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Club News - August

Topaz Uno Nationals report - a wild ride!

Posted: Wednesday, 24 August , 2016

Whitstable Yacht Club hosted the Topaz Uno Nationals last weekend (20th and 21st August). 15 boats entered, with sailors travelling from as far as the Noukhada Adventure Company in Abu Dhabi!
Saturday saw very high winds, gusting up to a force 7 or 8! Needless to say, racing was cancelled and only the hardiest of windsurfers got on the water for the day! On Sunday, the winds were still on the high side, but sailable, so the Race Officer scheduled 3 races close to shore. In the gusty conditions, the Topaz Unos proved a fast and exciting ride, with a kick on the downwind legs! 14 of the boats made it onto the water, but a third didn't manage to finish the first race, with lots of spectacular capsizes, especially on the downwind legs. 6 boats managed to finish all 3 races, with exciting racing throughout. In 6 place, lightweight WYC cadet Tom Oliver did well to finish all three races with a forth place in the second race, battling places with experienced sailor Mark Freeman from the Noukhada Adventure Company. Top placed double handed boat, sailed by Aaron and Mark Middleton from Lee & Solent SC came in forth, narrowly beaten by Jonathan Drake from Sandwich Bay Sailing & Waterski Club. At the front of the fleet, last year's National Champion and WYC cadet Max Sellar, battled with Morgan Archer, a cadet from Blue Circle Sailing Club. After using his local knowledge to get a first in race one, Max couldn't manage to maintain the lead, falling into second behind Morgan for the second and third races, with Morgan winning overall by one point. Both Max and Morgan did very well to sail into the top two positions in such challenging conditions, and against a strong adult field! Full results are on the website at wyc.org.uk/results/Topaz_Nationals_2016.html
As this year's National Champion, Morgan Archer won a Topaz Uno Mylar Race Main provided by Topper International, worth £400, as well as other prizes including a sailing watch from event sponsor Ronstan.
Thanks to event sponsors Topper International and Ronstan, and to Topper and the Whitstable Watersports Centre for providing loan boats to the competitors. In addition, thanks to WYC volunteers Patty Baker and Tony Clements who put a lot of work in to organise the event, Race Officer John Boorman for getting a quality event sailed despite the weather, and all of the Safety Boat drivers & crew, recorders, Committee Boat drivers and onshore support volunteers who worked together to make this happen.

Cadets Cruise to Seasalter and back - Report

Posted: Monday, 22 August , 2016

Force: 3-5
North-East wind

On Thursday the 18th of August, the Whitstable Yacht Club Cadets went on a cruise to Seasalter Sailing Club and back! We had twenty-two sailors in total and twenty-seven people including those on the safety boats.
We launched around eleven o clock on a beautiful sunny day and headed halfway to Sheppey so we could sail down to Seasalter.

As we got further out it got rougher because of the sea breeze, we tacked or gybed and were surfing the waves all the way down! Unluckily some of the toppers nosedived and a lot of boats capsized, but luckily nothing too major!
After about forty-five minutes of sailing of exhilarating sailing we got there! We beached extremely quickly and had a bit of trouble getting in because of the rough waves and strong wind.
Everyone at Seasalter Sailing Club were very welcoming and we were very grateful for them helping us get the boats in. We all warmed up and ate our picnic lunches!

After saying our thankyou’s to the Seasalter crew, and as high tide turned we set off back to Whitstable. We had a few changes in boat crews and couple of tows as the seabreeze made the journey back a bit more challenging. Smurf kindly appeared with another safety boat to make it safer for us on the way back.
Everyone made it back to Whitstable, happy and safe and all had a jolly good sail in Swallows and Amazons style!

Many thanks to Richard Maltby, Wendy, Ian Embry, Paul Mcnally, and Andy and Fiona Clarke in Smurf for their support and organisation. Thanks to our friends of Seasalter SC for their warm reception, hospitality and support in landing and launching our boats! It was a great time and everyone enjoyed it. We can’t wait for the next cadet cruise!
Finally a special thank you to all the cadets who sailed on Friday the 19th August during the RYA inspection and to Richard Maltby for his dedicated work in contributing hugely to gaining our RYA certificate, which we passed with flying colours!
Report by Toby Sellar, photos by Wendy Fitzpatrick.

