2022

We regret to report that Barry Bishop passed away on Thursday. He died peacefully in his sleep.
Barry joined WYC in 1977, and was a member until he moved to France in 2012. He became fairly prominent in the Club and was known for being something of a character, being described by the late Dr Dan Davis as the “the youngest old man you are ever likely to meet” as he always looked a lot older than he was! He sailed Condors and Merlins, as well as larger yachts including Colin Grundon’s motor sailer “Louina” and 3/4 tonner “Uforia”, and was active in helping out on the sailing and social side.
His funeral will be in France on Monday.

The annual end of season prizegiving took place in the Sea Room last Sunday Nov 20th and despite the raw weather reducing the day’s racing fleet to six hardy Lasers there was a fine turnout to see who was taking home the silverware.
First to receive their bursary prizes sponsored by Original Cottages were three extremely enthusiastic cadets: Isabella Topping, Rhys Johns and Oliver Low. The bursaries will cover the cost of their level 2 and 3 courses next year so many thanks to Original Cottages for supporting these young sailors.

Prizes were awarded to winners of the various series and major club events as listed below – most notable multi-trophy winners were Robert Govier and David Figgis in their Tornado (3 x Big Cat series), Charlie Campion (3 x Laser series, Wed evening handicap and highest turnout), Alistair Gould (4 x Asymmetric series), Phil Emery and Pheobe Paine (3 x Merlin series, August regatta handicap, Merlin helm and crew of the year) and John Cooper and Hilary Bradshaw (3 x Merlin series).
You can view the full list of prize winners here: WYC_Prize_Winners_2022.pdf. If you weren’t able to attend to collect your prize, please contact Sally in the club office to arrange collection.
You may be interested to know that there were 91 club races (with 3 winter series races to go) from a possible 115 with 27% abandoned. A total of 1639 boats have started a race this year giving an average start of 18.
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Art club – 1st and 3rd Monday of the month starting on the 5th December – It’s a fun get together and learn new skills with others, you will need to supply your own equipment. Meet in the sea room between 10:30 and 1:30pm for more details contact Tizzie on 079 2026 2673.
Book club – We now have two groups that meet on 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, If you’re interested in joining the WYC Book club get in touch with Kellie Gray on 079 6604 6693, it’s a lovely way meet new members whether you’re a sailor or social member.
And don’t forget the Coffee club which meets every morning from 10.30 in the sea room, this is open to all WYC members.
For details of the bar opening times and all the social clubs and events at WYC, see https://www.wyc.org.uk/about/social

Meet 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month 7:30 to 10pm. We pick some songs to rehearse beforehand and get to play together as several bands.
Welcome guitarists, singers, keyboards, drums, percussion, flutes, fiddles… anything with a tune!
We put on a gig at the club every quarter, aim to showcase 24 songs.
Contact: Andrew Provan 0789 9662412

Lighting movement sensors are now operational in Upper Rigden Shed. If the lights go out – just move and they should come back on.

A reminder that masts should be taken down over the winter months. Please note that WYC’s equipment storage policy now states that due to health and safety constraints masts are not to be stored in upper or lower Rigden Shed. Masts can be stored on top of dinghies/catamarans or underneath boat covers where possible. To view the latest WYC Boat Parking, Equipment and Windsurf Board policy – 2022/2023, go to https://www.wyc.org.uk/members/Club_Rules#BoatParking. It was also sent out by email to members in September with membership renewal forms.
If you think you may have masts, spars or other equipment stored in the roof space in upper Rigden, please could these be removed as soon as possible. Please take great care for your own and others safety when removing items and seek help if you have any difficulty accessing your kit. We will be organising a working party before the end of the year to clear the roof space and any unclaimed items will be placed outside the Rigden shed behind the sea wall from where they can be collected.
If you plan to continue sailing throughout the winter and would like to keep your mast up, please inform your Class Captain and Sailing Secretary.

Dear Members, if you have not already done so, membership renewals are due by Monday 31st October 2022. Membership forms can be downloaded from our website and payment via a bank transfer is preferred. As previously indicated, if preferred, members are able to pay via two instalments, the first due now and the second by the end of next March. If you have any queries, please contact Sally Gostelow by email: sailing.secretary@wyc.org.uk.

The Sailing Committee has decided that the results for the Autumn Series will be based on all-in handicap racing for non-Lasers. This is a change to the published programme, and has been applied to the results for races completed so far.

The club bar’s opening hours are being adjusted from 1st October. See https://wyc.org.uk/about/social for the updated times.

Whitstable Yacht Club is saddened by the loss of Her Majesty the Queen who was a long standing supporter of yachting and Patron of the RYA.
The Royal Family has a long history of seafaring. Over the centuries the Monarchy has sailed aboard 83 royal yachts, including the most recent, HMY Britannia, which often hosted the RYA Council meetings during Cowes Week.
Sailing and racing at our club will continue as scheduled this weekend. However, as a mark of respect, Saturday’s race starting sequence will be formally postponed by two minutes, during which time the AP flag will be flown. Members on the water may wish to heave to during this period.
Andrew Jackson, Commodore.