March Commodore's Newsletter
Published 20:51 on 21 Mar 2022
Dear Member,
With birds nesting, flowers blooming and days lengthening, I am pleased to announce the real start for 2022's sailing season is underway.
Spring Celebration
Not only has spring arrived but, in case you hadn't heard from any other source, our sailing can officially celebrate winning the 'National 2022 RYA and Yachts & Yachting Club of the Year Award'.
This accolade was awarded to Budworth Sailing Club for its work in attracting more members of all ages and backgrounds into the sport of sailing. Budworth Sailing Club's reputation for friendliness, hospitality, encouragement of new sailors of all ages and general promotion of sailing is testament to all the hard work put in voluntarily by so many of our club members.
The award is not just for the club facilities or sailing achievements. The Award recognises the activities of the entire membership, for all those people that volunteer to make the place what it is, its spirit of friendship, camaraderie and sharing of the sailing experience for which this award represents a publicly stated huge 'thank you to you all'.
First Day of Spring
After a windy start in week one, the fabulous weather and winds of yesterday, the first day of Spring (20th March) saw over thirty boats sailing second week of our Icebreaker series. As a consequence of low numbers on the first week the qualifying number of races has now reduced to four races. Next Sunday will be the third and concluding session of this three week series for 2022. It offers plenty of opportunity to come down and qualify to those who didn't get their boats on the water for the first week. Following the sailing on Sunday 26th March, the Icebreaker series prize giving will be held in the bar.
Not April Fool's Day
It's time to start the fun of Saturday sailing again on Saturday, 2nd April. This is when the Saturday Main point's handicap racing recommences. Starting at 14:00, sailors can enjoy 3 races during the afternoon. Our new Saturday Fleet Captain, Jackie Purvis, is way ahead of us all with some vey initiative ideas and plans to encourage you onto the water. Every month throughout the Saturday Main point's series, she has arranged for selected speakers to give a pre-race briefing. This will offer up Tips on sailing aspects such as: Points of Sailing, Tactics, Mark Rounding, and other useful knowledge in the pre-start period of 13.15 - 13.45. Make sure your boat is rigged and ready so you can benefit from these chats. Additionally your Saturday Fleet Captain will be awarding monthly informal prizes after racing for the best improved sailor.
Serious Stuff
The 2022 Main Points racing starts on Sunday 3rd April with a handicap race at 12:30 followed by three class start races starting at 13:30.
Enjoy the Light of Day
March 21st was the Vernal Equinox, the date when day and night of equal length, marking the start of spring and days becoming longer than nights. For those who enjoy mid-week sailing, this means that as of Wednesday 6th April the ever so popular Midweek Series recommences at 19:00. Please note that due to day light restrictions, just for the first two weeks, we can only run one race. From 20th April, the evening light allows us to resume our two race format. After sailing, our galley will be offering a hot meal in the bar. Please order and pay for your food at the galley BEFORE going out on the water for your first race of the evening.
Thursday "Thinks & Drinks" RMS Refresher
Following on from an extensive update, Chris Hearn is running a RMS (Race Management System) refresher evening, held in the bar on Thursday 7th April starting at 19:30. This training session will focus on all the new features, which include scoring improvements and managing Open meetings. All members are invited, but particularly those have a race duty this year or will be involved in an Open meeting - I encourage you to attend!
Board after Work
Pete Wilkinson, 2022 Raceboard Class Captain, is looking forwards to welcoming all the Raceboard members to their first raceboard session for 2022 on Tuesday 12th April. Raceboard racing starts at 18:30 with two races per evening.
Go Digital
With many thanks to GP Class Captain, Paul Gray for sharing his IT skills, we are pleased to advise that as another first for the club, this year a digital downloadable PDF version of the new 2022 Club Handbook can now be accessed via the members section (Portal) of the club website.
Back to the Beginning
In keeping with the spirit with which our club is blessed and has been recognised with this year's 2022 Club of the Year Award, on Bank Holiday Monday, 18th April, the club will host the first of two public Open Days. This is an opportunity for the club to showcase everything that it does best and promote the sport of sailing to yet more people. We invite prospective new members to enjoy a pleasure sail on the water with one of a selected team of experienced sailors, show them the different classes of dinghy that we sail and learn more about the club. Ultimately, we hope we can entice them to join, offer them learn to sail courses and encourage them to integrate as members of our fabulous club. Club members are asked to spread the word, to invite family, friends, neighbours and colleagues to come to the club and discover what a fantastic club we have.
Thank you all
Bill