Whitstable Yacht Club passes inspection as a RYA Recognised Training Centre

Posted: Saturday, 20 August , 2016

The RYA Inspection of WYC's application to become a Recognised Training Centre, as distinct from but complementary to our linked Whitstable Watersports Centre, took place on Friday 19th August and the club passed with flying colours.
It means that the club has passed the high RYA standards set for sail and powerboat tuition, including all requirements for ensuring the maintenance and repair of club boats, equipment, first aid and safety. The club is now approved to offer RYA national training schemes for adults and youth and has direct access to RYA training services.
Recognition as a RYA training centre brings WYC into line with other major sailing clubs which offer training to their members on a volunteer, part time basis, as well as housing a linked training centre, such as our Whitstable Watersports Centre, offering full time courses.
The Inspection took account of the club's facilities, sail and power boat maintenance, operational procedures and the tuition of two cadet groups, racing and improvers, on the water. We passed in all respects with just one action point to be followed up - that the club should now proceed to put its courses in place.
A lot of work has gone into this by quite a few people, but the vast majority was done by Richard Maltby, who has done an enormous amount of paper work and preparation to get us to this stage. The review and update of the club paperwork and documentation alone was a very large task! Thank you Richard!

Topaz Uno Nationals - Exclusive Offer from Topper to buy a boat!

Posted: Wednesday, 17 August , 2016

Inspired by the Olympics to take up sailing? Want to be the next Topaz Uno National Champion? In the market for a new boat? Then this offer is for you! Once again, Topper Sailboats are offering an amazing saving of £989 off the price of an ex-demo Topaz Uno Plus or Race Plus. The boats include cover, trolley and come with 1 year of WYC membership! To take advantage of this offer, talk to Jeff in the club office, or call Topper sales on 01233 629186. See you on the water!

WANDERER CRUISE TO MINNIS BAY (AND BACK) Saturday 13th August

Posted: Monday, 15 August , 2016

Glorious sunshine, a brisk westerly wind and four Wanderers accompanied by a safety boat set off from Whitstable on a somewhat ambitious cruise to Minnis Bay. With picnics packed, radios issued (along with instructions) the intrepid sailors raced East. Of course we listened carefully to the briefing, of course we all knew to look for the yellow buoy and the red and green ones but oh how wonderful to hear a message from Andy Clarke “I’m sitting right by the buoy” and then reminding us which way to go! We positively flew along the coast, a surfing Wanderer is so much fun!
Met on arrival by friendly locals (thank you Jason, Vice Commodore) of Minnis Bay Sailing Club. Great advice to anchor up rather than have to drag a heavy boat, left high and dry by an ebbing tide, across the somewhat slimy seaweed.
Out with picnics, great tea provided by our hosts, interesting discussion over lunch –oh and the honey cake – simply gorgeous and a fantastic reason to join the next cruise. Thank you Kate!
Home run and a stiffening breeze. Ian had repaired a tiller extension during lunch, Fef not so lucky losing a rudder pintle so motored home missing what became a challenging sail, tacking into a head wind and choppy sea. Nick Hawkins and John Hope led the way, Shelagh and Ed took in a trip to the wind farm on a long tack north. Kate and Ian bought up the rear of the fleet. All safely back on shore by 6pm, 9 hours after setting out.
A great day out for all of us. A great big THANK YOU to Andy and Fiona in their Rib for making this ambitious cruise a safe possibility, and ensuring Richard’s and Ian’s plans came to fruition.
Let’s do it again!!
Report by Fef Griffin

