Your Skills Day being held on 16 March using the dinghy instructors who qualified with the RYA. I m still focussing on a handicap of 100! Best wishes and happy sailing Robert Marshall Pagee 1

2 Phil s Tall Ship Adventure I went as crew on a voyage 5 to 12 January 2013 in the Canaries and we sailed as far south as El Hierro, an active volcanic island only recently having its exclusion zone lifted for shipping. I was part of the crew on Stavros S Niarchos, an Appledore built Brig, of 59.4m length, 635 tonnes displacement. As I seem challenged at pointing my Vago close to the wind, I was probably suited to sailing a ship that at best can only get 70 points to the wind. I fully recommend the crewing to anyone age 18 to 80 willing to learn a whole new language of sailing, including Gaskets, harbour stow, sea stow, 2-6 heave, etc. the ship has no mechanical winches, so everything is by teamwork and muscle, which really focuses the mind when a good crew takes 15 minutes to Wear ( Gybe ) the ship. In Santa Cruz at the end of the voyage we found ourselves moored next to Venus, the 78M cruiser built for the late Steve Jobs. Quite slinky, if a little large for ELSC. The link is Cheers Phil Steel Phil splices a mainbrace or something up in the dizzy heights! Training Update from Alex Layton The clubs development programme includes training more RYA recognized Dinghy Instructors and so during the Winter months 6 hardy souls decided to give up 4 of their weekends to undergo the training course run by an RYA assessor. Tasked variously with demonstrating skills on land, on the water, and in the training room, in freezing conditions it really is a testing time, and on the last day another RYA assessor turns up to assess the first one! I m pleased to say that pending the certificates and some updates of Powerboat certification and First Aid certificates we should be able to say we have a whole group of new qualified instructors at the club. Please put their skills to the test on the 16 th March in the programme advertised below. Alex Layton Pagee 2

3 ELSC Officers 2013 Commodore Robert Marshall~ ve.co.uk Vice Commodore James Patterson~ ELSC Secretary Sandra Boot~ Treasurer Steve Perring~ Sailing Secretary Alan Wright~ Membership Secretary Richard Halton Rear Commodore Darren Layton The lazy days of summer ELSC Committee 2013 Training Principal Alex Layton~ Youth Development Steve Boot It s easier to communicate with you all via in most cases, so don t miss out and join the Earlswood Lakes Sailing Club D-List. Very useful for OD Duty swaps, finding a crew, finding a helm the possibilities are endless.! Post message: earlswoodsc@googlegroups.com List owner: James Patterson. Notes to ODs: Please write the results on the boards in the clubhouse. Don t forget selling tea and coffee and getting it organised as early as possible helps the galley takings and keeps Maggie happy. Elected Members Charles Speakman Toby Robertson Social and Grounds Secretaries Sue Stewart~ suestewart1@btinternet.com Iain McDowall~ iainmcdowall@live.co.uk Jenny Parsons~ jparsons957@btinternet.com Website and Windmill James Patterson~ james@jamespatterson.org Tidy results sheets are easier for Alan to read please. Pagee 3

