MYA Affiliation posted 08.03.10

Will all MYA Members please note that your new ‘Lifetime Affiliation’ cards are now available and are pinned up in the Clubhouse, ready for your collection.

Radio ‘A’ Class (RA) Veterans UK National Championship posted 07.03.10

Entry details can be found here for the MYA Radio ‘A’ Class (RA) Veterans UK National Championship, to be hosted by Poole Radio Yacht Club at Poole Park Lake on Sat 8th and Sun 9th May 2010

Racing gets underway posted 06.03.10

The 2010 race season got underway today with the first round of the PRYC Laser Spring series. Results here.

Resumption of sailing posted 18.02.10

As you are aware the lake will be empty until the 1st March. Thereafter sailing will commence to programme. The Leisure Services Department of Poole Borough Council are proposing to scrape the bottom of the Model Yacht enclosure in March to remove as much weed as possible. The work will take three days but as yet there is no firm start date since a licence is required.

Our first Open event is the Laser Tourist Trophy on Sunday 14th March (see Notice of Race section). On the same date we will be sending a team of RA’s to Gosport to start off a new four race inter-club series. A busy weekend.

Roy Cane

Laser TT event posted 18.02.10

Laser TT Round 1 at Poole Park on the 14th March. Entry details available here

January 2010 Newsletter posted 10.02.10

Your first Newsletter of 2010 is available to view here

PRYC Club Secretary’s Report to the AGM, December 2009

Commodore, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The year started badly with the loss of one of our most respected sailing members, Brian Askell. Not only was he a source of ready advice to those who needed it, his regular attendance to be RO at the midweek sailing certainly took a load off my shoulders. Fortunately Bob Beckett came out of retirement and stepped into the breech.

Although I’m handling it at the moment you will remember that we are still looking for a Sailing Secretary who will undertake the whole race sailing scene. The lucky incumbent would arrange for the organisation at all the Club competitions, calculate all the scores, recover the awards, see that they are engraved and deal with the prize giving at the end of the season in addition to formulating the following seasons sailing programme. John Trimmer has now offered to look after the Tuesday and Friday sailing as RO, in addition to his other heavy workload for the Club, and his help has been gratefully received.

Turning to Poole Council matters, I remember last year talking about the possibility of a water supply to the Clubhouse. The Council seemed quite energised by the project but I estimated the chances of success at 15%. Well, I have to tell you that the chances have now reduced to zero since the estimated cost was said to be £22,000. We have looked into this provision ourselves at various times in the past and concluded that it was not viable because of the lack of sewer service in Whitecliff road. This is the first time that the Council have expressed an interest in the work and suggested that a septic tank was the answer so we progress in that respect, albeit without a result at present. Those taps will have to remain dry Patsy.

The Park has once again been awarded a Green Flag. Cyril and Sheila, Shirley and I attended the press event, availing ourselves of the lavish hospitality on offer - weren’t those biscuits absolutely delicious? Steps forward had been made and a new flagpole was in evidence. Our pictures appeared in the Echo together with representatives of all the organisations which maintain the Park and use its many facilities. Well done Leisure Services!

The outdoor exercise equipment turned up and I was gratified to see that it was positioned where I had suggested. I have to say though, that it pulls in the public who take an interest in what we’re doing and may add to our membership. I had grave reservations at the start but they have been unfounded and Shirley has been much leaner and fitter since its arrival! Quite an unexpected benefit.

The biggest problem at the moment is the weed. I emailed the Council on the subject but as yet have no written reply. I understand from informal meetings held at site with the Park Supervisor that they are considering emptying the lake over the winter period. This may point the way to the future management of the situation - we shall see. I have made it plain that we will not be seeking to host National Competitions next season since the condition of the lake is indeterminate. This will reflect poorly on Poole.

The Membership this year has reached a new high of 128 - onward and upward it seems. It’s just as well you don’t all attend at once. Many of the applications have John Trimmer as the proposer as he continues his record of attracting the interest of passers by.

You’ll see from the accounts how important the catering donations are to the viability of the Club as a whole and how they help to keep the membership fees as modest as they are. We may have a tidy sum in the contingency fund but that would have been mightily dented if the acquisition of a water supply had materialised. We’ve not given up that idea of course and also the fence is looking decidedly shaky in some areas so future major expenditure is inevitable.

Major work to the remaining half of the clubhouse floor was completed early in the year and it seems to have worked. No longer do you spring up and down as you approach the front window. The number of floor joists has been doubled. It was interesting that the existing joists were only rotten at the ends. We have to thank a number of willing volunteers for their efforts. This year the boathouse floor will be repainted after the boathouse party next Tuesday when we’ve cleaned up the jelly and the trifle. I think John Trew has ambitions to repaint the outside of the building. No doubt Laurie Bryant will not wish to be involved as in recent years. He’s the only man I know who’s fractured his hip whilst washing out a paint brush. His new hip joint is functioning satisfactorily and he’s back with us. The loo was replaced by a more modern version which has proved to be cleaner and requires less maintenance. Incidentally I note that the loo income from donations was only £9. That doesn’t quite add up - even at one pee a time.

The work done to the marker buoys over recent years is now paying off. Stainless steel shackles and substantial chains together with anti-fouling paint and the fact that the lake has a greater proportion of fresh water has helped reduce the winter maintenance. The recovery boat is weakening by the season and will have to be replaced ere long. Suitable replacements with wheels are hard to find - unless you know differently!

