News

November Newsletter 2015

The end of the season is fast approaching. We have our annual Prizegiving and Dinner on Friday 27th November 2015. All members should have received an email about this and all meal orders and payments must be made by 18th November to secure your place.

Unfortunately in October/November we had a couple of Sunday’s where racing was abandoned because of lack of wind! The reflections on the water were very picturesque and photo worthy as the lake was like glass! This is most unusual as October is often a very good month for sailing at Shearwater, with good winds. We have 3 sailing Sunday’s left so make the most of it, knock the cobwebs off your boat and take to the water. The last of these 3 will be the last Thrash,on Sunday 29th November, after which there will be mince pies and something fortifying in the clubhouse! Then all that is left to do is organise Winter storage for your boat, as all boats must be removed from the boat park by December 31st at the latest.

Thanks must go to all committee members who work hard to see that everything is in place for the club to continue. There have been several days with no members volunteering for duties at this end of the season. We are all set for the next 3 weeks but please remember that you need to do a duty as part of your commitment to Shearwater Sailing Club. It is quite good fun in the start box and you can learn a lot about what to do (and what not to do) by watching other sailors! So if you didn’t do a duty this year, next year’s draft programme will be in the clubhouse from the Last Thrash and at the AGM. Those duties not signed for will be allocated to members.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at the Dinner and later at the AGM
I leave you with a photo from Yachts and Yachting of one of our members and a past commodore sailing in the Bosham Classic Event in a Hornet.image
Lois

Gilmer Trophy – Shearwater Sailing Club and Bristol Avon Sailing Club

imageEvery two years SSC and BASC go head to head for the Gilmer Trophy which commemorates the twinning of the cities of Bath and Alkmaar in Holland. Whilst Alkmaar no longer travel the event marks the gratitude of the people of Alkmaar for the help that they received from Bath following World War 2.
Some have referred to this as an event where the first leg is sailed on a pond with the next round sailed on a ditch ! That said the competition is no less serious and with twenty boats on the water each venue was pretty busy.
Shearwater took full advantage of being at home for the first leg and over the three races pulled out a big lead. The Dayboat of Geoff Pell and Sandy Lavelles Albacore proved particularly strong on the day. It was also good to see both clubs fielding a number of juniors.
The return leg at Bristol Avon on the river is always interesting for those who have not sailed there before. Narrow Boats, shallows and Paddle Boards coupled with a fitful breeze were bound to provide an interesting day.
The Rooster 8.1s stormed away in the first race however a change in the breeze brought the slower boats into contention with the Lightnings of BASC showing how good they are on a river. With 50 points back in the bag the home club were on a roll and maintained the pressure into race 2 with the Roosters once again benefitting from their tall rigs above the river bank. Into Race 3 and with a BFD for one of the Roosters and the Moth retiring the results were in the balance.
With the final outcome closely guarded results were announced with Shearwater clinging on to the trophy by the finest of margins over a total of 6 races.
On behalf of Shearwater Chris Mulholland thanked all of those and in particular his opposite number Mick Parnell who had contributed to the event over the two legs. Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the event, there is no doubt that Bristol Avon will be plotting the return of the trophy to their clubhouse.

Classic and Vintage Open Meeting – August 2015

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Some scenes from our Open regatta this weekend. A big thank you to all our club members for their support in running this 2 day event especially Nic Cross for organising racing and running his Saturday and Sunday teams. Thanks also to the galley teams who helped feed our Visitors. Sailors from as far afield as Cheshire in the North and Brightlingsea in the East joined us and 15 beautiful Classic and  vintage boats took to the water for some very competitive racing. The photos are a few I captured on my phone before racing started on Saturday. Nice to see members helping each other (and I was pleased to see the very sound hull of Blue Peter!) before the competition began. Ex club member Giles Penfold sailing a Hit won the event, with club member Amy Barlow, sailing a TOY, coming a close second followed by Chris Barlow and myself in our International 14, in third place. There are more photos on the CVRDA Facebook page, do take a look.

Our next Open Event is the Barts Bash and Summer Social on the 20th of September. All are welcome and it would be great to see some of our newer members bringing their boats out and getting to know people in at the barbecue.