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Tuesday 29 July 2008

Tuesday 5th Training Session Back on

Thanks to some offers of support, next Tuesday's training session is back on.

Tonights session was a little gusty at times but everyone managed to follows Neil's knitting course across the lake without too many problems, Pointing Percy the Scorpion managed to get it's crews feet and heads wet for the first time and there was a raging battle between the Pico's.

See you next week for more of the same.

The final training session this season will take place on the 12th of August and don't forget the BBQ on the 13th September.

Monday 28 July 2008

National 12 Open at Yorkshire Dales SC – 21st July 2008

Most of the Yeadon National 12 fleet attended the National 12 Open at Yorkshire Dales SC last Sunday. Patrick didn’t manage to make it but he was in France on holiday so we let him off. We arrived to typical Grimwith greeting of white horses and sunshine. 4 Yeadon 12’s plus 5 others turned out ready and raring to go.
The first race began having already lost two of the 12’s due to gear failings! The order was shaken up on the way to the first mark as Philip David with Caroline Clarke and Howard Chadwick with Helen Nicholson headed to the wrong mark. Philip recovered from this detour only to go the wrong way past the club mark. This left Mark and Emma Simpson in first then Neil and Katie McInnes and Howard in second and third. However Philip recovered from these setbacks to come speedily up through the fleet and into second only to fall victim to the fatal last gybe which claimed him and Simon Moss and David Clarke as they were being lapped and also Neil who managed to just escape after a wobble and a fill up. Final positions for this race were Mark, Neil and then Howard.
Second race everyone launched into a nice squall which made the start interesting! However by the time the fleet rounded the first mark it had eased. Now with everyone sailing the correct course there was a close battle between Philip and Mark for first place but Mark prevailed again to get first. Meanwhile this left a local battle between the Yeadon boats with Howard, Neil and John and Alison Cheatham all together, until John worked out how to make his Numinous fly and disappeared off to chase the lead two.
Conditions blew up for the start of the third race again but this time did not ease. Mark decided to sit this one out having two wins already. Neil lead the fleet round the first mark but Philip soon got ahead. They chased each other for most of the lap and during some synchronised fast baggy reaching, Philip caught a wave wrong and was in. The race had now turned in to a survival race with hard beats and flat out reaches which the race officer kept thankfully short with Neil winning it, Howard second and Philip in third. John had to be rescued after being helped over by one of the club training boats at the leeward mark. Tim Gatti and Tace Morgan also tasted the water early on and then struggled to catch up
Thanks to Yorkshire Dales for hosting the event and Neil Spink, the OOD for the day and the rescue crews for running a good event
Final results:
1st 3472 Mark and Emma Simpson
2nd 3216 Neil and Katie McInnes - YSC
3rd 3356 Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson - YSC
4th 3217 Philip David and Caroline Clark
5th 2255 Tim Gatti and Tace Morgan - YSC
6th 3468 John and Allison Cheetham - YSC

Monday 14 July 2008

Commodores Weekend - Great fun in spite of the rain

What a fantastic club we are!!!!



Well the weekend forecast couldn't have been worse but that didn't deter a great turn out for the 80th Anniversary Commodores Weekend

Gerard kicked us off with bacon butties and then the celebrations began.

Lots of boat swapping took us through to the first of the childrens races - The Funny Face Race and as you can see it wasnt just the kids who got their faces painted. Everyone joined in the fun.
We then raised £47 in the Charity Race for Cancer Research before setting up the Oaks Relay
(Oak because thats the symbol for 80th Anniversary) David Statmans team set off at a pace with Patricks team still wondering whether the race had started - there was a big effort to catch up but David and his team ended up winning.

The day was rounded off with a barbeque for the stalwarts and the midnight race for those with good eyesight. Well done to all who took part.


Sunday was not much better weather wise, but the kids got off to a great start with a canoe race and raft building. It was dry for them but ......

That didnt last -
A superb lunch was provided by the catering team and enjoyed by all, before a good race to burn off some calories. Then the famous bottle race got underway with a great entry of sailors armed with water pistols.
Throughout the day Yvonne ran her bring and buy with some members getting hold of a bargain or two

The prize giving finished off a great weekend with prizes for everyone who took part.
Wine, chocolates, toys galore there was no shortage of winners and a piece of celebration cake for everyone.
Tim was very pleased with the outcome and would like to thank the Committee and members for all the help they gave and to those who supported the event so well by taking part.



My thanks to everyone!

Friday 4 July 2008

Round The Island Race 2008


YSC Round The Island Race 2008


Participants –Glenis Burgess, John Dore and his daughter Lynn, Gerard Kennedy, Dominic Kennedy, Robert Jordan, Catherine Jordan, Tim Hattersley

Wow!

This year 8 YSC members crewed a brand new Elan 43 Yacht ‘ Wight Orca’ in the 50 mile, largest yacht race in the world around the Isle of Wight.

Superbly organised by Glenis we set off for a weekend of sailing with the benefit of a hired experienced skipper - Dave Ogden helping make the experience all the more exciting.

After a blustery sail on the Friday to get used to the boat and an excellent meal cooked by Gerard and John we were up at 4.30am and soon on our way to the start line for our 6.40am slot. The winds were light to begin with, but forecast to build to force 4/5 south-westerly for the bulk of the race, which they definitely did.

With nearly 2000 entries expected the sight in the waiting areas was just incredible.

At 6.30am we ‘got in the mix’ as Dave the skipper puts it, and we jostled for a good start which we duly got. We tacked goodness knows how many times on route to the Needles dodging numerous other participants sometimes with just a few feet to spare – tide was with us so we made good progress as the wind began to build.

As we rounded the Needles and headed for St Catherine’s Point the sea state was described in reports afterwards as grim, hairy, wild, lumpy and on the edge – the wind had built to 25 knots and understandably a number of our crew were by now suffering the dreaded sea sickness – in fact there was just 4 of us and the skipper left on deck. Catherine was a star and helmed through much of the wild patch under the watchful eye of Dave. Around us we witnessed many boats broaching, a helicopter winching, life boats towing and rescuing, spinnakers tearing and flying all over the place - wow!



The official toll afterwards was 4 boats dis-masted, 5 damaged and in need of towing, 1 sank, 1 upturned, 11 man over boards, 5 injuries with one needing hospitalisation
(but is fine now), 5 boats ran aground and just under 200 had to retire. But thank goodness not us. In the end we came a formidable 505th with a time of 9 hours 10mins placing us 24th in our group out of 52.

We had a brilliant race and felt a great sense of achievement. After a very pleasant evening and a few well earned drinks we all crashed out in our bunks. On Sunday we had a relaxing sail up Southampton water and were treated to a guided explanation of the history of all the landmarks on route by our exceptionally knowledgeable skipper. A final treat was in store for us though, as Ellen McArthur passed in her own yacht and gave us a wave. Since she had to retire from the race with a broken halyard I suppose we technically beat her – never mind Ellen.

You can visit http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk/ for a full round up of the event but in summary 1875 yachts entered, 1750 started, 1557 finished including us.

Tuesday 1 July 2008

It’s Commodore’s Weekend !!

Last reminder to everybody – It’s Commodore’s Weekend this weekend, it’s the one weekend in the year that shouldn’t be missed by anybody in the Club, from Tuesday Night new starter to top racer !
Come down and join in with everything that is going on.
See the recent news item for the full program of happenings, but please remember to bring down any sailing gear you may have grown out of, or the colour doesn’t now match your boat, etc., etc. for the ‘Bring and Buy Sail (Sale)’ on Sunday.


See you all there !!!!!!!!!