Newsletter June 2005
We are now fully into our sailing season, with Sunday and Wednesday racing, Friday training and Saturday Social Sailing. The sailing continues to be good with water-a-plenty and winds (mostly) fair and a good number of boats on the water. We are “within two boat lengths” of the Summer points and the Ladies Cadets and Novices Series, starting on the 19th June. So L C & N’s, the earlier race is for you, lets see you on the water competing in a more forgiving racing environment.
Open Meetings at Delph.
Three Open meetings have been held at Delph so far this season, all with a good turnout and the high standard of race management and catering that people have come to expect at Delph.
Thanks to all those involved in organising and running these Opens.
Results will be on the notice board and the events are summarised in the match reports below.
Laser Open: 17th April 2005 - Report by Phil Worth.
A day of good winds, although it was very breezy for the first race. On seeing the conditions 14 sailors opted for radial rigs. 31 started the first race and 9 retired; for the third race there were 18 starters and all but 3 finished. The results were close throughout the fleet. First Delph standard rig boat was Matt. Sharman (6th overall) with Phil Worth close behind, Chris Pickles was 4th radial.
Miracle Northern Area Championships: 14th and 15th May 2005 - Report by Andy Baddeley.
A total of 21 boats competed in the Miracle Northern Area Championships. The first race on Saturday was sailed in very fresh conditions with several crews choosing to sit it out and see if the weather improved. Raines, Atherton and Reddy made the most of the conditions to finish in that order. The second race in similar conditions saw Atherton, Watts and Moulden take the honours.
The Sunday morning was definitely the morning after the night before and the competitors saw the opposite extreme of the wind conditions with very light shifting winds. Mettam, who had been absent on the Saturday, showed his class by winning all three races comfortably to take the championship. It was left for the rest to fight over the minor places. In the first race of the day Reed made the most of the drifter to finish second ahead of Bailey. Atherton’s second in the second race of the day saw him claim second overall with Reddy in third. Reddy found some consistency and finished second in the final race with Watts third.
First Delph boat was John Reddy, who was third overall and then Louis Moulden, sixth overall.
Solo Open: 28th May 2005 - Report by Tony Cropper.
Wind, Wind, Wind
The weather forecast was for wind and it arrived. Several visitors arrived but decided not even to unpack their boats. The rest of the fleet was reticent about unpacking or even changing. The gusty force 5-6 conditions caused the Race Officer to initially postpone. Of the 13 entries, 5 visitors, only 10 actually launched for race 1. John Cronshaw (4225) was first to the windward mark followed by Louis Moulden (4445) and Tony Wright (4568), at the gybe mark Andy Couch(4459) got into the lead and stayed there to be followed home by 4445 and 4225.
After lunch the wind seemed to have eased although it had moved round, but once the fleet had launched it built higher than previously with in the end only 5 boats finishing. 4459 had reached the windward mark first and was never passed, he was followed by Matthew Ross(4518), the two having a commanding lead over third place (4445).
Race 3 was run back-to-back with only 5 boats starting, three boats went at the 1minute leaving S.Thomas (4471) and 4445 to start at the correct signal. 4471 led for most of the first lap but was passed by 4445. 4459 and 4518 made efforts to catch up the lost time (about 1½ minutes). 4459 passed 4471, this then led to a nail biting finish as 4459 failed to get to 4445 only by a fraction of a boat length at the finish line.
Thanks must go to the Race Team and safety team who were busy all day.
Andy Couch won the day, the first Delph boat was Louis, second overall and then Tony Wright sixth.
Delph ‘Travellers’.
A dozen or so crews have travelled to Open meetings over the last couple of months: RS 200’s to Abersoch,
RS 300 and 49er to South Shields - where Matthew Sharman was 1st in his RS 300 - Enterprises to the Inlands at Rutland Water - where Louis (with Claire) came away with the Veteran’s prize. Delph boats had mixed fortunes, with good results; you can see more information and a results summary in the May Sailing Committee notes on the notice board.
Coniston Regatta: 28th to 30th May - Report by Jill Stephenson.
I realised some time ago if I was to see anything of my husband and youngest daughter then I would have to join them on their sailing travels, so on a beautiful Friday evening we set off for our first trip to Coniston. Most of the Delph contingency had already arrived and were sat around the camp enjoying the evening sun along with a beer, therefore being one of the last to arrive we were a source of entertainment to the happy campers as we searched for a suitable bit of grass to pitch our tent.
There was a warm welcome from the folk at Coniston Sailing Club, who organised a great event, unfortunately a far cry from the weather we woke up to the following morning. It was like the middle of winter, rain, wind, the tent pegs spent more time flying through the air rather than staying in the ground where they belonged.
Unfortunately the Saturday racing was blown off, although there was a late afternoon race for the really brave, who reported back that it had been an experience, either from the point of view of pushing the RS to its full potential or the thrill of the spinnaker flying even when under protest…but isn’t that what you all say sailing is about?
Sunday, was breezy but a good wind. Three races were held. Gary and Annie tested the water, which was…icy cold. But from what I could gather everyone had a good days sailing.
Monday was a beautiful day, no wind early on but a nice breeze for start of racing at 11.30hrs. 2 races were held, then the top boats took part in a championship race.
Again, Delph boats showed well in some testing conditions, in fact Delph boats achieved good results in just about all classes. Chris Pickles and Laura Westall were 1st in the Asymmetric Fleet and then went on to win the Championship. More results on the Club race notice board.
All in all it was a good weekend, 12 intrepid Delph crews with a variety of boats from toppers to 49er’s attended. Coniston made us most welcome, we look forward to next year…but trust me we’ll be there earlier.
Well done to all who sailed in these open meetings.
Social Sailing.
