News, views & information from Weir Wood Sailing Club

Issue 16 Spring/Summer 2014 Club Championships Laser Open Member’s other sports Cruising in Scotland Commodore’s Cosy Chat delicious but fickle little gust simply Simon Davis disappeared and I am delighted to be talking to you after possibly the busiest we were left to rue start to the season the Club has seen. Virtually every the decision to weekend since the start of the year there has been either a follow it. About 20 Youth coaching event, Club training, or an event such as the minutes later we Club Champs or an Open meeting. And we shouldn’t forget finally rounded the the work detail weekend as well where we had over 20 willing windward mark, (?) helpers who, after 3 hours of honest graft, were treated Stuart 2nd last to an excellent ‘builders’ lunch for their exertions. It’s a bit and me last and unfair to pick out individuals for praise because so many do well down the 4.7 so much for the Club but I will make some exceptions during fleet that started this CCC. All this activity is taking place as the season has barely got underway with ‘Saturday Skills’ for example only 5 minutes after beginning recently. us!! I didn’t sail in the afternoon as, Bill Stean and David Giles will, I’m sure, talk about the amongst other J Simon Davis Laser Open on May 3 but I will add my piece. The wind things, Saturday forecast had been bad for most of the previous week as Skills began that afternoon. I sat, after lunch on our beautiful, a high pressure centre moved in; cold with very light northerly winds.So I arrived at the Club with son Rory west facing balcony watching 71 boats, yes that is seventy expecting about a dozen boats preparing. What met my one boats, enjoying the early May sunshine. Thanks go gaze as I walked down past the Clubhouse was a forest of particularly to John Hamilton, Chris Hopkins and Richard masts with a profusion of visitors and particularly youth Haw for their commitment to Youth Laser and their ability to representation from WWSC and around. There were 41 bring on large numbers of boats onto Weir Wood. standard rigs and 11 4.7’s – they sometimes don’t get 11 4.7’s There has been a really fascinating development that I would at the Nationals so this was a major event! Sadly the wind did its worst but Martin Pascoe did manage to get 4 races like to tell you about. The enduring characteristics of the away over the course of the day which is a tribute to his skill Club Committee is that the constituents are predominantly and perseverance! It was the sort of wind that made fools male and all over 50 and a significant percentage over 60; or heroes of a sailor, sometimes both at the same time. In but still male. The honourable exception is Membership the second race Stuart Alexander thought he saw a gust up Secretary Ian Alderman. His surname might be an indication the left hand (northerly) side of the course and went for it. of a congenital commitment to public service maybe. That Knowing Stuart as a wily old sailor (less of the old – Stuart) isn’t because males over 60 want or think they have a right I decided to follow and we leapt up the fleet as it held with to run things and it isn’t true just of WWSC. Almost all us and died on the right hand side of the course. What we voluntary organisations I have been involved with exhibit the should have expected to have happened duly happened. Our same characteristics. It’s because they are the only ones who have volunteered or have been volunteered. While there is Dates at a Glance little we can do to put this right (the two most recent joiners, Mike Summers and Ken Burgess both ‘fit the demographic’ Sailing as the Marketers say) we can ameliorate their influence and provide means by which others can have their say. To 26 May Taster day that end I invited ladies in the Club to a meeting a couple 14 June RS 2000 (Laser 2000) Open of Saturdays ago to set up a ‘Ladies who Launch’ group to Spring 2014 bring their ideas to the fore. My only role was as facilitator 13 July RS 200 Open and cook for brunch! They have come up with some first 27 July Enterprise Open class ideas around the Clubhouse, Open Day and a kids play 20 Sept Optimist Open area just to start with and have already planned a follow up Afloat 21 Sept Bart’s Bash get together. If there are any ladies out there who would care to join the group then let me know and I’ll put you in 2 Training touch. So formidable do I feel their characters are and the 31 May Level 1 & 2 courses combination of their intellect and persuasive powers such that a re-naming from ‘Ladies who Launch’ is justified. I Social thought ‘The Cougars’ might suit? Talk on Wednesday last 21 June Mid Summer Picnic and moved onto a fund raising possibility for next year of some Proms and 4 hour race sort of Calendar and I have already volunteered my services as a photographer. I have to say that my further suggestion of Write them in your diaries NOW a Calendar by the boys in the Laser fleet wasn’t met by quite so high a level of enthusiasm. Whilst on the matter of the Committee I will put in a doing more than half the race. We will give handicap relief very strong word of support for them. There is always an to both kids, families and other groupings to ensure good enormous amount of work that goes on both obvious and racing both on the water and on handicap. That will end at in the background to provide the facilities you all take 5 and then from 6 the Clubs BBQ’s will be on and the bar advantage of. This year is a particularly demanding one in open. Bring your own food to cook and, weather permitting, that we have the issue of the Lease renewal that is taking have a picnic BBQ outside. Then from 7 a fantastic local up a vast amount of time. I would appeal to anyone out band “The Buffaloes” will be banging it out from the front there who can spare the time to help by being co-opted of the Clubhouse. The Buffaloes played for us a number of for a limited time to a sub-committee either membership, years ago and the car park in front of the Clubhouse was full business planning or the like. Please help out our Club at a all night – Brilliant! They play a mixture of 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Afloat time where the pressures on us are extremely high. pop and rock which will get you all up and dancing (I hope!) There is one very pleasurable and non-demanding item I Ken is selling tickets now and we are asking you to buy them would like to ask for volunteers on please. We have the Open beforehand - £10 per adult, £5 for kids, £25 for a family

Day coming up and the more help we can have there the of 2 adults and 2 kids. Let’s make it a big one!! Overnight Spring 2014 better. It’s on the 17th May so please let me know. The more camping available. Having Ken means we are going to have a I have the less everyone has to do! But even more important Xmas Supper as well. than that is I would like some established Club members to The reservoir is at its perfect best at the moment, it is also ‘buddy up’ with some of this year’s new members. Joining a full and last but absolutely not least, Wednesday evenings new Club or even a new sport can be a pretty intimidating have started again. If you’ve not been down to the Club on experience so I would like existing members just to be there a Wednesday in summer I hugely recommend it. You can on occasions and over the ‘phone for new members. We either race or cruise. The atmosphere is slightly different 3 try to portray ourselves as both a friendly and welcoming to the weekends and the evenings and the sunsets sublime. organisation and this is part of that. Again please let me Now we always have a member of the Club cooking so, from know on [email protected] just after 8pm you will get a delicious meal for a fiver a head. It’s great to have a Social Secretary again and Ken has I know it’s not easy for some of you who live a distance away already kicked off with a brilliant Quiz Night. Next event is but I do urge you to try it – if only just once! at Midsummer –June 21st. We’re starting with a 4 hour race Let it blow!! at 13.00. The idea of this is to have teams, 4 or more in a two hander, 2 or more in a single hander with no one individual Simon small group focussed on the lease renewal process. The Our Future! group focusing on our core activity, sailing, is also staffed. The Committee needs help But the plain fact is that the time needed for the day to day running of the club plus personal commitments are The Committee making it difficult to launch the other principal initiative Members will be aware that we are entering a critical year which is developing a business plan for the club which apart with negotiations under way for the renewal of our lease from other things will examine ways of generating more which expires at the end of March next year. In order to income in order to sustain the club and allow us to make the manage that process the committee have a small sub group investment need to assure our future. dealing with the details of the process. So we need help. If you think you could give some time to However, germane to the lease and the future of the club these important initiatives, in particular the latter or if you it is essential that we develop a sustainable and achievable could take on some of the day to day jobs thus relieving the business plan that addresses all aspects of the Club’s committee members commitments please get in touch asap activities including such issues as generation of income over with either Simon Davis, our commodore, Chris Daniels, and above subscriptions, increasing membership, etc. In our secretary, or any other committee member. order to move forward on these issues we are proposing to set up various sub groups to address specific issues. Next March may seem a long way off but the time will go The committee have attempted to populate these sub groups in a flash and we need to get the club’s future on a secure from existing committee members with some success. footing quickly. So please give this some serious thought and The membership group is up and running and there is a act now.

Revisions to race card

I’m afraid the Ed was rather lax in checking the race card before printing and it contains a few errors. So please note the following:

House and Grounds Mike Summers Tel: 01342 324793 email: [email protected]

Assistant Sailing Secretary Vacant

RS400 Class Contact Vacant Spring 2014

Plus please note Sailing Secretaries are now: Martin Pascoe Tel: 01444 892778

Afloat email: [email protected] 4 Ernie Hatton Tel: 01342 314008 email: [email protected]

