|
Thats the menu for the 7th and 8th of July. Racing starts at 11:30 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. As usual there will be some "fun" events so I suggest you have suitable attire. Lasers become remarkably unstable with a crew of 14!
We would like to give Mike Rogers some idea of how much food to provision, so those who purchase barbecue tickets before 2nd July benefit from special prices (£6.00 adults, £4.00 juniors). Ring Madeline Hatton on 020 8546 9937 for tickets. We have booked the same jazz band as last year.
We have had a slow start to the sailing season with many races cancelled because of the torrent flowing past the club. Even the new (for us) Mid Thames Trophy meeting had to be held on the Littleton S.C. gravel pit rather than at Desborough S.C. on the river. Aquarius was remarkably successful at both Littleton and Bewl Water as you will see in the relevant articles. Fortunately river levels subsided several weeks ago and sailing is back to normal.
As you may know the tall bank across the river from the club is that of a former reservoir. Eric Brdgewater and I recently attended a site visit. All the gravel has now been extracted. The site is to become a nature reserve. The interior will be partially infilled with inert material and landscaped to form a large bowl with a lake and islands. The top layer of the inner concrete wall is to be removed, probably this winter. Next season the bank will have been recontoured and will be 1 to 2 metres lower than at present. This will be of considerable benefit to Aquarius sailors in southerly winds.
Mike (more horsepower) Baker has masterminded the transformation of the safety boat. Our venerable but rather erratic single cylinder two stroke engine has been replaced by a new and much more powerful inboard diesel. High tech speed trials involved me holding a funny L-shaped plastic tube over the side (a Yachting Speedometer) and guesstimating the rise in the head of water. Allowing for Richard's helming and my inability to hold the tube steady, the boat seemed to reach something of the order of 6.50000000001 knots. Also CB radios have been supplied fitted to the safety boat and race hut, by Andrew Davies, to help communications. Both use channel 9 at switch on.
Unfortunately both Hampton S.C. and Aquarius S.C. have had some uninvited guests over recent weeks. They are looking for wallets, mobiles and the like. We are taking precautions. The gates will be kept locked on Sundays so remember your key. If you forget the key, phone the club, toot your horn gently or wait for someone to appear in the car park (we hope to add a bell push at the gate). If you see anyone who you do not recognise, please inform a committee member or the officer of the day immediately. Most importantly please do not leave valuables in the changing rooms or in your cars. Remember, we have a safe.
My appreciation goes to Mike Baker for all his stories in this newsletter.
Looking forward to seeing you all at the Regatta and Barbecue. Oh! and if there is anyone who into divining, we need Easterly Force 4 and wall to wall sunshine.
|
