Harry, our Chairman and dearest friend, passed away on April 10th 2008
We have lost someone who had become the lynchpin of our organisation. He will be sorely missed by a great many people who regarded him as a good friend always ready to help whenever he could.
Harry was keen for us to acquire a second Drascombe Longboat and we are grateful to his family for a most generous gift, in his memory, towards that aim. Further donations have been forthcoming and we are confident we will have the second Longboat for next season
Roy is once again the winner of the Summer Challenge Race Series.
As he is still in hospital, he was presented with his trophy by one of his nurses. Well done Roy. It's nice to see you keeping cheerful and we all hope you are back in action soon.
Congratulations too to Barbara and Mick who came in equal second.
A big thanks to Allan and his helpers for organising this event once again.
Please support Chris in his efforts to reduce his waistline and increase our bank balance as he embarks on a round trip of some 551 miles.
More details of the trip can be viewed here: www.kenmoreandmore.org.uk
Good Luck Chris!
| Name | 6/6 | 13/6 | 20/6 | 27/6 | 4/7 | 11/7 | 18/7 | 25/7 | 1/8 | 8/8 | 15/8 | 22/8 | 29/8 | Points | Position | |||||||||||||
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | |||
Emma takes the helm of the ‘white boat’.
Some fresh winds greeted the select group of Sailability members who headed up to Norfolk to enjoy five days’ sailing on and around Barton Broad in July.
Having settled in to the Nancy Oldfield Trust’s comfortable bungalow on Sunday evening and enjoyed a meal of Pitsford-Water trout, which Ann had been given by a couple of fishermen who had come in for a cup of tea one scorching Monday, we headed out for our first day’s sailing the next morning. Conditions were blustery to say the least, and somewhat chilly, but we enjoyed a good thrash about in the 20’ Falmouth Bass Boat (similar to our Longboat, but deeper and beamier) under jib and mizzen.
Michelle sailing Willow Wren, with Colin on the mainsheet.
The next morning the weather had improved and we were treated to glorious sunshine for the rest of the week. The boat of choice on Tuesday was Mottled Willow, a Yare and Bure One Design or ‘white boat’ as they are known locally, in which we sailed down the River Ant to Ludham Bridge and back. We sailed her again, this time around Barton Broad, the next morning, once again in lively winds with a couple of reefs in, enjoying the company of volunteer Liz, an experienced white boat sailor.
Willow Wren sailing up Barton Broad.
From Wednesday afternoon onwards, to everyone’s great delight, we were let loose in the Nancy Oldfield Trust’s yacht, Willow Wren, with staff member Colin. After spending that afternoon getting feel for her on the broad, we headed upstream on the Ant towards Sutton on Thursday, where the hope was to moor for lunch. On arrival we found the staithe already full, but were able to drop the mud weight at the top end of Sutton Broad (which is actually little more than a widening of the river) and enjoy our lunch in the cockpit. This was enhanced by the fact that entertainment had been laid on for us, in the form of a brass band playing somewhere ashore.
Sailing past the Punt Club pontoon.
Our final day gave us some exciting sailing up and down the broad, with everyone taking a turn at the helm whilst Jane took photographs from the Punt Club pontoon. Lunch was eaten alongside at Barton Turf, before a last run down the broad to stow everything away and return to our shore base for a reluctant journey home. Fortunately the blow was softened by the fact that Dave, Emma’s driver, was there to greet us with chocolate cake!
Many thanks to Jane Elliot for once again organising this popular trip. Book early for next year! - Ed
Access TT Carsington - Report by Roy Child
On the 4th June Eileen Hundley, Chris Weston & I attended my first Access TT this year. It was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky & variable winds forecast. I left bright & early first picking up Eileen, then the boat (trusty old 303 no. 330) from the club & then Chris. We then trundled our way to Carsington Water Derbyshire – the scenery almost worth the trip on its own.
Arriving in plenty of time (that makes a change for me) we even had time for a bacon roll before the start! Chris sailed with me the first two races which seemed to take ages as the wind kept dying away. In a fleet of evenly mixed single & double hand 303’s, the results were rubbish – we were pushing the rest of the fleet along! Don’t know why – brain not in gear or the boat having a spate of go-slow. After lunch two more races & the wind even more flukey, Eileen & I set out to improve the situation. Third race we got a good start but gradually slipped down the order – I felt like getting out & pushing! Fourth race things started to improve, wind picked up & we’d had a good start. We were overtaken by all the single handers but finished leading all the double handers – a small victory for the day.
A very enjoyable day was had by all of us it was nice to see the familiar faces as well as some new ones on the Access circuit.
Roy Child
Another successful hoilday adventure organized by Jenny and enjoyed by those lucky enough to go.
Read the full illustrated report by Roy Child
Congratulations to Chris Weston, who endured two wet, cold and windy weekends at Draycote Sailing Club to gain his SI status.
We now have 8 Senior Instructors in the group, so you have no excuse for not becoming the next Ellen Macarthur!
Chris's achievement will be of great benefit especially to the Saturday sailors. Well done Chris
Professor Roy delivers his lecture!
Is Roy trying to do a Tony Blair by exploiting his success on the race circuit in the same way as the former Prime Minister is using his experiences in office to make a load of money?
Whether he is or not, his recent foray into public speaking arena proved a hit when he gave a talk to Northampton Off Shore Cruising Association members on his adventures on board Carrig Hannah in the Eddystone Charity Pursuit 2007 (See 2007 Archive for report).
Using a PowerPoint presentation containing over 100 photographs he kept his audience enthralled for over an hour. After the talk he was the centre of attraction as members flocked around to grill him about his exploits, much to the chagrin of his humble helper and bag carrier, Allan Henson, who they completely ignored!
(For more information about NOSCA, visit NOSCA web site)