MINIMA YACHT CLUB NEWSLETTER
Autumn 2007Table of Contents
- The Commodore’s Column
- Old Grey Fox News
- Pat’s Party Piece
- Hon. Sec. Notes
- Maintenance Team News
- Coaching Update
- Local RNLI News
- Minima
YC Retain
- John Forbes’ Racing Reports
- - Merlin Rocket Open Meeting 16 September
- - Regatta (sponsored by TWM Solicitors) 1-2 September
- -
- - May Merrie 7 May
- Enterprise Class Captain’s Report
- Merlin Rocket News
- Solo Class Captain’s Report
- Further Jottings from the Memory of the Senior Member
- Pheonix Yacht Club ‘Spellbinder in the Fasnet Race
Newsletter Editor: Steve Collins s.b.collins@btinternet.com
Minima Yacht Club (1889)
48A High Street
Tel: 020 8546 8241
http://homepages.rya-online.net/MinimaYC-Kingston-Upon-Thames
The Commodore’s Column
As the nights draw in and my first year as Commodore is moving well along – it is time to reflect on Minima Yacht Club activities. While some sailing has been excellent there have been disappointing gaps due to too much rain/running current and lack of wind etc. I cannot remember a year when we have lost so much on the water activity. That said, I can also recall some great sport – just wish there was more of it.
On the upside, there have been some great and well supported social functions. The bar has been exceptionally well supported and the Social Committee continues its excellent work of ensuring a regular excuse to escape from watching boring reality TV programmes.
The Club’s appearance, from the river side, has been totally transformed – both by the new balcony canopy and a sterling renovation job. My thanks go to the hardworking and highly talented team of members who have also mended boats, cleared parks, fixed showers and toilets, invented bird and water repellent systems. Minima is certainly also a DIY Club – and proud of it.
As our neighbours – Sherwood Wheatley Solicitors and Bar Eivissa are decorating the total high street façade and our mutual corridor, we hope soon be very smart all round. Our aim is also to continue building a good relationship with these neighbours – in the hope that, eventually, we can mutually achieve the aim of purchasing our freehold. So much work has already gone into this that we want to keep it alive as a concept.
Whether sailing or social, I do hope that all members will visit the Club during the forthcoming festive season and support the various events. I hope to see you also at the AGM on Sunday, January 20th at 6pm.
Denis Lockwood, Commodore
I am pleased to report on another safe
and successful sailing season, despite problems with the weather earlier
in the year and a miserable July when we were forced to abandon sailing
because of the strong stream (and our friends at
The most pleasing aspect of the season
for me has been our improved relationships with the commercial users on
the river, and, in particular with Richard Turk and his skippers. There
is no doubt that our ‘clear the air’ meeting at the Club in November 2006
has helped both sides to understand each other much better. Our two biggest
events on the year, the
Peter Halligan did a particularly good job as one of three bosuns at the Regatta. He resisted the temptation to switch the blue light on Giles’ RIB on but still managed to guide and direct the river traffic to avoid the racing. My favourite moment was when he directed two Dragon boat crews over to the Middlesex Bank to prevent them racing at full speed through a crowded starting line!
The yellow regatta boards have also worked
well and are respected by other river users.
We didn’t use the Yellow Boards at the Merlin Open meeting in October, and in retrospect we probably should have. John Forbes’ press report draws attention to a number of incidents between dinghies and trip boats. We need to improve our briefing of visitors to ensure that they do not attempt to tack across the bows of commercial traffic. Parkstone Yacht Club have a similar problem (but with huge cross-channel ferries rather than trip boats) during Poole Week and they put a club RIB in front of every ship leaving or coming into the harbour. If you pass between the RIB and the ferry you face instant disqualification from not just the race, but the whole week! It is a very effective deterrent.
It has been a good year on the open meeting circuit:
· Ben
Marshall (crewed variously by John Wilkey, Erica and Alex Cane) has won
open meetings in the Vintage Merlin Series at Shustoke,
· Steve and Kathy Collins won the Enterprise Thames Valley Bowl meeting at Minima and the Enterprise Class in Poole Week (they first won this as newly-weds in E15964 ‘Arctic Fox’ in 1978)
Minima won invitation team racing events
against local rivals Twickenham YC and
The club trophies have been shared pretty equally between Enterprises, Solos and Merlins and even the Toppers got a look in this year, with Erica Bishop and Giles Hobart taking first and second place respectively in the Flemmich Bowl.
