 |
|
News from Lancing Sailing Club
|
|
BACK TO INDEX |
In this issue
|
Indian Summer Social
 On Saturday 27th September, Karen and John McGrath with help from the rest of the family welcomed us to a taste of India. They'd decorated the room with flowers and candles, put traditional Indian music and served a variety of dishes, from the milder chicken korma to the spicier vegetable curry and lamb balti. No need to choose, you could have a taste of the three if you wanted. Well worth it too. This generous and tasty main course was followed by a fruit salad and lovely vanilla ice-cream (where did you get it, Karen?). A limerick competition rounded off the meal and all tables were busy rhyming 'Dehli' with 'belly' or 'jelly'.
The evening was also a bit of a celebration for one of our most enduring members, as he'd just celebrated a biggie birthday on the 25th. Candles on the cake and a rendition of 'Happy Birthday to Youuuuu' meant that Mike couldn't hope to turn 60 unnoticed, teehee...
All in all, it was a perfect evening with a lovely sunset, hardly an autumn chill in the air, good food and great company. Next social is Bonfire Night / Trick or Treat on 1st November. You're coming?
|
| TOP OF PAGE |
 We were all thinking that the Have-a-go Day would succumb to the winds and rain of the summer so far. Thankfully the sun shone and the wind was ideal. This brought out droves of members and boats and a steady flow of people trying to get to the beach.
Many members offered family and friends a day out with a chance to get a sail. We also had a steady flow or bystanders waiting to be taken out. At one point there were 25 boats on the water and still a queue on the beach of people waiting to have a go.
I eventually got my boat in the water and performed the tricky task of swapping passengers at sea via the rescue boat. Most of us managed to keep the newcomers smiling if a little damp at times. Many people got their first ever sail. Everyone who took part had a great time.
As we came ashore to have a break, the evening pursuit race was about to start. The wind was beginning to fade a little but the race was well attended. As usual the Toppers started first and it was up to the rest of us to try and catch up. No one could catch the laser 8.1 who shot through the fleet.
Then the good part, Beer and Food. A great BBQ was up and running all day but they turned up the heat in the evening with some fantastic kebabs with all the extras, followed by a pud and beer (I was in heaven).
Many members worked extremely hard to make this whole day a great success.
Gary Austin - Fast Fleet captain
|
| TOP OF PAGE |
Primary school visit
 It was a good start of term for Years 5 and 6 from St Mary's Catholic School in Portslade.
In the context of the new and exciting scheme "Deep Learning Project", the two classes are focusing their work this term on Adventures at Sea. To learn more about the sea, the wind and boats, 60 children came to visit the club on 9th September and found out about sailing. After talking about safety in and around boats, they looked at a couple of simply rigged boats, a Laser and a Topper. By simply pulling the mainsheet and sitting in the boat, they understood the way the boat gets powered up and the need to balance the force of the wind with bodyweight.
The children came equipped with thousands of questions and David Carter, our resident captain, was very happy to provide most answers.
 Despite a dreadful weather forecast, the children managed to stay outside most of the day. After gathering answers to their questions, they went sketching on the beach, then went back in the club for lunch. Once fed and watered, the teaching staff produced all the materials needed to make kites and the beach was soon full of children running around, trying to make their creations fly in the breeze. Many succeeded and plenty of little white kites were floating gracefully in the gentle breeze. Soon it was time to get back on the bus towards school at the end of a very exciting day.
On behalf on St Mary's staff and children, I would like to thank Dave Carter for being present that day and rigging his boat. He answered all sorts of questions clearly and with patience. The children and the staff learnt lots that day and many said they wanted to have a go at sailing. There might be some new members coming our way, who knows...
Isabelle Jackson - St Mary's School parent governor
|
| TOP OF PAGE |
Final results for Wednesday evening series 2008
After a great turnout at the end of August, the last day of the Wednesday evening series was a bit of an anticlimax, with the usual mixture of strong winds and big waves. A cancelled race meant that the results established on 27th August remained unchanged. The overall winner of the series is Jo Brown helming her RS200 with Paul Lynch as a crew (and Bobby the dog as land-based support team). They were closely followed by two Lasers, David Trout and Paul Fewster. Looking at the final results. Dave Trout did not miss a race this series. That's dedication...
With the weather as it was on 3rd September, the idea of a barbecue was replaced with jacket potaoes and chilli. Penny Fewster served over 25 portions; both meat-based and vegetarian chilli were delicious and it was very tempting to go for seconds. A big thank you to Penny and Paul, and Sue Taylor who helped with the event.
|
| TOP OF PAGE |
Latest and hottest Topper League results
Things haven't changed much at the top of the board since last time, but the Topper Novice Trophy is hotly disputed by Elodie and Robin. Rob not giving up just yet and Elodie's fighting her mother to keep her 3rd place overall. Phew... Topper racing is quite a lively pastime!
For more detailed results, the current RESULTS page will give you a breakdown of all the points so far. We'll keep you posted!
|
| TOP OF PAGE |
Commodore's Cup starting on 28th September
From the 28th September and for the entire month of October, morning and afternoon racing will be about the Commodore's Cup. It's a 10 races series over the course of 5 weeks, with a traditional 3 fleet split. Boats will be racing a trangle/sausage course with 65 to 70 minutes for the leaders of the Fast and Medium fleet. Races should last approximately 60 minutes for the leader of the Slow fleet.
|
| TOP OF PAGE |
Wet and windy weekend for A&O Regatta and open meetings
 Don't believe the photo. It wasn't like this AT ALL!
With strong gusts and horizontal rain, only the brave ones ventured on the sea for the A&O regatta during the Bank holiday weekend. The open meetings for the LaserIIs and the Streakers saw a handful of boats taking part in exciting conditions. It was a baptism of fire for one of the Streaker visitors who'd only been sailing once or twice at sea, on light days. Well, he did very well and so did all the participants to the event.
Alan Simmons has written a couple of thorough reports, one for our own FORUM (see Alan's report) and another one for Yachts and Yachting online magazine.
The LaserIIs weren't left behind, with Mike Croker writing down his impressions of the weekend for Yachts and Yachting. Losing the crew might not have been the quickest way to go round the course...
|
| TOP OF PAGE |
|
|
|