Finally Youth Rep Fiona Harrington email: fiona.harrington@ btinternet.com championship board, my daughter Emily and I managed to turn back the years (well, in my case anyway) and emerge victorious after a hard fought days sailing. Our first general open meeting, the Laser Open, took place on Sunday 3rd. May. The Laser is our strongest class at Weir Wood and we were pleased to have an entry of 41, including several of our youth sailors. Although the day was sunny and warm, the wind was disappointing, coming as it did from all sorts of directions and dropping to calm for prolonged periods throughout the day. Several competitors had had enough before the end of the day but of those who stuck it out congratulations to David Goddard, recently joined to Weir Wood, who out guessed the rest as to what the wind was going to do next to win on a tie break from Alan Kerr. A full report of the day appears later in the magazine David Giles Gx Another date for the diary is the club Open day. This will take place on Saturday 17th May and is the premiere Sailing Secretary’s Scribblings occasion that we attract new members to the club. This year there will be a Cherub Open meeting on at the same time David Giles which is hoped will demonstrate the cutting edge of dinghy After about six years as sailing secretary I am handing sailing to our visitors as well as the gentler trail sails for over to Martin Pascoe and Ernie Hatton who will jointly those thinking of taking up the sport for the first time. Full fill the role. Having inherited the job when the then sailing details of this event appear on the club website. secretary suddenly resigned, I have generally enjoyed it. The position would have been much more enjoyable if I had Two more “one off” events I would like to mention. Firstly had more time to put into it but I am pleased with some of a four hour race that will take part on Saturday 21st June. the things that have been achieved such as the dedicated For some years now the club has not had a social secretary race officer teams that cover the open meetings, putting and social events have not been arranged. This has now the club championships and Winter draws on back on the changed and following on from a great quiz night arranged top of the clubs sailing agenda and the rise of the youth in February, we now have a Summer social that will take sailing. Although I can take little credit for the latter, it has place after the four hour race. Again full details will be on been very satisfying to see this side of the club growing. It the web site. has been less satisfying to have to report that we have not Secondly “Bart’s Bash” which will take place on Sunday been able to increase the average club turnout despite any 21st September. This is a National event in remembrance number of initiatives to encourage new members onto the of Andrew Simpson who was killed whist training for the water. I hope my replacements have new ideas to try in America’s Cup in San Francisco. Andrew was a double gold this area. medallist in the Star Class and a long standing member of team GB. Most of the sailing clubs in the UK (and several in Since my last report another Christmas cracker for the other parts of the world) will sail a race in his name on the Laser’s has been completed. The Laser class has remained Afloat same day and at the same time with the aim of making it the strong at Weir Wood and with a handful of winter visitors largest dinghy race in the world and hence get recognition has averaged 15 Lasers on a Sunday morning despite some in the Guinness book of records. I am in the process of dreadful weather around Christmas and the New Year. The registering our club to be part of it and more details will

handicap fleet has fared less well with no one fleet showing

follow in the next Afloat but for now please make a note Spring 2014 consistently good numbers. The Laser 2000 (RS2000 as it of the date and try and be available to sail in this world is now known) still turns out several boats every Sunday record attempt. thanks in some part to a training programme headed by Rob Burridge. There is also a nucleus of RS 200’s, RS 100’s and As well as these one off events, there are the our Open Enterprises and it is still my hope that new members will meetings, Wednesday evening sailing and sail coaching, look to these classes when they buy a boat to sail on Weir details of which will either be on the race card, appear in Wood. Afloat or on posters displayed at the club. There is, as ever, plenty going on at your club so decide what you want to do Our first club event of the season at Weir Wood, The Club 5 and join in. championships, was sailed on Sunday 30th March. We had 42 entries, slightly down on last year. At the same time A big “thankyou” to David for all he last year the event had to be cancelled when the outside air temperature was barely above freezing. This year it was has done over the past few years as sunhats and sun cream, although the wind could have made Sailing Secretary. It has been much an earlier appearance. A full report of the event appears later appreciated. in the magazine but I am delighted to announce that after several years of putting other members names on the club The Committee Introducing our New Sailing Secretaries: Martin Pascoe and Ernie Hatton

David Giles has done a great job as Sailing Secretary for several years and now wishes to ‘pass on the batten’ (pun intended). Two of the club stalwarts, Martin Pascoe and Ernie Hatton, have agreed to stand in with the intention of keeping David’s good work going and try to move forward.

Martin and Ernie stress that this is to be regarded as a Ernie Hatton temporary arrangement as both acknowledge they are Q retired ‘oldies who try to act young’ and believe the post should really be filled by a younger member who is more in touch with what the under 30s really think and want. Both also have sailing interests outside the club. Martin has recently bought a cruiser and Ernie runs a yacht charter company. So they will not be able to give the post as much time as they know it deserves. Hence the ‘shared’ nature of the job. So be aware that they will be trying to encourage a younger member to join them. They both wish to see sailing re-vitalised, and are open to new ideas which will encourage and stimulate more members to sail. So, if you would like to see something different tried at the club please contact either of them. (See Q Martin Pascoe below- they promise not to palm off the Sailing Secretaries duties- well not at once anyway) • The 21st uneJ sees the return of the Four Hour race with Some of the thoughts they are considering are- teams changing over at the pontoon and people sailing with different crews in unfamiliar boats. Martin and • Getting the interest in series racing back to the level it used to be. At present few members know (or even Ernie are running (and sailing in) this event and if it notice) who has done well in a series. Some are even proves to be popular they would like to re-introduce it unaware that there is series racing. The odd ‘spot’ into the club calendar. prize here might help, as may holding a mini prize giving Sessions on many sailing themes are under consideration immediately after the Sunday morning races or even • such as training, boat tuning, racing rules, race officer re-introducing the annual prize giving social event. procedure etc. To cover the theory side of these themes • Now that we have Hals race results programme we could they would like to liaise with the social committee and make more of a feature of the current series results on re-introduce Weir Wood Wednesdays to be held when the home page of the club website. Wednesday evening sailing finishes. It would also be good to try and re-vitalise Sunday PM

Spring 2014 • There are many ideas afoot; all they will need is YOUR racing. The thought here is to experiment with different participation- ‘Watch this space’ race formats which will be both interesting and fun to participate in. They have a few ideas worth trying Martin can be contacted on- Tel-01444 892778 Email- out and these will be run in the summer months, June to [email protected]

Afloat August, and will be publicised in time for members to Ernie on- Tel 01342 314008. get a ‘pass’ allowing them to race in the afternoon as well Email- [email protected] 6 as the morning. • One of the great attractions of sailing at Weir Wood is its close proximity to many members’ homes. This makes Aphorisms for all it difficulto t persuade members to travel, but it would be great we could encourage the occasional travel I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before to a local club and invite them to join us in return. Any we met. thoughts you may have on how this could be organised without having to trail boats all over SE England would How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink? be appreciated. Laser Ramblings Bill Stean I missed “my” Open this year because, with all the changing of Laser dates this year, it clashed with a cruise around the Hebrides. I never do well at our Open but I do always really enjoy it. Anyway, many thanks to Chris Spencer-Smith for taking charge on the day and to Martin and Julie Pascoe for being the principal race officer. I’m sure they can’t both be PRO, but so what. Although the wind was poor, by all accounts the joint PRO did an excellent job. Martin says he suggested calling a halt after 3 races but the sailors pushed for a fourth, so they must have been pretty happy. I realised in Scotland that sailing doesn’t have to always involve trying to get around a race course as quickly as possible. We regular Laser sailors are pretty much all dedicated to racing and nothing else. In our defence the Laser isn’t much of a cruising boat. But, of course, Bruce Kirby actually designed it to be a car topable, beach launched, fun boat. I’m sure he is as surprised as anyone that it has become such a world dominant racing boat. Anyway, in the interests of the club’s non-racing members and particularly the non-sailing (or lapsed sailing) parents Bill Stean of our very large youth sailing community, I’d like to remind everyone what a K great boat it is for just having fun. In a light breeze it’s easy to sail and to learn (or re-learn) the basics of sailing. In a bit more wind, blasting across the reservoir on a reach with spray flying everywhere is as thrilling as any ride at Disneyland. Even capsizing doesn’t matter much when righting is so easy. The club’s got 4 old but reasonable boats, so the cost of having a go is immaterial. Good second hand boats are plentiful and relatively cheap too and can be easily taken to the beach. Of course I’d like to convert you to racing but I’d also be delighted to see more people just sailing on the reservoir on a sunny day. If anyone wants a hand with anything to do with Lasers, feel free to call me (01342 322320 or bill.stean@btinternet. com). I live near the club so arranging to meet is easy. While I’m at it, I’ll also plug Simon Davis’ Saturday sailing skills course, which I’m helping him out with this year. It was very successful last year. Although it isn’t limited to Lasers, they do tend to be the most popular boat. I’ll try and curb my urge to get participants sailing round a course as fast as possible! If anyone is interested in a few dedicated Laser beginners’ sessions, let me know and I’ll suggest some dates. Google has been strangely quiet on the court case between Bruce Kirby and Laser Performance, ISAF and ILCA. I rather suspect that is because nothing of significance has happened since last summer. The court records do show that 35 dockets have been recorded this year (out of 134 in total) but from their descriptions it looks as if they are all procedural or relatively minor responses to, or motions from, one side to the other. The transcripts can be purchased, but if something important happens it will be picked up by the sailing media. Most importantly it does appear that the supply of boats, sails and parts has returned to its pre-court case position i.e. poor but just about practicable. Any concern that new boats are, or will

become, illegal seems to have evaporated and things look as if they have gone backwards with the Torch. Afloat To pick-up on series results – as I left them out of my last report:

Winter Warm Up Mid Winter

1 Pete Young 1 Dave Giles Spring 2014 2 Stuart Richardson 2 Dave Binding 3 Chris Fyans 3 James Meares Christmas Cracker 1 Christmas Cracker 2 1 Dave Goddard 1 Dave Giles 2 Bill Stean 2 Dave Goddard 7 3 Chris Spencer-Smith 3 Chris Spencer-Smith Early Spring 1 Dave Binding 2 Bill Stean 3 Chris Fyans The Weir Wood members’ turnout for the Christmas Cracker was quite good this year. I guess that was because it was pretty warm, so the old softies managed to do a lot of the races. They know who they are, so I won’t add to their embarrassment. Only the two hardy regular visitors, Dave Goddard and Martin Walker took part, which is a pity. We’ll have to re-think what we do this year. We’re now in the Early Summer Series and Pete Young is in control at this point with two firsts and two seconds. 11th May we had a brilliant day with force 5/6 westerly. It must have been windy because Simon Barrington turned up. He had two superb close battles with Pete. Honours even with each having a 1:2. The rest of us were not even close enough to be in their wakes. 8 Lasers started the first race and around 6 handicaps. But the handicappers (“Andy Cappers”?) had found the going too hard so as only Ed Thorburn in his Finn was up for their second race he joined us as an honorary Laser – and came third on the water. I’m trying to persuade him to convert. Surely it’s better than Finn sailing? Cruising Notes Mike Summers

The season begins!