A number of people have asked me about the Social Sailing Saturdays shown in the Calender …what this involves, what happens etc. This is an afternoon where there’s no racing, we cruise the lake, practice and develop sailing skills, gain confidence,..whatever. A power boat is manned between1400 and 1700hrs, to give assistance if required; this is crewed by members taking turns on the day, so you may be asked to do a stint, please help out if you can. Generally there are some experienced sailors available for advice, although they will be at the Club to sail too. People picnic and the barbeque is lit late in the afternoon, for people to cook their own food. This is always an enjoyable and social afternoon, often continuing into the evening.
Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) Range for Club Racing at Delph.
As promised at the General Meeting following the AGM, the possibility of revising our allowable PY range for boats racing, to extend the range to encompass faster boats, has been investigated. For some years now we have raced boats within a PY range of 1500 - 990.
This topic was thoroughly aired at two Sailing Committee meetings in April and May, with additional members attending the April meeting to give their views and join in the discussion. The views, discussion and outcome are well reported in the April and May Sailing Committee notes which are displayed on the Notice Board for you to see if you wish, so I won’t attempt to cover that here. Just to say that the outcome agreed by the Sailing Committee and General Committee is that faster boats cannot be satisfactorily accommodated in our Club racing. A ‘tweak’ to reduce the PY limit to 980 was agreed, to encompass the current PY for the Fireball.
Boat Registration.
The Club has a rule that all craft berthed and/or sailed at Delph must be registered (see the first page of the Calender, or rule 1.4a in the Sailing Instructions). This is a necessary - although apparently seen by some members as tedious - rule, which attempts to ensure: appropriate insurance (covering the conditions of our Lease and safeguarding other members), clarity of ownership, berth control and allocation of a suitable berth, appropriateness of craft for Delph waters…There’s probably more that I can’t remember.
The rule is very simple. Before being brought onto the premises, a members’ craft shall be registered and carry a valid registration sticker displayed in the prominent position as instructed. Registration is by application to the Treasurer (David Hill) and/or Membership Secretary (Fiona Blackburn), who may refer to the Sailing Committee for craft not normally seen at Delph. A registered craft will be allocated a berth on which it can be stored.
So, if you are a new member, bringing a craft on-site for the first time, or a member acquiring an additional or replacement craft you must register your craft. If you acquire a craft from a member, whether berthed at Delph or off-site, the craft becomes effectively de-registered on the transfer of ownership and so must be re-registered.
I hope this provides the clarification apparently needed. Please follow this rule.
Membership.
Although membership renewals are still outstanding from some people, we expect that with likely new members we will have a similar number of members to last year - around 135 Full members plus 150 Spouse, Cadet, Junior, Non-sailing, County and Overseas, and Life members.
Welcome to new members:
Stuart and Cathy Fieldhouse sailing a Graduate
Christopher Lobo and Olivia
Jonathan Briggs sailing an RS 300
Julian Abel sailing a Phantom
Ashley Johnston sailing an RS 200
Robert Bragg, Jonathan and Alexander sailing a Miracle
Gents’ Changing Room Floor.
After a good few years of patching and painting to deal with cracks in the asphalt, it has been decided that we must replace the floor. This will be done in the quiet season early next year and will be a significant investment for the Club. The large wooden boards recently laid near the showers are a temporary repair, which will suffice until the new year. Thanks to Nigel, Don McDermott and Rene for this temporary repair and for researching and planning the full job.
‘Bits ‘n Pieces’.
I get frequent suggestions for things to put in the newsletter but there never seems enough space. As a trial - here goes with some ‘brief bits’:
Did you know we have a 5mph speed limit on site? (I
didn’t). Well we do now! Please respect it.
Our annual cull of old unused
trailers is nigh. If you have a trailer on site, if it is poorly sited, tatty,
not marked up… beware!
Book accommodation early for our
weekend away at Coniston (the 2nd - 4th September)
We are competing at Jumbles on
Saturday June 18th . Contact Rene if you wish to be part of the
Delph sailing team.
Additional representatives on
the Sailing Committee are: Matthew Sharman and Simon Evans for Fast Handicap,
and Patrick Manning for RS 200.
Social Events.
The Miracle barbeque and Social was again well attended. Thank you to Jane, Tim and team for their hard work in making this a great success.
Make a note of the Delph Summer Ball on the 2nd July. Tickets will be about £14, available soon from Pat Tucker, on 01772 704874 or via Pat’s e-mail: patricia.tucker@zen.co.uk
As last year, a charity Jazz Night is being held in the Clubhouse - on the 11th of June. This is an all ticket affair with our allocation of tickets already having been taken up.
Delph Embroidered Clothing.
The following are available to buy:
1 Medium Black Fleece £15-00
1 Small Black Fleece £15-00
1 X-large White Polo shirt £10-00
1 Navy Thinsulate Bob cap £6-00
Available to order: Fleeces, Sweatshirts, Polo Shirts, T-Shirts, Baseball Caps, Bob Caps.
Adult and child sizes: . Various brands including Regatta, Fruit of the Loom, Jerzee, Allstars and Gilden.
Choice of style and colours, delivery usually 3-4 weeks.
For more information, or to place an order contact Rob Cocking.
Tel: 01254 777122 E-mail: robz@darreners.fsnet.co.uk
Diary Dates - an at a glance reminder.
Saturday 4th June RS 200 Open
Saturday 18th June Phantom Open & Delph competing at Jumbles
Sunday 9th June Summer Points start, & Ladies, Cadets & Novices Race series start.
Saturday 25th June Social Sailing
Saturday 2nd July Summer Ball
Saturday 9th July & Saturday 6th August Social Sailing
Saturday 20th August 8 hr Race
Sunday 21st August R.N.L.I Handicap (11.00am start)
Good Sailing! John Tucker Commodore