Thorpe Bay Yacht Club - Newsbuoy 2 - Mar 2010

www.tbyc.org • Edition 2

A good start on getting up to speed is to take some time to read through the Sailing Programme, and note some of the events that interest you and while you’re there, please take a few moments to see the duties that have been allocated to you. If there are any you can’t make, then please get a duty swap What do we have to look forward to this season? posted on the website ASAP, and try phoning your Well, all sailing fun in the sun for a start. There’s the friends to see if they want to swap with you. usual race series (which have been re-branded this year as a thank you to the Gold slipway sponsors for Once organised, please let myself or Chris Boshier their generous contributions to the slipway fund), a know any changes - the earlier you can do this the new mini series running over some of the bank easier it is for us to keep track of who should be holidays, several trophy races for the pot hunters - where, when. and that’s just the beginning. The Gold slipway sponsors are Wetsuit Outlet, EITS, Sunripe, Flightline You may have noticed the Committee Boat has been looking rather forlorn of late. Well, thanks to and Hervé Engineering.

Paul Spratt, David Johnson and Barry Duce all is not Away from the racing, there’s the sail training, loads lost - with luck the grand old lady will soon be fit and of social functions, a “try a different dinghy” day, wonderful again, well done chaps!

Spring is here, the birds are singing, Barry’s finished polishing his boat and Albacore sailors have been sighted near the boat park!

fabulous sunny afternoons on the club balcony... in fact, there is so much, you will need to keep a sharp See you on the water. eye on the website and notice boards to keep up Chris Maloney with it all. chris.maloney@tiscali.co.uk

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Here’s to a great sailing season from the Slow Handicappers!

Among this fleet we now have six Mirrors and six Cadets – just like the old days! So come on Mirrors, let’s see you on the racecourse this year. We also have four Topaz dinghies, a GP14, a Miracle and a Tideway. I have tried to contact everyone via e-mail, so if you haven’t heard from me and you have a boat that would fit into this fleet, please let me know so that we Almost thirty years have gone since can we won the Cadet Worlds in Cesme, Izmir, Turkey in update 1980. Although many memories come to us from those days , which believe or not, the seem yesterday for us, time has help ed us to read a message totally different from the one we records. received on August 10, I am delighted to see the resurgence of the Cadet fleet which has been missing from Thorpe Bay for many years now. Thanks to Spratty introducing us to Ken and Ollie Herve, my son Alex started crewing in a cadet. Ollie and Alex went to the Worlds as part of the British Team which led to Alex being snapped up and crewing for the next two years, qualifying for the Worlds each time. Recently, with the help and support of many of you, Alex went to Argentina with the British team.

Since then the Cadet fever seems to have been revived at TBYC. George Warrington, Alex and Greg Watson and Finlay Cullender have taken part in the Winter and Icicle series and have enjoyed being part of the fantastic turnout that the club has enjoyed this year so far.

The cadet fleet are planning to fly the TBYC burgee at several events this year, and we have already booked to enter the nationals at Torquay with all 6 boats. We will also be holding a Cadet open meeting in July which will be the first time since I was sailing Cadets!

With the return of the “Cadet Buoy” and the new shorter courses that will be laid on for the slower handicap fleets, we will look forward to seeing more of this fleet on the water and enjoying some closer racing.

Finally, I wanted to let you all read a copy of a speech made at Cadet Worlds in Argentina by a previous Argentinean World Champion which was of inspiration to our team and I thought an excellent attitude and approach for our young sailors.

Howard Warrington

1980 when we crossed the finish line for the last time and we became World Champions.

Today´s message is complemented by other experienc es in life which helped to complete the picture, that we only had in little pieces at that time.

Looking backwards I would strongly encourage every one of you to dream and convince yourselve s you have the right to make those dreams come true.

With my crew Manuel, we convinced ourselves we could win the Worlds, although no Arge ntine had ever done it before, we were not the natural candidates and we had finished third in the Nationals that year but we trusted ourselves. But no dream can come true if you do not focus on it and act accordingly. I remembe r our coach, Alejandro Irigoyen, instructing us to go to sleep early at night, to go over and over our boat, to concentr ate on our job on the water and later on land.

Dreams do not come true magically . You have to work for them. Do not ever dream that you are going to get rid of mistakes. Thanks to mistakes you learn , so instead of getting mad at them or coming down on your crew, get the message and learn. Never give up, but accept reality. A disqualification may drive you away from the top, same as a capsize or a big breakage. It is part of the sport and you´ve got to accept it. Stories will not alwa ys have happy endings; that´s for Hollywood, not for sailing.