Steve Collins, Sailing Secretary
On the whole, and despite the funny old weather we’ve endured, we have had an enjoyable social summer. With our lovely new awning we are able to sit out on the balcony with our drinks until quite late in the evenings now and not feel too chilly. Also the new canopy over the stairs is a boon when it rains and we have to carry food up and down.
There have been monthly ‘Supper after Sailing’ meals,
courtesy of Kathy Collins, Valerie Edwards and Deborah Bishop, which we
hope to continue through the Autumn – so if there is anyone else who would
like to have a go at ‘feeding the masses’ please let me know. There will
also be someone there to help you. The two evening sails to Thames Ditton
were blighted by the weather conditions. Nevertheless, on both occasions
several members made their way to Ye Olde Swan for a supper and
vino. Similarly the social sail to Teddington was held on a cold and blustery
day and a hard core of members sheltered under the trees in
The Social Committee is trying to fix an Autumn programme for Wednesday evenings aimed at encouraging more members to come along. The idea is not just to boost bar takings (although this will keep Alan happy).
Good use was made of the barbecue (which, fortunately, is under cover) especially by the Saturday sailors. It is always there for people to use and makes a pleasant alternative to preparing a meal in the kitchen or going out for a pizza.
The ‘set pieces’ were successful and well attended. There was the summer party in July and the Regatta Barbecue with Jazz Band in September. The scheduled Vintage Merlin Party in June was ‘hijacked by Paul Seamen for his 50th birthday celebrations, but nobody minded – it was a great night.
A number of members also attended Giles’ Beach Party held for the benefit of the RNLI and watched the illuminated sail past. Minima’s entry in the sail past featured Minima XI sporting an illuminated Topper sail and solar power lights. (Ed: the youngsters from Croyden in the steel band were brilliant – but the standard of Karaoke singing from club members was disappointingly low
Moving on to future events, here they are:
· Sat 13 Oct
· Sat 27 Oct Quiz and Pot Luck Supper
· Wed 31 Oct ‘Tall Ships Training’, a talk by Michael Nadin
· Fri 16 Nov ‘Dinner Dance at the Richmond Park Hotel
· Wed 21 Nov ‘Surbiton to Surbiton in a Shrimper’, talk by Robin Whittle
· Sat 15 Dec Christmas Party with the Dave Musto Disco
· Wed 19 Dec Carols and Mince Pies
· Sat 29 Dec Christmas Race and Lunch
· Sat 19 Jan Burns Night Party
There will be other events, not scheduled as yet, including (by popular request) a cribbage evening – maybe two. Definitely one in February. So you see that there is a lot going on during the Autumn and Winter months And everything is that much more enjoyable when you are among friends – both old and new. We have several new members this year, so I hope they will come along and enjoy what Minima has to offer.
On a more personal note, firstly regarding
Tim, Linda and Amy Hulley. Who you ask? All long-standing members will
remember Linda Sealey and parents Pam and Joe who were member several years
ago. Well, Amy (16) crewed the winning boat in the Laser 2000 National
Championships in
I think that I have pretty well covered past and future events. I hope that you like what the Social Committee has in store and, remember, you too can be on that committee! Looking forward to seeing you around the Clubhouse and in the Bar. The Bar opens at 9:00pm on Wednesdays and 6:00pm on Sundays (or thereabouts)
Pat Langley
Hon Social Secretary
So, here I am a few months further into my role as rookie Hon. Sec. and all sorts have happened. The biggest task was getting out the notice for the Extra-ordinary General Meeting on July 15 concerning the Royal Borough Of Kingston Council’s idea that we may be able to buy our freehold. Within one day I had to get 30 plus individually addressed letters into the post and set up an email group for everyone else. It sort of happened – eventually - but I had to use my Radio Lollipop* email address as the file just would not go out through my normal denisenorman@eyetea.com address.
