Commodore s Update, Autumn 14 Inside... Windmill Understanding the rules, Quiz...and More What s on 2nd Nov RNLI race and lunch 29th Nov Bingo Night 3rd Dec Rules and Course Setting, an evening of advice..
Commodore s Update... by Robert Marshall... Looking back at my piece in Spring s Windmill I nocced that I hoped for a summer of warm weather and fair winds. I think we got the warm weather but the winds have been less than fair with a predominance of light Easterlies to challenge and frustrate us. Despite this we have again had a successful summer season with many different winners of the club s series and one- day events. This year we also hosted one of the BriCsh Moth AssociaCon s series. This was an entertaining day seeing 11 Moths challenging each other. Our long established Open meecngs for Lasers, Enterprises and Merlin Rockets were also well a=ended by visitors although we are now sadly down on the number of home Merlins. Photo Sandra Boot In April and July we had our Level 1 Start sailing Courses. All a=endees are members of the club for a year so please take the opportunity to praccse your skills using our wide range of club boats. If you need help to rig (or de- rig) the boats or sailing advice please ask as there is always some- one about willing to help. For those with a bit more experience we are running our first Start Racing course in November. This is the first Cme we ve run this course with our newly qualified Race Coaches. In May we Push(ed) the Boat Out supporcng the RYA s inicacve to show how much fun sailing is. We had over 300 visitors and naconally over 24,000 people had a go. Our success got a mencon in the RYA magazine and in Yachts and YachCng as well as the arccle that appeared in the Solihull News before the event. September saw Bart s Bash in memory of Andrew Simpson. So far 63% of the results have been processed with almost 24,000 sailors travelling over 74,000km. We contributed 36 sailors covering over 60km so well done to our organisers, helpers and sailors for making it happen (and to our winner in his borrowed Solo). There s been a fair amount going on in respect of the administracon of the club. We were fortunate to be able to buy the piece of land that the clubhouse is sited on. This had been leased for many years with the current lease due to end in 2024. Purchasing it removes doubt about restriccons or addiconal costs so is good news for the club s long- term future. Most of the work that the commi=ee does on behalf of the club happens in the background so I was really pleased when the RYA recognised the work that Iain McDowall does on behalf of the club with an RYA Community Award for outstanding contribucon. Iain will receive his award from Princess Anne at a lunch in November. Continued..
Commodore s Update... by Robert Marshall... There are a couple of changes happening to the commi=ee over the coming months. The first of these is a new addicon to the commi=ee as Marie Bond has joined as Ladies Rep. The second is that there will a vacancy for Sailing Secretary from next year s AGM as Alan Wright has decided that it is Cme to hand over the role. Alan has been Sailing Secretary since before I joined in 2002. It is his work that enables us all to go sailing in the efficient and organised way we all enjoy. I guess most of you know him best for his periodic adjustment of your handicap but he is also responsible for the sailing programme, event prizes, rostering ODs and AODs and making sure they turn up, the Sailing InstrucCons, the OD handbook, and the list goes on and on. Replacing Alan will definitely be a challenge so please talk to me if you are interested in taking on this excicng and challenging role. It seems to me that every Commodore s slot should have a plea relacng to the running of the club and its property and this one is no excepcon. When using the club boats please ensure that they are put away correctly a_er use. The two Wanderers have boom- up covers so the booms should be le_ on the gooseneck with the mainsail flaked before replacing the cover. Leaving the booms off allows water to collect which damages the cover. The Stratos cover has ripped down its length and will be replaced shortly. The new