Newsletter July 2009
Special Points to note:
The Commodore
Well July is already upon us and almost half the sailing season has gone.
However, the past few months have been particularly busy around the club, and we have had two extremely successful social events for which I must thank Gillian Swan, Ewan Black and everyone who has helped make them a success, including the many members who have attended.
Firstly we had the Mediterranean Night on Friday 1st of May and over 60 members managed to ‘cram’ themselves in to the clubhouse for a very enjoyable evening. Although, I’m sure I remember Ewan requesting appropriate Mediterranean-style clothing – my excuse was that my shorts were in the wash!
And on Saturday 11th July we had the 50th Anniversary BBQ in conjunction with the race in the afternoon. The forecast was not good with rain being predicted for most of the night. However, the weather gods appeared to be in a good mood and the rain stayed away until much later in the evening allowing the 35 plus attendees to enjoy the delights cooked up by Hamish Nicoll and Kyle Stewart on the bbq without the need for full wet-weather clothing! And many thanks to Jimmy Ritchie for the mackerel, although we’re still trying to work out where the lobster went from the pot he ‘caught’ at the start of the race?!?
There are a few updates to give you as well regarding ongoing projects:
Kitchen upgrades – these have almost been completed, including the installation of a larger cooker and hob, which will hopefully make life a little easier in the kitchen at social events and lifts.
Battery Charging / Garage - there is a new ‘hut’ for charging batteries, located at the side entrance to the garage. There was a small ‘incident’ earlier in the year when one of the batteries on charge in the garage blew up! Hopefully this new facility will reduce the risk of this type of incident happening again, and many thanks to George Dempster and George Hunter for constructing it.
Finally, I have a couple of administrative issues to bring to your attention:
New Signal Lights at Troon Harbour – new signal lights have been installed at the entrance of the harbour. These are an orange strobe light and 3 round lights, all in a vertical line in the same position as the old light. When either or all of these lights are on, vessels are requested to proceed only when given permission to do so. Notices can be found around the clubhouse providing more information.
Club Padlock Keys – it has been highlighted that some of you may be having problems with your club padlock keys. There may be a problem with some keys from a batch which we previously had cut, which were not copied from an original. If anyone is having problems with their keys please contact Bill Murray or any member of the committee for a replacement.
That’s all for now, I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear. Fair winds to all and let’s hope this fine weather we’ve had for the past few weeks continues for just a little bit longer.
Robin
Compound
I would like to thank everyone for their help and support with the slipway, compound, and re-chipping of the compound. I did try personally to thank everyone at the time, but just in case I missed someone - many thanks.
I have been getting some negative feedback with regards to the slipway. The slipway is a work in progress. It is at the moment a temporary surface which is going to be covered shortly with a finer stone to make access and egress easier. Long term, I have been looking into several different substrates to achieve the best most cost effective, suitable, long-lasting way to go. I/we should shortly be in a position to give an idea of which is going to be best and will keep you posted. There will be a couple of work parties shortly to achieve some of the above mentioned. I look forward to your support. Work parties will be posted in the club house.
Many thanks
Kyle Stewart
Racing
The Spring series commenced on April 12th and the winner of the four-race series was Hoodlum.
The Blue Peter race on Saturday 2nd May to Largs was won by Silmaril and the return leg was won by Can Can.
The Mullach Mhor race to Lamlash was won by Gannet and this boat also won the return leg back to Troon.
The Lady Isle race was won by Mako.
There was no result for the Swan Trophy race to Portavadie.
Ariadne won both the crews race and the ladies race on 28th of June.
Only one boat entered the UFG Trophy race and consequently this race was abandoned.
The 50th Anniversary race on Saturday 11th July was won by Nuage closely followed on corrected time by Hoodlum.
The April wacky races are teamed with the two races in September and consequently the results are not available until after these races have been completed.
In the May series the long course was won by Ziggy Stardust and the short course by Rainbow Rider.
The June long course was won by Hunters Moon and the short course by Rainbow Rider.
Generally the turnout for the weekend races has been disappointing. A reasonable number of boats have competed in the Wednesday night wacky races although probably less than in pervious years but some of the Wednesday nights have been rather boisterous which may have reduced the numbers.
The Arran Trophy to Lochranza takes place on Saturday 25th July and the Warden & Bell race on Sunday 30th August.
