Combs Sailing Club Newsletter No 231 Close of play, Combs September 2013 Commodore s Notes The regular 2013 sailing season comes rapidly to an end on Sunday 13 th October with the Jack Beattie Pursuit Trophy followed by the seasons wake. Never fear that s not the end of sailing, we start the six week Frostbite series on Sunday 20 th October. We also have work parties scheduled for 20 th and 27 th October. Starting at 10am they will be over by noon giving ample time for lunch before sailing in the afternoon. If you are able to come along and help it would be much appreciated and the work party attendance gains a credit against 2014 subscriptions. We have couple of dates for your diaries. The seasons Prize Giving and Dinner Dance will be held on Saturday 30 th November at New Mills Golf Club. Whilst the Old Hall has served us well over a number of years, we felt it was time for a change of venue. We will forward details of the menus etc in the next couple of weeks. The Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 10 th December at Whaley Bridge Mechanics Institute. Can I encourage all members to come along; it tends to be a fairly low key, informal affair. It s your club and both the General Purpose and Sailing Committee would welcome your feedback and suggestions. The agenda and details of the meeting will be posted to members in due course. We were deeply saddened to learn of the recent death of Graham Aizelwood. Graham and his wife Judith have been club members for many years. They sailed an Enterprise dinghy together. Graham s smile and upbeat personality will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege to know him. Our thoughts are with Judith and family. Bob Pyett, Commodore 1
Commodore s Success It is worthy of note that Bob Pyett was recently placed 16th out of 40 boats at the Supernova Inland Championships held at Pitsford Reservoir near Northampton. Not only this, but he won the Veterans Trophy beating 14 other sailors. His highest fleet placing was 7th. I am sure we all wish to congratulate him on his excellent performance. It is rumoured that in 2014 he intends to change class to a Byte and mount a challenge on Louis and Rick. JS. Combs Supernova Open, Saturday Sept. 28th Combs Sailing Club can provide fabulous scenery, good food and excellent race organisation but the one thing beyond it's control is wind direction! So it was on Saturday September 28th when the Supernova traveller fleet arrived. Ten home boats were joined by eleven visitors from as far afield as Cotswold and Haversham making a good fleet of twenty one. The wind was blowing from the NE and varying in strength from almost nothing in the lulls to 18 mph in the short, sharp gusts and with 90 degree shifts! Race Officer Rick Whitehouse set a committee boat start with as fair a line as possible. Nevertheless race one started with a rather wobbly line and the fleet made its way towards the windward mark. After mark one progress was erratic due to wind peculiarities. Four boats, S Catterall, C.Hawley, A Collins, Bob Pyett, broke way from the main fleet taking a considerable lead followed by S Hawley and N Reid then two further distinct groups. By the end of the race Catteral was first with Hawley and Collins second and third. The fleet now broke for lunch and further discussion about wind direction. A hot topic! Race two saw a moderated wind with less power in the gusts but still awkward and shifty. The line was tidier this time and for the first lap the fleet was more compact with A Collins looking strong and swapping places with P Earnshaw. Significantly, Neil Reid from Combs was now going well in third in a borrowed boat. Lightweight lady Alexandria Bowden also in a borrowed boat had changed to a smaller sail and was now enthusiastically tussling with junior L Brailsford. Collins won, pipping Earnshaw on the line with Reid in a very impressive third. Points were close going into race three with Collins on 4 and Catterall on 5. Reid was on 10 points but with a discard still to take. A good clean start and the fleet tramped away into an improving wind. Very soon Reid made it to the front and continued to pull away. Collins and Underell chased but seemed unable to do anything about the Combs sailor. Reid increased his lead throughout the race and never looked in danger of being caught. At the bell it was Reid from Collins by a considerable margin, followed by Underell. This gave the event win to Alex Collins from Bolton followed by Neil Reid, Combs and S Catterall from Haversham. At the presentation Alex Collins received a tin of sweets for his efforts since at 17 he was too young for the first prize bottle of whiskey which went to Neil Reid instead! Well deserved for a great performance in someone else s boat! Wine for other places including first lady Alex Bowden. The Following day, Sunday, the Supernova's took their circus to Carsington. A very different place to sail! JS 2
In addition to Neil s fantastic result, Ed Caunt was also impressive and also in someone else s boat. On the theme of trying other boats, Alex is raising the bar somewhat with her latest exploit though with an understandably tentative trapeze position. John Saunders nearly ran her over getting this picture. 3
New Kit Members will notice that there is a new addition to the club equipment. In view of the advanced age of many of our members our Commodore has kindly released funds to provide reading glasses for the use of sailors. These glasses are contained in a holster on the wall to the left of the galley counter and the spectacles them selves are attached to the wall by a thin string. From now on there will be no excuse for not filling in race sheets in an accurate and legible fashion. Certain rules do apply however. These glasses are only for the use of members with poor eyesight. They are not for the use of non members or members with adequate use of their occulate organs. These devices will not be removed from the wall for use in the starters hut or boat park. If members show sufficient interest further pairs can be provided at key locations throughout the premises. Should this service be abused by members it will be removed and the spectacles will be locked in the key safe where they will be attached to the safe interior by a chain and combination lock. Caption Competition Russell provided the picture for the last newsletter a perplexed commodore. Dave Staley provided the winning comment. I keep telling you guys, these new supernovas are no lighter than the old ones. 4
This month the picture features the inimitable John Saunders note the bucket. In case that is not amusing you enough here are two more of your Editor.. New idea A recent altercation with Pete Quayle hard to believe I know highlighted the difficulties of establishing overlaps when approaching a mark. The Sailing Committee have discussed an exercise to help with judging the two key issues: (i) where is the three boat length zone? (ii) how do you recognise an overlap - from each boat? If there is enough interest I think we can devise an exercise using the patrol boat to illuminate this. Please email me if you think it would be useful. richard@plancoop.co.uk And finally some blasts from the past. 5
The reason for so many pictures is a shortage of text compared to previous editions. News views and ideas are always welcome. John. Email to me or 6