Papercourt
Sailing ClubVolvo Champion Club - Good sailing for all the family
News from the Sub Committees
BAR Charlie Beck
Wednesday evening sailing is back, the smell of burning food drifts across the lake (to tantalize those fishermen) and, of course, the bar is back to regular opening (7pm till late).
There are no do definite plans to bring back Sailtrim until the autumn, but we are discussing a revised summer version.
The bar will also be there with real Ale at the summer BBQ
Good sailing and support your local bar !
DUTY ROSTERS: May 2008 Lynne Jones
Greetings again from the duty rota.
The Summer Sailing Programme is now well established and working well.
Copies have been sent to everyone, and extra copies are available in the clubhouse. The programme can also be found on our website.
Thanks as always go to those members who have done their part in running the club during the winter, and particularly those who consistently do more than their share. The No Shows list on the club notice board shows the people who have not contributed their part in running the club, and there were some circumstances where members have not been invited to renew their membership.
A new initiative has been put in place to reflect our focus on health and safety issues, in the form of a new duty - SBO Crew. This is for those who do not yet have the qualifications to drive a safety boat, and it seems to be working well. I anticipate this will become a popular duty as the warm weather sets in.
For those wishing to swap duties, PSC is run by us, the members, so if you are asked to swap a date please be as flexible as possible to ensure the smooth functioning of the club. The email message service continues to be effective in publishing available dates but you may also need to phone around for a swap. Please remember that it is your responsibility as a member to ensure that your duty date is fulfilled.
Wishing us all 70 degrees and force 4,
PS And lots of water
PPS The sailing programme is displayed on the Clubhouse notice board, and you can download a copy from the PSC web site www.papercourt.org.uk.
Message to new members
If you have not already been allocated a duty date, please get in touch with Lynne so that you can be included in the programme. Lynne can make sure you have a duty date with experienced people. She will also let you know about our social and sailing events, which provide a great opportunity to meet other members.
DUTY SWAPS
Please remember that it is the member's responsibility to ensure that their duty is filled. If you need to swap, Lynne can help by advertising in the emails but, if that does not produce a result, YOU still need to phone around to arrange your swap.
HOUSE Mark Edmondson
Hello everyone
Central Heating at PSC
The House Team has been very productive in recent months. Issues have arisen on a regular basis; for example, the central heating system has been serviced and updated and the thermostat system will now work correctly.
Many of the central heating controls are available for people to tweak; if tempted please DO NOT.
We had problems recently because all the controls were turned to maximum. Our system does not require this and it causes the boiler to auto shutdown. This then, after much scratching of heads on our behalf causes us to call out the engineers who then send us a fairly hefty bill.
So, if the system is turned on either during the allocated time or by use of the extend switch and the thermostat reads sensibly please do not change any other setting.
Sewerage problems
The sewage pumps over this past winter have caused problems with the sensor warnings going off intermittently.
Several visits by the maintenance company have been required to trace the fault. The final fix has been to replace the wiring between the pumps and the control box.
Spring work party
This article is being written in late April, three days after the Spring work party.
I would like to thank everyone who attended. I hope that they enjoyed the day, though at times people were valiantly battling through the showers that affected us.
The tasks that were completed were varied from thorough clubhouse cleaning to Topper rack repairs.
Feedback please
This year, we have tried to develop the existing tried and tested methods for certain tasks. Many of the ideas were successful.
If you attended the work party, please could you provide us with some feedback. Were you happy with the tasks? Do you think that we should be concentrating on other areas?
Any comments or thoughts would be useful to help the House Team deliver a better work party.
Work party lunch
Over 60 people sat down for lunch this year. It was a great atmosphere. A large vote of thanks must go to the House Team and you, the members, for all your efforts in making the day a success.
Thank you
Sailing Peter Culwick
As I write this report the weather has finally decided that summer has arrived; hopefully, I have not spoken too soon.
Easter was a different matter. Artic winds and snow greeted those who were determined to sail in the Easter Series, 26 in total; first place Sam Tozer sailing an RS 200 and second place Aaron Smith sailing an RS 200.
The Spring Series was well supported with 46 participants; first place Roger Puttock sailing a Solo and second place Jon Paton sailing a Laser.
The Spring Chicken had 14 participants; first place David Mayne sailing a Solo and second place Amer Sarrsam also sailing a Solo.
So far this year, there have been four Open meetings: Optimists, Topper, GP14 and Graduates. The Laser Open will have taken place by the time this report is published. I will leave it to the Class Captains to report on these events.
The new Pursuit format has improved the participation by the younger members of the club sailing their Optimists. Arguable these young sailors represent the clubs successful future; I would welcome any other positive ideas that would help to increase participation of both the young and teenage sailors in club events.
To accommodate this increase in participates, especially in the Saturday Pursuit Race, a new start/ finish Committee Boat arrangement has been introduced. The aim is to avoid the potential problem of fast dinghies which have already started completing their initial lap through a slower fleet as they are about start. While normal fair sailing and racing rules should avoid serious consequences, it may be prudent to avoid this situation. I would be interested in any feedback members have.
The solution should be read using the diagram on page 10 for reference:
Lay the start line downwind of the leeward mark.
Start through the line to the windward mark.
At the end of the lap, the dinghies do not go through the start line.
Position the Committee Boat such that timings are taken as the dinghies come up to and round the leeward mark.
The dinghies will round up at the leeward mark towards the windward mark, thereby avoiding a hook finish.
The lake has remained at a high level during the Spring, which is an ideal way to start the Summer Programme.
However, just a work of caution regarding the slipway to the east of the club house: there is a part submerged concrete block at the edge by the fuel storage area. Please take care both with your own dinghies but also when bringing the rescue boats alongside as damage is being caused to bows of the rescue boats.
Weed; by the time you read this, the lake should have been treated to eliminate the growth of weed in the shallow parts of the lake. A different chemical has been used on the advice of the water-land management company that is being used; time will tell how effective it is.
This treatment does not treat the algae type blanket weed on the bed of the lake; this will be monitored and further treatment may be necessary.
I hope you enjoy your summer on the water.
SOCIAL TEAM REPORT Sheena Preston
Our Setting Up Supper/Pub Evening was enjoyed by all (including those washing up!) and as usual the club was packed to capacity. The wonderful food, cocktails and real ale went down a storm, nearly as quickly as Dean Carlton’s Yard of Ale feit … and as for our Commodore’s golden vocals and ‘the Matt’s’ romantic duet (not a dry eye in the house!), they were not to be missed. It was a memorable evening and we all went home with some homework (to practise beer mat flipping; the PSC record is 42!).
The next extravaganza is the BBQ and Barn Dance on 14 June. Please book and pay for your tickets early, this event sells out quickly. If you have enjoyed one of our events why not join the Social Committee? It’s a lot of fun and WE NEED MORE HELP!
Thank you for your continued support!
TRAINING Peter Lytton
RYA SPINNAKER COURSE 3, 10, 17, 24 June + 1 July
Tuesday evenings. For conventional and asymmetric boats. Some practical boat handling experience is required to benefit from the course. Numbers limited.
RACE TRAINING 5 July. Saturday morning only. Very basic: learn how to start a race, what the flags mean and a few essential rules. No charge.
RYA SUMMER COURSE Mon 4 Aug – Fri 8 Aug
5 days of sailing for all abilities. Groups according to grades. Numbers limited.
PAPERCOURT POWERBOAT Sat 8 Nov (TBC)
Preliminary day towards RYA Level 2 course (Spring 2009)
Please note: PSC training is only available to current members of PSC.