South Bank Sailing Club
The Towpath, Embankment, Putney, London SW15 1LB Tel: 020 8788 9786
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The Towpath, Embankment, Putney, London SW15 1LB Tel: 020 8788 9786 |
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SOUTH BANK SAILING CLUB NEWSLETTER December 2005 The officers and the General Committee of the club send Seasons greetings to all members and wish you all good sailing in 2006 and beyond. The last race of this year is on the 18th December, the start is at 1345h, and you are invited to have a glass of sherry wine and a mince pie before the race. Whether you sail or not, come and watch the others It is some time since there has been a dedicated newsletter and it is hoped to re-establish this information distribution. At the end of this I am sure you will agree that a lot has been going on; we would like you to come and take part. L.S.
FROM THE COMMODORE In 2005 we maintained the improvement in the sailing activity that was made in 2004; we have some new people sailing with us and our membership is up. Space in the dinghy park is getting short; Wandsworth B.C. have at last taken an interest in the clubhouse subsidence. 2006 will be, as Confucius said, an interesting year. Our lease comes up for renewal at the end of June and it may well affect our subscriptions. We will be hosting the Enterprise Association 50th anniversary meeting, also in June. This will take the form of a down river race and some 30+ boats are expected. So wrap up well for January, February and March and look forward to a nice warm, challenging summer. Have a Merry Christmas and drink to even better sailing in 2006. The omens are good. J.P.
FROM the HARBOURMASTER A somewhat grand title but then that seems typical of sailing clubs, maybe there has been a historical sexing up of the club ‘Officers’ title to attract the unwary. As there isn’t a harbour in sight, my club duties are associated with looking after the dinghy park and the clubhouse building (in a similar vein the commodore doesn’t look after commodes) The structural cracking in the clubhouse walls have been thoroughly investigated this year, by digging pits to learn of the foundation arrangement and the underlying soil strata. Wandsworth Borough Council has removed two large Chestnut trees which were very close to our walls, and heavily pruned 3 others. Recent readings of crack widths show that they are eversoslightly (an engineering term) closing up and whilst this could be put down to seasonal movement it is hoped the trend can continue into next year. The construction of the long awaited boat shelter, for the repair of boats, is underway, and I thank John Parke and Jeremy Khan for their efforts. The working party of last spring was a great success, more hands certainly made lighter work. The next working party will be on January 15th starting at 0930. Hot something or other is promised, FREE. More info early next year. Please come along, the last one (shameless exaggeration allowed) was great fun and we achieved a huge amount. I am delighted that two of our senior member’s boats will see a new lease of life under new ownership; this is fantastic not only in terms of boats on the water, but it means that the ‘dead’ end of the dinghy park is gradually becoming a working part of the club rather than a graveyard. Only two more ‘potential bonfires’ to deal with this coming season and I hope that their owners will get stuck in and bring them back to life. C.P.
FROM the MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Our membership now stands at 77, such as it has for the last couple of years despite the seasonal turnover. Our contact list runs to two pages of A4. The towpath bill board attracts a lot of attention and there is a good take-up of the ‘tear-off’ slips and subsequent membership applications. If only the enquiries from the tow-path came after the race instead of just before the start! Through the year on the first Saturday in each month prospective members have been offered a ‘Taster Sail’ where we try hard not to tip them in. There have been some encouraging results. With similar intent we had an ‘Open Saturday’ for newer members to come and sail, socialise and enjoy a BBQ. Tuesday evening meetings became a weekly event throughout the summer, sailing when the tide was right otherwise a general get together. There were even discussions of nautical topics and an occasional trip up river to a riverside pub and a picnic. In January, an Enterprise Training DVD will be shown together with a talk by Steve Collins from the Enterprise Assn. More about that in the New Year. S.B.
