Commodore’s Comms’. December 2024

Hello Members from the incoming Commodore, David Heron.

I thought that by way of introduction that I would tell you a little about myself . My introduction to sailing is a story that many I’m sure will relate to . On holiday in Scotland with parents, I saw a Mirror dinghy and spoke to the owner who had built it himself from a kit. I was 14 at the time and then relentlessly badgered my parents to buy a kit  which duly arrived in a flat pack box with step by step build guide and a book on how to sail it! The boat was duly built by Dad and me  and we joined Sunderland Yacht club, which had an active fleet of Mirrors, so there was plenty of help and advice available. I loved it, but the club also had, as well as a large Flying 15 fleet , a Fireball fleet. Once I’d crewed in a Fireball, the Mirror sadly became second best, and I bought a second hand Fireball. After University in Newcastle I moved to Kendal in 1977 and joined the LDBC which also had a Fireball and dinghy fleet. This was where I met Nigel and Jean, and Chris Ducker amongst others. As our family grew it became evident that there wasn’t time to sail and regrettably the boat was sold, although my love for sailing and racing never waned. Those of you at this years annual prize giving and dinner will have heard about how I became a member of the club  in 2014 after I was persuaded to buy a Flying 15 by my late great friend Chris at a party, whilst gazing out over Windermere! That was certainly a moment.

Those of you who attended the Annual Prize-giving and dinner will have seen a break from tradition in the Commodore handover. This has usually taken place at a Management Committee meeting the morning after the dinner, however that meeting was generally not well attended being the morning after the night before. As such it was decided to make this more of an occasion and one which was more visible to members . The MC meeting was help at 6pm on the evening of the Dinner and the presentation of the outgoing Commodores tie to John Richardson by Immediate Past Commodore Nick Aubrey, the introduction of the new Rear Commodore, Keith Jamieson  and a few words from the incoming Commodore took place after the prize-giving. This seemed to be well received by those who attended, and I very much hope that it will become a permanent fixture of that evening.

As the season draws to a close, the Autumn series which has been such a success in the past was badly affected by the weather, several weekends with no wind as we languished under a stubborn high pressure system and then 2 weekends of storms.. Next seasons calendar is well developed and will be ready for the printers shortly. We will have lots to look forward to in 2025 , both sailing and social.

Your Flags and Honorary Officers are meeting in December and January to discuss and hopefully develop a medium term strategy to take the club forward in 2025 and beyond and personally I am hoping that the new decking project will get off the ground. It is currently being be re priced on the basis of a reduced scheme following the presentation at the end of September, and once this is finalised it will be taken to management to hopefully agree to take forward. There will be further information from me about this in a separate  communication.

As we look forward to Christmas and the New Year there are lots of social events for your diaries in both December and January 2025.

 

  • Saturday December 7th Tidy Up day working Party
  • Thursday December 12th.  Beetham Bellringers 
  • Friday 20th December, Members Canape evening 
  • Thursday 26th ..Boxing Day Carvery 
  • Tuesday 31st New years Eve Party.    Nearly sold out 
  • Thursday 9th January  “Save Lake Windermere”.  Mat Staniek
  • Sunday 12th January.    Carvery lunch
  • Saturday 25th. January  Burns Night  TBC.

Full details of all these events are on the clubs website and advertised on the Club noticeboard. So please support if you can,  come along and meet your fellow members and Officers, make new friends and get involved in your club.

Finally, our club is run by a fantastic, dedicated team of officers who freely give both their time and considerable expertise to make this a successful  and welcoming club for its members. Please support them. 

It only remains for me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and Successful 2025. I shall look forward to seeing you at some of the events over the Christmas period.

 

David Heron

Commodore.