Lyme Regis Sailing Club

Spring 2015

The Perky Pennant PPPemType the Title

here

Contents

Rook’s Drift – p2

Carry On Cruising – p3

News from Nepal – p4

LRSC Youth Training – p5

Links with Lyme Regis Gig Club – p6

Scorpion Nationals Aug 15 at LRSC – p7

Oppie Cadets and Public Access Defibrillator – p8

Albacore Internationals – p9

Swedish Islands sailing talk – p10

Sail Arabia – p11-12

The ‘Father of the Club’ receives Life Membership – p13-14

The last word – p15

Perky Pennant is flying proudly from the masthead again. Ahoy there! In the last edition we reported that there is a great deal going on at the Club. Pennant is secure in the knowledge that it continues to portray LRSC that we are ‘probably the best Sailing Club in the South West’ (and modest too!). Since December, and given those dark intervening months, there is even more to report. Much of this is known to you, as so ably presented by Dave and Stuart in their excellent, respective blogs, not to mention their Facebook and text updates. Pennant is pleased to reveal that members are extending their activities and achievements far and wide from Lyme Regis. The club has a diverse range of interests and people, with much preparation going on behind the scenes, but also in the variety of the sections, the interests and the activities: social, technical and competitive. Our collective knowledge is vast, needing only a simple request to gain help, explanation and experience. Talk to members who you perhaps have not spoken to before and discover there's always so much to learn! 2015 is already set for another great sailing season.

Wishing you ‘fair winds and following seas’

Yesteryear: Newly-honoured lifetime member, John Wiscombe, with his father in 'Snipe' No 9 - First Race after World War 2. He joined in 1946!

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‘Rook's Drift’ from the Commodore, Jerry Rook

From Skittles to First Aid, race training to club maintenance, wine tasting to VHF radio, championships planning to coast path walking…the LRSC has been well-served already this year! We’re not forgetting those tenacious seadogs who sail through the winter, those stalwarts who fettle their cruisers in the boat park and those supporting the club on Friday nights and Sundays, enjoying Cathy's lunches and the bar banter. And there is more in the pipeline: Especially having just watched a fascinating presentation of sailing to Scandinavia and negotiating the myriad islands, accompanied by an authentic Swedish meal courtesy of Helen and her team. We are proud to have our own brand new Young Sailors Oppie (see p8 more details) group starting up - to which many an Olympic sailor first learnt the basics. The cruisers are aiming for Brixham Yacht Club and the Pirate Festival shortly! There's Tapas in May and racing to Beer with lunching ashore. At the beginning of May, I was delighted to present John Wiscombe with a well deserved Certificate of Lifetime Membership for his service to the Club. This takes us on the Albacore, Lark and Merlin open meeting at LRSC in June before the cruisers cast off to cause havoc in Weymouth. Again! All this is on top of our season's intensive race programme with great competition, friendly rivalry and all those trophies to go for! Enjoy the club!

Avast, me Hearties! The Cruisers look forward to weighing Anchor ahead of the Brixham Pirate Festival!

We welcome the Young

Sailors Oppie Group!

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The 10 lift keel boats are now straining on their bridles like highly-strung race horses, champing for the start! Their anti-fouling paint had barely dried before the cruisers vacated their winter homes in the boat park during the third week of March. The fixed keel yachts followed suit: Dan Jaffe has already slipped his mooring and is off on his next adventure. This time it is a round-Britain voyage, sailing clockwise, past Lands End and up to Wales. Next, probably crossing to Ireland's east coast, and on passing to the Isle of Man to the Western Isles. Then through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness before entering the North Sea, the English Channel and home about the end of July. On a dark winter evening in February some members made a very worthwhile journey at the invitation of Weymouth Sailing Club. Why? To have an early supper before listening open-mouthed to an incredible presentation from two highly-experienced sailors, Philip Kirk and Jeremy Warren The most inspiring news from the nautical-duo was hearing that they smashed the previous record time in half by doing it in just 32 days!

