Spring Pursuit 2

The weather was pretty grim for the second race in the Spring Series.
 
With the amount of rain we have had recently, and more forecast over the next few days, watch this space to see if racing can go ahead this weekend.

Safety Boat Training Course

 

 
Last Saturday saw 9 people, all with Power Boat Level 2, doing a safety boat training course, with Ken, Brian and Richard.  Despite the bitter cold and driving rain, Elaine, Tracey, Michael, Dave P x 2, and Dene, took to the water promptly at 0930, under the guidance of Brian, watched by Richard from the RYA. The aim of the day was to enable everyone to rescue capsized boats and their occupants.
 
Much to everyone’s delight there was a ‘catering service’ in the form of Monica just returned from her winter sojourn in South Africa, with some excellent photos! Hot, fresh coffees at the morning break, followed by soup and rolls during the lunch break.
 
Picos were used – retrieval, towing, and man overboard were all practiced – with Ken, Dave, Elaine and Tracey volunteering to get wet……..poor Tracey’s zip was not quite closed, so she felt the real cold water, while Elaine with her many layers stayed dry! She looked like Houdini in the lunch break trying to extricate herself from all her layers!!
 
The day included some short indoor class room sessions and the RYA guy was pleased with our instructors and complemented Brian, who led the day. Everyone said they had learned a lot, and were amazed at how quickly they had become rusty.  All intended to get as much practice as possible to improve their skills.
 
The trainees departed very promptly as there was no hot water for the showers….!!!
 
 

Spring Pursuit 1 – Racing Report

The S.O.O.D. and the O.O. D. S assembled at 9 o’clock to organise the race. The forecast was very cold wind. Is this really the start of the Spring Series?

Anyway 10 boats sailed down to Tectona. There were only 4 classes of boat today Laser, Laser Radial, Supanova and 505. The course looked on paper to be a very fast one with a lot of planing by the lasers, unfortunately this wasn’t the case. The wind changed direction slightly and the leg sailing down the lake was more of a run. Dave I, was heard to say it was more like a death roll as he disappeared in to the drink. Tried hard as Dave did, he wasn’t able to continue the race!

The leg from 3 to 2 was the most challenging as the wind again kept on switching, a lot of sailors capsizing to windward or slamming into irons and finding it a handful trying to get out of it. David C would have to admit to this happening to him.

Rowland hasn’t been at the club for some time but he sailed away into the distance showing the rest of us how to sail. Nice to see you back Rowland.

The last piece of calamity was explained by Steve and Lynne. It is very important to put the bungs in your boat before the race. The end result of this mistake was hearing Steve had his main sheet trapped and whilst trying to climb in his boat, the boat decided to take off leave Steve water skiing behind!

The results are 1 st . Rowland. 2 nd . David. 3rd . Ian

Many thanks to the S.O.O.D. and his team for organising the race in very cold conditions.

Calling all Pink Fleeters…

  after weeks of flooding the lake and clubhouse are accessible once more!

 

Come down on Saturday and use the opportunity to check over your boat, clean out the mud etc.

 

Who knows, we may even get to sail!

Work Party

Thanks to those who
turned out and helped clean up
the slipways
fill a skip
empty the old shed ready for demolition
and get the jetty back in place

your efforts are highly valued

for those who chose to miss this one
there is loads
scheduled for next month

(and we’ll be keeping a register
of who attends)

Frostbite 17th Feb Cancelled

Really sorry but the Frostbite race tomorrow has been cancelled and will not go ahead as the access road to the club is still flooded to a depth of circa 60+ cm and  emergency vehicle access is impossible.
 
We do apologise for the frustration caused.

The committee

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