Commodore's Musings August 2016
Published 10:15 on 6 Sep 2016
Dear Members,
It has been a Summer of events with great representation both at Thames Sailing Club and wider afield. China Bowl one of the most prestigious Rater Cups sailed for at TSC saw a good turn out and very tight racing with 3 boats taking a race win, ultimately Vagabond took the trophy with Osprey second and Scamp third, there was a great barbeque enjoyed by all of the sailors on Saturday evening, thank you to all involved.
Salcombe Merlin week sees much club representation, however, the week was especially significant for Pippa Taylor and Chris Kilsby who announced their engagement. Whilst sailing in different boats they manged to be tied on points at the end of the series with Pip just edging it on count back to take 5th overall.
The Merlin Nationals were held in Penzance this year with one two hour race each day. Jemma and Martin Hughes had a thoroughly enjoyable week at the extremity of the country. Chris and Pip also finished tied on points with Chris pipping it to finish 11th. The week after the Merlin nationals it was the turn of the RS200s at Marazion with Dicken Mclean and Ben Palmer in attendance. The RS200s is one of the most competitive circuits and with just under a hundred boats in the fleet, gate starts is the order of the day and with 2 or 3 races a day you would think that there was not much time for partying. Needless to say there were plenty of antics including a swim back from St Michaels Mount to beat the ferry. Once again racing was tight between the club representation with Dicken 6th and Ben 7th overall with just 2 points between them and less than 10 points to third.
Back in Surbiton I have been pushing Kingston council for a response to our pre-planning meeting. However, this has proved to be difficult to extract and so is causing a very frustrating delay in proceedings. I will of course keep you informed once we have a response and our application should be posted shortly after that.
Strait Dealer has made it back to Thames following more work after the Three Rivers, once all of the fittings were back on her, she was weighed and launched. Early indications are that she is quick and will be formidable at Braganza. Just so everyone is up to speed, Braganza Bowl Regatta has been delayed to the 15th and 16th of October. The reason for this move is to ensure that this regatta did not clash with Barts Bash and Surbofest.
This year we have brought Thames Open day and Surbofest again into alignment on the 17th September, the aim is to give local residents a glimpse into life a Thames Sailing Club. There will be have-a-go sessions for a variety of sailing boats and Brian Johncey will be providing stand up paddle board sessions. Your help would be most gratefully received whether helping the sailors, providing tea and keeping tabs on proceedings, so please come down and lend a hand or contact Matt.
Finally, as the nights are drawing in the last Tuesday evening sails are today, 6th September, and next Tuesday with the starts 30 minutes earlier so don't forget.
I look forward to seeing you all in the near future and happy sailing.
Miles Palmer