My last note to you was for our March AGM, it is now May and our sailing season is well under way. For myself the J24 venture continues with preparations for the world championships being held in Poole in 2020. We have just returned from the European Championships held in Patras, Greece. What a fantastic trip, we towed “Cacoon” some 1,000 miles to Ancona in Italy then caught the 24hr ferry to Patras in Greece. 36 boats were entered from Italy, Germany, Hungary, Greece and of course the UK. There were 10 races in total and our highlights were achieving a fourth place in race 2 on the first day and a third place in race 5 on the second day. We came 14th overall with some great lessons for us from the event. Next for us is the Summer Cup held at Parkstone Yacht Club 25-27th May. I will be writing a story of our experiences at the J24 European Championships trip to be put under news on our web site.
So much for what is keeping me busy! Our Club is buzzing with all the activities taking place. Please make sure you read Tracey’s Sailing Newsletter to keep you informed of what is happening. Our website is a must visit to see what is coming up and what you should be entering in your diaries. Chris Playfair, Tim Edom and Amanda Jones are now making sure that there is as much up to date information as possible on our site and my thanks to them for this time-consuming but essential work.
There some great events coming up soon:
- This weekend is the Osprey and Contender Open 18-19 May
- This is of course marked by one of the best social events of the year, The Mid-Summer Madness party on the Saturday evening. A free event where you can dance the night away to great music.
- There will be a raffle held during the evening in aid on “The Commodores Charity” so please, please bring some cash or preferably a note to support “Julia’s House”.
- On the 25-27th May are the Hobie Nationals. That will provide very exciting racing especially if the wind is up! They are a very social lot and there is a celebratory party on the Saturday evening, all are welcome.
- As I mentioned above the J24’s will be competing in the Summer Cup at Parkstone, a qualifying event for next year’s worlds.
- The Club will be really buzzing with young enthusiastic sailors on the weekend of the 1-2 June as we host a Super Traveller Topper Event.
I really look forward to welcoming our visitors and sharing our facilities with our guests. We have a reputation for being open and friendly and running such events smoothly and professionally. This is a testament to all the hard work of Sailing Committee, our volunteers and of course our staff.
The questions raised at the January Forum, Member Survey and at the AGM are being addressed by the sub committees and I will be updating members in my next newsletter.
I was at the Club last night, Wednesday, and was watching our youth members on the water, it is so good to see our youth training flourishing and I wish to highlight their activities and successes in my newsletters.
Some of our young Sailors have been busy training over the winter, we were particularly proud of Emily Smith, Oli Freemantle, Oliver and Amber Hale who were selected for a team of 6 from the 20 sailors of the Topper SW Zone squad to compete in the Eric Twiname Championships in Rutland. The SW team came 3rd with great results from Oli coming 11th and Emily 2nd Female overall. Harry Somerville also competed in the Windsurfing class. On Wednesday nights the team are busy training a group of the Mirror sailors who have expressed an interest in competing in the Mirror Nationals which are being held in Poole this August, most of them have never sailed competitively before but they are coming on really well and should be full of confidence to enjoy the event.
The results of the Youth Club racing on Wednesday evenings can now be viewed online in the Youth / Topper section.
There are so many opportunities and activities to get involved in for our members, find out what is going on, join in and enjoy all that our Club has to offer.
Congratulations to Jack who has taken over from Saul as our new Bar and Catering manager. All of us who use the bar and catering facilities know Jack and how well we have been looked after by him.
Wishing you all a great sailing season,
Nye Davies
Commodore