I suppose I could question why such an activity occurred at all on my first watch as Hon. Sec. But it was a useful exercise in knowing that we can reach every MYC Member – by post or email - within 24 hours. RBK Council since decided not to sell at the current time – but discussions will continue as it is, obviously, an ideal route forward in securing MYC’s long term future.
The last few months have also been useful in ensuring that all MYC literature is updated and available electronically – Rules, Membership Applications, Q & A leaflets can now all go out as email attachments. Many thanks to Steve Thomas – he had already done most of the hard work.
My involvement with the Mayors of the Royal Borough has continued – first with the May Merrie event where the Mayor and her team were royally entertained. I thought it would be a useful exercise in long-term relationship building – not realising there would be a new Mayor within a few weeks.
As part of the Kingston River Festival activities during July, it was agreed that MYC would stage an “At Home” on the Wednesday – so that invited guests could see something of the sailing while enjoying a drink on our wonderfully refurbished river view balcony. We also put the Old Grey Fox out on display on the first Saturday of the Festival Week and I had a lovely day handing out MYC information while watching the rowing regatta. The new Mayor came to visit, as did a wide range of local dignitaries and high-powered local mover-groovers. We had spread our net fairly wide (obviously) in the hope of catching all those that could have an influence on our freehold purchase!
As my past career had a fair amount to do with marketing and sponsorship, I drafted a proposal, then approved by the General Committee - seeking financial supporters for various MYC events. Eileen Barry took up the challenge – resulting in her own firm, TWM Solicitors, becoming the main supporter of The Regatta on Sept 1 + 2 weekend. The intention is to seek more commercial alliances – specific proposals can be provided on request.
We have also formed a small working party to begin planning MYC’s 120th Birthday in 2009. Ideas and memories are most welcome. SO, yes I am enjoying being Hon Sec – particularly as I continue to get guidance from Mike King. And I even enjoyed my first stint behind the bar – serving my first ever pint of beer. *see www.radiolollipop.org - I am a long time Volunteer
Denise Norman, Honorary Secretary
Over the past year there has been a lot of out of hours maintenance & refurbishment work done including a number of major projects. Most of the work is done by a small group of members although other members chip in as and when they have the time or expertise, so if any names have been missed I apologise.
Work done
1) The design, making from scratch & erection of a new porch canopy to replace the old one, demolished to make way for the new awning. Thanks to Geoff Moss (construction) & John Metzner (architectural design).
2) Replacement of the men’s shower tray thanks to John Wilkey who supervised and did the majority of the work with John Kemp finishing the installation with the tiling and surrounds.
3) Refurbishment of the front fence. This started as a large painting job, with the wood being burnt back to bare wood, but then turned into a major refurbishment operation taking several months as the painting team kept finding rotten wood that needed to be replaced. This kept Les very busy for many weeks cutting and fitting replacement pieces.
Members of this team include Les (carpenter), Mike King, Dick Strachan, Nick John & Pat Langley (painters).
Dick has also repaired and varnished the balcony tables and varnished the main entrance handrails.
4) Major refurbishment work on Minima 10 is now almost complete Two of the major jobs that had to done were the making and fitting of new pintles and the replacement of a rotten stringer on the starboard side. (The stringer on the port side still needs to be done). Once again Ron Sexton supported by Janet did all the work
5) Work on the launch was temporarily interrupted as Ron’s plumbing expertise was called upon to lower the outside toilet pans to floor level eliminating the need for the ladies to balance themselves on bricks to perform. This work involved removing all the existing, heavy cast iron drainage pipes and replacing them with plastic pipes at a lower level.
6) There have been a number
of major clean up teams organised by our Bosun Rob Bowler who is trying
to rid the club of unnecessary & disused items to make it look tidier.
Two separate day working parties were held in the
7) The Sail locker has been tidied up by Rob Bowler & Nick Johns, though to look at it now you wouldn’t know.
8) The Club side landing stage fender boards have been reattached by John Kemp with my assistance and will hopefully last a few more years.
9) A chain barrier and notice has been fitted across our landing stage steps to deter members of the public from using it. Hopefully this will improve safety and stop the large amounts of litter they currently leave behind. Thanks to Lukas for the notice and to John Kemp & Alan for the chain.
