Sailing Week Special Edition
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Sailing Week special edition August 2013 NEWHAVEN AND SEAFORD SAILING CLUB SAILING WEEK 2013. If you have never been to Sailing Week you are missing out on a great part of being a mem- ber of NSSC. You do not have to attend every part of the week. Pick and Mix. Some members bring their families and camp for the week – without sailing. Some members work mornings and come just for the afternoon races. Some members come for the evening social events. The event is open to non members – so you can bring friends to join in the fun. The Galley will be open all day for food and drinks. The bar is open at lunchtimes and evenings. Make 2013 the year that you come along to the Seaford Clubhouse and experience:- Sailing Week Saturday 3 rd August – Sunday 11 th August If the conditions are not good to sail on the sea we will use facilities at Piddinghoe. Sailing week timetable Day Morning Afternoon Evening Saturday Set up camp Free Fun Sailing ? Bar Open Sunday AM Series 1.8 -2.8 PM race 1.6 Bar Open Monday Cadet Races – approxi- Series Handicap Races Quiz Night mately If possible 2 races per day – 1 Tuesday 45 minutes long for the Len on Friday (prize Giving) if 9 Bring and Burn BBQ Miller Trophy. races – best 6 count. Cook your own! Wednesday Sailing For Adults – a series of Prizes for different classes as Jive Night Thursday informal novelty races. well as fun prizes. Live band and attractions Friday Fish and Chip night Saturday Expedition to the Cuckmere Bar Open Sunday Class Championships 1 &2 PM series 1.7 Bar Open Race and camping fees Race/sailing fees Member Non-member – Camping fees – Camping fees – payable per sailor SMALL TENT (<4) LARGE TENT (4+) Whole event Free £35 £15 £30 (30/7-7/8) Expedition Free £5 Commodores bit As mainsheet is relatively easy to produce, cut and paste, and now we don't try and email so file size doesn't matter, we can now put more photos in, so if you have anything to say or pho- tos to share, let the officers know. We will try and do mainsheet monthly during the main sea- son, summer, and every two months through winter. It depends on content so get writing. I have graduated from my apprenticeship with Simon sorting out the toilets, hope you like them, there will be a mirror in the gents so us men can check we look good. My son Adam spent some time trying to tidy up the side of the clubhouse and getting a sailing feel about the building. Please start putting photos in the clips or frames, there will be more soon. Any ideas or help very welcome. Thanks to Kathy and Roger for removing the remaining paint from the ladies changing room, looks loads better. There is a cunning plan to sort out the building issues and after sailing week we may be re- moving the main glass doors an windows while we check things out. Your cooperation and assistance will be gratefully received, so if you are up for a bit of hard labour let Rupert or I know. Howard and I are getting the grass ready for sailing week so all you campers have a comfort- able time, Simon and I have installed a Belfast sink under the outside tap so you can wash your gear, we will be putting a plug and waste pipe in when we can. The Topper open on 20th had a strong offshore wind and a reasonably flat sea, a good turnout from NSSC both on the sea and in support. Well done to all who took part in the day, a full re- port and results inside. A special mention though for Rupert and Matt who appear to have started drinking Iron Brew and manage to bend masts with some hard sailing. The apparent appearance of a sunken object in the pond has caused a problem for the wind- surfers, I happened to be chatting about that when a voice said" I hit that on Wednesday, in fact I hit it a few times, and so did someone else". Why didn't you say anything I asked, "well I did I was chatting to someone and they said some of the fish in the pond are big". So there we have it, if you are sailing or windsurfing in the pond and stop suddenly, you will have probably hit a fish. I am looking forward to sailing week and cadet week, we should all have a lot of fun and some good sailing. If those who remember all the old awards we used to make get in touch we will try and find all the bits, I am sure they are around somewhere. I am also up for some new ideas, best tent? worst dressed? smartest boat? let us know if you have any ideas. Lastly, just to remind you all that the club relies on volunteers for most jobs as well as the duty- man points system. If you have skills or want to help out please come forward, the more help- ers the more we can do. Ian Johnson Commodore Do You Own a Lifejacket? At a recent RNLI ‘Life Jacket Clinic’, where people bring their life jackets to be checked, around 50% of the life jackets presented would not have automatically inflated. Worse, many of those defective life jackets would not even stay up even if blow up orally. Ideally, you should return your life jacket to the supplier or maker annually for a check but many of us don’t do that and check them ourselves. So if you cannot get to a RNLI Life Jacket Clinic what should you check? General Condition: Examine all straps for poor stitching, wear, fraying etc. Ensure that toggles and buckles can be secured properly and are not worn or damaged Open it up and examine the stole (bladder) for wear, damage, perishing etc. Inflation Mechanism Check that witness clips or devices do not show that it has been operated. If it has you will need a rearming kit. Remove the gas bottle, which should not show signs of rust, if it does then check that the rust has not damaged the stole. Discard a rusty bottle and replace. While you have the bottle in hand check that the screw end has not been pierced as this means that it has been operated. Finally weight the bottle (the weight is marked on it) to check that it has not leaked. Look in the mechanism where the bottle screws in to see the end of the hollow pin which will pierce the bottle. Check the expiry date on the operating mechanism capsule and replace if out of date. Put the new (or serviceable old) bottle in the mechanism making sure that the screw thread goes in straight and not crossed. Ensure that the bottle is firmly tightened BY HAND. Accessories The life jacket must have the following: Reflective tape – in good condition Crutch straps – in good condition and buckles/toggles effective Light – works Hood – not damaged Lifeline (if used) – in good condition and karabiners operate effectively Testing Inflate the life jacket by mouth and leave inflated for 24 hours. It should not show any obvious loss of pressure (While you have the life jacket inflated now is a good time to put it on and check if you can ac- tually put the hood on) Finally, deflate the life jacket and fold neatly – marking the label with the date of your inspec- tion. Make an entry in your diary to service the item in 12 months’ time. In Use Fit the life jacket with the waist adjusted so that you can get a closed fist between your chest and the belt. (Too tight and you will not be able to breath if or when the life jacket inflates.) Do up the crutch straps as tight as possible while remaining comfortable. (if you do this while standing up you will find that it is slack when you sit down, so if you do go in the water, after the life jacket is inflated, tighten the crutch strap again: comfort is not important at this point!) Ensure that the manual inflation toggle is accessible and not tucked away inside the Velcro. (Check the security of the gas bottle from time to time as they have a habit of coming loose) If you are a smoker be careful of hot ash which can pierce the stole with unnoticed pin holes. If you sail off-shore then do the RYA Sea Survival Course. End-of-Life Is it time for your trusty friend to go to the bin? Don’t keep it for spares, for ‘just in case’ or be- cause you cannot bear to see it go. Cut the straps off so there is no chance that someone not as scrupulous as you will rescue it and put it into use. If you have any doubts contact Bill Giles to ask for help or advice ( [email protected] or 07720 399189) CATAMARAN SAILING It has been a few years but we now have a com- petitive class of Dart 15 Cats, we now have 5 in the Club, on the 14 July all were racing, 3 boats with 2 up and remainder sailing single handled, very competitive and close racing. These are one class design that can be sailed two up or Single handed, for a real adrenalin rush, on the Trapeze single handed.