Commodore's Musings - June 2015
Published 21:22 on 15 Jun 2015
Dear fellow members, it is almost mid-summer so please watch out for notices about the Summer Party should be great fun. Julian has plans on the catering side that will make your mouth water as well as a Band to get your feet tapping.
However, we should start with a quick recap on a fantastic May, The Cocktail party was truly memorable, well done Julian and Jo-jo for handing out all of the bites. The Raters started appearing Vagabond and Lady Jane were first in the water and it was soon clear that Vagabond's new rags were very effective, comfortably winning the two bridges race. The Spring Sail Training has been well received and the recent trainees are coming down on Saturday mornings to get more familiar with the boats and practice their skills. I would like to welcome you all to the club, and please ask any member if you have a question we are here to help. Whilst we understand that you are still getting to know the ropes, please take responsibility for yourself if you do not feel comfortable with how a boat is performing, come ashore and get it fixed. Thanks to all of the Club members involved with the Sail Training and follow up development mornings, I would like to Especially thank David Lowrie who has been the Club's senior instructor for many years we are most grateful for your dedication in helping new sailors master the ropes.
Brilliant boats and Fun Fridays are driving a family friendly end to the week with songs and general merriment as well as a good amount of messing around in boats. It seems that Brian is the biggest hit with trips around the island in Cora thanks Brian for all of your assistance in make these evenings such fun. These evenings also need some rescue cover so please feel free to add your name to the support team list.
Now to the serious stuff Bourne End Week was as good as ever, the new toilets functioning well and the racing as fierce as ever. It was good to see the younger members of the Rater fleet making their mark, Cameron Stewart helming Caprice, Dicken Maclean and Sam Eversfield on Lady Jane and Ben Palmer helming Vagabond. Dicken, I think now has a full understanding of where the beach is and every overhanging branch so watch out next year! It was great to see the re-vamped Atlantis back to her best and now at Thames, Paul Armitage did a great job there. The Stewart family were in full evidence and the rivalry between Ossie and Ian was amusing to say the least. Ossie even took to swapping boats to see if he could improve things. In the end the major prizes were won by Spindrift, Atlantis, Adventurer winning the Queens Cup and Vagabond winning the Thames Championship. Justin did a fantastic job in managing the Rater fleet and ensuring that the Queens Cup supper was a sell out. I hear Junior Bourne End Week was brilliant fun for the younger members of the club with Jo-Jo relishing her role as team leader.
The Navigators and General Three Rivers race welcomed 3 Thames A Raters to Horning it sounds like all those involved enjoyed their day in the Norfolk air, line honours went to Lady Jane sailed by Dicken Maclean, Nick Fribbens and Sam Eversfield. I think that there will be a ban on Dicken talking about getting home in time for last orders in future.
The Thames Open day was a great success thanks to Ben May's great organisation and patience; there were over 90 guests who were taken afloat, with definite interest shown by some to join. I recognise that this event takes a great deal of organisation and effort from many members, so thank you for your help in make this a great show case.
June sees a number of Open meetings the Vintage and Merlin Open's on the 13th and 14thfollowed by the Thames Open on the 27th and 28th please support your club with your attendance either racing or supporting the racing as well as telling as many of your fellow sailors from other clubs to bring their boats and join in. The more the merrier. We also need you to get the Junior Regatta on Sunday July 5th into your diaries. Remember we have many club boats to use and so there should be no excuse.
Finally a bit of admin, the General Committee has decided to phase out the use of Pay-Pal, this is for two reasons: 1) it is expensive the costs of a transaction is almost 5% and 2) The Pay-Pal account is in an individual's name which is unsustainable and far from transparent from a club perspective. We would therefore like to encourage the use of bank transfers which are far simpler. I would also like to float the idea of Direct Debit mandates for membership and berthing fees, we will consult as to whether this has your support going forward.
Miles Palmer
June 2015