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Merry Christmas!Merry Christmas!Merry Christmas!Merry Christmas!

Winter 2009 T h o r n b u r y S a i l i n g C l u b

TSC Newsletter Inside this issue:

BCYA award goes to...Thornbury SC! 3

Life’s a Beach - Laying Up supper photos 4

Barry Smith talks about the fast handicaps 6

Chapmans Greek sailing holiday 7

Dates for Frostbite series and Winter talks 8

Thornbury Sailing Club—Notice of Annual General Meeting

In accordance with rule 6.1 notice is given that the Annual General Meeting of the club will be held at the Clubhouse,

Oldbury on Severn commencing at 20.00 hours on Thursday 7th January 2010.

AGENDA

1. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 8th January 2009

2. Commodore’s report

3. Treasurer’s report

4. Hon Secretary’s report

5. Membership Secretary’s report

6. Election of President and Vice President

7. Election of Honorary Members

8. Election of Officers

9. Election of Committee

10. Election of Independent Examiner

11. Any other business notified to the Hon Secretary at least 48 hours before the start of the meeting

The January General Meeting will follow the Annual General Meeting.

Del Jeffrey

Hon. Secretary Encl. Nomination Form

Mardons ‘perform’ for the Laying Up supper Photos from Andrew and Elizabeth Smith

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THORNBURY SAILING CLUB Nominations for Election at the Annual General Meeting

Thursday 7th January 2010

Nominations must be submitted to and reach the Honorary Secretary forty-eight hours before the start of the Annual

General Meeting. That is by 8.15 p.m. on Tuesday 5th January 2010. Nominees must have signified their willingness to

serve and all nominees, proposers and seconders must be fully paid-up Full or Family Members. Members are reminded

that subscriptions became due on 1st October and that if they are not paid by 1st January [rule 5.4] membership may be

terminated.

Return completed form to: Del Jeffrey

Hon. Secretary TSC

19 Crowthes Avenue, Yate, Bristol BS37 5SZ

Position Nominee Proposer Seconder

President

Vice President

Commodore

Vice Commodore

Honorary Secretary

Membership Secretary

Honorary Treasurer

Berthing Officer

Sailing Secretary

Sail Training Officer

Social Secretary

Safety Boat Officer

Bosun

Bar Steward

Committee

Committee

Committee

Committee

Committee

Committee

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Editor’s Notes

Thanks everyone yet again for their excellent contribu-

tions to the TSC Newsletter. I didn’t receive any photos

of the Dinner Dance—please keep sending things in and

don’t assume someone else will!

The next issue is due in March and articles, photos etc are

welcome at any time.

Wishing you a very happy Christmas, hope to see you all

at the AGM.

Editor

sarah.brankin@tesco.net

Tel: 01454 850054 (Mobile 07967 100 373)

69 Hamble Close, Thornbury BS35 2DE

Commodore’s Report The last few months of the year are always a busy time of

year for social events. Last month we had an excellent

Dinner & Dance, Julie and Mo did an excellent job orga-

nizing the event and Inky managed to get all the trophies

in and engraved. However they were not very happy with

the venue and have spent some time looking for a new

one. Next year we will be going to Eastwood Park which

should provide a much better setting whilst keeping the

cost as low as possible.

As soon as that event is over the social team start prepar-

ing for the laying up supper coming this weekend, making

sure that Father Christmas is available to come and visit

the club with gifts on December the 12th. We also have

the Christmas Card evening on Sat 19th December. And

finally why not come down to the club after Christmas for

the freezer on Sunday 27th either to work off all the

Christmas food going out for a sail or just to come and

have a chat.

The AGM will be taking place on January 7th, we have

people to fill the major posts on the committee however

we are still looking for someone to take on the Treas-

urer’s job. Also there are spaces for people to join as

committee members since several committee members

from this year are taking on other posts.

If you would be interested in joining the committee and

would like to find out what is involved then please don’t

hesitate to get in touch. As well as helping to contribute to

the running of your club it will give you a chance to influ-

ence what we are doing.

Finally, last weekend I went to the Bristol Channel Yacht-

ing Association AGM to receive the BCYA Club of the

Year award. This is a new award this year and is in recog-

nition of all the great work that the club does training and

encouraging people to sail, particularly the juniors. So

thank you to everyone who has helped in any way with all

the events that we organize.

At the same time they awarded the BCYA yachtsmen of

the year award which was presented to Tom Sully in rec-

ognition of his excellent results in the Topper events this

year. He came 6th at the Nationals out of approximately

350 people and he won the SW Topper Travellers series

in which over 140 people took part.

I hope you all have a Happy Christmas

John

TSC Christmas Card Social Evening

Sat 19th December—8 o’clock onwards Everyone welcome

Bring along your cards on the night

or post in postbox in clubhouse

Light refreshments and bar

Tom Sully receives BCYA award

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Laying Up Supper—Bingo on the Beach

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Social Secretaries’ Report

First A big Thank you to everyone that has helped us this

year. The Dinner and Dance has been and gone, not the

best of venues for many reasons, Next Year we are go-

ing to Eastwood Park, date will be in the dairy.

