Commodore’s Comms, June 2025
How can it be June already? The year is flying by…far too quickly for my liking. After a wonderful spell of weather in May, it has predictably finally broken into our usual pattern of Atlantic fronts bringing rain and wind , with a marked drop in temperature. It has however raised the lake levels at last!
If you have been looking at the club website you will have seen that Callum our Chief Instructor has planned a number of courses over the next 3 months, in particular Powerboat 2, Safety Boat, and refreshers on the use of marine radio.
I enrolled for the Safety Boat course a couple of weeks ago. It was very thought provoking, focusing our minds on what our role actually is in providing cover for those who are racing. Callum’s opening remarks certainly struck a chord… you should always be prepared to go into the water when you are doing a Safety Boat duty, and hence should dress appropriately, having risk assessed the conditions yourself. I’d never really looked at it that way but as the course progressed it made perfect sense. It was a busy 2 day course and I would recommend it to anyone who is doing a duty. All of the courses we are offering are at a discounted rate, being less than commercial rates and are very good value for money.
Callum is also running 3 “Introduction to Marine Radio” seminars. These will be beneficial to both those members who already have their VHF Short Range Certificate,(SRC) and those who haven’t but are doing Safety Boat cover .It will cover amongst other things, radio etiquette and the importance of clarity and brevity when transmitting. Highly recommended and it may inspire some to do their SRC in the future. Callum and Richard Thompson are working hard on the training program so please support the courses that are on offer.
Midsummer Day (21 June) this year is Commodore’s Day and for a change to start the afternoon we will be having a pursuit race , which is being organised by our Sailing Sec and officiated by Steve Bewsher. For those who may be unfamiliar, the race will be over a set time with boats allocated a start time according to their handicap. First over the line wins …simple in theory, a little bit of mathematical gymnastics required to work it all out.
It should be fun and we aim to have the race finished by 14.15 so that the BBQ can be lit at 3 o’clock. We are asking members to bring their own food to cook , with salads/sides and ice creams to be provided. There will be a fun wine and cheese tasting quiz, with a crisp tasting for children.
Hopefully the weather will be reasonable and we will have a convivial afternoon. Its a great opportunity for new members to come along and meet other members and the club Officers.
On matters of Capital Investment for the club, at last weeks Management Committee the revised proposal for the smaller decking scheme was considered. The scheme received Planning Approval in March of this year. Following a full discussion at the meeting, the Committee agreed to progress the proposal. I will send out a separate communication in the next few days about how this may be achieved.
Lets hope that we return to summer shortly, we seem to have more than our fair share of sometimes brutal gusty winds disrupting our sailing these past few weeks.
David Heron
Commodore