PRACTICE YOUR SAILING FROM 12.00 ON SATURDAYS

In our research towards the Future of YSC a number of members have commented how they would like to be able to practice their sailing skills or even just have a leisurely sail, at times outside of the scheduled racing, but with the comfort of having safety boat cover too.

Neil and his team do a fantastic job in running the training sessions, but up to now we have never provided a clearly defined session for those who desire the freedom to simply sail their boats without formality.

We would like to change this and so from Saturday 17th May we will commence a pilot for up to 6 months and provide safety boat cover on the water from 12.00 to allow a 2 hour slot for the freedom to sail prior to racing as usual.

This will not affect the Junior training course in any way.

It does mean that the OOD and AOOD will have to set up earlier, so would you all consider your dates and if you cannot meet this commitment please arrange for a swap of cover or approach a committee member who will try to help.

I do believe that this development will in time, attract a whole new element of member sailing enthusiasts and hopefully will encourage the many unloved and unsailed boats in the dinghy park to be seen on the water.

Thank you for your help with this new venture.

Tim Hattersley
Commodore

OPEN DAY - MAY 10TH

In our 80th Anniversary Year we would like to invite as many new visitors as possible to the club on our Open Day. Saturday 10th May.

Starting at about 10.00 with bacon butties we hope to give visitors a really great welcome and a chance to meet club members before experiencing the joy of sailing.

Please invite anyone along who you think may be interested and I would ask club members to come along to help out.

We will be promoting the day in various publications but there is nothing like a personal invite.

Tim Hattersley

Swan Song - A Real Tribute

This weekend, during the lunch break for the Race Training Session, saw the launch of Swan Song – Heron 10309.

Originally named Kittiwake and built in 1957, the Heron was acquired by Donald Acklam over 20 years ago as a near wreck . It was an ongoing restoration project which continuously got delayed for Donald to carry out more urgent repairs and renovation projects for the boats of other Club Members.

He did, however, somehow find time to carry out a complete rebuild of the hull, replacing all the timbers with the exception of two stringers and a small section of the stem.

He incorporated a double-floor in the cockpit for additional buoyancy, (similar to the latest Butler FRP Heron), as well as a half-height built-in buoyancy tank in the bow and three-quarter length tank/seats port and starboard instead of traditional benches and buoyancy bags.

Rather than fit transom flaps, the hull floor was recessed to accommodate two self-bailers to facilitate drainage.

Work was halted in 2004 and no further activity undertaken until his death in December 2006, although he had said that he thought that finishing his Heron would be his last project.

Howard Chadwick and Donald’s son Richard asked Tim Gatti if he would complete the renovation of the Heron as a fitting tribute to Donald and the work he had put in on so many Club members’ boats over the years.

After many months of hard work repairing, sanding down, expoxying, painting, varnishing, and fitting-out and to many admiring glances as the work progressed, Kittiwake turned into Swan Song, which was felt to be, now, a more fitting name for it.

Following discussions with the Heron Association, in November 2007, on the extent of the rebuild undertaken - virtually the whole fabric of the dinghy has been replaced with new timbers and the structure changed to a modern ply/epoxy design, they agreed to register the hull as a new boat under its new name and to issue it with a new sail number.

When it arrived on Saturday it certainly looked magnificent, Tim had done Donald proud !!

With Richard Acklam in attendance, and Club members gathered around, it was launched with Donald’s traditional blessing of Newcastle Brown ( rather than champagne ), and then Tim and Tace sailed it in the brisk north easterly to show everybody what it could do.

Thank you Tim for all your hard work and efforts !

Adult Race Training Day

‘Best laid plans of mice and men’

The plan for the day basically got ripped up as soon as we saw the cold north easterly blowing down the tarn. Looking at the newly installed weather station didn’t help either as it confirmed the wind speed and the outside temperature. With the club filling up with keen (?) sailors wanting to get going we rapidly came up with ‘Plan B’ or was it ‘C’ ?

Howard and Neil went through the basic principles of setting courses and start lines for OOD’s, then starting from a sailor’s point of view. Then they couldn’t drag it out any longer and it was time for the first on the water exercise. Terry and Gail volunteered to be OODs for the session and we ran simple a simple start and up and back exercises. With the wind still strong it certainly wasn’t simple for the sailors and John G, Yvonne and Luke were kept busy in the second safety boat.

