September 2001 Comment I had thought that by now I would be able to report that all races had been sailed but once again the weather proved to be the deciding factor and the R.N.L.I race had to be postponed again. The next date proposed is 23rd September, which probably means that many more boats will be out of the water. We are now experiencing Autumnal weather, we have lost all the swallows and other Mediterranean birds but Trevor Mayers spotted geese last week and identification as pink footed geese was confirmed by the noise they made, a really early sighting. Sailing matters will now give way to the social side of the club. In the following weeks there will be some really interesting activities, some of which should suit everybody. Please try to join in, it is most encouraging to those who organise these events to see some new faces. Thank you to those people who contribute items for the newsletter. In the next I would like to put in some book reviews, preferably about sailing or related matters. Can you help? If you have any favourite books or publications or have read new books, can you give an opinion? I would be most grateful if you could send them to the above address or email them at JOHNANDPAT @ heyworth.fsnet.co.uk It was good to see Eric Wilkinson at the Lunch party and to hear that Mavis Hartley is out of hospital, they have both had operations. On your behalf I send best wishes to Doreen Myerscough who is undergoing treatment for a blood disorder. On a happy note congratulations are offered to Mr and Mrs Paul Middleton Jones who married last month. We hope that they enjoy a long and happy life together. The marriage ceremony was conducted by Grace Stevenson. PAT. THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING 11TH SEPT. The Commodore did not have a specific report. The Vice Commodore reported that plans had been drawn by Dave Wilcox for a dinghy slip of a different type to be erected by the laying up yard. The drawings were shown to the committee and it was generally agreed that this should go forward. Members will be called on to do the work, probably early in 2002. This metal slip could be a prototype for a new large slip by the clubhouse. The existing slip is failing once again and had to be repaired in August after the large tides by Dave Wilcox and Trevor Mayer, as an emergency measure. The dinghy slip will take about three days to be put in place and it is hoped that help will be forthcoming from the younger and more able members of the club. The Rear Commodore told the committee that Lorna is now on holiday and Lisa Mason will stand in for her some of the time. The club is still open on Wednesday night and the numbers are increasing. The improvements are continuing and it is hoped that they will be completed by Christmas. (The major piping work for the new hot water system is being done as I write this) When all is completed the bar will look very good. A display fridge is required for the bar and these have proved to be very expensive. Does anybody know where a second hand one could be obtained? An AUCTION will be held in the clubhouse on Saturday 27th October at 15.00 hours. This will consist of sailing bits and pieces. Other clubs will be circulated. Items can be given or sold on a commission of 20%. The bar will be open and refreshments will be available. All the details are on display in the clubhouse. This is a good opportunity to dispose of unwanted goods. They may be some-one else's treasures. The last auction held was great fun. One of the fires in the clubhouse has been refurbished by Arthur Mount and Ted McGregor. The second will be done shortly. TheHon.Secretary says that there has not been much correspondence recently. You will find items received from the RYA on the notice board along with Liverpool S C's Grapevine. The Hon Treasurer told the meeting that the club funds were in a satisfactory state, all subs were in and there had been a stocktake in the bar. The Hon. Membership Secretary introduced two prospective House members to the committee. Both live in Hightown and were well known to many members of the committee. The first man was David Wren a Company MD. Secondly we met Mike Farrand who is a customs officer, mainly concerned with drugs. Later, in a ballot both were unanimously voted to become members. We therefore hope to welcome them to the club. Another prospective new member is showing interest in buying Scoter but there is much water to flow under the bridge yet. Space in the laying up yard is to be considered. More about this later. The Hon. Sailing Secretary was unable to be present. A report on the Sailing Committee Meeting was given to the committee by Mike Kennan. Prizegiving will take place on Saturday 10th November. LOGS for the Cruising Cup and for the Travellers Trophy must be handed in by the 1st OCTOBER. to enable the readers to have sufficient time to read them by the 16th October. The prizes won so far are as follows:- THE ALTMOUTH CUP & REPLICA Class A. 1st. Artful Dodger…. Keith Harvey. 