We have Father Christmas and the Card Evening coming

Up.

I think that is it.

The only thing left is to Wish Everyone a Merry Christ-

mas and a Happy New Year!

Julie and Mo

Late News! Father Christmas will be arriving by boat

after sailing this Saturday (December 12th). There will

be hot dogs served in the galley afterwards.

Card evening Saturday 19th December at 8pm.

Is it Time for change for the Fast Handicap

Over the last two or three seasons sailing my Fireball in

the fast handicap, the fleet has been very small and I have

gone back to sailing a Miracle to get bigger fleet racing.

I think it’s time we took a good a look at the boats we sail

at Thornbury S.C. and group them better.

At the present, with the fast Cats, RS 700 & 800 and Fire-

ball, the speed difference is too big and it is hard work for

the OOD to set a course to suit all Cats and boats, and the

time difference between first and last is too big.

Is it time we went back to Fleet racing? With the Laser

and Topper fleets getting bigger should they have their

own start and a course which suits them?

I sailed over the winter at Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club

and they seem to be very big on fleet racing, with 5-fleet

racing using 6min-3min-go starting so fleets were starting

every 3mins. We had a good racing with 3 to 4 Fireballs

most of the time.

Over a season you are not going to have fleets sailing all

the time but when there are 4 or more Lasers and Toppers

the OOD must set a course for them and run three fleets,

for one thing you cannot beat fleet racing for fun and im-

proving sailing.

As for the rest, we need to group them around their Cat

and Dinghy boat speed plus their Handicap, and which

courses they enjoy sailing.

For example, the Fireballs and Darts enjoy two-sail reach-

ing plus a 3-sail reach and a good beat, the RS700, RS800

and fast Cats do not like tacking too much and enjoy

blasting down-wind with big kites.

Sailing is about having fun and at times over the past 3

years it has been boring with RS and Fast Cats sailing

with their big boring course which is great for them.

We need to group boats like the Scorpion, Fireball, Laser

2, Laser 2000 and Flying Fifteen and other boat speed

boats and Cats together so that we get closer racing and

good racing.

If this means getting all Cats and Dinghies together on

Sunday and doing some hard talking so be it.

Barry Smith (Fireball and Miracle sailor)

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Sailing in Greece

One of life's abiding pleasures is going to birthday parties

even if the person's age is sometimes best tactfully forgot-

ten. However at TSC tact is not high on the list of the

many talents the club can boast and so September saw a

flood of memorable birthdays being celebrated in some

style. First there was Gary Chapman's 50th on the 4th

which involved treading a careful line between marking

the occasion with due enthusiasm and being fit enough to

take part in the PCC Holms race the next day.

The next weekend saw the triple 60th birthday celebration

for Sarah, Rob and Paul which again saw everyone party-

ing in fine style. With Gary and Paul celebrating memora-

ble birthdays in the same month Caroline had decided that

a fitting way to mark the occasion would be to organize a

mass flotilla holiday to Greece and the next weekend saw

a fine body of people assembling at the Mercure hotel at

Gatwick in order to make the early morning flight to

Preveza.

The coach journey from the airport to our flotilla base at

Sivota took about an hour and interestingly was reached

by crossing a bridge formed by a permanently moored

boat which enables Lefkas to still maintain its status as an

island as far as the EU is concerned. Our boats were wait-

ing for us as we got off the bus and the rest of the after-

noon and evening was spent moving in and discovering

the delights of the small natural harbour, or more truth-

fully discovering the delights of the local Yacht Club Bar

and watching Man U v Man City on Skysport, well we

were on holiday after all. The lovely afternoon warmth

carried on into the evening and

we all spent a splendid evening

getting to know some of our fel-

low sailors and experiencing vari-

ous dishes provided by one of the

many small restaurants that ring

the harbour.

Our flotilla had been booked

through Sailingholidays.com who

take quite a relaxed view on

cruising in company and our

party of 19 was accommodated

on three Beneteau 331 and a Jag-

uar 27. Quite a few of the party

had been to Greece before but for

many of us this was our first taste

of sailing in the clear blue waters

of the Ionian Sea and at least one

person, my wife, who had never

actually sailed on anything be-

fore! The 331 can comfortably accommodate six people

for a weeks cruising and, our crew consisting of me and

Michele, Gary and Caroline, Caroline's colleague Jon-

quille and Gary and Caroline's son Aran, were far from

cramped.

