-
Good
Performances at Papercourt Open - Our guy and girls did well against
very strong competition at Papercourt last Saturday, including national
squad, zone squad and last years national champion. Zac and Georgia finished
in the top half and Louise 36th with 20 boats behind her. For full results click
here
-
Happy
New Year - 2012
Programme now in place - Please go to the programme pages to see the
packed programme for this year, look forward to see as many WW sailors at
the events as possible.
-
SE
Winter Training - We have a full programme of training during the winter
with great coaches. Please register today you dont have to do both days and
you can come along for a morning or afternoon session and fee will be
reduced - winter sailing is often the
best!! To sign up click
here.
-
Development
of Oppy and Youth - We will be sitting down in the next few weeks and
discussing how we continue to build on the success we have with our Optimist
and Youth fleets. As many of you are aware Mark has decided to stand down as
flotilla leader after 3 years and 3 previous years having run beginners, he
will still be very much involved but feels it is time for some fresh ideas.
Anyone who is interested in this role or indeed would like to get more
involved and have ideas of how we can continue to develop our Youth then
please contact one of parent team. Please be assured that the Youth and
Optimists at our club are one of the most important parts of what we do. The
future plans which are put in place will ensure that our children and young
adults are given the best opportunities to develop their sailing, meet new
friends and enjoy what they do both on and off the water.
-
End
of Season Prize Giving - Following the Autumn Series races the annual
Prize Giving was held and the prizes were presented by our Vice-Commodore
Chris Fyans who was presented with a signed photo of his rib which he has
kindly let us use during the season - thanks Chris. The series trophy
started off the proceedings which the girls dominated being shared between
Amy, Caitlin, Millie and Ellie, with Chris the only boy to pick up a series
trophy! Re-addressing the balance were George Blatchford who won the Junior
Shield, Zac Riley the Ashton Trophy for most improved racer and Harry Tucker
the Endeavour Shield for most improved sailor overall. Back to the girls and
Amy won the Bridle Bowl for overall series points during the year and Ellie
Clarke the Newcomers Shield. Well done to you all.
-
Final
Races in the Autumn Series - Light conditions met the 15 competitors in
the final 2 races of the Autumn Series which made for some tense racing.
Race 1 saw Sophie Dorrington make a flying start to take the lead and
despite sailing well Georgia Baker was unable to catch her and Sophie took
her first win in a series event - well done. Meanwhile Chris Taylor and Amy
Bennett had to put in some good results to capitalise on their previous
results, Amy picked up a 3rd with Chris only managing a 5th meant is was all
on the last race. In the final race Georgia, who has clearly benefited from
the recent girls training and really enjoying this racing, led from the
start which she held until the finish - well done. For most of the race she
was pursued by Louise Harrington who again was sailing well but was hunted
down by the ever "chatty!" Chris and George who finished 2nd and
3rd. Amy finished just behind the pair enough to give her 2nd overall in the
series. Ellie Clarke put in 2 sound performances to give her 3rd overall in
the series, with the overall Autumn Series title going to Chris Taylor -
Well done Chris. For full results click
here
-
Races
7 and 8 of Autumn changes at the top - Chris Taylor put in 2 good
performances on Saturday with 2 wins and was closely pursued by Millie and
Amy with Louise and James following close behind. All to play for in the
last 2 races which will take place on 12 November. Any one of 5 sailors
could win - should be a good one!! Go to the results page for an update.
-
No
Oppy
Club this Saturday 5 November due to Cobnor last Oppy Club of the season 12
November
-
Oppies
do well at Winter Draws On - Well done to Zac for winning the Oppie
fleet prize, great to see him up on the line at the starts, better than some
of the 200s??!! Plus well done to Millie for winning the Lady helm prize in
very testing conditions.
-
Races
5 and 6 of Autumn series Ellie at the top - Good to see a new face at
the top of the leader board with Ellie Clarke scoring a first and second on
Saturday to put her in a commanding position at the top flllowed by Zac
Riley in second. For full results go to the results page.
-
Congratulations
to Emma baker who secures her place in the Intermediate Squad for next year
-
End
of Seasons Rutland success in Regatta Fleet - Well done to our 3 sailors
in the regatta fleet last weekend at Rutland. A fantastic performance from
Zac Riley overall 5th (with a prize!) plus a 2nd in the last race at his
first major event! Also well done to Louise Harrington and Harry Tucker both
completed all 7 races in gusts of up to 30 knots on day 2. Louise finished
48th and Harry 51st out of 94. I think our main fleet sailors could learn
something from them, too many of them retiring for each afternoon and not
completing races, its a long way to go to only do half the event. For full
results please click
here.