The Cruising Section is for people who maybe want to take their boats to new waters and try a bit of A to B sailing rather than race around the cans on the Reservoir. If you are competent in a sailing dinghy on the sea (The Solent or Chichester Harbour), then maybe you would like to join us. If you do not have a suitable boat or regular crew, don’t worry, there are usually helms looking for crew and vice versa.

In our meeting back in February in the Chequers (note that the Cruisers are seldom found very far from a pub), a programme for 2014 was discussed and is now to be found on the Cruising Pages of the Website http://www.wwsc.org.uk/mem-cruising- home.htm .

When sailing on the sea, we are ruled by the tides. This is especially the case in The Solent (our favourite playground) because what you definitely don’t want to be doing Mike Summers is trying to get back to base punching into a foul tide that is trying to push you further J away.

This year it has been possible to only plan a few Solent cruises because the tide times at weekend preclude a morning departure and afternoon return. We have however managed to put together a programme and have included some visits to Chichester Harbour which has the advantage that although it is affected by tide, there is always somewhere to go.

Here is the programme, although there is one subtle difference between this and that on the website which I will explain below. Saturday 31st May Cruise to Wootton Creek Isle of Wight

Sunday 22nd June Cruise Chichester Harbour

Saturday 12th July Cruise to Newtown Creek Isle of Wight Spring 2014 Saturday 16th August Day Sail Chichester Harbour

Saturday 6th September Day Sail Beaulieu Gins Farm (Royal Southampton Yacht Club)

21st & 22nd September Solent weekender, destination to be confirmed Afloat 8 Weekend 25th & 26th October Cobnor weekend You may have noticed that the Chichester Harbour cruise in June is shown above on June 22nd, the day after the Summer Event on June 21st. Although initially planned for the 21st (before dates were fixed for the Social event) this cruise now clashed with the summer bash so rather than have them clash, we have moved the cruise to the next day. This may be quite a good idea as when preparing the boats for the road we can use all the help we can get to put trollies on trailers and fit under and over-covers and there should be a few people about on the Saturday.

The Solent Weekender destination in September is to be determined; we will not be able to visit Richard’s Pied a Terre up Wootton Creek this year, so we are thinking about alternatives. Island Harbour Marina up the Medina River is a possibility, camping on the grass (or on boats), maybe visiting The Folly for cooked breakfast. Keep an eye on the webpages to see what we come up with.

Cobnor Weekend is a great event when you have the chance to sail Cobnor Base’s own Bosuns or maybe one of their shiny new Mk 4 Wayfarers. Sleeping in bunkrooms and mucking in with cooking and washing up it is a fun weekend with some serious opportunities to experience sailing in open and semi-tidal water.

Of course not everyone who is not into racing wants to tow their boat all over the country nor indeed take to the high seas. Cruising is also about making use of our home water at Weir Wood. If you would like to do something a bit different with your dinghy on the Reservoir, we have in the past held orienteering and treasure hunt events. If this interests you, get in touch and we can do the most amazing things with boats.

If you would like to be involved in cruising, contact me on [email protected] also we have a closed Facebook page you can join where we do all our planning and sharing photos etc.

Club Social Scene

Ken Burgess 21st June Sail, Picnic and Party

Hopefully by now you will have seen flyers around the club making you aware of the club’s planned Sail, Picnic and Party to take place on Mid Summers Day Tickets are on sale “Now” so don’t delay, contact me on Ken Burgess (21st June 2014). J [email protected] and I will arrange to get tickets to you Details of the 4 hour sailing event will be published in due course but what Help Me Plan I can tell, whether you are sailing or not, is that we have When first taking on the Social Sec job I was and remain planned a great evening of entertainment for your family keen to ensure any planned social events are those of and friends. your choice. I don’t want to present club members with Afloat Commencing at 1900 hours the Buffaloes will be playing hit my preferred social event calendar. I want it to be of your tunes spanning three decades, something for everyone to choice. So here are your starters for 8. Let me know which tap their feet, sing or dance if the mood takes you. Unfold ones you prefer or any other ideas you have. your chairs, unpack your picnic and enjoy. • More Quiz Nights Spring 2014 The clubs BBQ will be hot ready for you to cook your own • Guest Speakers food should you so wish and the Clubs Bar will be open for • Dance business. • Race Nights We have always had a good turnout for this evening so do come along with family and friends and join in the fun. • Murder Mystery Evening 9 Ticket Prices • Last Night of the Proms • Adults 16 + £10 • Bingo (sorry it’s not going to happen) • Under 16’s £5 (Birth Certificates not required) • Christmas Party Family Ticket (Two adults and two under 16’s just £25) • Please email me with your ideas and please don’t delay. Please buy your tickets in advance. It will help greatly if we Kind Regards know how many people will be coming along and we need to cover the cost ahead of the evening. Ken Burgess Let’s hope that the ladies don’t get carried away as the WWSC Ladies who Launch following conversation:

WWSC Ladies Woman: “Do you drink beer?” launch a new initiative Man: “Yes”

Rachael Pereira Woman: “How many beers a day?” Earlier this year the Commodore invited female members Man: “Usually about 3” of the club to form a ladies group. He boldly stated ‘WWSC is far too male dominated; “they are hairy, generally Woman: “How much do you pay per beer?” overweight and smell after exercise.” Never a truer word Man: “£4.00 which includes a tip” was spoken in jest! So in the spirit of redressing the gender imbalance and at the behest of the commodore the Ladies Woman: “And how long have you been drinking?” who Launch (LWL) group was formed. Man: “About 20 years, I suppose.”

Our first meeting was held at the clubhouse on 11th April. Woman: “So a beer costs £4.00 and you have 3 beers a day The Commodore cooked a splendid brunch and a small but which puts your spending each spirited group of 9 ladies attended. We soon established month at about £350.00. In one year, it would be there are valuable role we can fulfill. One is to bring a mood approximately £4300.00. Correct? “ of warmth around the club, which oft times feels and looks unloved. Also, we would like to seek ways of encouraging Man: “Correct” Oppie Bay youth and parents to get more involved in club Woman: “If in 1 year you spend £4300.00, not accounting for activities, to help build and strengthen active membership. inflation, the past We have already leapt into action. The group plus co-opted 20 years puts your spending at about £86400.00. Correct? “ ladies will be making cakes to sell at the Open Day. The intention is to create more of a family-friendly feel to the Man: “Correct” Open Day, with the added benefit of raising funds for future Woman: “Do you know that if you didn’t drink so much beer, LWL projects. that money could have been put in a step-up interest savings Moving forward we plan to meet informally 2-3 times a year account and after accounting for compound interest for the and form a work force at events such as the Open Day and past 20 years, you could have now bought a Ferrari?” Work Days. If you would like to join us email me at Rachael. Man: “Do you drink beer?” [email protected]. Our next planning meeting will be held Woman: “No.” in the clubhouse at 10.30am on Saturday 4th October. Man: “Where’s your Ferrari?”

Sorry girls! Couldn’t resist it. You are all welcome to shower me with dopey men’s jokes for the next issue and I promise I will publish them. The Ed. Spring 2014

Afloat Summer Wednesday Evenings are back 10 By the time you read this we will be into Wednesday evening sailing Yes, Winter is formally over, Spring in the air and mid week evening Sailing and Supper is back. It started on 7th May with a cracking breeze and a very good turn out for a first race. Supper was oversubscribed with a record turnout for a first night.

So come along for a 7 pm start for racing on 14th and 21st May. Then 7.30 pm start until last three evening in August when it goes back to 7.00 pm. As usual there will be supper served after racing and we have our celebrity chefs are back serving you the most delicious delicacies at the most modest of prices. The bar is open too. But mostly it’s you and convivial sailing and conversation. So do come and join in. Weir Wood sailing club championships 2014

David Giles The club held its annual Club Champs on Sunday 30th April. The forecast was for sunshine and a building wind from the south East. We got the sunshine and eventually the building wind but not until about mid day by which time several competitors decided that the wind would not come and went home. In total there were 44 entries with 38 taking to the water for the first race. Race officers Julie and Martin Pascoe decided that there was only time for one of the morning races which got underway at about 12.30pm. With the wind now from the South it was always going to be a shifty affair with snakes and ladders littered all over the race course for the astute and the unwary to prosper or fall. As the first race got underway it proved essential to be on the left of the first upwind leg and several competitors who looked good just after the start fell away as the port wind shift filled in. Those who got it right included Jon Ching and Michael Barnes in an RS 400 and Bruce Ramshaw in a Laser 1. Ching pulled away seemingly oblivious of the snakes that were snaring the rest of us to a greater or lesser degree. David and Emily Giles in an RS 200 passed Ramshaw while the Merlin Rocket of Paul and Peter Jenkins was making progress in the right direction also. Others who seemed to be well placed in the handicap race included John Ramshaw and Mark Harrington in another RS200, Colin Hatton in an RS100 and a trio of laser 1’s sailed by Bill Stean, Stuart Richardson and Simon Foskett. When the Maths was done Ching had won easily from Giles and Bruce Ramshaw. The afternoon pursuit race got away in a breeze that was filling and dying, especially near the race box where the start was taking place. It made an enormous difference if your class started when some breeze made it through the trees on the south shore as opposed to it being a flat calm. The very early starters seemed to fair reasonably well. It was calmer by the time the Lasers went off but puffed up again for the RS 200 start. As the fastest boats started the wind again died and this set the tone for the afternoon race. The RS 200s’ fairly quickly caught the Lasers but were struggling to catch Peter Clifton in his Lightning, meanwhile the RS 400, Merlin Rocket, Fireball and RS 100’s were making little headway in their attempt to catch the slower boats. As the time limit approached Giles and John Ramshaw managed to overtake the Lightning, giving them the first three places with Foskett and Ramshaw next in Laser 1’s and Chris Hopkins in a solo sixth. Despite it not being the easiest of winds to set courses for a great days sailing was had by those who stayed with suntan cream the order of the day rather than drysuits. It was great to see a growing number of youth sailors taking part which I hope will continue. Once the results were expertly worked out (as ever) by Peter and James Mears the overall winner was David and Emily Giles with a second and a first. Second was John Ramshaw and Mark Harrington (with a fifth and a second) and third Bruce

Ramshaw ( with a third and a fifth). As ever with the club championships there were several spot prises. Youth prise went to Afloat Fiona Harrington, the Lady prise to Verity Hopkins and the Master Prise to Bill Stean. The endeavour trophy (for the lowest place boat that had completed all three races) went to the Marshalls in their Laser 3000.

