April is the cruellest month
(breeding Lilacs out of the dead land)….. and cold winds from the North, …
Monday 30th April,.. Denis Hope,..windy,.North Lake,..Richard B. blazed (.!!..) a trail across, in, and under the lake giving the rescue boats ..(2No,..thank you), plenty to fret about; simple windward/ leeward course which suited the asymmetrics …. Robin R and I took out the Bahia 1976,.. firstly thinking we would just ‘go for a sail’.. then thinking, ‘well, we could go into the North Lake and see what it’s like’..then thinking, ‘well, we could at least cross the start line’, then, ‘well perhaps one lap’.. then, ‘well we’ve got this far we might as well finish’, … and so we did,..all those things,.. first lap,.. Robin, ‘shall we put up that big coloured sail at the front’,.. me ‘no,..hardly worth it we’ll be going back’,, next two laps up it went,.. we neither of us have much experience of these devises and the ‘suit the asymmetrics’, terminology didn’t appear to apply to us,…
Sunday 29th April,… pm.,..I only did the one race,.. I had a Band practice to go to that evening and my age told me I needed a bit of a rest….,,,the Commodore was out crewing for Judith in the first race,.. and who would have known, that only that morning, see below, he had been giving (kindly) spinnaker instruction to Keith and Kathryn..!… Oh what a tangled web we weave….!! .within all the permutations of kite flying, upside down was the only one he missed out. Robert, JR and Peter Hadron sailed away, but 2 GPs a Laser with a tiny sail (Stephen W) and a Solo hammered round a blustery North Easterly with a load of Flying Fifteens,..who all knew their way about the North Lake from experience the week before,..See below…. Race 2,?.. as explained, I wasn’t there, the results on website,….
am. Adult Squad, first Sunday morning and new members Neal Anderson and (sorry) Mrs Anderson and Sam, sailed about in their Vago,..looking good, Keith and Kathryn had expert spinnaker tuition from Simon (?!.. see above!), Evie and Ian took their GP for a shakedown sail,..(bit of re-reaving of ropes required there,..),. worked on setting up Nigel r’s new Solo and then I had exciting times with motor boats,..perished fuel lines, mooring trots (the work of the Devil), and boat to boat crew transfers,..we assume that somebody must have learned something,…
Saturday 28th April ,… first Squad Saturday,..loads of kids, looking very organised, and a few Adult Squad looking fairly disorganised,..HOWEVER, Bahia 1976,. went for a sail,.. and thank you to the Academy Trust,.. and to Graham for rigging 90% of the boat,..I took John Knaggs and then Lisa Leahy for a sail each and …’somebody must have learned something’, it is a splendid vessel, roomy, stable, quick,.. I want to take it for a race on a Sunday afternoon…(ps, I signed it out and back in the prescribed manner in the book, which is in the radio/key Room,… see Policy on Use of Club Boats on the website under Sailing),..there was a first 17ft race in the afternoon apparently and Colin, having spoken at the Prize giving last year will find himself on his feet again at the Dinner this week….he should offer his crew, JR, to do the speech,..!!..
Friday 27th April,... finished rigging the Bahia, and thanks to Barty for help, and to Giles for bringing his boat down and parking it near so we could take the cover off it and see how things worked,… We need to start on the second Bahia,.. and need lots of volunteers to take people sailing and need lots of people who want to learn how to sail,… we have the equipment to be very proactive,..
Thursday 26th April,….. Light fitful Westerly, North Lake, Claife,.. need I say more,..well yes, a. the sun came out and b. it didn’t rain… the wind came round Claife from the North, round Claife from the south and over Claife and straight down on top of us,… on a simple windward-leeward course we covered all imaginable points of sailing, and, as we went back and forth, always had someone to talk to and moan about the wind,…
Monday 23rd April,.. loads of wind and horizontal rain,.. I went down to offer motor boat assistance,.. but the general consensus was to vote with ones feet and stay at home in the dry,.. 2 blokes (being blokey) went out to try and break something,…
Sat,-Sun 21st 22cnd April,..FF Northerns,..lots of reports, on this website, in Y&Y,.. and in the Gazette,..lots of pictures, lots of boats and we believe, lots of happy visitors,… well done the RWYC,… and while that was going on Graham M was beavering away in the bowels of the Bahia,…
Thursday 19th April,… Warm sunshine,.. really?… v. light wind… and a good day for GPs and Solos,.. even if I started in irons and gave everyone at least a minute’s advantage,..asked Ian S. later the definitive way to get out of irons,.. to receive the bearded reply,..(RWYC’s new Hipster?) .. ‘don’t get into them’…
Monday 16th April,.. South Lake of distant memory,.. another good day for non-asymmetric single handers and symmetric spinnakers,..
Sunday 15th April,.. went out in Steve Dodwell’s Merrymaid (or similar) 26, cruiser, with full complement of fixtures and fittings and a large heavy diesel engine,.. and an insufficient Clyde Cruising Association Handicap,..( in my opinion),.. wind died a lot and then one discovers, when it’s all over, the benefit of that heavy diesel engine,..
Thursday 12th April,... 16 boats out !!! …wind died, south lake,..of blessed memory,… advantage to the early starters,..long sail flapping back to Club,.. Iseem to remember being, as I saw it, ignored by towing escorters and getting rather grumpy,… the Bahias were delivered that afternoon ……… see above,.. PS, Does anyone need an old Wayfarer?.. see Peter Gooch,…
Early April,.. it all seems a long time ago..!.. I can remember a race being abandoned on Thursday 5th but little else,..
excellent start to the season once again … 20 different dinghies taking part on Thursdays and Sundays and two or three more on a Monday,… Welcome to new members,… ..Thursday suppers start this week ,…book now!…
Summer may yet surprise us..!..
BFN
Nigel H