There was one major competition tackled during the year - the RA Nationals. Peter Stollery, the MYA chairman, was RO for this three day event attracting forty competitors and allowing our most prominent sailors to take part. He was of course surprised that all he had to do was turn up and be Race Officer. I suspect that in most Clubs the chosen Race Officer does much of the preparatory admin work as well. Not so here, where we have a dedicated team on hand to arrange things and see that it all goes smoothly. Patsy Askell headed up the catering section, organising two evening functions at the Clubhouse as well as ‘feeding the five thousand’ during the day. Graham Bantock from Chelmsford won the event with his ‘Sword’, followed by Brad Gibson from Birkenhead sailing a ‘Venom’. Third was our own Peter Wiles with his ‘Sweet Mk 9’. The Mayor of Poole, Councillor Charles Meachin, presented the prizes.

The Poole RA Challenge Cup Series, competed for over nine events around the country, and culminating in our Taplin Trophy, has had another outstanding year. Masterminded by David Munro, the winner this year was Dave Andrews of Hampton Court, followed by Ken Binks of Eastbourne and then David Munro himself. There were 55 entries overall.

The Laser scene remains as strong as ever and has, in fact, been added to over the last season. Full credit must go to Class Captain John Trimmer and also to John Whateley who has not only instigated a Wednesday morning session for people who are new to racing but a Thursday morning session for those completely new to the sport. No-one can say that we are not using the Park facilities to the full. Monday is the only day for which nothing is scheduled.

In spite of our heavy usage of the lake RA’s have taken a step backward during the season. The One Metre fleet is now so strong that RA’s do not appear on the Tuesday and Friday meets. There may be many reasons. The average age of RA skippers is increasing and trying to launch or recover an RA on a lee shore in anything of a wind can be a bit challenging. The rig is not as easy to change when coping with varying wind conditions. It’s much more fun to sail in a large fleet etc. etc.

We normally include our two Ten Rater open events which we did this year. Unfortunately I had to cancel both at a very late stage. I took some stick over this as it appeared that there were entrants waiting in the wings. The form is that you enter open events at least one week before. How am I to know that Joe Bloggs is planning to come from Essex if I’m not told. Tam O’Shanter, travelling down from Scotland and who’s entered in the correct manner is not going to thank me if he’s arrived only to find that there are not sufficient entries to make a satisfactory race. It’s about time that a stand is taken against late entries for open events. It affects both entrants and Club organisers.

I put the Ladies Cup into the programme as I had threatened to do. Up until several days from the event we had only one entrant. Many would-be competitors got the idea that the whole thing was deadly serious. A little thought should have disabused them of that idea. Much lobbying and arm twisting produced a workable number and I laid out a reaching course - as that was the simplest option. The event attracted more spectators, (sorry barrackers), than I had anticipated. Since I had paired the husbands and wives together, some tension developed and added a certain spice to the occasion. It was all over within the hour - probably just as well. Sheila Clark won, paired with Linda Munro. There’s a lesson there somewhere and I have learned it. Next year the pairings will be by ballot. We all returned to the Clubhouse where Patsy Askell had organised a BBQ (thanks to Jo’ and Martina, her hard-pressed son and his wife). As it’s all going to happen again next year, I hope the competitors will be more relaxed about the format.

John Ryland is running a midweek frostbite series at the moment. This will continue as long as we have water and the weather remains reasonable. There are no plans for Sundays unless someone wants to arrange some racing.

Next years programme is substantially complete. There are some major changes as I struggle to keep up with trends in the Club. Maybe I’m leading the changes rather than lagging them - it’s in your hands. Broadly, next year, the One Metres will be sailed in the week and RA’s on Sundays. This may not be universally popular but where were you with your RA in the week this year? The usual One Metre Club competitions on Sunday will be retained - The Mallard Cup will be split into four and sailed on the Bank Holiday weekends. These weekends will therefore cater for Lasers on Saturday, One Metres on Sunday and RA’s on the Monday. Remember my former email to the Council about resisting running National events because of the condition of the lake. My resistance must have weakened because we have included the RA Veterans event in May, on the premise that the temperatures will be a minimum and the weed may not be such a problem.

Whilst I’m on the subject of the MYA; at their AGM, it was decided to issue the ‘Acquaint’ magazine to every member. The yearly membership fee will be £10. The magazines, together with the Yearbook Diary will be posted to you. Membership cards will be phased out and proof of membership will be via the MYA website. You will need to retain your membership number in order to enter the members section. You can pay your PRYC and your MYA subs today after this meeting as they’re both due on 1st January. Please make out a separate cheque payable to the MYA as this makes things much easier for our Treasurer.

You will remember that the Club has bought an engraving machine and, as promised, Peter Wiles and I have engraved all the trophies. You will find therefore that, if you’ve won such an award, the year and your name will have been engraved on it already. This was not possible on one or two items but steps are being taken to update our trophies. We’ve also filled in some of the missing years where members have neglected to have their trophies endorsed in this way.

Another successful year then. The cups and trophies that you see here will be presented at the end of our meeting. Well done to the winners and better luck next year to the losers. Once again I would like to thank all those who have helped the Club in the past year, not only by their physical effort but by their generosity and good will. I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas and, in spite of the continuing recession, a Prosperous New Year.

Thank you
Roy Cane

Newsletter, November 09 posted 08.11.09

The latest club newsletter is now available here.