Spring 2014

See the back cover for pics......

11

Results overleaf...... Weir Wood sailing club championships 2014...Results

Helm Crew Boat Number Race 1 Race 2 Points Position Youth Lady Master D Giles E Giles RS 200 1299 2 1 3 1st X J Ramshaw M Harrington RS 200 1300 5 2 7 2nd B Ramshaw Laser 197342 3 5 8 3rd J Ching M Barnes RS 400 1239 1 10 11 4th P Jenkins P Jenkins Merlin Rocket 3645 4 8 12 5th S Foskett Laser 181508 9 4 13 6th B Stean Laser 204714 7 7 14 7th X P Clifton Lightning 194 16 3 19 8th X T Hulley RS 100 10.2 247 12 11 23 9th X R Cumming RS 300 536 11 13 24 10th C Hatton RS 100 138 6 20 26 11th X M Uher Phantom 1363 10 16 26 12th X D Ramshaw M Ramshaw RS 200 613 19 9 28 13th X D Mason K Payne Fireball 14964 14 14 28 14th P Luttman RS 100 303 13 17 30 15th C Hopkins Solo 3713 26 6 32 16th X D Lankaster D Wyke Enterprise 22866 18 15 33 17th X S Davis Laser 197027 24 12 36 18th F Harrington Laser Radial 199271 20 18 38 19th XX V Hopkins Laser Radial 130583 21 19 40 20th XX R Courtenay R Pereira Laser 2000 2063 23 24 47 21st X S Richardson Laser 206944 8 45 53 22nd X M Hopkins Laser Radial 180989 29 25 54 23rd XX G Russell C Collett Laser 2000 21446 34 21 55 24th X L Hulley Laser Radial 174640 32 23 55 25th XX A Bennett Laser 4.7 206192 30 26 56 26th X C Marshall G Marshall Laser 3000 3277 37 22 59 27th X N Bush Laser 173877 15 45 60 28th E Hatton A Barnes RS 400 535 17 45 62 29th X D Lawson Laser 190529 22 45 67 30th X J Hamilton Laser 203596 25 45 70 31st X J Hamilton Laser Radial 203843 27 45 72 32nd X T Wordsworth Lightning 204 28 45 73 33rd X C Hamilton Laser 4.7 206298 31 45 76 34th X J Pascoe R Neary RS 200 488 33 45 78 35th J Whight Laser Radial 2 35 45 80 36th X Spring 2014 R Williams C Brunsdon Laser 2000 2249 36 45 81 37th X D Cowlard Laser 4.7 170478 38 45 83 38th X T Tucker H Tucker Firefly 10 45 45 90 39th X C Prince T Prince RS 400 1055 45 45 90 40th X

Afloat J Blundel M Fitzpatrick RS 200 1418 45 45 90 41st XX V Hopkins K Hopkins Enterprise 21540 45 45 90 42nd X 12 A Broom Supernova 570 45 45 90 43rd X A Spiers J Tucker Firefly 9 45 45 90 44th X

Aphorisms for all

If you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of payments. Weir Wood Laser Open 2014, Saturday 3rd May

David Giles Sadly none of us can predict the wind, especially several months in advance. If we could we probably would have avoided Saturday 3rd. May as the date for the 2014 Laser Open. It was certainly warm enough and bright enough but the wind- oooh la la. It was generally an easterly but with frequent southerly and northerly swings and even a bit of west in there at times for good measure. The same oscillations were true for the wind strength, varying from the occasional 10 kt gust to absolutely flat calm. Clearly it was going to be a day for those kissed by lady luck at birth or at least those that had a functioning crystal ball. With the conditions the way they were, those who got the first upwind leg right were generally gone never to be seen again. And so the scene for race one was set. Principal race officers Martin Pascoe and Peter Meares laid a triangular course to begin with and a long start line on which the bias swung from one end to the other. At the start itself the wind favoured the committee boat end but within a few minutes it had dropped to almost calm. When the wind returned it had swung more to the south and filled in on only the northern part of the lake. Those who had started on the pin end of the line made huge gains whilst those from the other side died. Those who had best worked out that this was going to happen included Alan Kerr, Sergio Messina from Chipstead and local boy Dave Binding. They pulled away from the rest of the fleet and finishing in that order. Race two followed a similar pattern with the committee boat end of the line seemingly favoured before the start but becoming very unfavoured soon after the start. Messina and Kerr proved that their positioning off the start line in the first race was no fluke by again being on the left hand side upwind as the wind filled, joined this time by Rob Cage from Thames sailing club. Cage worked his way to the front followed by Messina and Kerr. Meanwhile slightly further back Dave Goddard, newly joined to Weir Wood, recorded another fourth to be one of the few showing a degree of consistency. Race three eventually got underway following a general recall and a black flag which snagged several of the less wary. This time the pin end seemed to have the bias but about half way upwind the wind filled and lifted on the right dropping those who had strayed too far left. Those who evidently believed the right hand side of the line had to pay eventually included Goddard, Cage and Peter Young from Weir Wood. Soon after the first leg the wind dropped completely for a prolonged period of time which was the cue for several to call it a day and rock and roll their ways in for an early shower. For those who stuck it out a slow and painful drift for one lap was their reward. Goddard won from Young and Cage. Most I suspect expected that to be it but the wind had one last laugh to play and filled in to a pleasant 6-8 knots which persuaded the race officers to run another race. The pin end was again bias and this time the wind remained relatively steady and constant as the first leg was sailed. David Giles from Weir Wood won the pin at the start and rounded with a reasonable lead from Goddard. The wind then started to die again and soon it was back to a torturous drifting race for the relatively few who were still racing. Giles just held off Goddard while a long way back came Kerr and Young.

Thank goodness for beer! The bar back in the club house had been opened and after a couple of pints it all didn’t seem Afloat so bad, especially for Dave Goddard who had just pipped Alan Kerr to first spot after the tie break came into force. First Master went to Rob Cage and first lady to Fiona Harrington. Modesty prevents me from mentioning who won the first to consume four pints of ale award.

Spring 2014 By the law of averages we were always going to get a year with bad wind and 2014 was it, I feel sure next year it will be perfect.

Results overleaf...... 13

K Drifting Weir Wood Laser Open 2014...Results

Helm Number Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Points Position Youth Lady Master D Goddard 207090 4 4 1 2 7 1st A Kerr 169280 1 3 5 3 7 2nd S Messina 197693 2 2 31 5 9 3rd R Cage 198962 6 1 3 9 10 4th X P Young 200875 5 12 2 4 11 5th D Giles 197458 GBR 7 6 31 1 14 6th X B Ramshaw 197342 8 7 4 11 19 7th N Bush 173877 11 20 6 6 23 8th L Goodey 204653 13 10 7 10 27 9th R McAdam 203314 10 11 8 15 29 10th C Spencer-Smith 201601 16 22 10 7 33 11th X J Masters 179663 9 8 31 16 33 12th X G Bush 203159 12 16 9 13 34 13th X C Fyans 203319 19 15 14 8 37 14th X D Binding 204916 3 5 31 31 39 15th X D Allinson 190555 15 18 17 12 44 16th X B Fyans 176282 20 19 11 19 49 17th X J Hamilton 209596 26 17 15 20 52 18th R Bradshaw 122211 24 23 12 18 53 19th E Hill 191710 22 24 13 21 56 20th X C Marshall 176344 25 21 18 17 56 21st X D Haw 196999 17 9 31 31 57 22nd X F Harrington 199271R 23 25 16 22 61 23rd XX J Meares 197302 18 13 31 31 62 24th I Hobbsen 205182R 27 26 19 23 68 25th XX S Richardson 206944 31 31 31 14 76 26th X D Lawson 190529 31 14 31 31 76 27th R Davis 197458 14 31 31 31 76 28th J Hamilton 203596 21 31 31 31 83 29th X S Davis 197027 28 31 31 31 90 30th Spring 2014

Afloat 14

A Odd wind behaviour A Sums up the day 41st Bloody Mary Pursuit Race Dick Lankester reports

Queen Mary Reservoir is situated a couple of miles due south of Heathrow. It was built in 1931 to supply water to London, is roughly circular in shape, and covers over 700 acres. It is also 45 feet above the surrounding area, so it catches any wind which happens to Foiling Moth be blowing, making it a brilliant place K to sail. 9.30, we found that the limited space but before very long, faster boats Queen Mary SC is famed for its available for unloading and rigging was started to overtake us and this became annual Bloody Mary pursuit race, held completely rammed with hundreds of the pattern over the next 2 hours. early in January. Originally the event boats (the final entry figure was 322). Conditions were perfect for us, a was sponsored by a drinks company, However, with the help of an army lovely sunny day and a steady breeze of hence the name. Over the years, it of very efficient club marshalls, we around 7-8 knots. It quickly became has developed into the largest single managed to rig and find a slot near to clear that the greatest challenge was dinghy sailing race in the UK, regularly the water where we could launch. keeping a good lookout in order to attracting over 300 entries from all avoid the other 321 other boats which Launching and recovery is another over the country. For a number of all seemed to be collision course with challenge at Queen Mary. For some years, I have thought about entering, us at some point in the race. We baffling reason, there are no Weir but invariably the horrible weather gradually started to catch some of the Wood-style nicely graded slipways; in January has overcome my initial slower boats ahead of us, including instead, boats have to be launched enthusiasm. This year was different, the large fleet of Toppers. There were down the face of the dam wall, which is for two reasons. Firstly, we had a some very serious Toppers sailors at an angle of 45o. In fact, this proved brilliant sail at Weir Wood on Boxing racing, with several still ahead of us at not to be too much of a problem, Day, which was the only decent day the end of the race. thanks to the many helping hands over the generally awful Christmas After we had been going for about an (there were hundreds of spectators) period, bright with a good breeze, and hour, I suddenly became aware of a and, for the larger boats, electric 24 boats racing. The general sense of whistling noise coming up behind us. winches. well-being when we came off the water I looked round and the first Foiling was reinforced when we reached the We set off in what we thought would Moth came flying past. When I say clubhouse to find Simon, Annie and be plenty of time, only to find that we flying, I mean it; the hull was 3 feet