one should be tensioned with the halyard. The straps on all the covers should be passed under the hull and not under the trolley as that allows the cover to move in high winds and damages the cover. If you re not sure how to replace the cover please ask to minimise the damage that can be caused. The long nights and colder weather mean the end of Saturday sailing for another year. It will soon be Sundays only but scll with cruising a_ernoons on the 2 nd Sunday of each month. We do have other events to look forward to during the dark months. On 3 rd December we are having a rules/course sebng evening. It s been great to see the greater awareness of the rules over the last few years and this evening has been arranged following requests from a number of members for a refresher on what they are and how to comply with them. We re linking this with a session on course sebng taking into account wind direccon. If you ve ever wondered what is the best course to set (as an OD/AOD) this will give you the answers. 29 th November sees James hoscng his Bingo night, complete with accents and dialects from all round the UK an evening not to be missed. Looking further into the future our prize- giving dinner is on 24 th January 2015 at the Henley Golf and Country Club so keep this date free. Full details and Ccket arrangements will be published in due course. Here s looking forward to great winter s sailing and social programme. Robert
ELSC Officers 2014 Commodore Robert Marshall~0121 705 9711 robertmarshall@stonebowave.freeserve.co.uk Vice Commodore James Paterson~07710 040 556 james@jamespatterson.org ELSC Secretary Sandra Boot~0121 745 5593 sshelo@tiscali.co.uk Treasurer Ian Edwards-01789 750269 froswick@btinternet.com Sailing Secretary Alan Wright~01926 773 786 alanw-sailaway@ntlworld.com Membership Secretary Richard Halton richard.halton@blueyonder.co.uk Rear Commodore Darren Layton laytondarren@googlemail.com Covers on the club boats, must go on properly Working Party THIS SAT 1st Nov Rules and Course setting evening, 3rd December Iain McDowall will receive one of the Royal Yach@ng Associa@on s most pres@gious awards from HRH the Princess Royal, President of the RYA, next month, in recogni@on of his huge contribu@on to sailing. Iain will be honoured with an RYA Outstanding Contribu@on Award at sailing s na@onal governing body s annual awards ceremony in London on Friday 21st November. ELSC Committee 2014 Training Principal Martin Mone elsc.training@gmail.com Youth Development Steve Boot 0121 745 5593 sshelo@tiscali.co.uk Communications Officer Charles Speakman~0778 867 4710 charles@optimumprojects.co.uk Elected Members Toby Robertson Marie Bond (Ladies Rep) Social and Grounds Secretaries Sue Stewart~01564 700 023 suestewart1@btinternet.com Iain McDowall~01564 826486 iainmcdowall@live.co.uk
Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing When boats meet at a Mark Last time we began to investigate rule RRS18 - Mark Room, and RRS 18.1, when it applies What happens next? 18.2 Giving Mark- Room Follow the ISAF Rules (a) When boats are overlapped the outside boat shall give the inside boat mark- room, unless rule 18.2(b) applies (b) If boats are overlapped when the first of then reaches the zone, the outside boat at that moment shall thereafter give the inside boat mark- room. If a boat is clear ahead when she reaches the zone, the boat clear astern at that moment shall thereafter give her mark- room. (c) When a boat is required to give mark- room by rule 18.2(b) (1) She shall continue to do so even if later an overlap is broken or a new overlap begins. (2) If she becomes overlapped inside the boat entitled to mark- room, she shall also give that boat room to sail her proper course while they remain overlapped. However, if the boat entitled to mark- room passes head to wind or leaves the zone, rules 18.2(b) ceases to apply (d) If there is reasonable doubt that a boat obtained or broke an overlap in time, it shall be presumed she did not. (e) If a boat obtained an inside overlap from clear astern or by tacking to windward of the other boat and, from the time the overlap began, the outside boat has been unable to give mark- room, she is not required to give it.