2nd Young Eagle…Peter Anderson. 3rd Crakajax Brian Sprague. Class B. THE FORMBY CUP AND REPLICA. Tao. John Heyworth. THE ALTMOUTH CUP PORTSMOUTH YARDSTICK AWARD THE ABBOT CUP AND REPLICA. Tao. John Heyworth. THE LEN MYERSCOUGH TROPHY. The best B.S.C. boat after 1st. 2nd and 3rd or the Formby Cup Winner CUP & REPLICA. Catch 32 John Myerscough. THE GEORGE BUTLER CUP. The best B.S.C.boat in Class B of the T.S.Club I.O.M. Race. CUP & REPLICA. Sagacious Jim Connell. THE J.S.RATTRAY TROPHY CUP & REPLICA. Altcar Ian Cowell. THE COLLEY CUP. (awarded to the bilge keel boat with the best overall performance) CUP AND REPLICA Tao John Heyworth. THE MIDSUMMER RACE. TROPHY Altcar Ian Cowell. THE GALLON OF ALE. Five pints Tao John Heyworth. Three pints Django David Rowles. THE BANK HOLIDAY SERIES CUP &REPLICA Tao John Heyworth. Cups and Trophies to be announced later are The RNLI. The Stevenson Trophy for the best newcomer. The Traveller's Trophy, The Cruising Cup and the Harry Swinburn award for endeavour. The Sailing Committee had discussed the number of boats in the yard, those owners who have two boats and those owners who have not launched their boats for some time, excluding those in exceptional circumstances. There are some people who ignore all requests from the Yard and Berthing Master including letters. Some boats have been removed this week but there are still others, which need to be dealt with, this has become quite a serious problem. The Yard and Berthing Master was unable to attend the meeting but he left this message for the newsletter. "Boats in the yard are now retarding the development of the club. Space is needed for new members. ACT NOW!! Or face the consequences. All litter MUST be taken home. Oil, empty cans, old boat covers and other junk must go." Please look around your space. Are you guilty of littering? There will be a working party in the yard in the next few weeks, look out for the date to be posted in the clubhouse and spread the word. PORTSMOUTH YARDSTICKS IN 2002 If your boat is sailing without a spinnaker or with mainsail or headsail that does not conform to the basic rig, an adjustment to your P.Y. number may be available, should you wish to apply for it. The MAXIMUM allowances are as follows: Boat with headsails smaller than basic rig +40 Boat with no spinnaker +40 Boat with mainsail other than Bermuda +20 Boat with cruising chute and no spinnaker +20 Boat with all spinnakers, all smaller than basic rig. +20 The allowance may be available but the boat owner MUST apply for it. It will not be permitted to dip in and out of the allowance for short periods. Once the allowance is made it will stand for the season and of course for following seasons until the owner asks for the allowance to be changed. The club will continue to apply "no Spinnakers" to the Ladies Race and to the RNLI race. In the case of The Altmouth Cup Race boats may be competing in L.B.S.A. or Channel groups where spinnakers are included in the measurement. In this race owners must declare that they intend to carry a spinnaker and it follows that their corrected time for P.Y.groups will be calculated without the allowance. This will give them freedom to compete fairly in more than one group A final note, if you decide to invest in "high tech" sailcloth a negative allowance is available for the club to apply to balance any advantage acquired from the material. You should apply for the allowance before May as that is when the 2002 numbers will be put on the Sailing Secretary's notice board. J. Heyworth. Yardstick Representative. The Club Development Officer. Carl said that little had happened in his field on a wide front but he wanted to discuss the Club Web Site. For the benefit of out-port members I will repeat part of last month's in house newsletter. " During my time as commodore I encouraged the membership to explore ways by which we might build a web site similar to those built by West Lancs and Liverpool Yacht Clubs. Thanks to Mark Meadows we established the email address bsclub@rya-online.net at no cost to the club. I am pleased to announce that one of our members, Simon Markland, has taken the time to investigate and instigate a Web Site on behalf of the club at www.blundellsandssailingclub.8m.com The site is still under construction and can be accessed at any time by any of our members world wide at no cost to the club. The face page opens with a club burgee, which must be clicked to open up the home page. As nothing comes without cost, there is also an advertisement bar at the top of each page, which covers the cost of the web site. The home page contains the words "Welcome to B.S. C. There is a magnificent picture of a ketch under full sail. To the left hand side there is a list of further pages