The 5th September has the Tarbert Trophy race and the 19th of September is the Thistle Trophy race to Largs.
The four race Autumn series starts on Sunday 13th September and details of this series are available in the Clubhouse.
A list will be available on the notice board for boats wishing to participate in a four race Frostbite series and if there are sufficient boats wishing to undertake the series the relevant race particulars will be prepared.
Ken Stott ( Racing Secretary )
Security and the Safety of your boat
The Club recently received information that various incidents of theft from boats had occurred on the Upper Clyde. It had been reported that a 1970s style “speedboat” about 14-15 feet overall was going alongside moored boats on the Upper Firth and stealing property.
Strathclyde Police Marine Unit are aware of the problem and if you observe anything suspicious then please contact them on 01475 492541.
Do you know how much property or value you leave on your boat unattended? It is a good idea to record the model, serial number, post code or boat number on your equipment by marking with a security pen and if it is stolen and recovered you could be reunited with your property.
On the question of security two club members returned from a week’s sailing one evening and found the clubhouse insecure, garage open and gates open.
When leaving the Club please do not assume there are still members about. When securing the gates you are not only locking up for your boat it is also for your neighbour’s boat. Just think how inconvenient a break-in would be to you.
George Whiteside
Social Events
We have had a few social events which have been held within the clubhouse this year: the Mediterranean Evening, which was held in May and the 50th Anniversary Race BBQ, which was held in July.
The Mediterranean Evening was well attended by many members of the club. There were various dishes brought along by all the members which seemed to be enjoyed throughout the night. I would like to thank everyone again who came along for making it a very successful evening.
The 50th Anniversary Race and BBQ Evening was held on 11th July during the recent beautiful weather that we were then experiencing. We were hoping that it would continue on this particular day also, which it did. The BBQ’s were kept busy all evening and it turned out to be a good night.
We would like to thank all the members who have helped out at the last two social events. It has been greatly appreciated.
Social Events Coming Up:
Members Evening - Friday 2nd October 2009
Nibbles will be provided on this evening so all that we ask is that you bring along your own bottle and hope that you can all make it.
Please note that there has been a change of date for this evening, the new date differs from that in your membership card which was sent to the printers earlier in the year. We apologise for the change but sometimes alterations have to be made.
Please keep a look out on the notice board in the clubhouse for future events also.
Gillian Swan & Ewan Black
Social Convenors
Burns Supper – Friday 29th January 2010
After the disappointment of the cancellation of this year’s Burns Supper, a great deal of effort is being put into an attempt to resurrect this event for next year.
Later on, advice on the cost of this event will be forthcoming, and a close look will be given to all the costs in an attempt to arrive at an acceptable charge for what is usually an excellent night out.
As has been the norm since our first Burns Supper in 1984, the majority of our speakers and entertainers has been found from within our club membership, and it is to be hoped that this tradition will be continued for this next event.
To assist in compiling the programme I am listing below all the items which are normally included in any good Burns Supper and would ask all members to consider this carefully in the hope that the club will be able to find sufficient “volunteers” to complete the programme.
In this respect may I point out that until recent years anyone wishing to speak at a Burns supper was required to carry out their own research for suitable material on the subject in question and this could be quite an onerous task.
Nowadays with the help of the Internet all the hard work has been removed and it is possible to search “Burns Supper” and get a choice of complete Immortal Memories, Toasts to the Lassies, and so on which a prospective speaker can choose to use either in their entirety or as ideas to put together with their own contribution.
Volunteers are required for:
Please give some serious thought to this request. Since our first Burns supper our members have contributed to some excellent evenings and many have discovered that they had a talent for this sort of thing, which they never suspected.
Please let me know if you feel you can help, and preferably before the end of September. I understand that certain members volunteered to perform at this year’s Burns supper, which was unfortunately cancelled due to lack of support; I will please to learn if those same people are prepared to put their names forward for next year’s event.
I look forward to hearing from you all.
John MacKinnon
01292 312288
Cruising
The sailing season is skipping by and I hope, like me, you have managed out on the bright and briny more this year than last.
We still have several events to go
25th/26th July muster to Carradale/Lochranza
5th/6th September Tarbert
19th/20th September Closing Muster to Largs
Iain Gairns – Thistle Due
Cruising Convenor