Do not put effort on trying to engr ave your name on a cup.

Better try to engrave it on peop le´s hearts. Be a good sportsman, a good sailor, a good friend. Remember it´s people who will be remembering you, not cups, so better go straight to them. You would rather be with a friend than with a winner, and that does not mea n your friends should be loser either!

Enjoy each step and make it a goal in itself without forgetting they are part of a greater way. Championships are short and the races are even shorter, so enjoy them all, not just the finish line.

Last but not least, think on sports as a school of life. Sport is life made simple so what you learn in sport will always help you in life.

Good luck to all of you and fair wind s!

Carlos Castrillo – World Champion 1980

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Welcome to the March social update. Next to sailing, this is one of the most exciting parts of the club!

Thank you to everyone who attended the Valentine’s Night dinner. Jo and her team did a fantastic job catering for over 90 people and making the club look beautiful! Also a big thank you to Karen Elmore for baking the delicious cupcakes and cookies for the night.

For those of you who missed out, there are plenty more events lined up for the year, but book early to avoid being disappointed.

After the success of the race preparation night last year we are hosting it again on March 11th. This is a great opportunity for all you keen and competitive sailors to swot up on race tactics, rules and various other things you need to know. The kitchen will be open from 6pm.

We need help from all the club’s wine buffs and drinkers; the time has come to re-vamp the wine list. On March 19th there will be a wine tasting evening. Tickets cost £10 per person, including buffet. There are only 100 tickets available so please book early! For anyone who gets particularly sloshed, there will be fines implemented – all in the name of charity. All fines will go to the RNLI. It’s not long until we have four full days of sailing during Easter weekend. Why not take advantage of the extra time off and come to the hog roast party on Saturday April 3rd. The hog roast will be available from 6pm and the chocolate fountain will be in full flow for dessert. The DJ will be providing the music to dance the night away to.

This is a great way to spend a Saturday night with friends and family.

This year, the Summer Ball is a little earlier than previous years and will coincide with the club’s anniversary. The date for your diaries is May 15th.

Tickets are priced at £35 per person and will go on sale at the wine tasting evening on March 19th.

Tickets are limited to 120 people.

For all ticket information and bookings please contact me on 07734 904824, or e-mail me.

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Kylie Jenkins kylievjenkins@googlemail.com

The Cruiser section winter social programme has been well supported. A big thank you all who made it happen, particularly John and Monica for their popular quiz night and Peter Mehner and friends for the fantastic Jive and Salsa night!

Colin and Judith Keeling introduced Chris Izod, who presented “Video Memories of Southend-on-Sea”, an evening full of nostalgia with footage of the old shops in the High Street, the seafront packed with daytrippers and the Kursaal in its heyday. We are sure to invite Chris again as we only saw a third of his show, much of which was in colour.

There is more to come on Tuesday evenings, so come on down and have a great time.

I would like to congratulate Chris Wright on the completion of his project, converting his Colvic motor boat Solium into a motor sailor. I have watched the development week by week.

First Chris made a scale model of his deck complete with mast and rigging, so he had worked out the exact spot to place the tabernacle, chain plates, deck gear and the winches. The mast went up, rigging tightend, forestay perfect, and the backstay changed from a bridle to single to give clear space for his fishing rods. A project that PBO Magazine would have been be proud to feature, but – scoop! - you read about it first in your club magazine. Well done Chris, I hope your labour of love is rewarded with many happy hours of sailing and fishing.

The lift in is on Sat 10th April.

It will be an early start, at 7am with a safety briefing at 7.15. The first lift will be 7.30am prompt, so

please be on time and have your boats rigged with plenty of fenders and long warps fore and aft .

We are going to lash fenders or tyres to the slipway for lift in day only. If you think the lifting strops will come into contact with your guard wires or rigging, these should be slackened off in order to prevent pressure damage to your boat’s fittings.

The crane hire company has agreed to peg its fees at 2009 prices for this year. This makes it very viable for the October lift out at Thorpe Bay. We need thirty-five boats to be lifted at £100 per lift. This compares very favourably with other boat yards in the area. The fees for 2011 are still to be negotiated.

The committee are still looking at other ways of lifting and transporting boats, safety being the priority.

The first Cruiser race of the season will be on Sat 24th April and will be from Thorpe Bay to Goodwin Sands, staying overnight in Ramsgate, up early for a sail back on Sun 25th.

The first Cruiser Rally is to Hoo from May 1st to May 3rd, which is the May Bank Holiday weekend, incorporating an optional visit to Rochester Sweeps Fair on Sunday 2nd.

