Annual Open Weekend

The preparations for this years open weekend really started back at the beginning of the year when we started on the extension. Making more space and decorating the club was all aimed at presenting the club in the best light possible.

This year we also extended the advertising by using a local radio station to publicize the weekend. This seems to have worked particularly well with several of our visitors reporting that this was the way in which they had heard about the open weekend.

Saturday morning was less than encouraging. It was overcast, windy and raining with the river swollen and running at about 2-3 knots. By opening time the rain had stopped and the wind dropped a little. By late morning visitors had begun to drift in and prompted by this a number of the members boats started appearing on the moorings and our visitors, most of whom had never set foot in a dinghy, got their first taste of sailing.

Sunday looked promising. The flags on the mast fluttered strongly, the sun shone and the river was perhaps ½ a knot slower than the day before. Just proves that looks can be deceiving.

By late morning the sun was long gone, the wind dropped and making over the water was beginning to get challenging. A number of visitors did opt to sail while some settled for a ride in our safety boat. At least it didn't rain.

Our last visitor turned up at 5:30pm just as we were packing up the boats! Many of the enquiries were subsequently converted into actual membership making it a pretty successful weekend.

My thanks to everybody who helped out, especially the guys in the boats (sail and safety) for taking the visitors afloat; Joan and George for handling the membership enquiries and paperwork; Diana, Joan and Janet for cooking the lunches and handling continuous requests for teas and coffees.

The one thing that did impress me however was the easy going, friendly atmosphere that pervaded in the club right over the weekend. That is just the sort of thing that visitors immediately sense and which can put them at their ease. You can't fake that, you have it or you don't.

Mike (Over Easy) Baker