10) Thanks to Eric Warner for his sign writing expertise in updating the Honours board and refurbishing various signs.
11) The whole of the sidewall has been cleaned, repaired and painted by Nick John. The work took over four weeks and involved taking down all the masts. All this work was done single-handed!
Finally there are always many jobs around the club that need doing, so if any of you feel they can help please let Rob or one of the Maintenance Team know.
Alan Jales, ‘Technical Person’
In January I was asked if would be interested in joining the sailing committee and at the first meeting I was co-opted by the members – but I did not expect to find myself leaving the meeting with a job to do. Well, here I am, your new coaching coordinator.
The past six months have seen some notable achievements and it has been good to see some of the crewing members taking out single handed boats. Also it is encouraging to see new members taking to the water.
I am reviewing the possibility of running some Topper
sessions for cadet members and for members who may like to take the step
up from crewing to helming a single handed boat. I have also made contact
with the training officer at
Please feel free to talk to me about your training needs and I will do my best to support you. May I thank all the members who have taken out new and potential members of the club as crew.
Finally, I hope to commandeer a notice board to publicise training opportunities – so please keep a look out.
Giles Hobart, Coaching Coordinator
Local RNLI News
The RNLI provides a comprehensive
and highly effective sea rescue service around the shores of the
It costs more than £125 million a year to run the RNLI’s life saving services, and the RNLI always needs to find new ways of finding this money. Locally, the Sutton, Cheam and Worcester Park branch has been busy collecting throughout the year and we have also sold RNLI memberships, taken part in sponsored events and organised our own events, including ‘Sutton Beachwise’ summer fun cruise, and ‘Giles’ Beach Party which was held at Minima. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in supporting the RNLI, please contact me.
RNLI SOS
In January, the RNLI will again hold an ‘SOS Day’, when schools, clubs and businesses hold events, including a ‘mufti’ day. Packs will soon be available at Minima. Please support your local branch and raise even more funds for the RNLI crew training appeal.
Welcome to
One of the highlights of the year, was the beach party held at Minima in September, with the club house being turned into a beach for the night, along with ‘Kathy’s Cccktail Bar’, and, to add to the Caribbean flavour, our very own steel band. I have to make one apology – I was not aware that Paul was going to sing past midnight on the karaoke. I have been informed that there was a tune somewhere in this performance - answers on a postcard, please!
The illuminated sailpast featured our very own Diesel powered Topper sailed by Steve Collins and Sylvie.
Giles
Hobart, Chairman RNLI, Sutton, Cheam and
Minima
YC Retain
Minima Yacht Club retained the Warwick Smith Trophy after an incident-packed day of team racing against Ranelagh Sailing Club, sailed on the River Thames at Putney on Saturday 29th September.
It was Ranelagh’s turn to host this annual team racing event between the two river clubs which they have competed for since 1922. The overall score in the series is now Ranelagh 38, Minima 26, with one draw in 1925.
The joker in Minima Yacht Club’s pack this year was
Kevin Harris who has returned to competitive dinghy sailing after a number
of years sailing in big boats. Kevin’s aggressive team racing instincts
created havoc amongst the opposition, but also gave himself and the long
suffering Susie some problems of their own. Firstly, he sailed the opposition
Merlin down to
However, Kevin got it right at the last mark when he forced the Ranelagh Lark to reround a mark and allow team mates, Steve and Kathy Collins in another Lark to overtake and establish a winning position for the Minima team.
Rob Brooks, representing Minima for the first time in a team racing event put in an excellent performance to be first Solo home and John Meztner played his part by blocking the wind to the Ranelagh Solos and allowing Rob to break clear.
The event was sailed in an extremely high spring tide,
and it was a surreal experience for the competitors to call water on a
number of cars which were half submerged in the water. We were also treated
to the sight of a Police Launch towing a car back to the shore after it
started floating down to
After the race, all competitors were treated to an excellent ‘high tea’ in the Club House.
