PotterShip PotterShip - The Royal Lymington Yacht Club in 2009 Yacht Lymington - The Royal PotterShip The Royal Lymington Yacht Club in 2009 FROM THE COMMODORE n this last year we celebrated 25 years of Wednesday Junior Sailing with a wonderful POTTERSHIP Iparty and were honoured with a visit from our Patron, The Princess Royal. The inaugural Pottership is the magazine of the Royal Lymington Challenge Cup was highly Royal Lymington Yacht Club acclaimed and we enjoyed excellent support Bath Road Lymington for all our Club events. Hampshire SO41 3SE Your Sailing Committee has produced a full Telephone 01590 672677 and varied programme for 2010, with the Fax 01590 671642 Cruising Committee planning a Meet in Croatia. E-mail [email protected] Doubtless our burgee will be flown once again Web www.rlymyc.org.uk by our intrepid Members in far off places © Royal Lymington Yacht Club Ltd 2010 We say farewell to our Vice Commodore Phil Editor Judy Ruffell Batten who stepped down at this year’s AGM and who has served us so well with his special e: [email protected] blend of robust regard for our ethos and customs lightened by his own brand of good humour. t: 01590 672175 Also stepping down at the AGM this year was David Hayles,Rear Commodore House. David and Front cover the House Committee have done an outstanding job for the Club, the wonderful new balcony Royal Lymington Challenge Cup and bar refurbishment being among their achievements. The Club also thanked Roger and Photo: Lloyd Photography © Jenny Wilson who stepped down as Principal Training Officer and Head of Wednesday Junior Design and Production Sailing respectively. Their contribution over the past 16 years was recognised with a presentation Avalon Design of a claret jug and glasses at the annual dinner. 07836 589 673 I have been blessed in my first year with a very able and conscientious General Committee and my thanks are due to the retiring Members, Bob Baker, Gordon Stredwick, John Miller and Your Pottership John Mills,who returns as our new Vice Commodore. All the retiring Members have contributed Magazine significantly to the discussions in General Committee. I also welcome Neil Eccles as our new Firstly thank you very much to all Rear Commodore House. He has already done sterling service with our web site and our authors, photographers and advisors communications systems. who have contributed to this magazine. Needless to say the new ferries have loomed large during the year. Despite this we have This is your magazine and we do want managed our full sailing programme, because our Race Officers and organizers have skilfully lots of articles and pictures for the next worked around the ferry sailings. There remain problems of wind shadow and turbulence and edition.You don’t have to write a saga - all Members need to be aware of these issues. We continue to work with the Harbour Master we really do need short articles and and the Ferry Captains to resolve incidents involving our Members and events and have photo-stories, as well as the longer updated our Club reporting system. Please use this should you have an incident. More accounts of cruises and racing events; information on the Club’s position with regard to the ferries and incident reporting can be seen ideally longer articles should not on our website exceed three pages which, by the time Our Members have enjoyed a successful season on the water with Stuart Jardine once again we have put in a heading and a few pictures, is about 2500 words. winning the X Class at Cowes, Class wins in the Fastnet for Mike Slade & David Lees, and our And a word about pictures Olympic hopefuls continuing their fight for a place at Weymouth 2012. Phil Lawrence won the Please set your camera to medium or Etchells national championship; Phil Sparks became the ISAF Youth World Champion, was high resolution, we need file sizes of at presented with the YJA Young Sailor of the Year Award and was named RYA Southern Area least 5 meg to support a quarter page Young Sailor of the Year. picture and 10 meg for a half page The racing programme was most successful, and the Cruisers enjoyed a varied programme picture. Please send your pictures as including a trip down the French Canals. Perhaps most heartening to me is the number of JPEG files via the compliments that I have received as to how active and welcoming is the Royal Lymington Yacht email or on disc Club. Let us all continue to make it so. but please do not embed them Finally, a thank you to all Committees Members, Race Officers, RIB drivers, those who help with in Word files or Junior Sailing, flower arrangers, and all other volunteers. The Club could not be so successful down size them, without you. We always need volunteers so please don’t be shy, we can use your expertise. thanks. May