END of SEASON SUPPER and PRIZE GIVING The Guest of Honour was the Commodore of Ranelagh S.C., Nick Price and his wife Wendy. Twenty-seven of us sat down to ‘Duck & Orange Terrine with Walnut Toast, followed by Boeuf Bourgignon with lots of delicious vegetables.. This was followed by Mini Pavlova with warm autumn fruits in delicious sauce. All this lovely food was provided for us by Amy Dugmore who hails from deepest Devon and we were looked after at table by Laura Phillips and two of her friends. Much of the pre-supper preparation was done by Allan and Rory Munro-Faure and Jeremy Kahn did a lot of chasing about. After dinner the Commodore regaled us with the State of the Club, and presented the trophies to winners of the two series races and those of the individual races during the Summer. The Trophies went to: Bev’s Cup John Parke Scott Pot (Ents) Don Henderson Campbell Trophy Don Henderson Novices Cup Ian Malcolm Bernard Driver Trophy Joe Driver
And then Chris Phillips presented a slide show of some of the summer events including the Vassiliki trip, the Enterprise ‘Open’ at the Club and lots more. Where did the rest of the summer go? C.P. also made presentations the ‘True Grit’ award went to Ann Malcolm who was out in the Channel doing her Costal Skipper practical in a force 7 gusting 8. Wimp of the Year went to Trish Gutteridge who. despite always being there whenever catering help is needed miserably failed to sail during 2005!!. It developed into a long night! Despite the fact that the accommodation facilities wouldn’t get AA or RAC rating, the supper was so successful that even more people than last year decided that they were incapable of going home at the end of the evening (correction, morning) let alone leave the clubhouse. The body count on the day after was seven in varying degrees of disarray and disability. In worst condition was Bess, Chris Phillip’s Schnauzer, who decided that it would be good sport to jump up on the orange chairs and pounce on the poor unsuspecting incumbent lying comatose in a sleeping bag. The final straw was when, rather bleary eyed, we looked out of the balcony windows at the river at about 9 a.m. and to our shame saw that Ranelagh were out in force in their Lasers, whereupon Ian Malcolm suggested that next year we organise the dinner so that we can get out to race first thing on the Sunday. Not sure how much enthusiasm there was for that but watch this space. S.B
CLUB BOATS There has been a lot of sailing going on and you should know that there are for the use of members ;- 3 Enterprises 2 Lasers (optional Radial rig), a Wayfarer and a GP 14. The hire charge is £3-00 for the single-handers and £5-00 for the others, and the sailing is FREE.
It is time to break out the winter gear to come and sail the better winds on the Putney Reach.
ENTERPRISE OPEN at SOUTH BANK. 2nd OCTOBER 2005 A bright day and a force 3 to 4 blowing down the River greeted three visiting Enterprises from Island Barn Reservoir S.C., London Corinthian S.C and Minima Y.C., and 7 home boats to our first Open Meeting, the penultimate event in the Thames Valley Bowl Series sponsored by Fuller’s London Pride and the final meet in the River Series. Three races were held. Steve and Kathy Collins from Minima Y.C. won the first, followed by our own Allan and Rory Munro-Faure with Joe Driver Emma Griffin third. The Collins also one the second race, the second and third finishers reversing the first race order. In the longer final race Steve and Kathy again led, but Joe and Emma overtook on the final lap to win, with Glen Cole and Negla Salem from Island Barn S.C. coming home third. After racing, competitors and helpers were warmed by home made chilli before the prize giving. The winner of the meeting was awarded the Geoff Foster Memorial Trophy, prizes of London Pride were given to the first three crews and the Race Officer and his team were thanked with the sponsor’s product. Phil Chambers and Ewing Gitting of Hampton S.C. were unable to attend this event, but had done well enough previously to win the River Series overall. Joe Driver crewed by Allan Munro-Faure came second and Glen Cole and Negla Salem third. RESULT 1st 22628 “Old Grey Fox”, Steve Collins and Kathy Collins, Minima S.C. 2nd 16343 “Fireflash”, Joe Driver and Emma Griffin, South Bank S.C. 3rd 22563 “Afterthwart” Allan Munro-Faure and Rory Munro-Faure South Bank S.C. 4th 20738 “Electric Eel”, Glen Cole and Negla Salem, Island Barn Reservoir S.C. and Thames S.C. T.B.
The Harbourmaster and the Bosun are both looking for assistants (and assistance) so if you have skills in small boat repair or other DIY skill OR would like to acquire some, then you would be very welcome. Please contact; Hm: Chris Phillips; christopherlindsayphillips@hotmail.com Bosun; AllanMunro-Faure;allan.munro-faure@hotmail.com
OUR WEB SITE Our website address is http://www.southbanksailingclub.co.uk. Amongst the information on the site is:- The current RACE PROGRAMME and reports on the races, including reports for the season A picture gallery and a short history of the Club. Coming soon will be a ‘Notice Facility’ where you will be able post requests for Crews and for Helms and items for sale. Gary Marshall at garymarshall2002@hotmail.com is keen to build up the site and would like to receive pictures (old and recent), and stories of exploits and suggestions. If you have any of these he would love to hear from you!
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