covering many club events. Currently the Commodore's page has excerpts from my last AGM report and a portrait of Peter. The club history has also been entered with information I have supplied It's a start and the idea is to expand the services of the club by way of information to the membership and to prospective members. It should be welcomed, especially by our Out-port members, who will be able to input and receive, regular updates on our activities." Carl. Carl asked that members should get in touch, with ideas and requests and give the committee or Simon their thoughts on the web site and to say what they, the members, would like to see. Further to Carl's report, the short August News is now on the web site. This will mean that out-port members will be able to access the monthly newsletters if they wish. For those members who do not make use of a computer or the web there will be no change in the present system. Pat. The Social Chairperson's Report. Doreen was not present at the meeting so Peter told the committee that although the Cheese and Wine lunch held last Sunday was very enjoyable. it was unfortunate only about 36 people attended. The Vice Commodore sent congratulations to Doreen for organising the event so well. It has been found necessary to change the date of the OCTOBER-FEST. This event will now take place a week later than advertised in the diary. The new date is therefore Sat. 13th October. Please note that in your diary the dates are not quite right. You will find Wed.31st of October and Wed.1st November. FORTHCOMING EVENTS. OCTOBER-FEST SAT. 13TH OCTOBER. (DJ disco and buffet) AUCTION 27th OCTOBER at 3 o-clock. BONFIRE. WOOD COLLECTING PARTY. 28th OCT. 11.00am. BONFIRE PARTY SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER.. PRIZE-GIVING. SATURDAY 10th NOVEMBER. THE CHRISTMAS PARTY 15th DECEMBER. A VIEW OF THE ALT IN 1856. (by courtesy of Mark Miller) This article relates to the centrefold picture. A couple of years ago my good friend the late Bill Rogers gave me a picture, which he had been given, many years previously by Don McCulloch, a pre-war member of the club. Don's father had kept a boat named Janet, ex Twill Du, moored at Altmouth in the 1920's Bill had been assured that the picture was a view of the River Alt at Hightown with the Wirral Peninsula in the distance on the right. Close inspection showed that the picture was a photographic copy and I wondered if it would be possible to locate the original and positively confirm the location. This turned out to be easier than anticipated. Within days of sending a copy to the Walker Art Gallery they identified the painting as being in their collection and sent details. Number 1721 in the Gallery Catalogue of Oil Paintings. NEAR ALTCAR. Oil on canvas size 13" x 22 ¾ ". Signed and dated: J Harry Williams 1856. A view looking south west amongst the dunes at the mouth of the river Alt on the estuary of the Mersey, with Formby Lighthouse in the centre background and the Wirral and Welsh hills in the distance across the Mersey One thing puzzled me and that was the statement that Formby lighthouse would be visible looking southwards from the Alt. In fact, Formby lighthouse, which was demolished in 1940, lay somewhat inland between Hightown and Formby. I can remember seeing it when I was very young and being surprised that it was so far from the sea. An enquiry to the Liverpool Maritime Museum resolved the problem. They sent a copy of a chart of the Mersey of 1842 that showed that the lighthouse in the picture, just to the left of the craft with the square tops'l set was Crosby lighthouse. The other two structures on either side of the lighthouse have still to be identified. Even allowing for artistic license the picture indicates that the Alt in 1856 had a small fleet of what can only be fishing vessels. Where was the market for their catch? When was the Southport to Liverpool Railway built? Are there any other records? How deep was the river in those days? The research continues. Mark Miller. MIKE ASCOT. This is the most recent message received from Mike. "We left Miami in May and crossed to Gib. in 35 days, stopping at Bermuda and the Azores. We then sailed to the Balearics for 6 weeks. We are now back in Spain looking for a winter berth so that we can return to the UK to sort out a few medical problems with my circulatory system. We felt that returning to the Mediterranean was the start of the end of our dream to circumnavigate…so after some deep thinking we have decided to "go for it" We are buying "Queenie Rose", a Bruce Roberts 44 ft steel ketch. She is 5 years old and built like a brick xxxx-xxxxx, designed and built with a circumnavigation in mind. A couple more years in the Med, then circumnavigate DV. We are both well and happy, looking forward to meeting up with you all again one day. Mike and Maureen. Tel. +34 637277137 Previous Issues August01