Bartley Sailing Club Blog

Sunshine and a gentle breeze greeted our sailors taking advantage of the free coaching offered last week. The forecast looks just as good for this Wednesday so come along and join the fun!

It was raised with the Sailing Committee to consider following the lead of the RS400 organisation to make every infringement require just a single 360 degree turn to encourage club sailors to 'do their turn' during club racing if they infringed a rule such as 'rights of way' or 'improper propulsion' as well as 'hitting a mark of the course'.

The Committee gave this due consideration and decided to maintain the current Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) guidelines to remain consistent with the majority of clubs and classes. This means that a single 360 degree turn is required if you hit a mark of the course, and a 720 degree turn is required for rule infringement per RRS definitions.

For safety and fairness any penalty turn(s) must be completed clear of any racing boat as soon as possible after the infringement.

We encourage all sailors to familiarise themselves with the RRS and comply with their intent so we all enjoy fair racing on the water.

Finally the old saying 'if you cut corners you end up going around in circles' really does apply to adherence to the RRS!

Happy and 'fair' racing

Sailing Committee

There have been some requests from membership to clarify the event charges for the Regatta on 16th June.

The 2 race Regatta is free to those who attend the Working Party to refelect their contribution to the club appearance and encourage participation. Those attending the Working Party should sign on in the club house for the Regatta on arrival so they don't get charged.

Members just attending the Regatta will be charged £5 to contribute to the Regatta prizes (bottles of wine or chocolates) and the skip hire for the working party.

The Series Prize giving is charged at £5 to cover the cost of the meal (Burger or hot dog and chips). Cost of series prizes will be covered by the Club.

If you attend the whole day this event is half the price of previous prize giving evenings, and even if you just turn up for the Regatta and the prize giving it is comparable and still great value.

Hopefully this provides transparency for those seeking it.

We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Sailing Committee.

Bartley S.C. Committee looks forward to welcoming all of our members to the Spring ‘End of Series Regatta’ and 2017 / 2018 Winter & Spring Prize Giving

Format and ticket prices:

9.30  K20 Junior Club ‘Mini Regatta’ free to entrants

9.40  Working Party – ‘Boat Park Beautiful’. Please bring tools and equipment you may have for the following jobs: Weeding / weed killing of

         the boatpark, strimming around the banks and garage area, weeding by the kerbs, lawn mowing, sweeping / tidy around the containers,

         litter picking. If anyone has plants for planters etc.. to make the club look pretty that would also be fantastic. If you are bringing

         equipment that requires personal protective equipment (e.g. strimmers or week killer) please ensure you bring it with you and operate

        it safely.

12.00         Junior Series and Mini Regatta Prize giving

13.00         End of Series Regatta £5 per boat to Enter or free of charge if you participate in the working party!

                    - Pursuit Race 1 @ 13.00

                    - Pursuit Race 2 @ 15.00

17.00         Food and prize giving evening £5 per person

See you on the day!

Rockley very much welcome you to the opening of our brand new centre based at Bartley Sailing Club, Birmingham on 28th May 2018. With FREE watersports activities, it's a day out that the whole family can enjoy!

Our Bosun Dan Earthquake produces a very comprehensive report on the state of the club equipment each week for the Sailing Committee to review. There are a few points that require communication as follows:

1) The club has 2 battery chargers to keep the power boat batteries charged ready for use. Flat battery = no starter motor = no resuce cover = no sailing. During the last week both chargers have been removed from the garage, one of which was screwed in place. If anyone has any information as to their whereabouts please e-mail

2) There are 2 buoys on the reservoir marking underwater obstructions; one protecting loose cables halfway along the dam, the other protecting a concrete stack between marks 0 and 1. Please do not move or remove these as they are in place to ensure your foils are protected.

3) 2 weeks ago the propeller on the Avon RIB was replaced. It is now damaged again and requires filling. Please could all powerboat drivers take care especially in shallow water rescue situations and when recovering the boats from the water. Unfortunately the fight between concrete and metal prop only has one winner! (Note when bringing ribs ashore use the 'up' switch on the gear to lift the prop slightly whilst still keeping it submerged to minimise risk, and use the winch on the trailer to pull the boat onto the trailer rather than the throttle to drive it on).