The clubs were represented by:
Minima YC |
|
Thomas and Sonia Stolper (Merlin) |
Kevin and Susie Harris (Merlin) |
Chris Whitehouse & Cat Price (Lark) |
Steve and Kathy Collins (Lark) |
Nic Price (Solo) |
Rob Brooks (Solo) |
Chris Edwards (Solo) |
John Metzner (Solo) |
John’s racing reports continue to attract a cult following on ‘Yachts and Yachting’s web site (google ‘yachts and yachting’ and then type ‘minima yacht club’ into their search box to see them all). His reports for 2007 are printed here for the historical record and for those who don’t have access to the Internet.
Vintage Merlin Rocket Open Meeting, 16th September
A fine long course and a brisk south to south-westerly pleased the visitors to Minima Yacht Club’s Merlin Open on September 16th, so much that they took all the prizes.
Helms from close river neighbours Tamesis in Teddington, have dominated this meeting in recent years, and this time they took the first three places. Tammy’s Mike Stephens and Phil Plumtree were either first or second in every race, with the leaders stretching the fields out very quickly along the half-mile long reach, the top half open and perhaps force 2-3, but more sheltered nearer the start line with typical river wind shifts and holes as the breeze filtered through the trees on the Middlesex bank.
It felt as if it might be the last Sunday of summer, and the riverside crowds appreciated the spectacle. ‘There’s only one word for this: Mayhem!’ said one amazed passer-by, as the leaders weaved through a small fleet of rowing fours and eights, plus coaching craft, and a pleasure launch or two. Merlin Mayhem indeed.
There were no incidents, although pleasure boat captains were extremely considerate of dinghies which at times were concentrating on the race to the exclusion of safety. Minima has been fostering good relations with Turks, the biggest local operator, and this was one occasion when this paid off.
In his gracious speech of thanks, in which he congratulated the race officers for their course and repeated his pledge to move to Minima in the near future, Mike Stephens admitted he came to a dead stop when he hooked a sheet onto Turks’ flagpole, no doubt to the delight of any steamer skippers who happened to be watching.
The Minima Merlin Open prize is the Eric
Archer memorial trophy, and Eric’s son Ben won the bottle of bubbly for
making the longest journey to the meeting, from Parkstone,
Overall Results:
1st Mike Stephens and Maxine Webb (Tamesis Club)
2nd Phil Plumtree and Steph Brandt (Tamesis Club)
3rd Ken Duffell and Brian Corkine (Tamesis Club)
Regatta (sponsored by TWM Solicitors) 1st-2nd September
The weather was fair to kind, said the
legal eagle from sponsors TWM Solicitors (a leading south-west
This year the racing was hard and close, with the Solo and Rater classes decided on the last leg of the last race. Almost a dead calm drift on Saturday afternoon, when the home sailors hope to score; it was a bit better on the Sunday when the visitors arrived, but the breeze was westerly through the trees on the Middlesex bank, which is always a pain, full of holes and occasional puffs dying just as you hike out. Then there were the vertical spiralling downdrafts, impossible to read for those not psychically gifted. The gifted included Minima’s new commodore Denis Lockwood, who won his Merlin class.
The wind was at the precise strength in
both races on Sunday that the mighty Thames Raters came back over the start
line at exactly the moment the Enterprises were starting, which produced
some exciting moments, as did the Dragon boat race which launched itself
across the line as the Raters began their start sequence. All kinds of
people want to join the fun when you go dinghy racing on the
Two classes, the Solos and the Thames Raters, were decided in the last few hundred yards of the final races.
‘Despite the usual difficult conditions, it is always entertaining at Minima,’ said winning Rater skipper Kevin Pearson.
Overall Results: (all Minima except Raters)
1 Alan Jales & Lukas Cameron
2 Richard Shillito & Eric Warner
Topper:
1 Alistair Banks
2 Giles
Merlin Rocket:
1 Dennis Lockwood & Karan Lockwood
2 Paul Seamen & Eileen Barry
3 Ben Marshall & John Wilkey
Solo:
1 John Kemp
2 Rob Brooks
Thames A Rater: (all
1 Kevin Pearson, Bill McLaren, Melanie Hardman, Nick Fribbins
2 Martin Hunter, Chris Martin & Guy Wood
There was a good turnout of Ents, but fewer Solos for the Minima Enterprise and Solo 2007 joint Open meeting, held on a day with an occasional south-westerly breeze, and sunny spells.