Finally for now, the Spring Bank Holiday from Saturday 29th to Monday 31st May is the Annual Calais Rally.

Bob Crane bobgonsailing@blueyonder.co.uk

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There are again three series being run this year on the same format as 2009. The Spring series kicks off on Saturday 1st May at 12:45.

All Pico Series dates can be found in the main club programme, as well as on the club web site and on the lobby notice board.

For the past two years we have achieved an average turnout for the Pico series of 55%, and this year we are setting our sights slightly higher with a target of 60% from our 58 privately-owned Picos.

There will be a new perpetual trophy starting this year, known as “The Pico Midweek Trophy�. This new addition will take the results from any Pico entered in the Club Midweek points and the rules will be as per the Club event.

For 2010 we are looking for more of our experienced adults to team up with a cadet and race in Picos as crew in the short course Pico series. If you would like to become involved in this rewarding experience and are willing to pass on your racing knowledge to our younger members, then do let me know.

Sail Training

New Members To The Pico Fleet

As a reminder for those wishing to take part in the Barracuda group in Cadet Week, it is a requirement this year that everyone applying for Barracudas will need to have Stage 2.

A warm welcome to our new owners of John Williams and family and to Jo Farendon - our chef with sons Ben, Jack, and hubby Brian for joining the Pico Fleet.

Club Racing Do remember that you are welcome to enter any of the Club races. There is a full season of races available to everyone, so take advantage of our handicap and have a go. You may be surprised.

Wanting To Sell Or Buy a Pico?

To date we have 22 enrolled for the stage 2 training, commencing on Thursday 8th April. Details will be sent out in mid-March.

There are spaces remaining on the Stage 2 course, so if you wish to enrol then drop me an e-mail sooner rather than later.

Stage 2 Dates Thursday 8th April Saturday 10th April Sunday 11th April Saturday 17th April Saturday 24th April

19.00 Brief in Sail Training Room 13.00 Shore Based (cruiser lift in) 09.30 12.00 08.00

If you are looking to buy or sell a Pico, give me a call and I will put you in direct contact with the sellers or buyers.

The Club owns three Picos and six Oppies, and these are for the use of club members.

Mike Thomason mikethomason@btconnect.com

After use, club boats must be washed down and stowed away neatly with covers correctly fitted. Please report any damage, however small, to either Mike Thomason or to a member of the Sailing Committee so that repairs can be carried out to keep the club boats in good sailing condition.

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Welcome once again to the most least interesting section of the club newsletter!

By the time this edition is delivered to you we will be past the 1 March cut-off date to get your subscriptions paid, so there is little point including a reminder to get those cheques in.

What I can say at this stage is that subscription income has been “OK” so far, but like all treasurers I would prefer to see everyone pay in full during the first two weeks of January. That way we could keep the amount of administration for the rest of the year very simple and would have the full amount of subscription income straight away to keep the club running. I will be able to give a little more colour on membership renewals in the next issue.

ales. Additionally having called in our customer services representative from BOC, the level of wastage on the lagers has also been significantly reduced. The savings from these two very simple and sensible actions can almost immediately offset the level of cost of the new cellar equipment and means a positive result for the bar surplus at the end of the year.

December was a good month in the club and I view this as an indication that TBYC can buck the trend and perform strongly this year. We have a great team working hard to provide the sailing calendar for this year and social events in the club for when we cannot be afloat all of which are revenue generators for our club.

We are a nonprofitmaking organisation so the surplus that we report at the end of I am sure you each have a view on the year is put back into the running where our economy may be headed of our yacht club in the pursuit of One of the key points debated at this year; personally I believe we keeping us sailing. So on that length during the AGM in have a way to go before we see a positive note, please join those of us November was the level of wastage significant recovery. Last year was a already using the club more in the bar and the cost associated tough year for the club with income regularly this year and take with it. in general down significantly advantage of the superb catering compared with previous years. that Jo and the team from I am pleased to report that under However, while the economy may Aforderble are providing for us.

Martin Swindon’s leadership as bar still be feeling sluggish the early part secretary we have made some of our financial year has shown a Paul Clarke modest expenditure in the cellar to modest improvement over the last paul.clarke@blackrock.com significantly reduce what was the year. biggest contributor, from the real

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Sunny Days, Happy Days How fantastic the first two days of March have been. Luckily, I get to write my article last and have been able to include this magical change to our seemingly endless winter weather pattern. Sunshine and warmth have to be the best remedy for us all. The biggest trick is to take a few moments away from our schedules to appreciate it.