Ellie doling out mulled wine and mince had launched on the ‘wrong’ side of a above the surface of the water and Afloat pies! Inspiring, and great start to 2014. promontory which projects ¾ of the it was travelling at around 30 mph. The second reason was that the way across the reservoir, meaning we Further Moths came flying past weather forecast promised a perfect had nearly a mile and a half to cover throughout the remainder of the race.

just to reach the start area. However, Fortunately, the pilots were very skilled day for the 11th January; sunshine all Spring 2014 day and a decent breeze fading during we made it with about 5 minutes to at giving other boats a wide berth, the afternoon, perfect pursuit race spare, fighting our way through a huge as there was no way we would have conditions for the slower classes like fleet of boats waiting for their start had time to take evasive action. They the Enterprise. My crew David was times. We set off in the company of 8 really were an astonishing sight at close enthusiastic, so there was really no other Enterprises and a horde of Laser range and it was worth entering the event just to see them. excuse not to hitch up the boat and set Radials. By this time, the Toppers, the off round the M25. first fleet to start 20 minutes before us, Another impressive class which caught 15 were well round the first lap. and passed as at speed towards the end I had been warned that the sailing of the race were the Thames ‘A’ Raters. is the easy part of taking part in the The course was essentially a clockwise At 26 feet in length with enormous 40 Bloody Mary and the real challenge is circumnavigation of the reservoir, foot masts, these boats dwarfed every the logistics, namely finding space to including sailing up one side of the other boat in the race. rig the boat and fighting through the promontory and down the other, a masses of dinghies to get on the water total lap distance of distance of about After we had completed 2 1/2 laps, the for our 12.20 start time. Although 5 miles. Initially, we were sailing with clock ticked down to 2.30 pm and we we arrived at Queen Mary soon after the other Enterprises and Radials, were finished when we rounded the next mark. We were pleasantly surprised to see that there still seemed to be a lot of boats behind us. We sailed back to the club and managed to find our trolley and recover the boat without too much difficulty. Uniting trailer and car was another matter altogether and as we both had to get home for evening commitments, we cut our losses and headed home without the boat, returning the following day for the boat. The results were posted the next day. First and second places were taken by National 12s. We finished in 133rd position, 4th of the 9 Enterprises entered (Ann Jackson, Enterprise Ladies National Champion, finished in a very impressive 33rd position.) Other WWSC sailors appearing on the results were:

Paul & Peter Jenkins (Cherub) 174

Sophie Dorrington & Georgia Baker (Feva) 236

Grahame Dorrington & Richard Baker (RS400) 249

All in all, a brilliant day’s sailing which David and I enjoyed enormously. I strongly recommend entering this event, just for experience. You don’t need to enter in advance; we just turned up and paid our entry fee on arrival. If you don’t want to enter, it is definitely worth going along to watch and to help with launching and recovery. Top Bloody Mary Tips: K Thames A Rater • Arrive early • Make sure both your trolley and road trailer are both easily identifiable (we tied coloured ribbons to ours) • Restrict liquid intake before setting sail – or take a bucket! (we were on the water for over 3 hours) • Take a torch – it will certainly be dark before you finish de-rigging and loading up. • Keep a good lookout for other boats at all times • Beware of flying Moths! Robin Grange

The Ed Robin Grange, an ex-Weir Wood member, very kindly donated a virtually new 15hp outboard to the Club. Many thanks to Robin. Robin runs Grange Domestic Services so if you need any repairs to your various household machines or new equipment do get in touch with him. There is a web site for Grange Domestic Services or phone Robin on01403 732196. Spring 2014

Chicken Surprise

A couple go for a meal at a Chinese restaurant and order the “Chicken Surprise”... the waiter brings the meal, served in a lidded cast iron pot. Just as the wife is about to serve herself, the lid of the pot rises slightly and she briefly sees two Afloat beady little eyes looking around before the lid slams back down. 16 “Good grief. Did you see that?” she asks her husband. He hadn’t, so she asks him to look in the pot. He reaches for it and again the lid rises, and he sees two little eyes looking around before it slams down. Rather perturbed, he calls the waiter over, explains what is happening, and demands an explanation. “Please sir,” says the waiter, “what you order?” The husband replies, “Chicken Surprise”. “Ah! So sorry, “says the waiter, “I bring you Peeking Duck .” Power boat control in a high speed turn

This article is from RYA Wavelength Afloat

Spring 2014

17 Training Talk Weir Wood’s First From Sarah Alderman our new Chief Instructor Instructor CPD Day Congratulations to our new Assistant Instructors! Sarah Alderman

After a rigorous pre-assessment process testing their sailing Saturday 12th April saw Weir Wood’s first instructor CPD ability, our AI candidates took part in a 2 day course to hone day. The day was aimed at all instructors teaching at the their instructing skills. Under the watchful eyes of their Club to develop their skills, learn new information and to assessors, the candidates taught a group of beginners how to bring the whole training team together. 12 instructors and rig Wayfarers, launch the boats, sail upwind and downwind, assistant instructors attended the day and worked their way tack and gybe. As well as teaching on the water each through sessions on the role of the Recognised Training candidate had to deliver a short presentation on a subject Centre, Standard Operating Procedures, Presentation & from the RYA Level 1 syllabus, such as points of sail, rules of Communication Skills, Land Drills, Rigging, Powerboat the road or the five essentials. Skills and practical Sailing Skills. The day was introduced by Feedback from the beginners group was very positive with our Principal, Peter Hargreaves, and the four sessions were students commenting on how impressed they were with the delivered by the club’s senior instructors and powerboat AI candidates and that the presentations were a pleasure instructors. to watch. The candidates demonstrated a high level of Overall instructors said they found the day enjoyable professionalism throughout the course, taking the lead in all with the teaching skills session being the most popular. areas of instructing, boosting the confidence of the students, Requests for the next CPD have included having a wider giving constructive “sandwiched” feedback and stepping in quickly when things didn’t go quite right. The candidates range of boats to sail and more sessions on lesson planning themselves appeared to enjoy the course and the feedback so and delivering skill based sessions. Thank you to all of far has been positive! the instructors who have fed back on the day; it is really helpful and enables the Training Committee to shape future Look out for Becky, Caitlin, Chris, Chris, Glen, Harry, sessions. Natalie and Richard on the water this summer. They will be helping out with the Oppies, Sunday Youth and on the Thank you to Peter, Chris, Allan, Glynis, Robin, Tim and adult courses. A big thank you to Glynis, Peter and Allan for Richard who gave up their day to run sessions, and a helping out with the course and to all of our beginners for particular thank you to John Hamilton for putting the whole allowing us to practise our teaching skills on them! day together and making sure it happened!

A Sunday PM Revival! In an attempt to resuscitate the defunct Sunday PM racing, Martin Pascoe and Ernie Hatton, your new joint Sailing Secretaries, are introducing ‘new format’ racing on a Sunday afternoon later this year.

Martin and Ernie In an attempt to introduce an additional element of interest to racing, the races will not be of the conventional handicap/ pursuit round the buoys format but will be untested (at Weir Wood SC) formats of an experimental nature. If, following the first race, a format is shown to be a disaster it will be ditched and another tried, but the intention is to run a mini three race series with each which, given feedback from competitors, will encourage us to either develop or ditch a

Spring 2014 format. Unfortunately, due to heavy summer commitments we will not be able to introduce ‘new format’ racing until the end

of August. Typical examples of race formats are listed below. • Start and finish a race at a time of your choosing within a defined time slot. Afloat • Windward leeward race with a slalom downwind leg. 18 • Time on distance sailing- the ‘P’ course- where all boats sail over the same period of time, and therefore in the same wind conditions. Your participation and input will be essential in making this experiment a success. At this early stage all you need to know is the date we intend starting the experiment.We will post further details in the club house, with a brief description of the format, giving you plenty of time to negotiate a late home pass. A full description of the race procedure will be given at a briefing held at lunch time in the club house prior to the race. In the meantime, if you know of a ‘different’ format to normal handicap/pursuit racing worth trying out, we will be pleased to hear from you. Walking the South Downs Way The Hargreaves love of walking