Captain Willoughby – Carry On Cruising…

“The 2015 season

is already on an

even keel”

And with no outboard motor or support… During the presentation, they captivated the audience with their tales of circumnavigating the whole of the UK in an open Wayfarer dinghy, with few stops, sailing through the night, with one of the crew sleeping on board! In other news, 20 members of LRSC went to an inspiring talk by Tom Cunliffe, the writer, excellent speaker and sailor extraordinaire at the Axe Yacht Club on the 27 March. They enjoyed a very entertaining evening with supper. Our links with Axe are strong and we are grateful for their invitation and hospitality. The mini-cruise to West Bay and epic spring walk to Eype was not oversubscribed, possibly because of the early Easter, but those who went enjoyed an excellent day, lunching alfresco at the Eype's Mouth Hotel and with a splendid return sail back to Lyme in just over an hour. This was thanks to a kind wind and a following tide on a memorable beam reach. The planned May bank holiday cruise to Topsham is now diverted to Brixham Yacht Club with the annual Weymouth Raid coming up thereafter. Hopefully Topsham will be later in the season. Club racing welcomes Jeremy Wallace back to the Lift keel fleet with his new acquisition and we look forward to some new competition. 'Cast off for'ard, cast off aft, cast off worries!' Andrew

Home at last..Philip and Jeremy after their epic circumnavigation of

the UK last year…

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Onwards and upwards in Nepal… Those who know of club members, Simon and Judith Hill, who are currently working in Nepal will be relieved to hear that the couple are ok, despite the devastating impact of the Earth Quake. The club has received emails confirming their whereabouts and, despite being a little shaken and separated for a while, the pair are now reunited. What a relief. Simon and Judith are working with VSO for 2 years, in Lamjung region, just below the Annanpurna and Manaslu Himalyan mountain ranges. Simon is getting much busier, being involved in a large dairying project, evaluating the potential of improving technical knowledge and practice across all areas of production from small farmers with one cow or buffalo to chilling centres and processors. He has also been helping VSO look at further agricultural projects and running soil improvement workshops. Judith has been active working with a team of ‘lovely Nepalis’, encouraging marginalised girls to complete their schooling. There is a very high drop out rate as girls are expected to help in the home and field, and there is still a high percentage of child marriage. Judith reports that the project is going well and testing her ‘ideas and fitness!’ Most of the schools are at the top of a 600-1000m climb! There are days when the idea of a sail and a swim are so tempting so I hope that you enjoy your season. Please have a look at Simon and Judith’s blog.

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A lucky escape…club members, Simon and Judith Hill continue to make progress in Nepal despite

the quake disaster.

In other news… Dave Beer doing Happy Bunny with his new

'Pride & Joy' - D Zero

Tuesday afternoon Youth Training sessions for the 2015 season have commenced. This season’s first session took place on 7 April when 13 youth members participated in briefings and a sail in Wayfarers and Picos, though there was very little wind! Dave Beer helped Chris Joyner sort out the equipment for the boats before the session so that rigging was an easier task and took less time. The more experienced newcomers are to help Mike Morgan with instructing the beginners, while Jonny Lloyd Davies and Max Smith are assisting Alex Fairley's group. This season there will be more flexibility and, once assessment has finished, it is likely that others will join Chet Gillespie and Sam Norton in moving up to Vicky's group. The SMS messaging system continues for emergencies and cancellations but now comes under LRSCNews. Messages will always be authorised by Sally so look out for her name on them and do not confuse with club social emails. Enjoy a Great Youth Season! Sally Watch a video on the Youth Training Section here

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Accredited with the RYA Champion Club, youth training takes place on a weekday

evening.

