Southport Sailing Club May 2014 Mainsheet

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Easter Tankard 2014

This was the first one day event on the clubs 2014 calendar

with the new addition of being the first race of the new

format Club Championship.

The wind wasn’t too bad as people were rigging boats

considering the forecast. It seems that the forecast scared

a few people off with the likelihood of strong breeze and

rain. It was good to see the up and coming junior stars of

Poppy James and Niamh McKettrick in the Topaz and

Ciaran McKettrick in his Byte not fazed by the

weather....which I’d like to say increased to “challenging”

but let’s be honest and go with just plain horrible.

The first race loomed and 11 boats took to the water. As

the first race begin the wind decided to kick it up a gear

with gusts of over 25 mph. Normally this would have

scared off most if not all challengers, but the recent spell

of big winds seems to have hardened the racers

somewhat. The race began with Greg and Sarah Allen in

their new GP14 and Paul Swanson in his Streaker setting

the early pace rounding the windward mark in the lead

with Ian Hopkins in his RS300 (multi-gym) flying close

behind. Race one saw Greg and Sarah take first with Paul

second and Paul Norton and Martin McKettrick taking a

very well deserved third in the GP14.

As people began rigging for race 2, it looked like the wind

had lightened so everyone was in high spirits, however

again with everyone launched the wind built.

Matt Harris OD on the day thought it would be good for a

change of course and laid a large ‘b’ shaped course around

the northern island. But unknown to us all the great

Sir Ben Ainsle( Mike Healy) decided to take to the water in

his Streaker (with his lucky tape), clearly knowing he only

needed to do 2 races to qualify. As the race started Greg

and Sarah were pressured by the other GP14s of Alan

Myers sailing with Gary Shaw, Nobby crewed by Martin

McKettrick. This was great to see - 3 GP’s with kites up

screaming down the reaches. After race 2 Greg and Sarah

held out for 1st with Alan and Gary 2nd and Mike Healy

3rd.

After a brilliant Lunch from Dorothy and Jane it was time

for race 3 and the wind was at its highest however again 9

boats took to the water with 4 boats all fighting for 2nd

and 3rd. Tensions were high and the banter began. I don’t

know what Dorothy and Jane put in Mike Healy’s dinner

but he was away with a massive lead half way up the first

upwind leg (Greg was not going to live this one down if

Mike won). As the wind built through the race there were

several victims including poor Ciaran snapping his mast.

After the carnage the race ended with Greg and Sarah

winning race 3 with Mike 2nd and our illustrious

Commodore and Martin 3rd. The overall standings were:

Easter Tankard 2014

1st Greg Thomas and Sarah Allen - GP14

2nd Mike Healy (sir Ben) - Streaker

3rd Paul Norton and Martin McKettrick – GP14

The Double Dutch Cup 2014 (for first junior)

Poppy James and Niamh McKettrick – Topaz Race

A big well done to everyone who competed or aided with

supporting the race (even though the numbers were low),

what a great days sailing and for those of you who couldn’t

make it you missed out!

Greg Thomas

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

As agreed at the recent sailing committee meeting we will

be holding several training sessions throughout the season

in order to prepare ourselves for the 24 hour race. These

sessions are to ensure everyone is competent with racing a

GP14 round a course and flying the spinnaker. In addition

we are hoping to get experienced sailors available to coach

sailors to try to get the most out of the boat and hopefully

maximise our chances in the race.

Out of the below sessions you must attend at least 5

sessions in order to qualify for the team. We will also use

these numbers to determine whether we have enough

sailors to enter one or two teams into the race.

• 12/05 Monday – 19:00-21:30

• 24/05 Saturday – 09:30-12:00

• 02/06 Monday – 19:00-21:30

• 14/06 Saturday – 09:30-12:00

• 12/07 Saturday – 09:30-12:00

• 14/07 Monday – 19:00-21:30

• 12/07 Saturday – 09:30-12:00

• 09/08 Saturday – 09:30-12:00

• 18/08 Monday – 19:00-21:30

• 02/09 Monday – 19:00-21:30

• 06/09 Saturday – 09:30-12:00

So if you fancy entering the race, want to improve your

skills in a GP14 or simply want to learn more about making

a boat go fast come down, everyone is welcome! As

always any questions please feel to ask any member of

management or email

sailingsec@southportsailingclub.org.uk.

Commodores Reception

May I extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who

attended on Saturday the 26th April. The evening was

enjoyed by over 70 - Commodores, members and guests.

The food and service supplied by Andrew Tate was

excellent value for money and after weeks of preparation

and practice the speech was delivered allowing me to relax

and proceed with the more enjoyable part of the evening -

Prize-giving. To name just a few the recipients were Martin

& Ciaran Mckettrick, Ted, Laura & Lee, Alan & Gary, and

Paul and Ben Swainson leaving with their arms full of

trophy’s.

A special thanks also to everyone for setting up the event

and of course Georgia and Lesley for running the bar, and

Andy for the music.

Don’t forget our next big event is the “push the Boat out”

and Open day which is on the Saturday 17th May. Please

bring all your family and friends and both myself and

Georgia will try our best to keep them in the boat this

year!

Many thanks, Paul Norton Commodore