My first three months as Commodore have been astonishingly timeconsuming, trying to fully understand our club’s position and forge a way forward with the outstanding issues relating to the bar account, changing room refurbishment and slipway build project.

On top of the known issues, we have uncovered many unknown ones, which has been extremely disappointing and frustrating to deal with. We are moving forward on all these issues positively and I look forward to reporting successful conclusions.

Your current Committee take their legal responsibilty as an employer very seriously. Following an investigation, a decision has been taken to terminate the employment of the Secretary. The flag officers do not intend making any further comments in respect of the matter.

So where is the reward? Well, the reward for me is the knowledge that our club has plugged many leaks and can stand on firmer footing for the future. The greater reward is that the team I get to work with on the Committee - all volunteers and all in full time employment, all acting on your behalf with the best interests of TBYC at heart, all with an inspiring work ethic and all with little self-interest other than ensuring TBYC is a great place for us all to use.

Their own reward is in the support they have been getting from the members on their subcommittees and work parties. We are a big club and their is a place for everyone to be part of the volunteer army!

Special thanks to Vice Commodore Nick Elmore, treasurer Paul Clarke and trustees Ken Clarke and Alan Willis for going that extra mile for our club over the past few months.

Keep smiling. I’ll see you for the first race of the season.

Peter Thompson peter@wetsuitoutlet.co.uk

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Hire the Main Bar for just £75 or the Commodore's Bar for just £50! (per afternoon or evening session) The Sail Training Room can be hired for just £30 per day or evening session.

All subject to availability

In the short period since the last newsletter we have made some changes to the bar and catering sections.

After our first full Committee Meeting I am pleased to announce that we have asked Martin Swindon to join the Committee as Bar Secretary. Martin will now be overseeing the bar and its running. Martin has years of experience in the pub business and brings a whole wealth of knowledge to TBYC on how we can improve our service to members and improve our efficiency and diversification of products. I would like to thank Martin for agreeing to give his time in this way for the benefit of TBYC. We now have a new line up of lagers and ales, and although the changes have only just taken place I have had very good feedback from members. It is important to remember that as a members club it is important for us on the Committee to have feedback. We have now changed our brewery, and the products they can offer better suit our needs. I would like your views on the bar and any suggestions you may have in this area.

We welcome the return of guest beers.

We have started with Crouch Vale Brewers Gold and will continue to vary this beer as the season continues. Again if you have a particular favourite then please let us know.

We have a wine tasting on March 19th for members to attend and help chose our new wine list for the 2010 season. We have had a very good response to ticket sales from all sections of the club - which will hopefully give us a cross section of members to determine the wines we will offer from then on.

During January and February we have enjoyed a good increase in the hire of the bars and meeting rooms to members for private parties and meetings. I was

surprised to receive a great number of requests following the last newsletter when we published prices for the rooms.

The membership as a whole will benefit from the club being used at quiet periods in this way as it keeps our bars and catering sections busy. We have already benefitted from new member applications as a result of being invited to parties or invited as guests of current members to use our club. The lunchtime period has been busy over the past weeks as members and their guests enjoy the atmosphere and good food served at this time. It is great to see the club keeping busy during out of sailing season times as well as our usual weekend activity.

In the kitchen Jo of AfFordable Catering has now a new menu for 2010, drawing on her experience of the first year at TBYC to promote the food we all enjoy.

Jo is committed to TBYC and as such we have seen an overall increase in this section. There have been some very wellattended Friday night dining sessions as well as members having food at their parties and events. Jo is doing a Gourmet Friday night on the last Friday of each month and this will be promoted on the website and the notice boards and we welcome all members including Lunchtime members to these events. My thanks have to go to Jo and her staff for their service and commitment to TBYC. As with all things in life we all have different views and I would like to have yours. The club is flexible in what it offers members and if anyone has any views on how it could improve or change for the better I would love to hear from you so that we may all get the maximum enjoyment at the club.

I would like to wish all members good sailing for the coming season and look forward to seeing you all at the TBYC bar.

Nick Elmore nick@elmoregroup.co.uk

Jo of AfForderble Catering can take bookings on 07500 878249. The Club can be contacted on 01702 587563.

I can be contacted on 07702 299555.