A cunningly contrived course led competitors
up a long beat away from the claustrophobic bank-hugging reach by the clubhouse
to do short laps under the open skies towards
The 16-strong
For the eight Solos it was a similar story, with Ian Hurst, John Metzner and John Kemp finishing first, second and third in the first two races and the same result overall.
On the previous day Minima took the annual Firkin Trophy team racing contest with Twickenham Yacht Club, with tactics which can only be described as close to the wind with respect to the interaction of the Enterprises and Solos involved.
Overall Results:
1 Steve and Kathy Collins (Minima)
2 David Hodgson and Sue Whitcliff (
3 Phil Chambers and Ewan Gittins (
Solo Open:
1 Ian Hurst (Twickenham YC)
2 John Metzner (Minima)
3 John Kemp (Minima)
Minima’s sailors finally overcame Thames Sailing Club’s mighty ‘A’ Raters in the May Merrie Open handicap on Bank Holiday Monday, thanks to a slight shift of the goal posts.
Former commodore Paul Seamen brought his vintage Merlin in nearly a lap behind Martin Hunter’s Rater, but won by a narrow margin on corrected time, the first victory in living memory over his upstream rivals.
Competitors offered various colourful descriptions of the far from Merrie conditions, the only printable one of which was ‘challenging’, with sections of the course beset by turbulent downdrafts as a blustery westerly swept over the tall poplars and plane trees on the Middlesex bank to swirl off the flats and office blocks on the eastern, Surrey, side.
The strongest gusts were heralded by a hissing roar in the tree tops, which added a sinister sound track to a bright sunny afternoon, following torrential rain just before the start.
At first conditions were relatively benign as the rain died away and the sun came out, but the wind gradually strengthened, and as the race went on dinghies were upended sometimes several at a time when the squalls hit the danger areas. Several finishers prudently downed mainsails the moment they crossed the line. Five of the fifteen starters retired in various states of disarray. A dog was also rescued.
Apart from their sailing – and survival – skills
Paul, and third-placed Kevin Harris, in an
Overall Results:
1 Paul Seamen, Eileen Barry (Vintage Merlin)
2 Martin Hunter, Sue Williams & Mark Staite (Thames A Rater)
3 Kevin Harris, Suzy Harris (
4 Kevin Pearson, Melanie Hardman & Patrick Rayner (A Rater)
Enterprise Class Captain’s Report
The
As is the case with most classes, there are times when there are more boats in the dinghy park than on the water. We can only wonder why and just try to encourage people to take part more often. Think of the lovely trophy at the end and being able to add to your set of glasses!
Incidentally, there are a few helms whose buoyancy is out of date. Why not fix a date with me and not risk being disqualified. Another case where risk of disqualification is involved is where helms are late leaving the landing stage. When the Blue Peter goes in four minutes before the start, the boat should have then left the landing stage to get you out of reach of a zealous race officer! [Ed: race officers are asked NOT to be zealous on a Wednesday night when we ‘wage slaves’ are rushing to get away from work and are dependent on the punctuality of South West Trains to get to the start line on time.]
Kevin and Susie Harris have been sailing
very well in the club
Les Rowlandson
The summer of 2007 has seen perhaps fewer
boats or at best, spasmodic Merlin representation on the water. This is
not a disappointment more the reality of having ample boats in the dinghy
park but a hard core of only 4-5 of us who sail regularly. Even this core
is divided between Wednesday and week-ends. However, we have hosted two
successful open events during the year. The Vintage open in June featured
7 home boats – a turn out not beaten by any other club, with 2 events to
go in the Vintage calendar. The spring / summer weather has provided many
lasting memories for 2007. Few of these having anything to do with good
conditions for sailing! However, Merlin helms have been ‘holding their
own’ (as it were!!) against the other fleets with rockets winning the Centenary
trophy, May Merry cup and the
The smoking ban has created less impact than feared. Ben seems to get away with lighting up occasionally and John doesn’t say too much (unusual for John!!) as long as Ben is ‘down wind’ and on deck (John does not always insist on it being the foredeck!) I wanted to ask Roger but I think he may have slipped onto the balcony for …… a few minutes, so I asked Steph. “Steph, do you mind Roger smoking in the boat?” “Roger doesn’t smoke so it’s not a problem. Why do you ask ?” ….OOPS !! (Steph, you didn’t hear it from me - right !) Phil – well Phil was quite succinct, ‘’It’s my *** boat’’ – and the rest is not for print!! There have been reports of Erica smoking in Phil’s boat but I suspect that has more to do with volcanicity than tobacco.
