April – Upcoming events

Once the Scorpion / Fireball Open Event at the club is over this coming weekend, club activities really start ramping up in to Spring:

– Lunch on the Lake and Lake & Cake kick off for 2023 on the 8th
– Spring Points (2 AM races and 2 PM races) on the 9th, 23rd and 30th, with the next trophy day on the 16th (John Jarrett AM and Commodore’s Cup PM)
– Wednesday evening racing restarts on April 5th (practise race at 18:30), with points races starting on the 12th (19:00 first start).
– There is a First Aid course on Saturday 22nd with 2 places left available to members
– The next Advance Rescue Helm Course is on Saturday 29th, a hugely valuable (and highly encouraged) day for anyone doing a RIB helm duty.
– The final Winter Topper Training also on Saturday 29th is already fully booked.
– Also on Saturday 29th is the first CLADS session of 2023.

Thursday Improver Sessions

We Need You! We are looking for a few volunteers to be on-hand either shore based or on the water to offer help and guidance.

Starting Thursday 11th May at 18:00 there will be a series of supported sailing sessions aimed at anyone wishing to get hints and tips with regards to rigging or boat set-up etc.

This is not a rostered role so there is no commitment required to be there weekly, any assistance would be most welcomed.

If you can help (and who wouldn’t want an excuse to get out on the water on our beautiful lake! ) then please contact either Simon Conway or James Williams to arrange which days you can assist.

Invitation to the Chew Valley Water Park Opening

Some members may already be aware of the recently agreed plan to open a major new inflatable water park adjacent to the Salt and Malt car parking at the northern end of the lake.

Start on inflating the park, which will be one of the largest in Europe, will commence on Wednesday and will be completed in time for the official opening next weekend.

The park will include several large inflatable swans, each over 25ft high and capable of carrying groups on the wind across the lake as shown in the image below:

There will be some risk of the odd swan encroaching into our sailing area – all sailors are advised to keep a careful lookout and will be of course be entitled to call for room in accordance with rule 20, while racers will be excited at the prospect of a 25ft pink swan port tacking the fleet off a busy start line.

I am delighted to let members know that we have been allocated 25 VIP tickets to the exclusive pre-opening ‘Drinks and Bounce’ Party to be held at Salt and malt from 18.30 on Saturday 8th April, please click here to get your ticket, first come first served.

To brighten up your day…

I hope that many of you have already noticed the installation of new energy efficient lighting in the club room, bar, galley and garage. Not only does this improve lighting, but it will reduce energy usage and save the club some money in the longer term.

Lake & Cake 08-Apr-23

A huge lake and cake for a big birthday made by my niece for her Dad!

Hilary and I are so looking forward to seeing you all at our first Lake and Cake- meeting at the usual time of 1:45 rigged and ready if possible.
Don’t forget to bring some goodies to share and £1 for your tea!

Jo Cudmore

Lunch on the Lake returns on Saturday 08-Apr-23

We will congregate somewhere on the lake (within the permitted anchoring zone, see map on website or noticeboard) and, weather permitting, we will have an opportunity to practice anchoring in proximity to each other.

If you have spent your time wisely over the winter you may even have built yourself a galley box. A most worthy accompaniment for any cruising dinghy!

Hope to see you there, at lunchtime, on the lake.

Simon Conway.

Cruising afar…

Hickling Broad Sailing Club have kindly agreed to host us for a week in the summer.

This is for CVLSC members who are interested in dinghy cruising and the Norfolk Broads is a fascinating area in which to sail.

Sailing will be from 1st July to 8th July 2023. They have a small club, nothing like the size of CVLSC, but have access to a vast sailing area.

Costs will be £30 per head (for temporary membership of HBSC for the week) + Norfolk Broads Authority fee (priced per boat and based on length, approx. £15 for the week) + whatever accommodation you choose to book.

Most class of boats are welcome, contact Simon for more detail and/or to book your space.

Member Travels

After a quiet February there has been much more travelling across the country (and globe) for our members during March.

  • Bill Chard / Josh Preater and Ian Cadwallader (crewing for Ian Pinnell) travelled to Fremantle (Australia!) for the Flying Fifteen Australian Championships followed by the Worlds. The Ians finished 3rd in the Australian champs, with Bill/Josh inside the top 40. Former member, and now Australia based, Andy Harris was also racing. Link to the final report here. The Ians followed the Australian Champs up with another hugely impressive 4th place at the Worlds, including a win in Race 5. Bill / Josh had a great day 3 (12th and 2nd in the two races) to finish a brilliant 20th overall. Final report here.
  • The ILCA qualifiers have begun for the year, starting with Stokes Bay (Dru Townsend 15th in the ILCA 6 fleetincluding a race win, Oliver Allen-Wilcox and Ed Baker both above half way in the ILCA 7 fleet). This was followed by WPNSA where Oliver was 2nd overall in the ILCA 6 fleet with 2 race wins, with Dru and Ed also competing in the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 fleets respectively.
  • The skiffs have also been travelling, to the Ovington Inlands at Grafham and Paul Croote winning the Cherub fleet at the Rutland Skiff Open.
  • Callum Farnden was the first travelling RS200 this year, crewing for Arthur Henderson at QMSC
  • The symmetric boats have also been on the road, with Matt & Hannah Greenfield winning the gold fleet in the Merlin Rocket open at South Cerney and Rosie & Susie Sheahan also travelling to Rutland for the 420 Inlands.

Stolen

Sadly, news reached me recently of an RS500 trailer that has gone ‘missing’ over the winter. Members are reminded that the inner gate must be locked if you are the last to leave the club, to help keep our grounds secure, and those with trailers may wish to consider getting a ball hitch lock or similar to prevent theft.

Andy Jones
Commodore