-
First
race of Autumn series and Amy's back on top - For complete results
please go to results page.
-
SE
Zone Championships at Bewl - Well done to Emma getting 3rd overall last
weekend including an OCS (at least Emma's on the line!!). Well done as well
to Abbie Back 16th overall plus somewhat improved
results from our other sailors with final selection event coming up at
Datchet on Saturday. For overall results click
here.
-
For
Sale 2 top performing boats
-
|
Town/County
|
Ipswich
/ Sulfolk
|
|
Sail
Number
|
GBR
5863
|
|
Price
|
1800
(£)
|
|
Builder
|
Other
|
|
Type
|
Other
|
|
Construction
|
Glass
Fibre
|
|
Launching
trolley
|
 Yes
|
|
Road
Trailer
|
 No
|
|
Over
Cover
|
Yes
|
|
Under
Cover
|
Yes
|
|
Sail
Details
|
North
P5
|
|
Details
|
UK
Worlds Squad and Junior Champion boat.
Blue/Blue hull immaculate supplied by IbI Sailing
OptiMax Mk4 spars (stiffest boom and sprit)
Harken blocks
zhik toe strap
All the extras - mast clamp, race foils and bag, spar bag, double
bailors, uniquely stropped boom.
race prep-ed and ready to compete.
(treble stack oppie trailer sold separately
family selling 2 oppies and trailer moving to next fleet.)
|
|
Last
re-affirmed on
|
3/September/2011
|
|
Advertiser's
Contact Details
|
Jeremy
Grogono
0097150 656 9246m
please email : jeremygrogono@mac.com
|
|
Town/County
|
Ipswich
/ Sulfolk
|
|
Sail
Number
|
GBR
5965
|
|
Price
|
1900
(£)
|
|
Builder
|
Other
|
|
Type
|
Other
|
|
Construction
|
Glass
Fibre
|
|
Launching
trolley
|
Yes
|
|
Road
Trailer
|
No
|
|
Over
Cover
|
Yes
|
|
Under
Cover
|
Yes
|
|
Sail
Details
|
North
P5
|
|
Details
|
twice
UK Junior Champion - race tuned with only top quality gear.
measured and ready to race at the front of the fleet!
Blue/Blue hull immaculate supplied by IbI Sailing
OptiMax Mk4 spars (stiffest boom and sprit)
Harken blocks
zhik toe strap
All the extras - mast clamp, race foils and bag, spar bag, double
bailors, uniquely stropped boom.
( treble stack oppie trailer sold separately
family selling 2 oppies and trailer moving to next fleet.)
|
|
Last
re-affirmed on
|
3/September/2011
|
|
Advertiser's
Contact Details
|
Jeremy
Grogono
0097150 656 9246m
please email : jeremygrogono@mac.com
|
Optimist
- Trailers
|
Brief
Description
|
Triple
Stack Trailer
|
|
Details
|
Trailer
for 3 optimists.
Front storage box.
Brand new road gear - axil, bearings, wheels, tyres
stored near Ipswich
|
|
Cost
|
500
(£)
|
|
Last
re-affirmed on
|
4/September/2011
|
|
Advertiser's
Contact Details
|
Jeremy
Grogono
0097150 656 9246
please email : jeremygrogono@mac.com
|
-
Success
for WWSC Open Meeting! - Last Saturday saw a great event hosted by Weir
Wood with over 60 competitors sailing 4 races in near perfect conditions
(apart from the rain). The event went very well from start to finish and it
was great to see Emma Baker winning overall and first WWSC boat out of the
top 3 going to Abbie Back who finished in 13th overall. Most of the other
prize were won by very strong competition from Papercourt, Chipstead and
Bewl and well done to them. Zac Riley was determined to finish every race in
his first event in the main fleet and won the Endeavour award. Other results
from some of our more experienced sailors were disappointing and we will be
working with them on training during the winter to ensure they start to get
the results that they are capable of. A huge thank you to everyone involved
in making the day such a success, we did the club proud. Please click
here to see the full results.