4) A place for everything and everything in its place; Dan has done a great job of drawing diagrams and labelling in the garage to ensure boats and equipment are stored in the right place. Howard clearly marked the cupboard in the club house by the bar for the powerboat equipment to ensure each boat is safety compliant. Please return everything to where it should be. In recent weeks keys have been found where they shouldn't have been and items have disappeared from the garage and then reappeared a few weeks later.

5) Damage / removing items from site. If you damage equipment or notice damage then please report this immediately so we can fix it or make interim arrangements. If you are removing club equipment from site to borrow for a regatta or upgrade / overhaul then please discuss with the Bosun / Sailing Committee before doing so

Finally, Dan does a fantastic job to keep the powerboats working week after week despite all of the challenges we give him. If you see him bimbling by the garage stop and have a chat and thank him for the great work he does.

Thanks

Sailing Committee

Caroline would like to invite all members to a welcome evening on Tuesday 29th May. Drinks will be served from 8.15 pm so members can meet their new Commodore and socialise with other members.

We do hope you can attend

BSC Committee.

There were many views voiced at the AGM on Saturday about the future of Sailing and how best to move forward in an environment of decreasing participation in the sport and club membership in general. Here is a link to the RYA Webinar on the subject (you will need to input your name and e-mail address to watch it and it is an hour and a half long so not a 'quick view'). It raises interesting points on demographics, participation, generational differences in approach to leisure and ownership, and what is switching youngsters on and off when getting them into the sport. It also highlights the huge potential market to tap into if we can get it right...

The committee have watched it and made some notes and thought the wider membership would also find it interesting.

The Future of Dinghy Sailing

I hope you enjoy this thought provoking and interesting article.

Hopefully you will have seen the minutes from the Sailing Committee that indicated we will be doing something a little different this year by having an 'End of Series Regatta' 4 times during the year. The format is set and we now need volunteers to make this a real success. Walking through the day - here is what we need:

9.40: Working Party - current theme is 'Boat Park Beautiful' - if all members turn up and weed / tidy their boat space just imagine how much better the boat park would be...

Help required: All working party attendees to bring whatever they need to get those weeds up (gardening gloves, trowels, spades etc...)

I am also pulling together a 'snagging list' - is there something you would like to get your teeth into in the working party session. Maybe the 'lost property' in the changing room is a particular bug bear, now could be your chance to sort it, perhaps the back corner of the changing room never seems to be as clean as you think it should be - now is your chance to get it done. Maybe there are bigger jobs that require a team - what is the job and how many people do you need? Let me know the task you want to do and I can get a schedule in place to make sure we get it all done.

Realistically we need tasks that can be completed in 2 hrs.

The racing will take place with the duty crew at 13.00 and 15.00.

Help required: Are there any people willing to take a novice crew out for a sail in the 2 races and are there any novices who would like to crew with an experienced helm in these races? I can't promise anything, however if we know the supply and demand we can work out how to facilitate this as best we can.

The Prize giving and food:

Prizes for 2017, the Spring Series, and the Regatta of 2 races on the 16th will be awarded.

Help needed: We need some entertainment to keep the party going, this really isn't my specialist area so if there are any quiz masters or entertainers out there in any shape or form I would love to hear from you.

This day is really 'for the club members, by the club members' if everyone puts something in we should have a great day.

I look forward to hearing from you on

Thanks in advance

Simon

Thanks to all who responded saying they would be interested in some coached sessions on Wednesday evenings during June (and possibly for longer), the great news is that the numbers stack up and the coaching is on!

What is it?

Coaching for those wishing to improve their technique and confidence on the water. It is not a 'learn to sail' course or RYA formal training .

Who should attend?

Anyone who has mastered the basics of sailing, (i.e. can beat upwind, bear away onto a reach, gybe, and run) but feels they could do with some help to improve their skills, understand how to set the boat up for different conditions, get some tips on what is helping them go fatser and what is slowing them down, and anyone new to the club who wants to make friends in an informal atmosphere with people of a similar ability.

When is it?

The first session is scheduled for June 6th. Participants should be changed and have their boats rigged and ready at 6.30.

What will be the structure?

There will be a briefing at 6.30 with the coach Steve Ward to understand the needs of the group that have turned up that week after which the program for the evening will be defined and sailors can launch ready for a 7.00 to 8.00 sailing session followed by debrief in the clubhouse.

What dates will it run on?

The coaching will run on every Wednesday evening during June. If it is successful and the group wish to carry on we have other coaches waiting in the wings to continue into July so watch this space!

Any questions just e-mail