Some interesting activity is happening within the Class, almost as you read this. Kevin and Susie dabbled with a Merlin during the summer but I suspect they were not really up to it. Susie seemed to be ‘game’ but Kevin kept whinging about a small leak, getting his feet wet and how good Enterprises are so they gave it back to Ranelagh, eventually. Ben Nairn has purchased MR2172 from a reliable source and would now love to be shot of a dodgy 9B – hopefully his new boat won’t occupy Ron for quite as long as old one!! Big thanks to Ron for his hard work on this boat.
Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Phil’s problem solver) hasn’t really paid off yet, which is odd as it cost enough!! So Phil has now brought in a ‘ringer’. When asked for his thoughts on being the sorcerer’s apprentice, Peter was as succinct as Phil had been on the smoking issue!! However, when pushed on the matter of a contract for next season Peter did say that he would consider another offer. ‘’Surely you meant a better offer, Peter’’. ‘’No! Any offer would do!!’’
Not to worry Phil, take a note out the Kiwi’s book – just another 4 years to go.
Ben Marshall, Merlin Rocket Class Captain
Solos have continued to have good turnouts especially for Saturday Pursuit races but the class is still looking for new members. John Kemp and Andy Banks have figured particularly high in the turnouts with Rob Brooks very much in evidence on Saturdays.
Over recent months we have lost one Solo which was sold outside the club but your Fleet Captain has brought his second Solo (sail number 1798) back from Lymington. It is now lying in the dinghy park for sale. It is on the Solo website at £1750 (the going rate). It is ready for racing with two old but serviceable sails. For a club member a reduction is offered of £400 equal to the cost of a new sail.
Don’t forget UNA, the club solo, which is available at £5 a day should anyone wish to test drive a Solo.
John Metzner, Solo fleet Captain
The Mystery of the Club Trophies, reported by John Metzner
I was the lucky (Ed note: John is too modest – he sailed very well to win this event) winner of the Avon Cup a few weeks ago. It is a magnificent sterling silver cup. The earliest award on the base was dated 1944. I was intrigued to find a Queen Victoria assay office mark stamped on the side of the cup. A little research at home revealed that it was stamped by the London Assay office with the letter mark for 1890. A little later the Hilde Cup was awarded to the Merlin Class at the Regatta. Again the first award marked on the cup was 1944. What happened in 1944? Can any of our older members recall the stories of those wartime years that gave rise to the award of two new trophies, may be more? (Ed note: maybe our senior member, Michael Goffe can help here?)
Further Jottings from the Memory of the Senior Member
The year 1943 saw Minima being most generously offered hospitality by Thames Sailing Club, as our own premises behind the British Home Stores and next door to the very active Tannery (with its all pervading stench) had been requisitioned for work of national Importance - the building of a top secret and revolutionary type of boat, of purpose unknown, and on view to every passer by. By this time we had collected together a very active fleet of National 12s, which raced on a Sunday afternoon and were generally sailed whenever their owners were free to do so. Boats were loaned to members and others on leave from the Services. The handicap fleet was greater in numbers than the 12s and consisted of three or four International 14s plus a collection of varied dinghies from 9 ft to 18 ft. The boats were either kept on the premises of the TSC or next door on what was then Harts Boathouse and Yard run by the Townsend Family
The 12s were the main powerhouse of the club racing and at the end of the Minima season, migrated to Ranelagh Sailing Club at Putney for the winter season starting with the Royal Thames Yacht Club Autumn Trophy, sailed usually on the 2nd weekend in October. This was an all important race, reported on by such august papers as the Times and the Telegraph, as Minima and Ranelagh were one of the few clubs still active in wartime. There being no fuel for cars for pleasure purposes such as towing sailing dinghies, we sailed our boats from one club to the other a distance of about 14 miles, allowing 4 hours plus for the voyage. It was necessary to obtain a permit to navigate on tidal waters and be allotted a distinguishing mark which had to be written in large letters on either bow.