Before the first days sailing a comprehensive briefing

took place where, amongst other things, the wonders of in

mast furling were explained and our destination an-

nounced and at just after 10 o'clock our fledgling flotilla

weighed anchor and headed north up the Meganisy Strait

and then east for a couple of miles to the north end of a

small bay that lead to the small port of 'Little' Vathy. A

grand distance of about 9 miles! The TSC contingent had

anchored next to a small island for lunch and a swim and

then allowed the gentle breeze to waft us to our destina-

tion. The arrival gave me the first chance to experience

'stern to' mooring which, with a bit of judicious direction

from James our flotilla skipper on the quayside and some

gentle speed adjustments from Gary, was accomplished

without mishap. Paul and Sheila Chapman ably assisted

by Josie and their non sailing friends Tony and Ester were

in next and then it was the turn of the boys' boat skippered

by Tony Page and Dave Cushing to show us and their

passenger for the afternoon Joy just how it should be

done.

Greek harbours are wonderfully compact and whilst the

ladies went for a shower located a quarter of a mile to the

north of our mooring the men departed to the local tavern

to check it would meet our exacting standards i.e. had a

good supply of wine and beer. Needless to say everything

was in good order and the party enjoyed an excellent eve-

ning luxuriating in the warmth of late summer Greece.

Photo from Paul Chapman

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A race between ourselves and another Sailing Holidays

flotilla was planned for the next day with the start line

exotically situated off Scorpios, the island owned by the

Onassis dynasty. I made the day more difficult than it

needed to be, a navigation error meaning we didn't arrive

at the start line in time for a leisurely lunch, (that'll teach

me to keep my conventional navigation skills up to

scratch). However in the event only four boats from our

flotilla made the start in a light fluky breeze. The lead

boat, which shepherds the flotilla throughout the week,

won (it was the only boat with a proper rig and sails) with

our boat second and Tony and Dave assisted by cousins

Josh and Lucas Chapman and their friend Jack following

a close third. They may have done better had they not

been distracted by their sunbathing passenger Joy, who

had joined them from Paul’s boat for the day.

After the days exertions we sailed a mere five miles west

to the jellyfish infested Vliho Bay where we anchored for

the evening. Luckily it was only a short pram trip to the

taverne as my wife Michele discovered that small inflat-

able boats are an aspect of sailing she isn't too keen on.

Still the journeys to and fro were accomplished without

mishap and a pleasant meal was followed by a peaceful

night’s sleep that left us ready and raring to go in the

morning, for the longest leg of the week, to the small is-

land of Kalimos (about 18 miles).

The weather was fine but the early morning breeze soon

died and we motored east to our lunch rendezvous on the

north of Kalimos with Jonquille at the helm. After lunch

we pottered on to our overnight stop at the small epony-

mous harbour. A Sunsail flotilla was already in residence

so it was quite a squeeze getting in for the night with

boats rafted up three or four abreast.

Sunrise the next day saw us set sail for the legendary is-

land of Ithica. Our plan was to anchor off Spider Island

for lunch but as the day progressed the weather deterio-

rated and we pressed on to the picturesque port of Vathy

and the shelter offered by its surrounding hills. This was

the biggest town we visited during our weeks cruising and

it was nice to be able to replenish our water tanks, have a

walk into town and raid the local cash machines (don't

rely on credit cards when visiting small Greek islands).

Our penultimate day saw the wind still blowing a good

force four and the seven miles to the tiny harbour of

Frikes was covered in short order. Unfortunately the in-

clement weather meant that the small port was already

packed and the only option was to raft up onto boats that

were already rafted up three deep. I was glad it wasn't my

boat on the inside!

Most of us took the opportunity to go for another walk

and for the first time that week we ate in a proper taverne

with four walls to get out of the wind and rain. Overnight

the wind increased and changed direction and at about six

in the morning with stanchions breaking and shrouds tan-

gling we decided enough was enough and made a hasty

exit north towards our home port on Lefkas. Half way to

our destination the wind freshened to an easterly force six

and we motored as fast as we could go into the shelter

afforded by the natural harbour of Sivota. An exciting end

to a great week, if you’re thinking of going I can thor-

oughly recommend it.

The harbours visited in the week were:

Sunday Sivota

Monday Little Vathi (Meganisy)

Tuesday Vliho Bay (Lefkas)

Wednesday Kalimos (Kalimos Island)

Thursday Vathi (Ithica)

Friday Frikes (Ithica)

Saturday Sivota (Lefkas)

Jon Everett

Date Subject Speaker

21st Jan

8pm

Voyages in a 100 year-old

Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter

Diccon Pridie

18th Feb

8pm

J Class Yacht Racing

BCYA sponsored event with

refreshments

Rosemary Joy

18th Mar

8pm

Oldbury Power Station

Replacement

To be confirmed

Frostbite 2010

Sat 9 Jan 14.16 6.1 12.45

Sat 23 Jan 12.01 6.4 10.30

Sat 6 Feb 12.17 6.7 10.45

Sun 21 Feb 11.33 6.7 10.00

Sun 7 Mar 11.40 6.5 10.10

Sun 21 Mar 10.36 7.5 09.00

Date HW Ht Start

Winter Talks 2010