Our next dinghy sailing course is on the Saturdays of 23rd and 30th of April
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RYA Level 2 for Adults
RYA Stage 2/3 for Youth trainees
To book on this course you must already have completed Adults Level 1 or Youth Stage 1
For further details see the website training pages.
To book contact training@rsc.org.uk
Open to all members. New members welcome.
Our next dinghy sailing course is on the Saturdays of 23rd and 30th of April
l
RYA Level 2 for Adults
RYA Stage 2/3 for Youth trainees
To book on this course you must already have completed Adults Level 1 or Youth Stage 1
For further details see the website training pages.
To book contact training@rsc.org.uk
Open to all members. New members welcome.
This Saturday is a work party so please come down and and help get the club ready for the new season.
Please sign in so that your hard work can be recorded.
Tasks are :
Clean/hose down jetty
Rake weed from slipways
Tidy red shed
Clean rescue boats and stow equipment
Check club boat trolley wheels are inflated/serviceable
Tidy race start equipment
Check pontoons moored at island are secure and not colliding with anything
Clear launch area to the left of plastic pontoon
Fill/smooth out wheel ruts on grassed area near red shed and adjacent boat park area
Use remaining scalpings to fill potholes in carpark and boat park access road. Make holes squarish before filling and tamping down
Hopefully Saturday will see the floating of the new race hut before it is transferred to the Island. This maybe anything from a great spectacle to a total embarrassment for the designer!
I hope everyone has received their reminders to renew their membership. If you have not received an email please email Sylvia via membership@readingsc.org.uk
To receive a £10 concession for renewal please renew before 1st April.
Faced with challenges of heavy weather weekend, five intrepid beginners nonetheless arrived on Friday to perfect learning conditions – 8mph with clear blue skies. Saturday was forecast to be less attractive so we set about a day of intensive sailing to cover the practical syllabus in one day. After a solid 6 hours sailing in an 8 hour day all students were tacking, gybing and sailing a rectangular course – unheard of so quickly!
Saturday saw everyone out in 20mph winds, with some unpredictable guts. What stars! Capsize drills were perfected during the first few minutes, as were crash gybes and untangling buoy anchor chains from rudders.
Theory in the afternoon left us with five excellent sailors, all keen to progress and join in club sailing.
Star of the w/e had to be Gareth who insisted on going out on Saturday afternoon in white horses and heavy gusts. That certainly won the hero of the day award.
All will be coming back for more at one of the spring level 2 courses. Why not join them?
Philip Markham
With a NE wind about 10 mph, Dave L used a Tektona start with a first beat to 5P, then 4P, 9S, 3P, 2P and back through the start. There were 17 starters and it was good to see Roland S back on the water after his recent illness.Early starter Chris H was first back through the line with Mick G (Otter) 2nd, Peter S (Byte) 3rd and fastest of the late starters Paul R (Aero) in 4th. Mike A (Lightning) was 5th but Ellen & Newton (RS200) were rapidly catching him. Peter R (Enterprise) was going steadily in 7th place with the first of the Lasers, Jon in 8th. Hadey (4.7) was 9th but under pressure from Roland & Ryan (National 12) who were just ahead of Steve S in the second of the Lasers. Dave I (Radial) was next through and he was about to be passed by David C (Laser) and then there were the late starters, Ian C (Supernova), Adrian (Rooster) and Dean & Nick (Vago)Sally (Byte) had started, but decided to retire somewhere on the first lap.At the gun Paul R took the victory with Chris H 2nd, Roland & Ryan 3rd, Ellen & Newton 4th, Jon 5th and Peter R 6th.Spring Handicap 2 – March 20thSally, Dave I, Mick G and Dean & Nick decided not to contest the second race, but Mike T (Laser) joined the fray, so there were 14 starters.Paul R continued his good form of the first race coming through in 1st at the end of the first lap. Newton & Ellen 2nd were some way back with David C 3rd, Jon 4th, Steve S 5th only just ahead of Ian C in 6th place. Adrian in 7th place was closely followed by Roland & Ryan. Then there was a gap back to Peter S, Chris H and Peter R who were having a good scrap and brining up the rear of the fleet were Mike A, Hadey and Mike T.At the end of the second lap Paul still led, but David C had moved up to 2nd and Ian up to 3rd pushing Newon & Ellen down to 4th. Adrian and Roland & Ryan moved up a place at the expense of Jon. Further back Peter R had moved up two places to 9th and Mike T had managed to get past Hadey.Paul crossed the line in 1st place with Ian getting past David to take 2nd. Newton & Ellen were still 4th but Adrian and Roland & Ryan had passed Steve S to take 5th and 6th respectively.The final positions on the water were –1st Paul R; 2nd Ian C; 3rd David C; 4th Newton & Ellen; 5th Adrain; 6th Roland & Ryan.On Handicap there will be some slight shuffling of the pack with 1st Paul; 2nd David C; I 3rd Ian; 4th Newton & Ellen; 5th Chris H; 6th Steve S.Thanks to Dave L and his OOD Team of Paul W, John H, Paul R and Simon R..
Two teams of Reading Sailors took part in the National Schools Sailing Association Team Racing Event on Saturday up in Oxford Farmoor reservoir. Team A consisted of William and Joe as helms, with Edward and Ben as their respective crews. Team B consisted of the older hands Hadey and Hugh as helms with Rhys and Katie as crews. The event was in Fireflies with 21 teams in total taking part, with teams from as far a part as Cumbria, Derbyshire and Worcestershire.Weather was fairly dull and grey, although the sun did make one appearance, and the wind was a fresh 10-14 mph Northerly wind, so perfect for this type of racing – if a little cold.The competition was tough in this event, particularly for the younger members of the Reading squad with this being their first time in Fireflies and their first sailing event of the season. Team B started well winning 3 out of their first 4 races, with Hadey and Hugh displaying some good tactics and nabbing at least one race back from the brink, right at the line. However, as they progressed up the league they came into contact with increasingly better teams and their winning streak came to an end winning one out of their last 4 races to finish 13th overall. For Team A, it was tough going from the get go, and despite some tough challenges and close results they couldn’t manage to bag a race at the end of the day. They had some consolation, in that overall they managed to beat at least one team on points and so finished 20th out of 21.In the capsize stakes, Hugh, William and Joe all managed to sneak one in, with Hadey managing to avoid getting wet. A result that her crew Katie was pleased with.All in all everyone enjoyed themselves and team spirit and camaraderie was good. Below are a selection of photos.The SquadTeam ATeam B in actionJames Primrose