Glynis Hargreaves

I’ve always walked. Many happy days of my childhood were spent trying to keep up with my Dad on walks in the Lakes and other beautiful parts of the north of England. Pete’s Dad’s passion was sailing so Pete grew up sailing most weekends. After we were married we walked and sailed. Almost all our walking has been day walks; we’ve never really considered anything long distance. So why now and why the South Downs Way? I retired in K Uppark House July last year having spent the last 23 years working in an office block in Lewes with views of the South Downs Way. When my colleagues bought me a voucher to spend at the Grand Hotel K View from Butser in Eastbourne as a leaving A Winchester, the start..... present, I felt that we needed to earn the lovely lunch I had decided to spend it on with a bit of exercise (106 miles of it). The spur to actually set off came from our daughter’s in-laws who live near Winchester and kept asking when we were going to come and stay so they could drive us to and from our starts and finishes for the first few days. Afloat We finally set off on 1 September 2013 in blazing hot weather. We were really grateful that we had decided to do the first 30+ miles over 4 days not 3. The Hampshire section is very varied and quite different from sections we already knew in Sussex. It uses tracks, roads and downland paths. K Boat on Truleigh Hill Spring 2014 It does not take long to leave Winchester and cross the M3, but the traffic noise continues for a couple of miles. We loved Old Winchester Hill and the Butser Hill (with views out to the Isle of Wight) but found the farm tracks with no view round South Harting pretty tedious. There were some nice refreshment stops on the route at the Milbury’s pub and a fishing lodge down by the River Meon. We soon realised 19 that there were loads of blackberries, so we started picking them for our hosts. After the doing the first 4 days consecutively, we decided to do the rest from home by taking one car to the start and one to the finish of each leg. We also decided that as we now have plenty of time, we did not need to walk in the rain or at the weekend. The next free fine day turned out to be a Typical South Downs Sunday, so much for not walking at the weekends! We drove K to Amberley and then on to Cocking behind Chichester for the start. We could see for miles into the Weald and out to sea. The rain clouds were gathering on both sides, but luckily we only had one quick shower. That would have been it if we had not stopped for blackberries near Amberley where the rain finally caught up with us for the last couple of miles. We dried out at the café near the river and set off to get the other car. The rain on the trip home was horrendous. So much for choosing fine days! We had booked a trip to Wales in mid-September, so we had nearly a fortnight’s break. Once we set off again, we were on the sections near to home. Amberley to the Adur D Saddlescombe restaurant was our longest leg, which we walked on a warm day. The area round Steyning Bowl was one of our favourite bits and the descent through a pig farm to the Adur was interesting, if rather aromatic. The next leg was from the Adur to Ditchling Beacon. The day started cool and misty as we climbed Truleigh Hill. At the top we were rather surprised to find a compound full of boats! Having had a good look, in improving weather we went on to Devil’s Dyke, crossing the A24 (we found it easy, but believe that it can be quite challenging), and on to a great little farm tea shop at Saddlescombe and some stunning views in every direction. Ditchling Beacon to the River Ouse was another of our favourite sections. It was great looking down on Lewes. D Cuckmere valley I did spare a thought for my former colleagues trapped in the office block below. Just before we came down from the ridge we encountered loads of hang gliders getting ready to go (they seem to have even more kit that sailors and it takes them longer to rig so we only saw a couple launch). Another similarity with sailing at Weir Wood was having to sort out a group of lost teenage hikers! We spent a cool day late September day crossing Firle Beacon before another refreshment break in a tea shop in Alfriston before heading down to Exceat. This looked like a nice stroll along the river, but turned out to have some pretty big humps – the path had stairs! It was worth the climb for the view across Cuckmere Haven at the end of this leg.

Seven Sisters and Birling Gap Spring 2014 We almost started and finished in September, but as I am

D not very keen on cliff paths, I had decided that we needed a calm day to tackle the last leg from Cuckmere haven to Eastbourne over the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. We finally got one on the first Saturday in October. It nearly Afloat didn’t happen because as we set off there was a large bang 20 from under my car. We stopped and looked but could not find anything. There was a rather nasty rattle for a few miles but it did finally stop. There are actually eight sisters not seven, so the route is a bit of a roller coaster, but at least you don’t have to walk near the edge! We stopped for bacon sandwiches at the National Trust Café at Birling Gap (fortunately getting there before more of the cliff fell into the sea over the winter) and then went on past Belle Pete and Glynis S Tout lighthouse and up to Beachy Head. The path goes almost to the overlook at Beachy Head, where there is a Eastbourne and back with a broken spring, but it did mean Bomber Command memorial. I admired it from as far we could not do the alternative last day of the walk from away as possible from the cliff edge. In the end it was the Alfriston to Eastbourne. spectacular descent into Eastbourne that was the worst for And finally, we returned to Eastbourne the following my fear of heights as it is a narrow path cut into a very steep week for a very nice lunch at the Grand Hotel to celebrate slope. And finally after 106 miles we had made it from our huge sense of achievement. We are now contemplating the centre of Winchester to the edge of Eastbourne, where our next long distance path and how to celebrate there is another very convenient cafe. The following day we completing it! found the large piece of spring in the wheel arch liner of my car. Luckily there was no additional damage from driving to Orienteering for Sailors The Hulley’s other passion

Tim and Linda Hulley

Orienteering is an interesting and challenging way to keep fit for sailing. In our area the Southdowns Orienteers are very active, and organises low-key events most Saturday mornings around Sussex. This fits well alongside Sunday sailing, and whether you run or walk, the exercise and mental challenge all helps with sailing. Very near to Weir Wood are two great areas used by the club: Pippingford Park, complex wooded and open terrain near to the East of A22 at its highest point; and Blacklands Farm at the west end of the lake which a less technically challenging area very suitable for beginners and intermediates. As with sailing, you can orienteer at whatever level you want. The Saturday Afloat morning events are low-key and equivalent to our Sunday club sailing. Courses range from an easy walk around paths (a yellow course), with Spring 2014 a few decisions to make at junctions, through to the Blue course which is for fitter orienteers wanting a more complex navigational challenge. And just like sailing there are bigger national events run to a higher standard (still including courses for relative beginners) 21 which attract sometimes thousands of competitors from around the world to some fabulous venues around the UK. K Map 1 You don’t need to be fit. Speedy orienteering is more about navigation than running fast. Top orienteers run and navigate simultaneously, but actually, as a beginner you would be better walking around a few courses at first to begin building the basic techniques, such as keeping the top of the map pointing to North throughout. All you need to get started is a basic compass which can be borrowed from the club initially, and the club entry fees are just a few quid should you wish to continue after a few events. The first map copied here is the second half of a 4.5km Green intermediate course completed by Linda at Blacklands. Moving steadily, walking and jogging whilst concentrating throughout on the map and the terrain, her time of 68 minutes as shown on the results slip copied over the map put her about half way up the list of 40 people on the Green course. Interested? Imagine you are at control number 8, a ruin just on the edge between the white coloured woods and the yellow coloured open field. Your aim is to get to number 9, a stream junction about 200 metres away and down the hill, as quickly as possible. You have to choose a route. Walking along to the obvious corner and down the track would be easy and safe. Alternatively, rising to the challenge set by the course planner requiring more advanced navigation, strike out straight through the white coloured forest (orienteers love the white ‘forest run’ shown on the Legend, and hate the dark green or ‘Fight’ – often solid bushes!). Faster but more risky! ‘Risk’ is the chance of losing valuable time through straying off your plan or even getting ‘dis-orientated’. We all get ‘lost’ to varying degrees; it’s just a question of how fast you sort it out! If you were out to beat all the 40 or so competitors on the Green course (typically a winning time of about 35 minutes), you would set your compass and run hard on its bearing down through the woods, pace counting as you go, checking off the green crossed ‘rootstock’ as you pass. Before arriving at 9, you would plan the leg to number 10, thus moving almost continuously ‘through’ number 9 and onto number 10. Doing all this perfectly is the equivalent of sailing like Ben Ainslie! On a practical basis a few ‘Weir Wooders’ do participate regularly. We can give you a hand to get started, so if you are interested. Enter ‘Southdowns Orienteers’ into Google and please do come along to a club event. The second map copied shows Linda’s 2.5 kilometre course in the British Night Orienteering Championships. This is the short course for women aged 55 to 60 which Linda won, moving steadily and mostly walking in a time of 80 minutes. The very complex contour and woodland detail and the lack of line features (such as paths or field boundaries) along some of the legs makes an interesting comparison with Blacklands. This was a fantastic starlight evening, and we sat together with a coffee after our courses watching the competitors headlights on the other side of the valley bobbing and weaving in between the trees. It is all great fun and enjoyed by all ages, shapes and sizes of competitors, and the forests around Sussex are always beautiful and quiet. It is almost impossible to avoid the temptation to jog or run because there are people everywhere doing the same thing. And orienteering helps you stay sharp and fit for sailing. Spring 2014

Afloat 22

A Night Championship Weir Wood Cruisers go to Scotland Messrs Summers, Williams, Carter and Stean sail the Scottish Islands. Mike picks up the story.

It all began (as the best things do) over a beer or two when I was recounting a trip I had made a few years ago on a chartered yacht around the Inner and Outer Hebrides. How good would it be to go again with some sailing mates from WWSC? Richard Williams, Tony Carter and Bill Stean were up for it, I happened to know a charter skipper based in the area, so a few phone calls and a couple of emails later we had booked K Equinox a week at the end of April exploring on a yacht the best cruising grounds in the world (that I have seen so far, don’t write in…). Our skipper, David Lyle, has been operating yachts out of Craobh Haven (sounds like Croove Haven. It’s about 20 miles south of Oban) for ten years and has a fantastic local knowledge of the Inner and Outer Hebrides, The Minches and the South Hebridean Sea that was to be our playground for a week. Our yacht was Equinox, an 8 berth Bavaria 37 Cruiser and with only 5 aboard there was plenty of room. The yacht had a few problems however, about which, more later.