Whitstable Week 2016

Posted: Saturday, 06 August , 2016

Thanks to everyone who took part in Whitstable Week this year, we had almost 60 boats taking part this year! It’s been another great week of sailing, with the seemingly traditional weather extremes, providing challenges to all and close racing throughout the fleets. Results are on the website at wyc.org.uk/on-the-water/results.
On the social side, we danced to two great bands, and had our knowledge tested by Ian and Phil on quiz night (raising over £100 for the RNLI!). On Friday Pirates Day went down a storm, with a great deal of creativity demonstrated by the members dressing up themselves and their boats.
There’s a lot of effort that goes into putting on the week, with volunteers driving and crewing safety boats, driving committee boats, recording, and helping out ashore. We couldn’t put on an event like this without them, so we’d like to thank (in no particular order)
Coral France, Glen Cook, Helen Spaughton, Josh Clarke, Willie Spratling, Jill Fagg, David Lowes, Lorraine Sabourin, Andrea Oliver, Brian Bogard, Monica Farrow, Sean O'Leary, Steve Wall, Jocelyn Page, Theresa Page, Stephen Gerlis, John Crickmere, Laura Carney, Sam, Paul Fincham, Ian Embry, Andy Clarke and Allan Barnes. We also need to thank the bar staff, the coffee hut staff, and Alex Grantham who did a great job making sure the social side has gone smoothly. Off the water, Sally Gostelow the results and the admin for the event, and finally our Race Officer John Boorman did a great job given the challenging conditions. It’s not easy to run an event like this, a combination of a National Championships and a fun family week of sailing, and I think we’d all agree that John got the balance right.
See you next year for Whitstable Week 2017!

West Quay - moving boats back

Posted: Saturday, 06 August , 2016

The Oyster Festival 'Shuck' venue has now been dismantled and the West Quay has been returned to our use. We now need to move boats from the middle compound to the end of the West Quay. If you have a boat there, please move it as soon as possible. The gates for the middle compound will be unlocked from 8am to 4pm daily, but please keep the gates closed. If you need access outside those times, please contact the Harbour Master.

Whitstable Week, days 2 & 3

Posted: Wednesday, 03 August , 2016

After a relatively light start to the week, Tuesday and Wednesday saw stronger winds kick in, increasing the excitement on the water and pushing the sailors to work harder! Both Tuesdays scheduled races were sailed, with close racing across the fleets, and some very tight finishes between boats. The BYO BBQ was held on Tuesday evening, and Andrea Oliver kept everyone in check on the BBQ, showing us how it was done... just don't mention the beans!
Wednesday bought even stronger winds to the Whitstable Bay, with a gusty Force 6 blowing across the course from the South West, and creating some angry waves! The Race team, lead by RO John Boorman pushed ahead with the race, and the brave, hardy or foolish sailors (depending on the various points of view from the beach!) took to the water to race. Unfortunately the winds drove a number of casualties in the form of broken masts, and the combination of high winds, big waves and a strong ebbing tide caused some of the race marks to drift, ending in the abandonment of the race and sailing for the day. Even so, most of the sailors came in with big grins after an exciting sail!
Due to the abandoned races on Wednesday, an additional race will be sailed on Thursday. Race start will be at 2pm as scheduled, but the Race Officer will run three shorter races. As the forecast is for fairly strong winds on Thursday, the Fancy Dress Sailing may be postponed to Friday. A decision will be made and posted on the race board by 1230.
Don't forget to dress in your best loud summer shirts for the closing night of Whitstable Week on Friday. Roots/Reggae Band Ben Russell and the Charmers will be playing out the week, supported by a posh barbecue.

Whitstable Week - Day 1!

Posted: Monday, 01 August , 2016

Monday saw a great afternoon of sailing for the first 2 races of Whitstable Week. Almost 50 boats have registered and were on the water with close racing throughout the fleets! With a F2-3 wind from the south west, and fairly flat waters, Monday produced a fairly gentle start to the week. The forecast for Tuesday is looking slightly stronger, with racing again starting at 2pm. Tuesday evening sees a Bring Your Own BBQ, with the club BBQs lit from late afternoon for you to cook your own food.
Don't forget to get your team together for the Wednesday evening quiz night, and to plan your outfit for Fancy Dress sailing on Thursday!