LRSC Youth Training…

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Links with Lyme Regis Gig Club

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The Lyme Regis Gig Club has been developing over the last seven years or so and has become a thriving organisation with a growing membership and an improving set of competitive teams. They now have three wooden racing boats, built by Gail MacGarva here in Lyme, and a plastic training boat. Close links have been established between the Gig Club and Sailing Club. The Gig Club has Corporate Membership of the Sailing Club, which means that all Gig Club members are social members of LRSC and are beginning to be seen more frequently in the club house. This is to their advantage as they do not have their own premises, and to the benefit of the LRSC through increased turnover in the bar, not to mention the sharing of a common love of the sea. We set up a joint, social event three years ago when we ran a skittles evening at the Pilot Boat and this has now become a very enjoyable annual event in which equal numbers of both clubs attend. Although there is not active competition between us, the youth team of the LRSC are the current skittles champions! Earlier this year, the Gig Club decided to hold a monthly social meeting to encourage communication between their members. This now takes place at LRSC on the first Friday evening of each month. It has been very well attended so far and is generally regarded as a success. The evenings have been very lively and allow members to get together and they serve as a way of welcoming newer members to the Club. LRSC members also seem to have enjoyed the increase in the liveliness of the Friday evening sessions.

Several sailors have commented on meeting interesting people from the Gig Club and at least one sailor has noticed the number of attractive young women who attend these evenings! I am a member of both Clubs and have the role as Rear Commodore of liaising between them. With my wife, Liz, I organise non-competitive rowing sessions on Wednesday mornings throughout the year. These sessions are set up to allow people at all levels to develop their rowing and coxing skills in a relaxed atmosphere. The sessions also enable people to try rowing for the first time by way of a taster. Like to have a go in one of these beautiful boats? If so, please contact me via hilton.davis@outlook.com.

Close links have been forged between the Gig Club and LRSC.

Preparations for hosting the Scorpion Nationals 2015 are well under way, and building the team progresses both on and off the water. A big thank you to everyone who has already volunteered to help, but we still need additional support to help with:

1. The daily cleaning of the Clubhouse first thing in the morning – please contact

Dave Beer or Judith Burke if you think you might be able to spare some time.

2. Serving behind the bar and collecting glasses during the evenings to ensure that

the beer and spirits flow freely – contact Dave Beer or Hilton if you are able to

help.

3. Helping out in the evening to ensure the evening catering and socials run smoothly

– contact Trish Webster and Kathy if you fancy helping out.

4. Preparation during the week leading up to the event – contact Dave Beer

5. Tidying up after the event on the Saturday so that the club is ready to function

again for the Sunday. This includes many small tasks such as returning tables and

chairs back to Wood Mead Hall, moving club boats back into their dinghy park and

packing away marks and equipment – contact Dave Beer.

Don’t forget that Race Team polo shirts (Musto) are available for helpers at £8. If you want one, please order via Tim Parsons – see details on the Club website. Over the next few weeks we will be finalising the job allocations and circulating the plan to you. Hopefully, we can spread the load and make it a fun enjoyable experience for all of us. Contacts for the bar: hilton.davis@outlook.com Catering: trish@vistastudios.co.uk

Plans are taking shape ahead of LRSC hosting

the Scorpion Nationals from August 8-14

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Oppie Cadets

One for all and all for young!

You’re never too young to start sailing! This year we’ve been fortunate to obtain a grant to fund the purchase of three Optimist type dinghies in which we can teach children from the age of 6 to sail.

Local company, Newlands Holidays, of Charmouth has kindly sponsored a boat allowing us to purchase a 4th Oppie and club member Vic Simpson is kindly allowing us the use of his grandchildren’s boat. The total number? We now have five boats at our disposal – all which will form the basis of the LRSC Oppie Cadets.

Click here to find out how to join the

Oppie Cadets.

Update on Defibrillator

We are applying for a British Heart Foundation (BHF) subsidised Public Access Defibrillator (PAD). There is a structured application process and we are not guaranteed to be accepted.

Assistant Harbour Master, Mike Higgs, has identified the position for the defibrillator.

Funding has been secured from Carnival, Rotary Club and the Town Council, with further funds being promised from other local organisations. The BHF takes between 8–10 weeks to make a decision. Subsequently I shall be organising some training – open to all – to familiarise with the PAD and to do CPR training; I have received a number of offers of help with the training – which is fantastic.