Having travelled up the day before we were ready for a Tobermory Saturday morning departure and having finally stowed all K of the vittals that Richard had organized, we set off from Craobh Haven and motored in a rather damp and dismal grey light through the Cuan Sound, where a village occupies both sides of a narrow gap between two islands, past the island of Easdale with its submerged slate quarries and on to the Sound of Mull. The weather was not working for us that first day and little sailing was done on the Saturday. We arrived at Tobermory, our stop for the first night in the middle of the local music Afloat festival, which seemed to be an excuse for the people of Mull and from the adjacent islands to descend on Tobermory to expand the gene pool. There was much merry-making as

well as other things going on. K The thick plottens...... Spring 2014 When sailing in new waters and entering unfamiliar anchorages it is really important to know how much water but after that it always read a few knots less than the is below the keel and the depth sounder is a vital piece of GPS indicated. equipment; ours did not work. The speed log has a little A temporary fix for the chart plotter was an old one paddle wheel under the hull that measures speed through removed from another yacht, held on with Jubilee clips the water; ours did not work. A chart plotter provides a moving map showing you where you are and where the local and a dodgy power cable plugged into the 12 volt socket 23 rocks or “obstructions” are; ours did not work. Hmm, this at the Navigation Station. We were resourceful and used yacht had a few problems. other traditional means to navigate, like paper charts and soundings using a lead line and taking sighting compass We got the depth sounder sort of working, by sawing a rope bearings. Tony’s iPad with GPS Dongle running Navionics across the transponder under the hull to remove some of chart-plotter software came in as a useful check. the growth that was probably the cause of its malfunction, the log impeller was removed and found to be thoroughly Sunday dawned clear and sunny and we left a very quiet bunged up by marine growth (weed, slime, crustaceans and (and possibly overhung) Tobermory and in fickle and light jelly-like squirts). Tony cleaned off as well as he could winds sailed and motored to Canna, the most north westerly of The Small Isles, which include Muck, Rum and Eigg, a sprig of heather to our bows, when a school of some 20 stopping at the Canna Café for cake and tea. Very peaceful dolphins came to play with Equinox. Their speed and agility after Tobermory. to dart under and around the bow made it almost impossible to get any decent photos, but we did get some. On the way there we met with a school of perhaps 40 Atlantic Grey Dolphins. They played around us for ten After this we visited Canna for tea and date slices. Nobody minutes or so, diving under the boat, emerging centimetres could have been more surprised than me to find a tea room ahead of the bows, leaping into the air, a fantastic encounter. open after 5pm still serving tea and cakes. This was followed The only reason they could have for doing it was for pure by a visit close to the wrecked French trawler on the Isle of pleasure. Rum where we were also privileged to see our first Sea Eagle majestically floating over the cliff tops above the wreck. Tony: Day two just had to be one of the many highlights for me. Not only was it a fantastic sunny day, with a reasonable After Canna we motored to Loch Scrivaig on the Isle of breeze, but we got to see dolphins for the fist time. We had Skye, a peaceful anchorage although there was one other passed the furthest most westerly point on mainland Great yacht there whose grumpy skipper probably thought he Britain, Ardnamurchan Point, and so won the right to attach would have the bay to himself. Next day on to Soay Harbour where Gavin Maxwell, author of Ring of Bright Water, set up a shark oil factory in the late 1940’s. The Basking Sharks were harpooned and brought to the harbour to be rendered down for their oil but there was insufficient demand for the oil and the business folded. Maxwell later became a passionate conservationist. Pity it was a few years too late for the sharks. There is still an old steam locomotive boiler and the remains of the engine used to haul up the unfortunate sharks. Nature is gradually reclaiming all of the rusting iron and steel. In another hundred years it will all be gone. Next on to Loch Helport on Skye and to the village of Carbost, home of Talisker Whisky. The distillery opened too D Dolphin late for us to visit but we did buy a bottle of the peaty single malt and a “wee dram” was taken each night thereafter, strictly for medicinal purposes. Awaking on Tuesday morning to some wind at last , the forecast Easterly or South Easterly Force 5 to 6 and our next destination was Loch Skiport on South Uist, which meant a 40 mile crossing of the Minches. A radio call was made to Stornoway Coastguard to advise them what and who we were, where we were going and when we expected to arrive. We all fell in love with the lady who read out the Maritime Safety Information every three hours from Stornaway. We called her Morag and her soft Scottish accent was a delight to listen to… Onward to Loch Boisdale, a small Hebridean town that Moored with our friends

Spring 2014 does not seem to welcome visitors but where we were able

D to take a shower on the hotel’s staff bathroom. After staying overnight on a mooring buoy in the harbour we left next morning to thread our way through the Sound of Barra planning to arrive at Barra Airport at low water to see the

Afloat daily flight from Glasgow land on the sand between low and high water marks. The Twin Otter plane landed and after 24 loading with passengers a vehicle sped across the sand to frighten away the sea-birds so that the plane could take off. Bill: On several days the forecast threatened fairly heavy weather but generally it didn’t deliver – except for the west coast of Barra. It started at about a 16 knot south easterly and maxed out at around 27 knots. We had a couple of hours of brilliant broad reaching at up to 8½ knots with 2 reefs in the main and the genoa shortened a similar amount. S Selfie... It was certainly the sailing highlight of the trip. On the helm, Bill thought he was in his Laser. The rest of the crew weren’t too confident in his steering – but then, the Laser fleet isn’t either. Perhaps we were happier when Mike took over. Our destination for that night was Castle Bay on the South side of Barra, where Richard wanted to buy local Haggis but instead we found a butcher with no meat, and a restaurant that had stopped serving by 8.00pm so a takeaway curry was had instead. Thursday dawned and it was time to turn for home and our crossing of the South Hebridean Sea was notable for an encounter with a large anchor handling vessel, a bit like a big tug, apparently on a collision course with us. Despite calling on Channel 16, the international hailing frequency, no reply Wrecked French trawler was heard. Eventually Skipper David called Stornaway J Coastguard asking for the identity of the vessel and once the Coastguard were involved, like a naughty child found out by his parents, the bridge crew of the Olympic Hera replied and agreed to divert their course to pass safely behind us. On to the Isle of Coll, to Arinagour for an overnight stop and a meal in the Coll Hotel, named best small island hotel for the past two years. Another shower for all the crew, we were well on the way to becoming the least smelly crew of the week. From Coll it is a short sail to Staffa to see Fingals Cave. The cost of having good winds to get there was that there was too much wind to launch the rubber dinghy to have a closer look. Had the engine been reliable it might have been possible to take the dinghy inside the cave but the seas were J Close encounter too rough for paddling it in. David however took the yacht very close in so that we could see right into the cave. Onward to pass through the Sound of Iona separating Mull from Iona. We crept into Tinker’s Hole, one of the top 10 anchorages in the world; deservedly so. The passage from Tinker’s Hole at the end of the Ross of Mull to get back to Craobh Haven took us to the very edge of the Gulf of Corryvreckan, a narrow channel between Jura and Scarba where the tide runs through the gap between the islands and Afloat at the same time hits a an underwater pinnacle that causes huge whirlpools and overfalls. Bill: The Bay of Pigs at the north end of Jura was our anchorage for our final night. We needed to be close to the infamous Gulf of Corryvreckan so that we could go through J Sound of Iona Spring 2014 next morning at high tide. Corryvreckan has the third largest whirlpool in the world. Its dangers are legendary although it is not true that the Admiralty defines it as unnavigable. The entrance to the bay is protected by a small island and when the tide is running anyone going round it is badly affected by the flow through the gulf - except our skipper hadn’t told us. It was around 21.00 and getting dark and we were thinking 25 of Richard’s haggis, neaps and tatties when we hit the Little Corryvreckan, as it is known. Equinox was completely uncontrollable. In fact, trying to steer was probably a waste of time. The only way through was full power from the engine and wait to come out on the other side. We anchored for our last night in the Bay of Pigs, dropping the hook in 10 metres of water. Richard excelled himself Gulf of Corryvreckan and cooked for us Haggis with Tatties and Neaps and a few K G Seal of approval H Richard when not cooking toasts were made in beer and whisky, to the Islands, our Cruise Statistics Skipper, the boat and ourselves. And then a few Distance travelled 322 nautical miles more toasts… Average speed 4.2 knots Next morning we had to return the yacht by 10.00am so with regret we motored back to Craobh Haven, cleared our Maximum speed (Sailing) 8.7 knots stuff out of the yacht, cleaned up a bit and said our goodbyes Longest day sailing Day 2 (12hrs 26min) to David. Total hours sailing 67hrs 41min We will be back. There is much more yet to be discovered.

Open Day and Cherub Open

G The cake stall G Off we go!

Spring 2014 The Club held its annual open day on 17th May. The weather was superb although we could have done with a little more wind. But that didn’t deter nearly 200 visitors going for a taster sail. Thanks to the team at the jetty for all their halp in kiting folk out , marshalling them onto the boats and to the various instructors who took them sailing. We also signed up 20 new memberships which is very good news. Indeed two new families came down the next day and with some help rigged hire boats and got stuck into their new sport with relish on a fabulous Sunday with just the right light Afloat winds. Welcome to you all. 26 Thanks also to all the rest of the club members who helped at the club house welcoming visitors and introducing them to the club. A special thanks to our new Ladies who Launch group who ran the home made cake stall and raised significant funds for the club and to Ali who had to work flat out all day on the BBQ. He was so successful that he ran out of food towards the end of the day. The Cherubs held an Open meeting the same weekend and they certainly could have done with more wind especially on the Saturday when they had to abandon racing early. Sunday was a better day and we saw some keen competition throughout their series of six sprint races. They want to come back nest year and thought combining with open Day a great success. There was no clash with taster sails and the added bonus of visitors watching the performance of boats of such radical design. Thanks to Ernie and Peter for doing the difficult job of race officers in such conditions. H Boys toys... H Taster sail

H Our youngest new recruit H If it don't work...Bash It!

