First of all, can I wish you all a pleasant Summer which will hopefully have sunshine and good winds for sailing. The Summer events are underway at the Clubhouse where the group “Flip” recently performed a fabulous music night which was well attended. Unfortunately due to the recent thunder storms, the planned Casino night in July has been cancelled as the host’s equipment was damaged in the storm. The Summer Regatta and BBQ at the Dock was well attended and as the weather cooled down a little it was a very pleasant event all round.
The old signs outside the Clubhouse have been replaced with new ones that include an email address and clubhouse phone number. The same has been provided for the Dock entrance. These new brighter signs with our RCC logo are keeping the club’s image up to date and making sure the public who pass by, know who we are and how to contact us.
Try Sailing at Fairhaven Lake was well attended throughout the month of May. A big thank you to all the Wednesday volunteers who make such a fantastic contribution of their time and experience, with great camaraderie. Without you the Try Sailing would not be possible.
The Training Team have just undergone a very successful RYA inspection to maintain our status as an RYA Registered Training Centre. Special thanks must go to Rob Jarman and Richard Elsdon for their hard work and dedication, and also to the marvelous band of helpers, both those on the water, and the support of those on-shore.
Without all your hard work, we would not be able to run our Wednesday evenings training sessions at Fairhaven, and it is wonderful to see such a thriving and active side of our club. This is entirely down to our dedicated band of helpers, and all your efforts are recognised and very much appreciated.
The Lytham Festival organisers are due to issue some free tickets to RCC for each of the evening concerts. As in previous years, members can come into the Clubhouse on Friday 23rd June and place your name and preferred event, (no guarantee), on the FESTIVAL SHEET at the bar. Names will be drawn at random at 22:00 in the clubhouse that evening. The lucky recipients will be issued TWO tickets for one concert in exchange for a donation of £20 to go to the RNLI. Good luck everyone!
During Lytham Festival, (28th June – 2nd July), our Honorary Secretary will open the bar on Wednesday 28th June to the 1st July from 17:30 onwards so that our members can use the club facilities whilst listening to the concerts.
The Bar Committee are doing a superb job in keeping us all refreshed on Friday evenings and at our functions. I’d like to say a big thank you to all those involved with the running of the bar. You are doing a marvelous job.
The Dock Committee meetings have broken up for the Summer months and will start again in the Autumn (so they can go sailing). Dock working parties have also ceased for the Summer, however, the Wednesday group of Dock volunteers have been very busy building pontoons – thank you to all of those who volunteer each Wednesday.
Our Honorary Secretary has a fully booked set of Last Tuesday Talks for the next winter season, starting in October 2023 and ending on the last Tuesday in April 2024, so watch this space for more information. I suspect she is also optimistic that some of our members’ summer sailing exploits may also generate a Last Tuesday talk for the following season!
As we enjoy the warm weather and get out on the water, I think how lucky we all are to have our wonderful facilities. There is nowhere more pleasant and peaceful than our Dock on a warm sunny day. If you keep your eyes open you might even see our nesting birds of prey, the weasel and the pheasants. I’ve spotted a kingfisher flying past the stern of our boat, whilst in the creek.
Before I sign off, I’d like to say I feel very proud to be your Commodore. Our club is a thriving place, with many wonderful members who are willing to share their vast array of skills and experiences, and a place where many lasting friendships are made.
I wish you a very happy summer.
Best wishes
Angela Begley
Commodore
June Regatta
There was a good turn out of boats on the river for the June Regatta held last weekend.
Several cruisers were on the water.
The weather was very kind, there was just about enough breeze and not too much sunshine to create some very keen racing.
Which prompts a call out for any club members who feel inclined to help out on Regatta days (or any club dinghy racing days) to please get in touch, either by replying to this mail or to contact a member of the Sailing Committee. There are always jobs to be done, one of the interesting spectacles is to view the sailing from the race box and even get involved by helping with the race management. The Racing team recently commissioned a video to show what’s involved in club race management, and it makes interesting viewing (see here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAIx91z4QIU&t=227s) There will of course always be some old hands in the race box to provide instruction.
…and in other news
Club Dinghy Hire
The use of club dinghies for sailing on the river, either racing or for leisure on ‘Club Sailing’ days, is increasing to the extent that the Sailing Committee has now introduced a procedure, mostly to ensure that the dinghies are available when required. The procedure is now documented on the website by clicking on the ‘Club Dinghy Hire’ tag within the black band at the bottom of the home page, or alternatively finding it on the Sailing Committee homepage.
Try Sailing has now finished until next year but dinghy training continues onto September at the Lake on Wednesday evenings.
Please be aware that many of the Volunteers will be off on their holidays soon so there may well be less Instructing available.
Also as the weather has warmed up it is noticeable how busy it is getting at the Lake on a Wednesday evening. There is only a limited supply of club boats so unfortunately it will be a case of sharing and taking turns. If it gets too busy we may have to implement a ‘booking strategy’ see ‘club dinghy hire’ above, then it will be a case of first come first served.
The next tidal sail training session will be on Sunday 23rd July, if you are planning to attend you will definitely need to book using the usual booking email, to ensure that there is a boat available for you.
Date for the diary: The club ‘Laying-up Supper’ will be on Saturday 28th October at St Anne’s Palace
Captain Barnacle
May012023
Proposed Mona Morgan and Morecambe Wind Farms – Have your say!
May the coming year be full of grand adventures and opportunities.