BAR AND KITCHEN OPENING TIMES 2010 Monday - closed all day except for Bank Holidays which will be Sunday hours Tuesday/Wednesday Bar 11am-3pm / 7pm-11pm Kitchen open 11:30am - 2.30pm Thursday Bar 11am-3pm / 6pm-11pm Kitchen open 11:30am - 2.30pm and 6pm-8pm Friday Bar 11am-3pm / 5pm-11pm Kitchen open 11:30am - 2.30pm and 7pm-9pm Saturday Bar 11am-11pm Kitchen open 11am-3pm Sunday Bar 11am-7pm (9pm in Summer) Kitchen open 11am - 2:30pm Kitchen opening times will be extended during the sailing season to encompass sailing times.

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Where do I start with such a diverse fleet such as this? So many talented sailors with so many wonderful achievements in 2009 and so many possibilities in 2010. I know one thing for sure, and that is that 2010 is guaranteed to bring more triumphs and trophies for many members of this thriving group of boats.

Following on from Cannes, Allen’s next big event will see him travelling over to Split in Croatia for the Finn World Masters, which is happening in mid May. He’ll be looking to better his placing from 2009 in which he finished an amazing 7th out of a massive fleet of 260 boats. Then in July it’s over to Pwllheli in Wales for the Finn Nationals.

was under enormous stress, as it wasn’t clear whether his boat would make it to the event in time, as the GB boats had been held up some 3,000 miles away in a container park by Malaysian Customs. You can imagine how delighted Chris was when the boats made it just in time for pre-racing practice and the main event, which saw Chris finishing an amazing 20th out of 60 boats.

Allen is definitely one to watch Well done Chris - a great result for some amazing results in and not a bad tan either!

2010, so watch this space. By the time this magazine comes out, Chris has a new Contender on we should already know how order, which he is hoping to well he did in the French receive in time to get some Regatta, so I’ll update you all in practise in before heading off the next issue. Wishing you all to La Rochelle to take part in the best, Allen, for 2010. the European Championships happening in July. As well as Another Mono Hull sailor who doing the club racing, Chris will has enjoyed great success in be spending many weekends 2009 is Chris Boshier (below) in travelling around the country his Contender. 2009 saw Chris taking part in his very busy travel down under to Australia traveller’s series. We wish you to take part in the 40th all the best.

As I’m writing this Allen Burrell Contender Worlds. Before the (above) is currently packing his racing had even started Chris bags and his new mast ready to travel to Cannes, throwing himself straight into stiff competition so early on in the year to take part in the 4 day French Regatta in his Finn.

Racing starts Tuesday 16th Feb with a 75 strong pre-booked fleet, with more possible entries to follow.

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Now onto one of TBYC younger talented sailors, Dan Henderson, who had a wonderful 2009. His greatest achievement from last year was becoming the European Youth Champion in the Musto Skiff. What an immense result for Dan and a wonderful advert for TBYC. A big well done to Dan. At just half the age of the above mentioned talents, Dan’s definitely one to watch.

solos in their winter series. I just hope he doesn’t leave me too far behind, because if I go any slower I might have to think about joining the Sandhopper fleet!

Moving on, the double handers. Kevin Iles in his National 12 with his crew Jane Wade have a busy 2010 planned. Last year they had a great result in the Nationals held here at TBYC, finishing an excellent fourth out of 80 Dan is currently off at university boats matching their fourth in his first year at Portsmouth from 2008. I’m seeing a pattern studying water sports science. emerge, but I’m sure Kevin will Amongst all of the partying be gunning for that top result (sorry, I mean studying) Dan is this year. also a member of the university sailing team. The team race In mid-March Kevin is Fireflies, and are currently expecting delivery of his new sponsored by Red Bull. The boat, designed by “Dead Cat team do a lot of travelling Bounce” which won last year’s around the country to such nationals. I’m sure this new places as Oxford, Draycote, boat will help him to that top Birmingham and Reading. spot at this year’s Nationals taking place at Weymouth on Dan will also be doing some May Bank Holiday. Kevin will travelling of his own with his also be taking part in a busy Musto skiff. He’s got a busy eight-event traveller’s series traveller’s series this year and sponsored by Gill, in which has the Nationals at Hayling Kevin is planning to do Island in August. We wish you between four and six of these and the Uni team good luck for events. Wishing you guys a 2010. great year.

The start of the spring series will see the return of one of my Now just for a short note on Solos, Trevor Smith, whom I’ve possibly the fastest thing out just about forgiven for on the water at TBYC, well abandoning TBYC (and me) definitely the hardest looking over the winter to - dare I say it boat to sail, the Moths.