Results were: First: Paul and Peter Jenkins from WWSC Second: Dean Ralph and Simon Jones from IOSSC Third: Phil Kirk and Dave Ching from Thornbury Afloat Fourth: Steve Carter and Robin Jones from Hunts/Hykeham SC

Spring 2014 Fifth: Ben Rushton and Nick Pratt from HISC

27 J Little & Large J How to launch a Cherub

Aphorisms for all

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. Support bacteria; they're the only culture some people have. Fitness and other sports that Weir Wood sailors do

The Ed The Ed circulated a large section of our membership and asked what they do to keep fit and what other sporting activities they pursue other than sailing. I have to say that the response to the first question was very limited. Apparently RS 2000 sailors drink champagne during Club Championships to keep on form. And given the lack of response presumably no one else does anything. Now I know that that isn’t true. We have a number of fitness fanatics amongst us including Triathlon competitors, serious walkers, bikers, runners and even the Commodore has been known to swim a length or two and ski the odd mountain. One well known Enterprise and Laser sailor has walked from Lewis across France, down through Italy and across Albania and on to Greece. He planned to walk back via Moscow but sadly his son’s wedding interrupted. Another well known youth instructor seems to spend all his time, when not sailing, walking all over the place; the Lakes, the Dolomites, the Alps, Scotland as well as his local down land.

Most seem too modest to boast of their achievements but we did get a couple of responses about other activities which you can read about earlier in this edition of “Afloat”. The Hargreaves are intrepid walkers and Glynis describes their trek along the South Downs. And the Hulley’s are keen on Orienteering and Tim gives a glimpse into this sport which can be tailored to anyone’s ability. Now a word of warning here. Do take encouragement from Tim’s orienteering experiences. But if he tries to talk you into mountain biking turn a deaf ear. The chances are you will end up with various broken bones and broken bikes! Here’s to a speedy recovery Tim from your latest disaster.

Ben Bland

The Ed It is with great sadness we have to report that Ben Bland lost his battle with leukaemia on 28th April. Ben was a keen youth member at WWSC before going off to University at Swansea where he graduated with a degree in aerospace engineering. As well as sailing Ben was a keen all-rounder in sport playing for Crawley Hockey Club as well as playing rugby. He was a keen mountain biker. Ben was diagnosed with cancer in November 2012 and was treated with a bone marrow transplant and recovered at the Royal Marsden Hospital but sadly relapsed in January of this year.

Our sympathy and condolences goes to his family and all of his friends. Dan, his brother, is taking on an "ultra-marathon", a 100km run called Race to the Stones on July 19 in memory of his brother and to raise money for CLIC Sargent, a charity supporting children and young people diagnosed with cancer. Do give him your support.

David Haslam

Sadly we also have to report the death of David Haslam. Many of you will know David from his visits to the Galley over recent years to enjoy lunch with his friends. He was a most interesting chap. Born in Shanghai and then lived in Hong Kong. Spring 2014

His parents returned to the UK in 1932 and he qualified as an accountant in 1937. During the war he was with the Indian ArmyArmoured corps and fought at Monte Casino.

After the war he moved to Southern Rhodesia, got married and returned to the UK in 1958 with his family of 4.

Afloat He had been a member of WWSC since it was founded and sailed regularly in his Miracle well into his 80’s. When he died David was in his mid 90’s and possibly our oldest member. He had a very cheery personality and was quiet, kind and 28 thoughtful. He had many friends and maintained his zest for life right up to the end.

My lasting memory of him was early last year when Jean and I walked to the car park with him. Jean asked him how he was getting on driving at such an august age.

“It gets better and better!” He replied.

There will be a service at All Saints Church Crawley Down on June 4th at 2.pm. Chris Hopkins of us have demanding full times jobs and WWSC Youth Report May 2014 family lives as well. J Chris Hopkins Wow these reports seem to come round quickly. I am sure Speaking of volunteers, we must do monthly magazines! over the winter a number of our regulars have spent time Anyway winter is finally gone and we are back into the and money completing additional qualifications to enable us regular summer routine of Saturday and Sunday afternoon to meet the RYA’s increasing demands for formality and to youth sailing. So how’s it going? Best indication for me was allow us to extend the range of training that we can offer. a few weeks back when the OOD asked me what was going For starters 5 of us completed our Powerboat Instructor’s on and why were there so many Lasers on the slipway? I certificates at Southampton in March. It was another was delighted to reply that it was just our normal Saturday memorable weekend (at least for me as I’m on the afternoon group! We have been turning out 12/14 boats wagon….). The course ran at Southampton Water Activities each week , which is leading to a great atmosphere with a Centre ; not the most scenic location in the world but the good spread of abilities allowing us to cater for all. New this facilities are brilliant. We chose one of those weekends with year we have split the Saturday group between pure racing weather warning for heavy rain and wind. Both were right! and “performance sailing” for those that do not want to race To help us keep the costs manageable Richard Baker kindly or want to improve their sailing skills. We have also added put us up in his campervan . First problem was that the a race series in the format that will be familiar to those who satnav didn’t warn us that there is a height restriction on the have been involved with Oppies over the years. Itchen Bridge which necessitated a detour when in sight of The work that we have been doing is getting us noticed. We SWAC. The first day was spent working small RIBs on the have (probably) the largest 4.7 fleet in the country. Whilst river and in Ocean Village marina. Manoeuvering a RIB into travelling the country I have had quite a few people asking a tight berth next to a multi million pound Sunseeker in a to join our training. cross-wind was particularly interesting! For the Laser Open we had 11 4.7s (plus a few more youths That night we took the camper to SWAC’s sister centre at in Radials and Standards) This was the biggest turnout that I Woodmills. The centre is right next to the river. We had have seen away from the national circuit flood warnings and the river was definitely in full spate. Afloat We have been to some interesting away events this year. The second day was a boy’s dream. We had to plan a passage Parkstone was one of those events that will stick in my to the Isle of Wight. Then we were shown our RIB; an 8 memory for a long time. 28 boats started the final race metre 200hp monster. Great fun. The weather, however when a squall came through only 8 finished with 13 boats had other ideas. Once out in Southampton water the wind

and waves began to increase and we abandoned the trip at being left out at sea. For those that know Poole the water is Spring 2014 not that deep so when the boats were eventually brought in Calshot putting into to Hamble for a (late) lunch. The return there were some very interesting masts and sails. trip was even more extreme. The wind was recorded at 45 knots, sufficient for a Ro-Ro freighter to break its mooring Oppies are also looking much better. Beginners have started and block the channel. and we are seeing reinvigorated intermediate and racing groups. Richard Baker, who is the IOCA training officer, The final day we had our assessments, thanks to Richard’s has been spending some time helping us as the decline seen children Georgia and Sam who were volunteered as guinea 29 in Oppy sailing has been noted across the whole region and pigs for us to demonstrate our teaching skills. It was a bit of IOCA UK are keen to help us rebuild. a shock for our class mate from SWAC who is not used to children. However at the end of a long weekend we all got Schools sailing has restarted. This year we have been unable our certificates and Weir Wood has 5 additional PBIs. to obtain the services of a professional coach to run this for us but Simon has generously agreed to give his time each Aside from the Powerboat another 4 took their Senior Friday to enable it to continue. We have hopes of extending Instructor’s tickets at Rockley. I leave them to tell their own this to other schools in the area but we have to be careful to story.. balance this against the availability of our volunteers. Most Exam Season

The Ed A number of our youth are taking important exams about now; GCSE’s, AS’s and A levels. We wish them all good luck and hope that they get the results they want to support their further education. Of course it will be a sad time for us too. If they get the right results we shall be saying farewell (at least for a while) to those that are off to Uni. Good luck to you all and keep in touch and come back to see us in your vacations.

How the Internet began according to the Bible

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a healthy young wife by the name of Dorothy.

And so Dot Com was a comely woman, full in figure, broad of shoulders and with long legs. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.

And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?"

And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, "How, dear?"

And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. The sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."

Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums.

And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.

To prevent neighbouring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP).

And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.

And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. Indeed he did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.

Spring 2014 And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others."

And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or eBay as it came to be known.

He said, "We need a name that reflects what we are."

Afloat And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators."

30 "YAHOO," said Abraham.

And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.

Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside.

It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).

That is how it all began and that's the truth. WHERE IS THIS? COMPETITION The Ed I am pleased to say that the Ed’s repairs to his bilges are complete and he has set sail again and under the orders of Mrs Ed, who has been confined to dry dock in order to supervise the repair work, world travels have been resumed.

So here are some photos from a recent voyage. Where is the place? I’ll treat the first to email with the correct answer to a drink at the bar. (Those who have been privy to our travelling plans are excluded.) [email protected]. K 2

A 1 K 3

Superstitions and Boat Names from Foye Belle 21428

John & Jean Chisnall Afloat Jenny Macgregor wrote in the last issue of Millennium Mutterings, the RS 2000 magazine, about boat names and superstitions. My wife (and crew) Jean and her family on her mother’s side come from Cornwall. Her grandmother comes from Camborne, her mother from Fowey and Jean was born in Fowey. When first introduced to this side of the family I was astonished at the amount of superstition that was being followed including the aversion to the dreaded colour green. The Spring 2014 story went, according to them, that if you wore green it would soon be followed by black. The antidote was if you bought something green then you bought something black at the same time thus thwarting the devil. To this day Jean will follow the various rituals; no work on Holy Innocents Day, you can’t sit 13 people down to a meal and green is definitely out. So the superstition hasn’t just been kept alive by the sailing community. Which brings me to our boat name; Foye Belle. It refers of course to my wife coming from Fowey which used to be spelled 31 Foye. Belle in the context is obvious. But it is also a play on “foible”; a weakness, a penchant or in our case mostly a failing! There is absolutely nothing green in the boat or our sailing gear whatsoever except our performance when sailing her!

So if you have any superstitions do let the Ed know particularly if it is to do with sailing.s. Colin Dave and Emily

Dave and Keith Ernie and Andrew

John and Mark Jonathan and Michael

Youth Oops Verity! Richard and Chris

Copy date for next issue 31st August 2014 Editor: John Chisnall e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Published by Weir Wood Sailing Club and Printed by Embassy Press (London) Limited