Out and About... John Pickford takes 3rd Place in the Summer Bottle Alan Wright took the photo below on a windless 3rd race in the Novice Endeavour Cup. The race, shortened to less than half a lap, was from start line to Xtra and back to start line. That took the winner more than 20 minutes Two boats have rounded Xtra but the others have yet to reach it. The overall winner of the event was Jessica Mackie, well done Jessica Austin Jones receiving his prize for 2nd place in the Terry Palmer Send in your contributions for the Out and About gallery... charles@optimumprojects.co.uk
Out and About... Junior Championship Cup 1st Louis Boot 2nd Jamie Cuxson 3rd George Fereday Bart s Bash 30,717 (Final Fig) SAILORS SAILING 87,072,769 METRES, IN MEMORY OF ANDREW (BART) SIMPSON Send in your contributions for the Out and About gallery... charles@optimumprojects.co.uk
Treasurer and Bri@sh Moth Class Captain Ian Edwards reports on our first ever Bri@sh Moth open mee@ng Bri@sh Moths at Earlswood Lakes Sailing Club We had the pleasure of welcoming nine BriCsh Moths to join our own fleet for the first open event to be held by the club for the class on Saturday 26 th July 2014. The balmy weather had however resulted in li=le or no wind the surface of the lake giving an excellent impression of a mirror with the occasional zephyr rippling the surface. The fleet, not perturbed by the condicons rigged and launched to accept the challenges of the day the BriCsh Moth being notorious for its light wind performance. The principal race officer Alan Wright set a simple triangular course for the first race. As the start sequence Ccked down in the final seconds Roger Wi=s B.M.885 (Frampton on Severn S C) spo=ed the slight change in the wind and took a flyer on a port end start and managed to cross the fleet starcng on starboard. The fleet then all tacked on to port to slowly chase Wi=s to the first mark. Wi=s by now had sailed into a commanding lead. With majority of the fleet not being able to fetch, the first mark ended in quite a gaggle, Colin Hall B.M.856 (Hunts S C) and then Gary Tomkins B.M. 882 (Hunts S C) set about the chase of Wi=s. Although there were several changes throughout the middle of the fleet as zephyrs of wind were picked up or holes found, the leading pack were not caught.
The second race was sailed on the same triangular course but by now the wind direccon had changed slightly resulcng in a broad reaching start. This did however result in two boats being over the line at the start, duly called back by the race officer. Mark Wiltshire B.M. 872 (Chippenham S C) took full advantage and sailed confidently to the first mark and was never challenged throughout the race. There was considerable accvity throughout the fleet as various helms took advantage of the wind or picked up the small changes that appeared. On the penulcmate lap local helm Ian Edwards B.M.854 took full advantage and was able to sail over the fleet from last to third at the leeward mark. The final run to the leeward mark saw Tompkins pushed through the fleet as he picked up and held the wind rounding the mark second followed by Richard Keefe B.M. 884 (Hunts S C) to finish third behind Wiltshire and Tompkins. Throughout the race Wi=s who had been one of the premature starters was picking his way through the fleet to finish fourth. The third race a_er lunch was therefore to be the decider, the wind had now taken a slight shi_ resulcng in a long slow beat to the first mark. The lead to the first mark changed on several occasions between Wi=s, Hall and Keefe but it was Wi=s to round first followed by Hall & Keefe. This order was retained for the rest of the race with valiant a=empts being made by the fleet to catch the leaders. The second win by Wi=s therefore won the Open meecng with Colin Hall second overall and the ever consistent Gary Tompkins third. Abby Freeley B.M. 883 (Hunts S C) with a seventh overall won the ladies prize from Nicola Barre= B.M. 757 (Frampton on Severn S C). Robert Marshall, Commodore of Earlswood Lakes Sailing Club presented the prizes and a very a=raccve engraved whisky tumbler to Roger Wi=s saying how great it was to add BriCsh Moths to the clubs programme of Laser, Enterprise and Merlin Rocket Opens. The BriCsh Moth is well suited to our lake so it was a pleasure to host an event for the class which has been around for over 80 years. Class Captain Ian Edwards commented that the Moth is a thriving class that enjoys new venues and Earlswood didn't disappoint in the racing and hospitality provided such that the compectors hope to include Earlswood in next year's programme. Ian Edwards ELSC is proud to host a number of Open Meetings throughout the year, organised by our Class Captains with help from the committee and volunteers Class Captains can offer help and advice on all aspects of ownership.. Laser - Robert Marshall Enterprise - Charles Speakman British Moth - Ian Edwards Merlin Rocket - Jon Wood Interested in promoting your class? Contact a Committee Member
