Commodore's Musings - August 2015
Published 19:15 on 10 Aug 2015
Dear members and friends,
July has continued to see a good Rater turnout for Tuesday averages with many youthful sailors demonstrating their skills and interest in the club and the Rater fleet. I am hoping that some of these sailors will in-turn decide to join the club and syndicate. The most notable club event was the China Bowl sailed for over the weekend of the 25th and 26th July. Vagabond had a great Saturday but Scamp prevailed overall with two firsts and two seconds. The weekend was also my 50th Birthday and it was great to see many friends, current and former members of Thames Sailing club having a great time. Thank you so much to the club and all of you for making it a great evening and not allowing me to dwell on the number too much.
July is also a month of opening meetings and class nationals held around the country. The Merlin clan had a great time down in Salcombe, there were a number of spectacular de-mastings as well as controversial black flags but overall great fun was had by all. Kevin Pearson arrived back for the Laser Masters World Championships in Kingston Canada having had a great tour of Canada as well competing as a Great Grand Master on the water. Kevin had a week of ups and downs with a bullet and a second early on in the week and then became a little line shy towards the end of the week finishing 7th overall. Julian Smith attended both the UK and French Finn nationals and produced consistent scoring to achieve a top10 in both events and 3rd overall in the combined event - very impressive in a fleet that is dominated by full time Olympic sailors. The RS200 Nationals has just finished, Ben Palmer finished 7th overall. Cowes week is just around the corner and I am sure that many club members will enjoy the sailing and off water activities and I hope that there will be a number of tales to tell.
August is traditionally a quite month at the club with many members having summer breaks, however, the training activity is in full flow with Graham Bartholomew and Sally Reid making sure that all is organised and the training is provided up to standard. We welcome all of those trainees to Thames and wish them enjoyment in their sailing safe to say we are all still learning and happy to pass on tips, so please ask if in doubt. Following on from the training course, Graham has instigated a number of development sessions on Saturday mornings so that recent trainees can consolidate their skills if you would like to help, please tell Jemma.
I would like to highlight the Ladies Race on the 15th August this is a one off race and has a very nice rose bowl for the winner. It would be great to see many of the ladies down please note that crew do not have to be ladies, only Helms.
September is going to be busy with open meetings at Minima and Tamesis and Bart's Bash, more of that next month. However, I do wish to warn you that after Bart's Bash work will start on the retaining shuttering of the lower hard, this will affect week day activity from the end of September to mid October. However, weekend sailing should not be affected.
Another opportunity to promote the club to the local population is Surbo Fest. We're participating for the first time in this year's Surbiton Festival on Saturday 19 September. It's going to be a fun day at the club with a mini-open day planned amongst other things. Around Surbiton there's a lot more going on so check out their website http://www.surbitonfestival.co.uk. If you'd like to help then please contact Jemma.
Finally Ossie Stewart and Syndicate have decided to sell both Ulva and Caprice, both are fast boats and have won a number of Tuesday evenings this season as well as many prestigious events in the past. If you are interested in getting into the Rater fleet get in touch with Ossie.
I wish you all a pleasant August and look forward to seeing you out on the water.
Miles Palmer
August 2015