The masthead of a 12 is approximately 21 ft 6 ins above waterline and both Kingston Bridges road and rail have an air draught of about 20 ft. So this was the first obstacle, for which we could either lower the mast (easily done if the mast was deck stepped) or approach the bridge under sail and heel her so that the mast top passed under the centre of the arch. Easy when the wind was aft, but with a headwind good judgement was required with the added factor, that the arch acted as a wind tunnel and accelerated the wind at just the wrong moment causing the crew reaction to reach for the weather gunwale to counteract the capsizing tendency, which brought the mast more upright and perhaps in contact with the bridge. Some owners chickened out, lowered their mast and paddled through the two bridges. After that it was plain sailing except there was little wind downstream of the railway bridge due to the presence of the very large building of the Kingston Power station and its adjacent barge dock and coal handling tower.
The next hazard to be negotiated was the footbridge just above Teddington Lock. No amount of heeling underway was enough to pass under this one. But there was a footpath on the riverside under the bridge, and the boat minus its crew could be pulled down with the mast and pushed under, with the water just lapping the cockpit, It paid to have side decks as wide as possible. At the lock itself there used to be boat rollers set in a long slope, for the use of light unpowered boats (Ed note: the rollers are still there – we have used them to pass through the lock in our kayak). The lockeeper would sometimes tell us to use these rollers and would take a bit of persuasion that sailing dinghies with a lot of keel rocker, unlike skiffs with their long straight keels, were unable to use the rollers
The next obstacle was
The return journey, timed
to start soon after low water at Putney so as to easily clear
In general the return to Minima in the spring was usually more enjoyable than the reverse, perhaps it was helped by the thought of returning to the Minima ambience and summer sailing, and partly that the timing of tide was less critical.
While still at Ranelagh in
the spring, on a non racing weekend, when the tide was low at midday, my
crew and I would occasionally sail down river if there was wind and sunshine.
When the tide had dropped to half point, one could negotiate all bridges
downstream. There is something magical about sailing through the bridges
in the centre of London, but they required careful lining up to pass under
the centre as the tide in this area runs fiercely and it would be disastrous
to be caught against one of the piers, and as the bridges are wider than
upstream, the wind tunnel effect is much greater. At low water
there are various places where one can stop, such as the beaches at
These down river trips were only allowed after the end of the war in 1946, when there was almost no tripper boats and commercial barges and coasters did not move at low water.
Looking back, perhaps we were foolhardy, we did not wear lifejackets, there were no easy places to take a boat ashore and load up on a trailer, and there were no rescue boats, just the river police. Luckily we never had to call for assistance, and I look back on it as a great experience which I would not have missed, but I would not do it now due to the large number of passenger boats plying their trade. I would urge anyone who was offered a place on a down river race organised by Ranelagh with proper race control and safety boats, do it, there is something magical sailing by St Pauls and the Tower and negotiating Tower Bridge (Ed note: Kathy and I did sail in the down river race organised for the Enterprises this year and, I agree with Michael, it is a magical experience – even through we are not allowed to go further than Lambeth Bridge these days.)
Michael Goffe
Congratulations to PYC yacht Spellbinder
and crew John Shield, Bruno Brunning, Trevor and Sam Nicholls,
While the start of the race was delayed by one day and various yachts decided not to compete due to inclement weather, PYC’s Spellbinder took part and doggedly continued round the complete course.
One message received states: “I understand that at the RORC prize giving Friday August 17th they were reminded that there was still one yacht out there, Spellbinder, to round the rock whereupon a large cheer broke out for us.”
Spellbinder finally finished at 10.20 on Sunday 19th
Spellbinder has won the RORC Michael Gilkes Galley Slaves Trophy for the last yacht to cross the finish. It was previously awarded to yacht Pickle in 2005.
Subsequently, RORC confirmed that Spellbinder and crew had also been awarded the 'Ken Newman Endurance Trophy'* for the yacht with the greatest elapsed time in the Rolex Fastnet Race 2007. This was presented at the RORC London Clubhouse on September 11th.