- join another sailing club, Fishers Green. But all joking Two of the four Moth fleet, aside, this was a wonderful David Hopper and Mark Smith opportunity for Trevor to have new boats for 2010 and will racing against their large fleet be looking to give Danny Clark of 23 Solos. and Mark Dell a run for their money. The new Moths are I’m not afraid to say it; I’m quite planned to be launched in Feb. worried about Trevor’s return Rather them than me for a water and how good he has got with start in this ice-cold winter water! all the knowledge and tips his Hope you guys get to grips with gained from his time away. He your new boats and I wish all four came a superb second out of 23 of them a good year’s sailing.

Well, as you can see there’s quite a lot happening with the Mono Hulls this year and I’ll be keeping you all up to date with their results, achievements and fourth coming events.

It’s just left for me to wish all the Mono Hull sailors a wonderful 2010, whether you’re sailing at TBYC, travelling the country... or travelling the world!

Sam Husk (Solo 4057) shusk@musto.co.uk

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Firstly this time, I would like to thank Max Duce, who has very kindly agreed to be the Cadet Liaison to the Cadet Committee.

Max is ideally placed at the centre of the Cadet age range to relate to both the older and younger Cadets and, as he is in Year 8, he is not yet burdened by the onset of exams. Please let him have any suggestions to bring to the Cadet Committee when it next meets in April/May. I hope you are all looking forward now to the new season – warmer weather and boats out on the water. You will have all seen the extensive Cadet sailing opportunities available this year with Cadet Sailing every Saturday when the Pico Series Races are not on. Seasafe 7 will be available as your safety boat cover – please make sure the SS7 helm/crew know that you are going afloat. We hope to have Beach Club helpers to assist our new or more inexperienced members rig the Oppies and Picos, and give advice and encouragement where needed.

seeing you all at the Club on Thursday evenings. Cadet Night is weekly from 1st April, so come and see your friends and join in the fun.

Cadet Week 2010 will be held from Monday 26th July to Friday 30th July. There will be three groups this year: Stingrays for the absolute beginners, where the emphasis will be on fun and water confidence, although many Stingrays should achieve a Level One certificate by the end of the week; Barracudas (helms and crews must have level 2) for the intermediate sailors; and Racing Sharks for regular “racers” and/or more experienced cadet sailors.

All ages and abilities are catered for from absolute beginners to our National Champions! Daily sailing activities build on confidence and experience and evening activities are the perfect opportunity to make new friends.

I will be sending out letters to all cadets in March/April inviting them to take part and looking to the Cadet parents to volunteer for their duties. Please remember that parents are responsible for their children at all times and should not leave them at the Club unattended.

Susan Hadley susanhadley@btinternet.com

There are lots of opportunities this year for Thursday evening cadet sailing. A list of dates and times has been posted on the website and lobby notice board.

The Cadet Race Diary is also posted on the web site and can be printed off as a single page for pinning to your noticeboard at home.

Now that evenings are getting lighter, I look forward to

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Well, the Spring’s definitely here now and with it the start of yet comes another great sailing season at Thorpe Bay. You’ll notice from the programme that there are a few changes.

We’ve decided to incorporate some mini series over the Bank Holiday weekends, which will mean two races a day followed, as with any club day, by a good drink and a meal in the bar afterwards for a blow-by-blow discussion of the day’s events with your fellow clubmates.

Another change that we’re implementing is to the classes and starting, and I urge you all, whether you came to the race training night in March or not, to have a read of the resources on the website to ensure you know the starting sequences, times and flags for the classes.

What we’ve

done in essence is to create more courses for more classes without adding any more starts, which hopefully will give everyone more enjoyment to their sailing by giving them courses better suited to their class or style of boat. To aid this, we’ve brought back the old cadet mark to offer more choice of shorter courses for some of the classes.

Another change is that we’ve appointed Tony Padbury as the results officer, which is a great weight off my shoulders and should mean much more timely results when I’m not around, which is great news for everyone! Thanks again, Tony, for taking on this position.

As you’ll have noticed, the committee boat has also been put back together thanks mainly to Paul Spratt, David Johnson and Barry Duce who’ve done a great job. So that all their effort doesn’t go to waste, I urge you if you have a race officer duty, to use her and take the old girl off her mooring

whenever possible for club racing so we can get the most out of this great club asset.

That’s about it for me. I’ve probably bored you all silly with tales of Oz by the time you read this, but suffice it to say that it was far too hot and the sea conditions were pretty much the same, so to save yourself a bundle of money you really should make the most of great conditions we get at Thorpe Bay and the excellent resources we have and the club and enjoy our more clement weather in the process! Same conditions, just hotter!

See you on the water, and if you’ve got any questions or concerns regarding the sailing or races, don’t hesitate to contact either myself, Chris M or your class representative.