It’s perhaps an understatement to say that 2021 has been a difficult one but let’s not dwell on the past but to look to the future to planning some wonderful times on the river or further afar
OK, some of the things planned for last year, didn’t happen, others were adapted to suit the conditions at the time. Highlights included a fabulous Barbecue at the dock in July with a free bar provided by the club. The Laying Up Supper at Fairhaven Golf Club was a resounding success and enjoyed by all. Possibly the highlight of the sailing calendar was the Xmas Cruise with more boats than ever taking part. A quickly reorganised party for the sailors and shore crew took place outside the Dock Cabin with other members joining us to enjoy food and refreshments provided by RCC. Another great day!
All but the newest members may know that RCC operates as a self-help club, and it is pleasing to see members working together for the benefit of all. Be it work parties at the dock or the club, everyone, be they young or not so young, with a variety of interests, motor, and sail cruising, racing yachts and dinghies and simply those who like messing about in or around boats. This mix requires mutual expressions of tolerance, co-operation, and collaboration to succeed and to continue to listen to each other and then to work together for the benefit of all. For me there is an overriding obligation to ensure we introduce boating to new audiences, particularly local young people, for without new blood in the sport, there is an impoverished and unsustainable future for boating in general and RCC in particular. We all have our roles, as members and ambassadors, in our mission to keep the club vibrant and growing in stature.
Life is an adventure that’s full of beautiful destinations. Wishing you many wonderful memories made in 2022.
With the news that HM Government are planning to lift the Covid-19 restrictions from the 19th of July we are at last able to make some more positive plans.
This means that the planned return to the clubhouse and the Regatta weekend can definitely go ahead.
Picnic and Barbeque 24th July
We told you about the plans for the Regatta Picnic and Barbeque in the June Newsletter, we are now able to confirm more of the detail.
Further details for the BBQ on the Saturday afternoon/evening at the dock: –
We will be based on the grass area at the dock, making use of the ‘beach bar’.
It is open to all club members as well as guests sailing on the day in the regatta.
It will commence following sailing on the Saturday, but the formal start will be at 4.00pm
Please bring a picnic.
The club BBQ will be lit for you to use, although reasonably large, space will still be limited.
Drinks and light snacks will also be available.
Chairs and space on the BBQ will be limited so feel free to bring your own.
If you haven’t got a key fob to access the dock ring one of these numbers 07793839305, 07793839306 to let you in
If the weather is really, really bad we will move to the clubhouse and post a note on the gate and keep your eye on the Facebook group.
Don’t forget that the ‘Grand Re-opening’ of the club bar is on Friday evening the 23rd of July.
Looking forward to later in the year, we are pleased to be able to announce that the planned ‘Laying-up’ Supper will go ahead this year. The date for your diaries, as noted in the handbook, is Saturday evening the 16th of October at Fairhaven Golf Club. Further details regarding how to obtain tickets will be released nearer the time, places will be limited once the tickets are released so, please keep an eye out in the newsletters, Facebook and on posters in the clubhouse and at the dock.
Sailing
On Saturday the 10th of July we are running the first tidal training session of the season. Martin Knott is offering on-the-water coaching to those who are keen to improve their dinghy racing skills. Please let Martin know, if you haven’t already done so, if you’re going to join in his session. Otherwise, there will be an additional safety boat on the water for those who might just want to potter.
As previously advised, there are races on the Regatta weekend, 24th and 25th of July (see poster) for both cruisers and dinghies. The Regatta is really an opportunity for everyone to get out sailing in company. We are keen to see as many boats as possible, of all sizes on the start line, even if you’re not intending to race.
To paraphrase Martin Knott on the Facebook Group; “RCC Club racing, is not at all serious, but is really sailing with a bit more purpose in ‘going somewhere’”.
Fairhaven
Fylde Borough Council’s works at Fairhaven are still ongoing. Again, as previously advised additional works and the works to the café have meant a significant delay to the contract. The completion of the new boat storage compound which we had hoped to be using by now doesn’t look as though it will complete until August. However, in the meantime we plan to make a start on the water on Wednesday the 21st of July, at 6.00pm, for member’s own boats. Please let us know if you are intending to sail.
Optimistically we now hope to have some youth sailing back in early August and are targeting Wednesday evening the 4th of August as a start. Places will be restricted (8) until we can get the full complement of club boats to the new boat compound at the lake and so it will be important for parents to book the Wednesday evening slots for their children well in advance.
Dinghy Racing
As noted above we are keen to re-introduce dinghy racing, but its success will depend greatly on a commitment from club members, of all ages and abilities, to both join the racing and help organise it by undertaking some of the supporting tasks. The racing can be as expansive or local as the experience of the competitors requires, it is possible on the one hand to have short races, out of the tide, in the vicinity of the clubhouse, using mobile race marks. On the other hand, for the faster handicap dinghies, we can use the vast expanse of water seen at high tide. Members of the training team are keen to offer on-the-water coaching before and during the races to help novice sailors improve.
But we need to know what you want and hear from the sailing members. A simple reply to this email will do.
The team have been out at the bottom of the river repairing the race marks.
Tidal training will continue in the autumn as per the handbook dates.
Cruising in Company
A number of cruisers have ventured out of the dock on longer trips recently. If there is a wish to sail in company to some of the local destinations, such as Piel Island and perhaps towards the North Wales Coast please let us know.
Captain Barnacle
Captain Barnacle
Captain Barnacle
Captain Barnacle
Captain Barnacle
Captain Barnacle