you all enjoy 2010 on the water in whatever craft that gives you pleasure. JUDY RUFFELL ROD PERRY, COMMODORE EDITOR Pottership 2 NEW FLAG OFFICERS JUBILEE CHALLENGE TROPHY The Jubillee Challenge Trophy is awarded to the Member who has achieved the most outstanding offshore performance. This year David Lees was presented with the Trophy. As the huge armada of IRC Fastnet boats entered the Hurst narrows a small dark hulled yacht had a substantial lead over the whole fleet – she was soon recognized as Hepzibah. VICE-COMMODORE REAR COMMODORE HOUSE Of course the larger yachts soon passed her, JOHN MILLS NEIL ECCLES but David and his crew of family and friends During his term on the General Neil Eccles sits on the General Committee spent the next five days keeping the 58 yachts Committee John served on the Finance and and helps the Club with its website, Audio/ in their class behind them, to win Class 3 Membership Committees. He is a chartered Visual and IT systems. formerly a BBC Television overall in the Fastnet Race. The Fastnet win arbitrator and retired in 2003 as Senior Partner Outside Broadcast Producer, he has televised also secured the overall 2009 RORC Class 3 and Chairman of a London based firm of many live State Events and even the Championship for Hepzibar. Chartered Surveyors. John’s sailing experience occasional Boat Show. Bron and Neil resumed This achievement is the more remarkable since spans youth dinghy racing on a gravel pit in active sailing in 1995 in the Solent and the she is not a stripped out racing yacht, having Hertfordshire when, in January, without a wet Channel; currently they sail their Moody 42 been in David’s family for some 30 years. suit, he quickly learned how not to capsize; Cutaway,now based in Lorient, along the JACK IN THE BASKET TROPHY graduating later in life to cruising with his wife western coast of France and northern coast of The Jack In The Basket Trophy is awarded to Jean in their ketch Coral of Aqaba to idyllic Spain. Neil is currently Commodore of the the outstanding sailor of the year under 30; locations between the Whitsunday Islands Moody Owner’s Association, an appointment this year Phil Sparks, who has just turned 17, westwards to the Caribbean. which ceases in February 2010. .....and six new General Committee Members were announced at the AGM ....... CHRIS BALDWICK DENISE MOORE HANNAH NEVE Chris first sailed from Lymington in the early Denise started boating on the Thames, Hannah was a keen dinghy sailor at 70s before work took him abroad for the next was a Member of the Thames Motor Yacht university and started sailing keelboats in 30 years, where he continued to sail in various Club before joining the RSYC and then the 1987. Since 1999, she and husband Chris have parts of the world. Returning to the UK in RLymYC on moving to Lymington. She has owned six cruiser-racers and race in the Club’s 2000 he ,joined the RLymYC currently racing served twice on House Committee. Denise keelboat racing programme. She has his Nordic Folkboat and a Laser. Chris is a Club holds a Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate, is a competed in numerous European and Race Officer, Dinghy Instructor, RIB driver, and Powerboat Instructor, and drives Club safety international events allowing her to see how helps out with Junior sailing when not boats. With husband Tony they cruise many other Club’s are managed. Hannah crewing an XOD. Chris wishes to maintain throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. works at her dental practice and brings her the Club's racing tradition, and has recently In her working career she was Head of practical small-business knowledge and served as Captain of Racing Marketing for a pharmaceutical company. keelboat experience to the Committee . Pottership 3 AWARDS AND TROPHIES received it. Starting in Neve, Captain of Racing, Stuart’s work on 2005 when he was 12 was awarded the trophy. reorganising the dinghy Phil won the Optimist IRC racing in the Western park, their achievement national Championships Solent has been in in building the new X- and represented GBR at decline for some time boat, their work with the European and the Club has been Junior Sailing and their Championships. After finishing as top British working hard to reverse that trend. Chris took willingness to share their expertise with other sailor at the 2007 Optimist Worlds in Sardinia, over as Captain of Racing at the beginning of Club Members. Phil moved into the 420 Class, and in 2008 the year and successfully launched the HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP won the 420 National Championships (the 4th Lymington Challenge Cup in the midst of a Helen Ann (Annie) Littlejohn is our second winner from our Club in 5 years, started by recession.