I shall also be organising signage and marketing for all PAD defibrillators in the town, of which there are three.

Heather - Lyme Regis Development Trust

This is welcome news, we have trained for

this with the First Aid at Sea courses for

many years now, but hitherto no box of

tricks. Ed.

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Young at heart…we hope to obtain a

grant to purchase three Oppies…

Albacore Internationals – ‘the best regatta I’ve ever attended!’ The 23rd Albacore Internationals took place in Sarasota, Florida on 23-27 March 2015. This was the best regatta I have ever attended! 12 boats from the UK were loaded into a container for the trip back in early March, and they and their owners emerged blinking into the Factor 60 plus sunshine of the high season in Florida. Billing itself as the ‘best sailing club in the world’ (thought that was LRSC!), the Sarasota Sailing Squadron did its best to live up to its reputation, with racing taking place on both Sarasota Bay (inside the offshore islands) and for two days on the incredibly blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The near-constant sunshine and warm weather was a great relief to the teams from the North East of the USA and Canada that have been experiencing life in the freezer this winter. Albacore has one of the largest dinghy racing fleets in North America with over 50 boats regularly turning out for the Friday evening races around Toronto on Lake Ontario. It was perhaps fitting that the first two boats overall were Canadian - George Carter and Almir Tavares in 8185 and Geoff Moore and Christine Short in 8202. Previous winners, Barney “Mr Albacore USA” Harris, crewed by David Byron were in 3rd place – probably weighed down with the responsibility of organising the event – the curse of the England Cricket captain! Darren Monster and Tony Zakrajsek, having convincingly won the North American Midwinters the previous week, were in the first of the beautiful wooden boats in 5th place. The best GBR crew overall were Judy and Paul Armstrong in 7th, followed by Nev Herbert and Mark Fowler in 8th. The latter crew actually won three races but jetlag or over-partying gave too many ‘discards’ earlier in the week! The final boat in the top 10 was sailed by Jerry Rook and Shige Takezoe. The Sarasota Sailing Squadron is a very laid-back, friendly club which puts on plenty of championships – very much like us really - so I proposed to the Commodore and General Manager that we “twin” Lyme with Sarasota Sailing Squadron. They thought that was a good fun idea, so any Lyme sailors in mid-west Florida now have a bar they can call their own! Jerry Rook and Shige Takezoe

Sarasta…where the sun glistens…

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Swedish Islands talk a success!

Members enjoyed a memorable evening in April, hearing from Kristin and Roger who have many years of cruising experience after making regular long annual sailing trips to Sweden and beyond.

The evening started with a delicious Swedish meal including sill, gravlax, köttbullar and Janssons Frestelse, ably presented by Helen Bruno.

They talked about sailing from Devon to Sweden, exploring the thousands of islands, cruising inland through the canals and lakes and going further afield to Finland and beyond!

The pair shared their practical knowledge of preparation and planning their passages through the islands with charts, pictures and many anecdotes of incidents encountered along the way!

All-in-all it was a fascinating evening of exploits and challenges – all complete with stunning pictures of the Swedish coastline and villages.

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Swedish dreams…a heavenly place to sail

