Flappy Rag

Just the duties to be entered when you have all returned your renewal forms! For the remainder of this year, the Club is open every Sunday with assorted events (see Diary below).

No doubt those intrepid dinghy sailors will continue to race, kept warm by the anti-freeze they must have in their veins (or is it Stowford Press Cider - which reminds me that LRSC members drank The Tuckers Arms dry at Ian & Carla’s wedding reception!) Enjoy your Club and join in with the activities to get maximum FUN with sailing, social and generally being involved. The more you put in, the more you get out. I look forward to seeing you all both on and off the water.

Margaret

NEW CLUB DUTY
- staying warm & dry but still involved!

One for the Techies ... 2008 sees the introduction of a new club duty - RESULTS. Full training will be given in a couple of fun sessions and this is an ideal duty for those who are computer literate but don’t particularly want to be on the water or spend all day in the Club.

The duty will involve entering the results onto the computer after a race, printing out & displaying them on the Results Board. The plan is that if you are part of the “Results” team, then you won’t be given other Club duties.

Watch the Club Notice board & website for details of Results Training … and book fast as there will only be 30 places. Email Ian Wallace or Barry McGibbon to ensure a place.

The Super Series seems to have been a success this year and is certainly something that I would like to push harder for next year. I would also like to put an emphasis on our club traditions, by raising the profile of our historical club events, these are what separate us from other clubs! The Prescot Trophy for example needs to have all sailors in fancy dress. Beer Regatta needs a big contingent to attend, as well as our own Club Regatta, and now with the new super series events we are getting very close to the magic 50 boat turnout - this needs us all to do our bit and encourage every dinghy sailor to get out on the water for these events and more. The emphasis this season is on our club sailing, with a limited amount of events being run.

So, while you’re sitting in front of the fire this winter, have a think on how we can improve the Dinghy sailing, attendances and quality of courses - it’s your club…..

Tim Parsons

Mary then qualified to sail in the RYA Open Match Racing Champs sailed the following weekend against all the top guys (Nick Cherry, Mark Campbell-James, Olympic sailors, etc, etc). Unfortunately there wasn't much wind and the full programme couldn't be completed – she finished 8th and Lucy MacGregor who won the women's was 6th

Sophie Morton and Alice Rook are both in their respective university sailing teams, Sophie at Plymouth and Alice at Southampton. Naomi White is studying Music at Bath Uni and has been giving concert performances on her oboe. Nick Hill and Austin Fairley are also at Plymouth Uni :- the former is recuperating after appendicitis and trying to get back to sport again especially rugby for the winter; Austin is studying watersports (a tough assignment but someone has to do it) and has spent the summer windsurfing.

Youth Section coaching days

As a “RYA Volvo Champion Club” we are entitled to at least 2 days training from a top coach (and maybe more if we can justify it) – if you think your Youth section member is showing a special interest in yotting and would benefit then make it known to a committee member

NB Nick Cherry was the RYA coach sent to teach the youth section a couple of years ago, and he became the UK Champion Match Racer last year as well as this (and won $5,000 in prize money)– see what a training session with our Youth can do for you!

. That can only be obtained by putting in time on the water and getting plenty of practice. An experienced coach can gauge the standard of sailing of a candidate within minutes of them getting on the water and I would urge all those thinking about applying next year to start preparation ASAP.

That brings me to the Assistant Instructors & Helpers pieces. AIs are younger than 16 but have a level of sailing approaching that of an Instructor and have usually worked as a Helper for several years. There are many young people who would like to be Helpers; most Helpers go on to become Assistants. I already have a large list of applicants, some who are even willing to work as a Helper but pay as a student.

These young people are the future of the Sea School and I have to be very selective, as we are supplying training and rely on them going on to become full Instructors. We are looking for keen competent young sailors, who have proved themselves through the Youth Section or Sea School, who enjoy teaching others, and are willing to work hard as members of the team. Inevitably I will be disappointing some applicants.

The largest number of pieces are the Students themselves and supply of these pieces seems to be one of the lesser problems. Virtually all Youth spaces were allocated by the end March last year although the adult numbers balanced well with availability. The booking process is set to commence 1st Jan 2008 and I would urge club members to book early.

The final pieces which have to slot in are matters like First Aid, Power Boating and Instructor Courses, AI and Helper training, CRB checks, maintenance of boats, RYA Inspection, finance and paperwork.

Will all the bits be found and fit without the use of the hammer? Again it will be a fun challenge.

Did you know that in addition to the training section on the club web site, the Sea School now has its own web site at:www.lrss.org.uk

The year started with great weather and many boats were away most weekends in April, when other clubs still had theirs on the hard!

Bad weather over Easter did not deter some of us going West and a great time was had by all.

A poor summer followed with some crews spending more time on the Jurassic Coast bus than in their cruiser. Large marina and berth fees were a feature of the year as most crews had to leave boats for upwards of three weeks.

Despite the poor weather we had some spirited sailing cross channel with a swift voyage from Dartmouth to Guernsey in a force 7. Some days later an equally fast trip from Guernsey to St Malo, in the company of Cariad and Goodwill, saw Cariad break

her boom and Goodwill requiring Viagra for their spinnaker. Westerly owners had a memorable trip form Torquay to Dartmouth. Team Truscott fielded two crack crews with close encounter racing in heavy weather.

It was not possible to visit the Isles of Scillies this year but it will be pencilled in for next year.

Next year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Wine Run and a special event is planned. This and other subjects such as Craning and an early Easter will form much debate at the next Cruiser Forum planned for the 12th Jan.

Happy Sailing!

CLUB KEYS & SECURITY …

If you are the last person to leave the Club, please make sure that all doors are locked and the alarm set.

Please double check the garage and office doors are secured.

If you are a key holder, please make sure you have your new alarm code as they have all been changed.

Exmouth SC has done something very similar and created a huge increase in its sailing and membership, reducing its average age by between ten and twenty years, and has just spent £30,000 on new boats.

In contrast two other clubs related how they had gone through an almost total collapse of training, having developed very successful teams (Mirrors in one case and Graduates in the other) that had gone on to National triumph. However, they had concentrated on the hot shots to the exclusion of the grassroots, so that newcomers felt unwanted and inhibited by their personal lack of ability. When the hot shots moved on, the clubs were left with gaping holes which they are now trying to fill. In all four cases there is a clear benefit of having a separate Training Section concentrating on that aspect alone.

One of the big achievements of this year has been the clarification of the relationship between the Club and the Sea School. The charitable status of the Sea School was imposed as a condition of its establishment, thus requiring that two separate organisations exist. Hopefully, we have gone a good way towards explaining this relationship by spoken word, pamphlets and the web

marathon making it a very long day. Judith left her hotel when it was still dark at 6am and bitterly cold - huge fleets of coaches were parked to collect entrants. Dawn was breaking when Judith arrived at the marshalling area with everyone dressed in old second-hand clothes to keep warm. Just before the start, entrants strip off their outer layers down to running gear and discard them. Groups of scavengers then collect these clothes for the homeless.

At the ten miles mark, a bystander from the crowd told Judith that Paula Radcliffe had won! Only sixteen more miles to go for Judith but huge encouragement from the crowd.

Judith confesses that she is still aching - but “had a brilliant time!” Talking to her, it’s not surprising to find that she is still on a tremendous high from her experience with so many wonderful memories from a remarkable achievement.

From all of us at the Club: Congratulations, Judith!