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News from Lancing Sailing Club
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In this issue
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Many thanks to Mark Jackson who wrote the bulk of this news page. If you'd like to contribute with a short article, please don't hesitate! All topics are welcome.
The winter series has been very eventful this year and has not suffered from lack of wind. Races have been lost on the 18th of November and the 2nd and 9th of December due to winds you could hardly stand up in, let alone go sailing.
Despite this there have been 8 races in the series so far and we have 4 potential series winners. So it does to the wire with the final 2 races being run on Boxing Day. The results are up to date, as usual and show that 4 helms are potential winners! With some on family visits and others on race duties, it could be a surprise...
If you don’t fancy sailing on Boxing Day why not take your Boxing Day constitutional on Lancing Beach and pop into the club for mulled wine and mince pies? See you there!
- - - - news update - - - -
 It was a slow start on the 26th December, with only a few competitors going at sea. Two thirds of the fleet that day were Toppers, which decided the race team to lay a rather small course. To be honest, it's the first time I've seen a course that could have fitted inside the clubhouse (well, almost). Despite its reduced size, the trapezoid allowed a good beat and 2 reaches in a steady force 3 WSW. Bob Trevis and Ian Sykes in their RS400 had their job cut out with the numerous kite hoists and drops they performed during their 12 laps (2 races with 6 laps, kept them warm!). The Toppers appreciated the size of the course and made the most of it. A pleasant race in the sunshine with a flutter of excitment when we came back to the beach. Thank you Gary for the photos and the video!
There was much more activity on land. After the wind and rain we endured on Christmas day, everyone welcomed a bit of sunshine. The beach and the path were busy with walkers most of the day and we saw many club members dropping in for mulled wine and mince pies, some from as far as Texas, USA! Amazing what a bit of advertisement can do... Good to see you, Pete.
Once the boats were put to bed and the clubhouse tidied up for the last time this year, we all left, wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Time to have a break and see you all in March!
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Current series
The Winter Series was our last series of the year and ran from 4th November to Boxing Day.
It is the first time this year that we have run a series into December and the results generally are encouraging. First of all, Jerry Hone won the series (see RESULTS page) but the competition was tight, up until the last day. With the three leaders otherwise occupied, the results evolved with David Trout taking second place and Julian coming in third.
Conclusion on the winter series? True, some racing days were blown off, but we had a whole string of cancellations in May this year and didn't scrap the series for that. There might not have been too many competitors this year, but we only need to keep at it and start a trend. After all, we have the facilities with a good clubhouse, heating, hot food and showers, plus reliable rescue boats. We might just as well make the most of it. Sailing on Boxing Day and sharing a bit of Christmas cheer with friends certainly beat another rerun of The Sound of Music!
A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped run the series, especially Mark and Ollie who were in the rescue boat on the 26th, Jerry in the box, Jan in the canteen, Di who organised all the duties week after week and Mike who compiles the results and uploads them within a day. Same time next year?
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The forty-seventh Annual General Meeting of the club took place at the clubhouse, Shopsdam Road, Lancing, at 3.00 pm on Sunday 25th November 2007.
After a refreshing sail in the morning, members from Lancing Sailing Club who take an interest in their club met in the clubhouse to discuss the coming year.
Thanks were given to our retiring committee members for all of their efforts.
We now welcome Isabelle Jackson onto the committee as Vice Commodore and Sarah Ringshaw as Social Secretary. John Taylor joins the main committee and as yet has no specific role.
We had the usual round of reports from the flag officers and covered subjects including the cycle path, soft beach, finances for this year and into the future. In general we are in a healthy position but everyone emphasised the importance of relying on volunteers to make the club successful.
Unfortunately it has been necessary to cancel the social event planned for New Year's Eve. Bookings were insufficient to make the event viable. Let's hope that more members will be in party mood next year!
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Children's Christmas party
On Sunday the 16th of December the sailors were all banned from the clubroom in their wet sailing kit as the annual children’s Christmas party was being held that afternoon.
21 excited children arrived at 3 o’clock and were entertained with face painting, a treasure hunt, party games and party food. Then, just before the end, Santa Claus made his appearance and dished out the presents.
Many parents with little ones stayed around and their help was invaluable when it was time to eat. Loads of thanks to Stephen Miller, who showed us he knows how to use a camera. Just have a look at the photo-gallery and you'll see what I mean. There were so many good images it was hard to choose! That's why the format of that gallery is different from the other photo collections.
It was good to hear the feedback from the party on the bulletin board. Here is what Gavin had to say: "Yet another brilliant party by Mark, Isabelle & Elodie. Jade had been asking me when the club’s party would be for the last 2 months. The look of wonderment on all the kids' faces when Santa arrived, how does he know when to come before Christmas day at Lancing!
A Huge Thank you to the Jackson trio...Superb"
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The first Archie Summers Youth Award has been won by Matthew Goacher and Joey Beer in their 29er.
 As a result of this they have received a small trophy; their name will be printed onto a centre board made by Archie himself and placed in a prominent place in the club house and they will be given a bursary of £100 from the club that will be used towards their sailing in nationally recognised events or training programs. Congratulations to you both.
There were a number of young sailors that were considered for the award in 2007 including Jennifer Austin, Katie Hedgecock and Elodie Jackson. Matt and Joey came out on top after everyone was scored against a set criteria including their commitment to sailing at Lancing which was calculated from race entries. Other criteria include previous experience at opens and events planned in 2008. The result of this scoring formed the basis of a debate on the sailing committee on who the winner should be with the final result coming from a vote.
The award in future will include a criteria to take into account whether the candidates have won it previously. This is to try and ensure the same people do not win it year after year which might act as a disincentive to other young sailors. The hope is to encourage our youth sailors to venture out to opens and develop their sailing skill which should in turn improve their sailing at Lancing.
Andy Carter, Treasurer
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The dates for this winter's Sunday lunches cooked by Mark and Isabelle are January the 20th and February the 17th. Please contact Mark or Isabelle to book your place.
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Before the sailing season starts we will be having our annual cycle ride to get fit for the coming season or for those a little less energetic just to have a nice ride in the country.
We are planning to do this on Good Friday, 21st March 2008. If anyone has any ideas for the route let us know. Last year we went to Southwater from Bramber Castle on the Downs link and this seemed to be popular.
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