Sail Arabia Tour 2015: an epic way to spend February! What a marathon voyage! We set sail in Oman, visiting seven major cities through the notorious Straits of Hormuz and along the south (friendly) side of the Persian Gulf in over 600 nautical miles. In all, 11 international teams lined up in the one design, Farr 30s, in the beautiful scenery, interspersed with an amazing number of tankers, pipelines, oilrigs and traditional fishing boats. British Olympic Development squad member, Mary Rook, skippered the only all-girl team in this year’s race. The crew consisted of four Omanis and four experienced international sailors, Annemieke Bes, Dutch silver medalist from the Yngling in Beijing, Lauren Eatwell, and previous member of the British Olympic match race squad, and Hannah Morris from New Zealand, a very accomplished offshore racer. The country of Oman is keen to promote sailing for all its citizens and the girls were the top recruits from a nationwide sailing programme. Mary says: “I had a great team of five Omani ladies with four on the boat at any one time. They were always cheerful and full of energy! We had Ibti and Raya who had already completed the race and knew what to expect and three new recruits who had just learnt to sail the month previously Bushra, Asma and Marwa.” The race had a great send off from Muscat and straight after a very light inshore race on the Extreme 40 race course we were sent out into the ocean towards Sohar. Mary continues: “We had a great start and were in second position and close to the leaders as night fell. Then disaster struck. We sailed right into a huge unlit fishing net. The boat immediately spun around out of control and parked us wrapped around the net. I was quickly over the side hacking it off but we were completely wrapped up in it. We eventually got free enough to continue on after sadly losing the immediate pack behind us. Finally, in daylight, I put my head under and after more poking with the weed stick got everything we could off the prop. We were very slow and it was all very distressing, pushing us further back, practically the whole fleet had passed us!” After a quick overnight rest we were off again, beating for leg 2. When we approached ‘the gap’ at the top of Oman, there was a crazy tidal rip, like an escalator but taking you in a circle with no visible wind. Somehow we managed to make a good crossing and sneaked through in some invisible pressure and got some distance away from the rocks as the big shut down occurred. On the third leg to Dubai, we were again in a good position around the first mark, but the second leg was a fetch and we were gradually overtaken by the much heavier boys. Then the wind did a big shift to the left, making it a beat once more and in came with it a sand storm covering everything in fine red dust and blocking out the whole fleet The Omani girls did a great job grinding the spinnaker and trimming the mainsail, with the boat always on the edge of being wiped out all the way to the finish. Leg 5 was 170 very uncomfortable upwind miles to Doha, in 25 – 30 knots of wind, I think the poor Omanis had never been so cold in their lives!

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We got a good start at the committee boat with our heavy-wind No 3 jib. There were some little oscillating shifts and we played them as best as we could and made lots of little gains and kept the boat going really fast in the enormous waves! As night fell we tried to keep up the momentum through the sea state, which we now couldn't see. As we ploughed into every wave, you just had to go on “feel” of the boat as it started lurching down a wave, bearing away and hoping to go down the back of it safely without slamming it too hard. Even in daylight this was hard and mountains of spray kept pouring over the deck. We were taking on water and so had to bail out every hour or so. Several buckets of dirty water had to be sponged from the bilges whilst the boat was jumping around like a rodeo bull! And after every tack we had to move 'the stack' which contained all the spare sails, kit bags, safety equipment, food bags and water bottles. The sound downstairs sounded like the boat was about to break in half on every wave and it was truly vomit inducing! But one of the girls Marwa was an absolute rock - she has a good stomach and didn't mind being thrown around downstairs and she always came up with a big smile on her face!

There was very little opportunity for sleep as we needed all the weight on the rail as much as possible so took it in turns to sleep on top of the stack on the windward side downstairs amongst the water leaking in through every fitting and every window. The loud banging and lurching felt like being on a rollercoaster. As dawn came the race committee decided to finish the race slightly early for safety reasons to try and keep the fleet together so we knew we just had a few more miles to keep the boats behind us. We did some good match racing covering on the Dutch team who were gaining on us all hiking hard towards the finish line. Very tired and happy we crossed the line in fourth!! What a race! What a great time and sailing into the marina in Bahrain we were very sad that it was all over. We had really bonded as a team and come so far from the beginning, making huge improvements all the way and posting some great performances. Looking forward to next year! Mary Rook.

Great stuff and well done Mary! Guess you won't be joining the Medina fleet just yet then?! Ed

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On 1 May 2015, LRSC had the privilege of awarding John Wiscombe the well-deserved Life Membership in recognition for his long service and outstanding contribution to the club…

Should there be any who don't know John, the kindly 'mature' nautical gentleman, invariably installed in the corner of the club bar, he has provided some background notes of his time at LRSC. Not that it is likely of anyone not knowing John, for one of his very many strengths, as recognised 'Father of the Club', is always to greet and welcome new members and visitors alike.