-
Oppy
Club Saturday 24 September will run - Thanks to Tony and Mike Oppy Club
will go ahead this Saturday as normal they look forward to seeing you there.
-
Emma
Baker 1st girl at Welsh Champs and 5th overall - Excellent result for
Emma a couple of weeks ago at the Welsh Champs in Cardiff - well done,
please click
here to see full results.
-
Optimist
Nationals - Mixed results but a great time had by all - Good conditions
overall met our 7 sailors for the week in Pwllheli. We had sailors in most
of the fleets and it was the first Nationals for many amongst them Chris
Taylor did very well to finish 29th in the Regatta Racing fleet and here's
what he thought of it:
"I
arrived at the sailing club on the Saturday morning and decided to have a
good look around. The main fleet
went on the water for the afternoon to get use to the conditions.
The Regatta Fleet sailors on the other hand mostly travelled down on
the Saturday, to arrive with the boats ready for Sunday. On Sunday we
unloaded our boats, had them checked and registered and were given our tally
numbers to stick on the front of our boats ready our briefing at 1:30pm.
At our briefing we met our coaches, the race officer and Dia. Dia
told us he had given up with the regatta fleet so he had handed his job to
someone more mature, three dogs named Lily, Ebb and Flow.
After meeting our coaches we went out on the water for a practice
race. On Monday the real racing began; in the morning we trained with our
coach doing things like tacking on the whistle and follow my leader to get
used to the water and brush off some of the cobwebs.
In the afternoon we went back out on to the water to have our first
race I came 20th. Tuesday
we only managed to fit one race in because there was hardly any wind.
As the week went by the wind picked up and the waves got
bigger as the races became more competitive as everyone wanted to win.
Friendships formed as the sailors got to know one another.
Regatta coaching started to race on the Wednesday with Louise and
Sophie doing really well. Wednesday the whole
Regatta Fleet went on a sail away day where we sailed to a different place
and had a bit of fun. Unfortunately
us Regatta Racers didn’t get to play on the beach because we had to race
all day even when the wind dropped. The
first race was my worst race; I had a terrible start having to do two
seven-twenty penalty turns. At
the end of the day we were towed in because there was no wind us to sail
back with. On Thursday we had great wind and big waves.
I found it fun to hike over the waves but the smaller children on the
other hand must of found it scary. Most days we stayed out all day, so we
had to bring our own lunch to eat out on the water.
Some of the younger ones didn’t eat so they felt sick and then
didn’t do well in the next race. On
Friday we went out on the water for half a day to do two races, the water
was flat and a nice bias line. The
starboard end of the line was packed with sailors busy shouting protests,
that when start horn sounded, they were all in the wrong position, allowing
a few of us to get a really good position and get away to good start.
I eventually came 13th, my best placing out of all of the
races. After the racing we came
in just in time for lunch. When
everyone had packed up and was ready to go home, there was prize giving
where every one received back their logbooks back and a medal. Overall
everyone from Weir wood did really well and made their club proud.
I am really looking forward to going next year and having great fun
in the main fleet!" Chris Taylor
Sophie
and Louise did well in the Regatta Coaching Group and Louise was in the top
20 until on the final day she decided to "look for the wind" which
unfortunately happened to be downwind on the beat! It's all experience!!!???
She left that bit out of her report:
"The
Nationals was a great experience for me being on the sea and learning new
things every second. I have enjoyed so much the week and hope to enjoy the
next nationals even more. Thank you to all the coaches and parents that
helped. My favourite day has got to be the sail away day when my dad wore
the flower bra (thanks for that Louise don't tell anyone!). See you next
year". - Louise Harrington
In
the main fleet Yun was there for the first time out all day with a 3 mile
sail to the start bit different from 2 hours at WWSC on a Saturday! He
finished every race and here's what he thought of it:
"I
took part in the nationals at Pwllheli, Wales from the 30th July
to 5th August and it was great fun. I was in the junior fleet.
When I first entered for the Junior fleet I wasn't quite sure what to expect
because it was my first nationals. I was alright about being in the junior
fleet because one of my friends was in it but then he moved to the regatta
fleet. That's when I slowly started to want to not be in the junior fleet.