4 Pagee 4 Skills day 16 th March

5 Pagee 5 Spring Sailing Fixtures

6 Haul of Fame 2012 Silverware Winners 2012 Hangover Handicap (NT) Steve Boot Icicle Mike Guest Snowflake James Patterson Grand Splash Peter Newbery Easter Egg (NT) George Fereday Junior Champion Cup Ellie Boot Spring Saturday George Fereday Spring Saturday Pursuit Ian Ingram Sunday Morning Points James Hatton Spring Class (Merlin Rocket)** no winner ** Spring Class (Laser) Steve Perring Spring Class (Enterprise) Graham Bentley Spring Class (Solo) Malcolm Clark Spring Class (Menagerie) Mike Guest Midweek Dougie Weir Commodore's Shield Ian Ingram Midsummer (NT) Dave Smith Summer Bottle (NT) Ian Ingram Junior Series George Fereday Saturday Improvement George Fereday Summer Saturday Pursuit Dougie Weir Summer Morning Points Dave Smith Sunday Burgee (NT) Steve Perring Novice Series Sandra Boot Terry Palmer Trophy John Pickford Twilight Dave Smith Novice Endeavour Cup Ellie Boot King George Fund (NT) Ian Ingram Brass Monkey Robert Marshall Winter Class (Merlin Rocket)** no winner ** Winter Class (Laser) Steve Perring Winter Class (Enterprise) Graham Bentley Winter Class (Solo) (NT) ** no winner ** Winter Class (Menagerie) Steve Perring Winter Saturday Ian Ingram Saturday Winter Personal George Fereday RNLI Charles Styles Frostbite Ian Ingram Boxing Day Bottle (NT) Dave Fereday Blue Sail (Enterprise) Ian Ingram Interclass Cup Ian Ingram Interclass Vintage Cup Steve Perring Best crew Sandra Boot Best Improver George Fereday Laser Open Peter Newbery Poor George Fereday, he could hardly walk as Darren performed his final act as the outgoing Commodore and loaded him up with prizes to send him on his way! At another great Sailing doo bash organised beautifully as ever by Sue Stewart, people got a chance to reflect on the year on the water in fair company and ever take home the odd prize (and some of the prizes in the raffle were definitely odd!) Congratulations to all of our winners for 2012! Pagee 6

7 Laser Matters (or Lasers Matter!) Laser Open 7 April Our Open this year is on Sunday, 7 th April with the first race starting at 11am. This is a fantastic opportunity to test your skills against a complete spectrum of skills held by visitors in a Laser-only fleet. In previous years we have had about 20 competitors and I hope to match that again this year. Pete Newbery has won the last three years and it would be great if he could make it four in a row. As well as prizes for the top 3 (including a cup for the winner) there are prizes for 1 st youth, 1 st junior, 1 st lady, 1 st radial and 1 st 4.7. Earlswood s renowned lunches are available for a small cost. If you d like to race but aren t a Laser sailor I m sure that there are laser sailors who won t be entering who would be prepared to lend you their boat for the event. Please ask around. UK Laser Association (UKLA) The UKLA is the class association for the Laser in the UK. Membership is 31 pa and gives you the following: 10% off Laser insurance with Noble Marine. Quarterly magazine with handy tips on going faster (some of which push the rule boundary!) Access to the members section of the website ( The UKLA organises the national championships and regional training sessions entry into either requires UKLA membership. Midlands Grand Prix series This year there are 18 open meetings (ours on the 7th April). They provide the opportunity to sail on big lakes, little lakes, in big winds and in large fleets. The variety helps improve your skill level against a range of skills from the very good (like Pete who is normally in the top three) through the have got a bit better (like me) to the still learning. This year s programme is: Day Date Location Sunday 17th March Chelmarsh Saturday 23rd March Tamworth Sunday 7th April Earlswood Saturday 13th April Barnt Green Saturday 20th April Carsington Sunday 5th May Swarkstone Saturday 11th May Blithfield Sunday 2nd June Ogston Saturday 8th June Olton Mere Saturday 15th June Burton Sunday 23rd June Hollowell Sunday 30th June Rutland Sunday 7th July Notts County Sunday 1st September Nottingham Sunday 8th September Trimpley Sunday 15th September Trent Valley Saturday 21st September Draycote Sunday 6th October Staunton Harold If you d like more information about any of the above (or anything else about the Laser) or have thoughts about making our laser sailing even better please give me a call on Best wishes and happy sailing Robert Marshall Laser fleet captain Pagee 7