Happy sailing.

Chris Boshier cboshier@aol.com

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ALBACORES WIN 2010 BATTLE OF THE CLASSES TEAM TROPHY The Albacore class won the team trophy at this year’s “Battle Of The Classes” race at The London Boat Show. This is a pursuit race which takes place in the Royal Victoria Dock, right outside the Excel Centre.

Two boats from each class are invited to compete in this showpiece event organized by British Sailing for dinghies and catamarans, 51 boats finished the course, the leading Albacore finished second, just in front of Allen Burrell in his Finn, the second Alb finishing ninth.

The Albs at TBYC are starting to wake up from their winter hibernation and thinking about getting themselves ready for the season just around the corner.

We look forward to seeing you on the water.

DINGHY PARK UPDATE Mike Thomason

The layout this year will incorporate some minor changes to ensure we can maximise every scrap of space. The gaps between boats will in some cases be slightly less to allow us to squeeze more in.

All classes are now grouped together to provide easier access.

The provisional dinghy park plan is on the noticeboard in the lobby. At present we have 249 spaces for dinghies and catamarans, with 239 currently allocated. We will accommodate all requests for space and it would be very helpful if you could let me know as soon as possible if there are any known changes with your storage requirement for this year.

Saturday 27th March to make room for the Easter series, the cruisers have planned to launch a week after Easter on Saturday 10th April.

For those who already have boats in the dinghy park from the Icicle series, we ask that where possible you relocate your boats to your allocated spaces as soon as the Sandhoppers have lifted in.

If you plan to return to the dinghy park for the Easter racing could you please locate either in your allocated space or in any spare slots until the cruisers are lifted back in.

MY TRIP TO ARGENTINA

by Alex Warrington (age 12) I had a wonderful two and a half weeks in Buenos Aires sailing a Cadet class racing dinghy as a crew for Jessica Quinlan from Burnhamon-Crouch over the Christmas holidays as part of the British Cadet Team. We had spent the year competing in the UK for the selection series, which is the decider for the top seven boats who will go through to represent Great Britain in the World Championships, which this year was held in Argentina.

To provide assistance in identifying boats, each trolley will have a white trolley tag attached. If you currently do not have a trolley tag, please write your name and sail number on your cover.

The sailing over there was in the hardest conditions that we as a team have ever experienced. The sailing area was shallow and the waves were sometimes choppy and high, together with frequent wind changes and a strange tidal pattern, it really was difficult to maintain boat speed.

The first club race of the new season is the Spencer Cup on Good Friday, 2nd April.

While the Sandhoppers will be lifted in on

Jess and I unfortunately had a bad first day as we could not get our boat moving as quickly as possible. We realised that we needed to be more prepared and we had a long talk that

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evening about how we were going to be better. This helped us a lot, as the next day we came 6th. We then put in some good results in the next two days and were laying 18th overall.

Sadly things did not go our way and we had a black flag and it meant that we had to count a last place position in our overall score.

By the end of the regatta we finished in 26th place, not where we wanted to be but we are still very pleased with some of the results we did get. I was very proud to be able to represent my country at such a great event and the skills that we learned sailing in these tough conditions will help Jess and I in our future sailing careers.

The British Team was the highest placed team in the overall points and a British pair was second overall and another was fourth. Thank you very much to everyone who helped raise funds to get me go to Argentina to be part of the British Cadet Sailing Team.

Alex Warrington

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Bob Crane

Fri 19th March Wine tasting 7.30 £10 per person book early.

Sat 20th March Mooring day. If you need a root dug, contact Peter Mehner well in advance.

Sat 10th April Cruiser Lift in.

Sat 17th April Lift in Supper

If you would rather receive your magazine by e-mail in order to help save paper, please email secretary@tbyc.org in order to be added to the list.

You may have noticed the serious amount of attention the Sandhopper teams have been paying to their bottoms lately!

Even Len’sis smoother than a cashmere coat; Sundancer has had her bottom completely ground off, refilled, ground off and filled again! Someone bought Chas a new industrial sander and he loves it! You can hire him at a small cost - there’s hours of pent-up grinding left in him.

The care and dedication to having the smoothest wrinkle-free bottom is something even the biggest Botox aficionado could only dream of. All said and done, the fleet is looking absolutely pristine, new floors, new paint, shiny hulls, new sails and of course the same old jokes and banter flying around the boat park.

New boy Gary Plant has already joined the regular band of early morning fiddlers and has put some sterling effort into Sandspirit which looks brand new, bets are that he is also a good sailor who is pot hunting. Tony Padbury once again put on a tremendous quiz night which was a sellout, the ‘youngs’ were taught a lesson by the ‘olds’ on who is the brightest group of the fleet. Either that, or they had insider knowledge!