Autumn 2014 Fixtures RYA Start Racing Course (Pre- registration required, contact Robert Marshall) Session 1 Saturday 8 November 09.30-15.00 Session 2 Saturday 22 November 09.30-15.00 Sold Out Session 3 Saturday 29 November 09.30-15.00 Session 4 Saturday 06 December 09.30-15.00
Earlswood Reflections... Part 2 of a series by Graham Bentley In Part 1 we heard how Graham talked his schoolmate Pete into lefng him work on his boat at Pete s Mum and Dads house. In Part 2 Graham concludes the story Pete s place came with added bonuses as not only was I picking up all these useful Cps regarding boat maintenance but I also got to chat up his sister. The trouble was though, having designs on your best mate s sister didn t always go well for bon homme camaraderie between you and your best mate so I eventually had to make out that I didn t like her, which for some strange reason restored his confidence in me no end. How can anybody like my sister? he used to ask she s horrible. The fact that she was probably one of the most stunning looking and pleasantly natured girls I d ever met seem to fly in the face of this statement. It s strange how being siblings can warp your percepcon of one another; hum I think I know the feeling In these days of plascc boats luckily it s not such a problem having to find suitable winter stowage for your pride and joy; most owners just leave them out in the bad weather and wash them down in the spring...job done But the lengths people used to go to get their wooden boats under a roof during the winter was made clear to me one day when I was driving home from the club. I happened upon one of our club members running down Lady Lane. He was in shorts and T- shirt and looked like he was out for an a_ernoon s jog except behind him he was pulling his stripped down boat on its launching trolley I knew where he lived and he scll had quite a way to go into Solihull so I stopped to offer assistance but he politely refused saying that the exercise would do him good Sailors were made of stern stuff those days I must admit that pracccalices of taking my own boat home for winter storage these days is beset with problems as a_er 30 odd years of bringing up a family the house is groaning under the weight of the accumulated junk. So my old boat has tended to remain down at the club. Over the years I ve come up with all sorts of contrapcons to try and protect the wooden decking from the frost. PlasCc frames to fit under the cover, polystyrene sheets, bubble wrap, pipe insulacon, twin covers; you name it, I ve tried it They are a real hassle to fit as well, as my long suffering crew will tescfy. She tends to leave me to sort out the fiddly bits when we pack the boat away a_er sailing and I know what she s thinking as she walks off to the changing rooms; I don t know why you bother, it never works Graham
Zeitgeist... You may be surprised to know that for most of the UK, on average, the water temperature in October is still as warm as it is in June The UK tends to get good low pressure systems moving through during the autumn months providing excellent sailing conditions Wordsearch H" Q" G" O" I" N" W" K" V" U" L" I" W" F" A" U" P" X" O" L" I" E" E" G" R" U" B" K" N" Y" A" V" N" A" N" D" R" A" W" I" F" E" G" N" C" S" E" M" D" R" Y" S" U" I" T" F" O" C" I" P" E" S" M" U" P" S" K" T" R" H" V" V" D" H" T" Z" I" Y" Y" C" T" O" O" P" E" N" N" T" T" A" L" R" E" Y" R" Z" P" M" R" S" A" N" I" W" L" N" P" L" L" U" H" N" J" N" H" B" M" A" E" O" O" R" L" H" Y" O" N" E" A" R" M" S" R" V" E" R" E" A" W" V" I" T" G" K" O" T" S" A" M" S" S" T" G" I" T" T" X" O" C" U" C" H" L" I" N" D" N" C" Y" A" G" O" F" H" D" N" A" L" E" U" J" E" P" B" U" F" M" D" R" A" W" E" E" L" W" D" Fernando knows the importance of moving his weight back as winds increase BATTEN BURGEE COMMITTEE DRYSUIT ENTERPRISE GALLEY GOOSENECK HANDICAP HANGOVER LEEWARD LUFF MAST NOVICE PICO PORT REACH RNLI SHROUD TROPHY WINDMILL