8 Topper for Sale Alice has got the job she was hoping for on the Flotillas, so she will be off to Turkey in April. She has asked me to put her Topper up for sale, so I will start with the club first. Sail number Has both centre sheeting and stern sheeting equipment. Has good cover and launching trolley. Well maintained. At present on the club dinghy park Price 499 please contact Bob Lewis. bob.lewis2242@btinternet.com On the water rules discussion Overtaking! (Notes in italics are from the 2013 rules ) Actually, the rules don t mention overtaking at all, so: Rule 12 says: When boats are on the same tack and not overlapped, a boat clear astern shall keep clear of a boat clear ahead. i.e. It must change course to avoid running into the back of the other boat. If you overtake to windward then you are the windward boat and have to keep clear (Rule 11). If you overtake to leeward then Rule 17 says: If a boat clear astern becomes overlapped within two of her hull lengths to leeward of a boat on the same tack, she shall not sail above her proper course while they remain on the same tack and overlapped within that distance. Proper Course: A course a boat would sail to finish as soon as possible in the absence of the other boats. i.e. an overtaking boat cannot luff-up the overtaken boat and nor can the overtaken boat sail below her course to impede the overtaking boat (because the windward / leeward rule would apply). If the boats are on opposite tacks then starboard still trumps port. 3 further points for consideration relating to the boat ahead trying to cover the one astern: 1. A boat is overlapped with another if any part of the boat is ahead of a line drawn perpendicular to the centre line of the ahead boat at its furthest aft point (for us that will be the back of the rudder). 2. If the ahead boat bears away it could establish an overlap for the boat astern. In that case it becomes the windward boat so would have to keep clear of the boat astern. 3. If bearing away didn't establish an overlap there's an obligation to give the give-way boat time to respond to keep clear. Pagee 8

9 Class Racing Graham argues the case for. This year there was a move by the sailing committee to axe class racing and the maintaining and posting of class results from the sailing program at Earlswood Lakes S.C. I realise that we do now have a plethora of new and exciting dinghies sailing at Earlswood but I do not see the sense, where there is still interest, in axing class racing in favour of a pure menagerie fleet. I feel that the move by the committee will remove any real sense of competition from club racing by relying on the performance of a boat to be the dominating factor in a race series rather than the skill of the individual helm. I don t think it is good for the development of keen club sailors or indeed the development of sailing at the club. We need to promote class sailing not subdue it. Class racing is closer, the gaining and losing of places, and the final positions are immediately apparent on the water and there is no question of conditions favouring one type of boat ahead of another. I don t think the likes of Ben Ainsley have risen to the heights of Olympic Class by competing in a menagerie fleet! Even the RYA has an initiative in place to promote Class Racing. During and after a race my first consideration is to review my performance against the rest of the Enterprises competing as it s the only true measure of how well (or badly) one is sailing. Racing against other classes, particularly the faster classes do not give the same result or satisfaction. The Laser fleet is probably the biggest at Earlswood and the most competitive. To be competing in this class and not be given class positions crowned with the series trophy seems a total travesty to me, as it does in my own fleet. Class sailors must be allowed to compete against one another and experience real results as a measure of ascertaining how they are progressing and to give them the confidence to sail at a higher level in Class Open Meetings and Regatta s at other clubs. This is the only way real improvements are achieved. Reducing the sailing program and fleet to menagerie status is in my view a backward step. It is also a huge waste of club resources as we have numerous trophies that are Class specific that will no longer be presented. Most other local clubs still run class racing something the committee needs to pay heed to. As you have probably guessed by now I consider this to be quite an important issue that has far reaching implications for our membership. I brought it up at the AGM last week and after some lively discussion amongst those attending the committee agreed to reinstate Class racing for this year but with a number of conditions attached. The bottom line is if we don t get out there and get our class attendance averages up we will eventually lose our class status. So if you have a Laser, Enterprise, Solo or any other class of boat that has any hint of interest in class racing it would be immensely beneficial to you and your class if you were to make a big effort and get sailing in some of this years series in which the results count for class racing. Do it before the committee decides to get rid of it for good! Graham Bentley. E15709 Pagee 9