The first race of the season will be Good Friday, however I’m sure the familiar sight of blue sails will be up and away the morning after lift in. The nationals are in September,

and the weather has been booked for a sunny force 4 weekend with a warm balmy evening thrown in to accompany the nationals dinner, which will see the overnight winner plied with alcohol to aid the Sunday racing. Once again, tenders are being invited to sponsor this prestigious event. If you would like your business to be part of the event of the year, please direct your enquires to the Sandhopper captain.

Len, with his new smooth bottom, is arranging some midweek cruises for the fleet for those whose time is their own, or for us who can crank the odd day off. They will involve some great destinations along with amazing informative tours by Pat of the best pubs along the coast. Keep an eye on the website for details or on the webcam to see them stagger back from a great day out.

This year we will also be swapping boats and competing with the squib fleet from the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. This is something we are looking to host at both clubs and make an annual event. It will be interesting to see if ‘they’ can come here and teach us a thing or two and vice versa.

A new Sandhopper, 161, will be here in April.

There are three more boats in the planning stage which we hope to see with us in the summer. You can purchase a new boat in various stages, and they are fantastic value for money, with the demand for second hand boats outstripping supply tenfold. A new boat is a quicker way of joining the fleet and getting involved in the very competitive

race scene, as well as allowing you to sail with family and friends of all levels of ability in safety and comfort whilst also being welcomed into the inner sanctum of fabulous social events.

Again, this year we will be racing during part of Cadet Week with the cadets using our boats for some big boat experience. This was so popular and so much fun that I hope at least half of the fleet will take part again and give the children the opportunity to enjoy what we have every weekend. To pledge your support please see Rupert Snow. If you don’t know him, he is the one usually keeping guard at the rear of the fleet.

A great event to witness is Sandhopper lift in.

Come along on the 27th March and see 34 boats get launched in under two hours! It is fantastic to watch. You could sit on the balcony with a nice glass of wine from the new range to toast the day and the start to a great summer of long sunny fun weekends.

If you’re looking for total inspiration, look no further than in the boat park and on the water every weekend. Practising, practising, practising are Miles and Mason Burrage, who deserve to win many trophies this coming season.

Cheers!

Barry Duce barryduce@yahoo.co.uk

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Become a qualified Support Boat Helm!

Mums and Dads! Are you facing sitting on the beach this summer, while your kids are out sailing? Wish you could be out there too?

Then why don’t you make yourself known to me or any one of the Sailing Committee and tell us that you want to be more active within the Club? After all, the more you put in, the more you get out. We can teach you how to run both types of Support Boat that the Club has, and then you can confidently get out on the water too.

I have been a member for many years, maintaining and running the Club’s Support Boats and getting much pleasure from being part of the action. Without the Support Boats, the club does not go sailing; they are a vital ingredient to a successful season’s sailing.

The Club is an RYA Registered Powerboat Training Centre. Our Principal is Ken Clarke, ably assisted by myself and Toby Speller. Training is mainly carried out during the winter months with a shore-based evening’s theory followed by a practical hands on tutorial afloat. This leads to an RYA Level 2 Powerboat Certificate, which many members - both male and female - now have. You will learn what to check before engine start, how to helm and crew the boats and what to look out for during the club’s sailing.

We are very fortunate to have four support boats. Seasafe 2 (White) and Seasafe 3 (Blue) are 21ft. semi-displacement launches with 80hp engines; they are nearly forty years old but serve the club very well in the many roles that they are used for, which in the past has included, in one instance, fireboat!

Our other two boats are RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boat) Seasafe 5 (Big Rib) and Seasafe 7 (Baby Rib). Both are outboard powered and can reach speeds of 25 knots. They are initially fast-response but, together with 2 and 3 help to keep our sailing safe. All four boats are equipped with radio, tow warps, first aid boxes etc.

The Club operates a rota system to man the boats during sailing to ensure that all four boats are operational for safety cover, but it is totally dependant on members turning up for their duty. It would be an ideal situation to have a few good people to man these boats regularly.

If you are interested in finding out more then please contact me on 294856.

Oh, and by the way, let me introduce myself, I’m Tony “Twoflags” Clarke (don’t ask!). I am always around the Club at weekends as the Club, according to my long-suffering wife, is my second home!

TBYC’S Newsletter is Twoflags tony.clarke@ctcplc.com maplinclarkes@aol.com

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