Memories of an old sailor…

John’s story: When the LRSC re-started its activities after World War II in 1946, I remember helping my father to refurbish his sailing boat which had been laid up for five years. We did not call them dinghies then, for indeed they were traditional hand built wooden boats. When we launched the boat that year it promptly filled up and sank for the timbers had all dried and shrunk after the lay up! A week in the water however swelled the wood and the boat then became watertight. I don’t remember exactly the date when the first race after the war took pace, but I do remember I was dad’s crew and the weather was grey and windy. We were well reefed down for boats that were not decked and took in a lot of water in rough weather. I spent much time baling when we were not tacking to windward. However the bug bit me and I have been sailing ever since! (There is a photo of this race in the Club). My dad was Commodore at that time and under his leadership, a junior section was formed to teach the children of club members how to sail. Therefore I became one of the first junior members in 1946. A great privilege. National Service and college training interrupted my membership in 1950 but I continued to crew for my father when I was home on leave, holiday etc. On re-joining the club I bought my own first boat which I raced with various crews and varying degrees of success or failure but it was, and always has been, GREAT FUN. Winning is great, but taking part is much more important.

The ‘Father of the Club’ receives Life Membership

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At some time in the 1960s I was invited to join the Club Committee, and after some years was elected to the post of Rear Commodore, subsequently going on to become Vice Commodore and in 1980 to the top job of Commodore of LRSC. Since passing on the job of Commodore in 1981 I have been involved in numerous club projects, many of which have been of a practical nature – repairs to the clubhouse, painting, building a new bar, etc. Our occupation of the clubhouse on the Cobb lasted until 1996. In the previous 10 or more years to this, we had been beset with rising costs of building maintenance, rising rates and rent, insurance etc. In view of this and falling membership I wrote to the incumbent Commodore proposing that the club should develop the boat shed on our present site which the club owned. I am pleased to say that whilst the committee was considering my proposal the National Lottery started to operate and sports facilities became eligible for grant aid.

The Club qualified for eligibility largely because of our training and particularly youth training activities. We applied for help and were successful in obtaining a 60% grant towards the building of a new clubhouse. Planning permission followed, and club members raised most of the money required from gifts, loans and fundraising events. I have now accumulated over 65 years of membership and enjoyment. I hope I will be allowed to enjoy more years yet. Great fun, good company, wonderful friends! How lucky is that? On May 6th 2016 the Club will have occupied the New Clubhouse for 20 years. It will also be the 95th year of the club’s existence. This must be worth celebrating. John Wiscombe - May 2015 Thank you John, congratulations from all and enjoy many more years! Ed

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The last word…

Sightings: Intrepid Duo

The itinerant Stuart Case and the indefatigable Hugh Duncan are presently on a mercy mission to France to save the entire Brittany oyster industry. Yes, they are covering Avocet's nether regions with a delicate coating of copper. No nasty chemicals or mollusc-harming toxins for them! Avocet is currently on the hard in Trinite-sur-mer, awaiting her 10 year treatment of copper-bottom. "Next time I'll be pushing 80!" mused Stuart. Bon Chance: we wait with bated breath to learn more of the escapade of these ‘likely lads!’

Breaking News…Hugh gets down to the nitty-gritty… Hugh updates on his hull refurbishment progress: 'What a hell of a job! Two little Screwfix random orbital sanders and a pile of sandpaper later, we had the hull absolutely spotless. The tricky bit was moving the supports to get under them.....H&S were fortunately 'en vacances’ that day. Next trip we do the copper coat, and then back into the briny, heading for Spanish waters. Just a little tip for anyone contemplating copper bottoming: get a work party of four, arm them with sanders and promise as much beer as they can drink at the end of the day when it's done! Come evening, they'll be so knackered, the bar bill will resemble England's cricket teams success rate in any series you can think of (Papua New Guinea 3, England 0). OK, they did manage some success in the West Indies'!

With thanks to all contributors and professional assistance from Sub Ed, Andy Moore. Suggestions, comments and copy to Mike Moore Editor: mike @mgmoore.co.uk

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