We then had a quick lunch break which allowed John and Neil give some feed back on the first session. This was followed by a brief interlude to launch ‘Swansong’, the late Donald Acklam’s unfinished Heron project, which now has been beautifully finished off by Tim G, and then it was back out on the water again.

This time Mick and Ian took over the OODs role and we extended the course to test people’s boat handling skills. The wind also decided to help at this point by adding some big gusts just to make things even more interesting. Once most people had tested the water at least once we decided enough was enough

and we finished the day slightly early. Over a warm drink Neil and John gave everybody a final debrief before we packed everything away

Over the day we had 12 boats out on the water and a few more sailors getting involved in the discussions in the club without getting their boats out. Most people seemed to enjoy it and got something out of the day, despite the conditions.

Thanks to everybody who helped with the running of the day !

It was testament to those who did go out that some of the more seasoned experienced sailors who came down in the afternoon decided it was too cold and windy for them to join in with the sailing !!!!!!!

Slowly Getting Better !

After the snow of last week the weather is slowly starting to improve and more and more people are getting their boats out !
Saturday was very windy at times and that seem to keep the numbers down, whereas by late Sunday it seemed positively warm despite the northerly wind.

Thanks to Howard and Helen for officiating on Saturday, and Clive and Sandra for doing the same on Sunday.

Wednesday night racing starts this week ( 16th ) and next Weekend we have an Adult Race Training Day on Saturday ( 19th ) from 11.00 to 17.00, where we are going look at ‘OOD’ing, safety boat handling, and lots of short sharp races to get yourselves in tune for the season ahead !

Looking forward to seeing lots of you there !

A thank you from Brisbane Australia

We recently received this lovely letter from Australia that we thought we would share with you...

"Re Membership for Mike and Family

We apologise for not notifying the sailing club earlier but we have moved from Leeds to Brisbane Australia.

For various reasons we were unable to be as involved in the Yeadon Sailing Club as much as we would have liked. However, we did enjoy the times we were able to sail on Tuesday nights. In particular we would like to thank Neil McInnes and his team for the great introductory programme on Tuesday nights.

Yeadon Sailing Club has an excellent philosophy towards introducing new people to sailing (at any age) and a great family atmosphere. We wish the club all the best for the future and we hope to build on what we learned at Yeadon in our new home in Australia.

With Thanks

Mike Prince"

Health Warning

The council parks department regularly conduct tests of the water at Yeadon Tarn the latest of which has revealed some signs of campylobacter. This could be because of a number of potential sources – increased field fertilisation, new birds arriving etc.

As a precaution the following health notice has been issued: -

- Thoroughly wash hands directly after completing activities in the water.
- All cuts to be covered by waterproof plasters.
- Avoid gulping water down if you become immersed in the tarn.
- Do not contemplate water based activities if unwell or still recuperating from an illness.


It is hoped that this is a temporary contamination.

Snow Fun for Sailors

The second weekend of the season showed how hardy Yeadon Sailors are !
Saturday showed many faces of the weather but nothing lasted for too long, so was almost bearable.
Sunday seemed brighter until racing commenced, then the snow started ! Soft at first it got progressively heavier during the race until Patrick and Terry on OOD duty decided enough was enough and allowed everybody in for a warm drink.
Most made it out for the second race but the snow, and the wind was lighter and certainly less exciting for the less hardy gang of spectators that had gathered in the club house !
Thanks to Yvonne for the photos.

PLUS Video Footage, click these links to view:
Video 1, Video 2, Video 3

Sailing re-starts at Yeadon

Sailing started last weekend at the Club. A gang of intrepid sailors, lead by the Commodore, bravely went out for the first race of the season and most had tested the waters by the end of the first race.

Dave had the honour of the first rescue of the season, “My mainsheet broke ! “ he said. What he really meant was ‘I forgot to tie it on properly !’.

Sunday was so much better and it even attracted the Sailing Coach out on to the water ! He must of got his months mixed up, normally he doesn’t start sailing until May, not March !

Thanks to Tim and Seb for running the races in the fairly horrid weather on Saturday and John and Sandra for doing the same in the rather better weather on Sunday