Everyone had a practice race on Sunday and it was really windy. The wave
were huge!!! The junior and senior fleet had to do six races to get divided
into the gold and silver fleet. It was meant to take two days with having
done three in each but we had to do it for three days. When I did my first
race I got really worried but then it turned out alright. On Monday we only
got to do 1 race because there was no wind. On Tuesday we managed to do all
three and on Wednesday we did only two. On Thursday we saw what fleet we
were in. I was in the silver fleet. We did three races. On that same day a
boy crashed into me and made a dent/hole in my boat. On Friday we did all
three races and I wouldn't have been able to do the races if Richard Baker
hadn't taped the hole in my boat. I'd like to thank three people. Richard
Baker and Mike Blatchford for bringing my oppy and Mark Harrington for
bringing my sail and foils. Without these people I wouldn't have made the
nationals". - Yun Shin
Emma
and Georgia Baker were also in the
main fleet and Emma hoping to get into the national squad needed some top
results and good consistency to get into the top 20. It didnt start well
with a black flag in race 1 putting her under a lot of pressure going into
the rest of the week and just missing gold fleet. She did manage to put in
some good results later in the week with a second in one windy race and a
12th overall in the silver fleet. Georgia was out on the sea as well every
day and gained a lot of confidence from the experience plus the money to buy
an Ipod with so many boats behind her! Don't think you thought that through
Richard!
A
big thank you to Chris Fyans for use of his rib during the week the children
really appreciate the support on the water and on the Thursday we really
needed it for safety pulling over dozen sailors out of the water!
-
Oppy
Camp - Another great week and thanks to all for making it happen.
Pictures are up at the club house and on the website.
-
Weir
Wood Open Meeting 17 September now open for registration - Please click
here to enter our annual open meeting those wishing to be considered
for the se zone squads should enter the main fleet.
-
Oppy
Club on Saturday afternoons now on holiday until 10 September - Oppy Club
has now flown off to the Caribbean (well North Wales actually) and will
return on 3 September. Thanks to all that have been part of it and have a
good summer. Good luck to the 7 WWSC sailors looking forward to the
nationals in 2 weeks.
-
Weir
Wood Open Meeting 17 September now open for registration - Please click
here to enter our annual open meeting those wishing to be considered
for the se zone squads should enter the main fleet.
-
What
to do if you want to get into the SE Zone Squads this year? - Please see
below recommendations for applying for the zone squads in 2011. Those
wishing to apply should do so by 1 October 2011. This is also a good
opportunity for those wishing to be considered for zone squads in a later
year as it offers excellent training and experience for the future:
-
Amy
wins the final race and Caitlin clinches the series! - Blustery
conditions met the competitors in the final race of the Summer series. Good
starts by all meant very close racing on the large carantec course. Caitlin
led most of the way until a gust put her into a nosedive which pushed her
back to 6th in the race. Amy and Millie were sailing well and finished close
together in 1st and second. Zac Riley sailed a good race to finish 4th and
giving him 6th overall in series. To see final results please click
here.
-
Emma
Baker gets 3rd at Burnham Open! - Excellent sailing from Emma to achieve
3rd place in last weekends Burnham Open. A couple of 'incidents' on the
water made it even more exciting and Emma came through unscathed and
finished top girl. Georgia did well sailing in the main fleet as well to get
a few more boats behind her. For full results click
here.
-
Weir
Wood sailors away at events! - Its that time of the year and some of our
sailors are doing one event after the other. Emma and Georgia Baker have
been busy at Lymington and Warsash with some good results. Sophie Dorrington
was in Lymington last week in the regatta fleet doing well overall and
getting a 20th place in one of the races in strong tide - well done. Read
how Sophie got on:
"On
the 26th of June I arrived at Royal Lymington
Yacht
Club.The Sun was shining and the mist was
clearing.The
wind was ideal and a medium chop.
There
was 79 Sailors all seemed to know what they
were
doing.I didn't win anything at prize giving
but
I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and was
pleased
with my result in the last race".
-
Summer
Series Race 7! - Its getting close at the top now with consistent
sailing from Caitlin putting her in first place, closely followed by George. To see results please click
here.
-
Summer
Series Race 4! - Another windy one but only 30knt gusts and the fleet
coped well with Caitlin winning the race from Amy closely followed by Lewis! To see results please click
here.
-
For
Sale GBR 4119 - White GRP in good condition, suitable for beginner
racer, unused in last 2 seasons, 2 sails one light racing virtually unused,
many extras including 2 spits and burgees, all rig sound and ready to sail,
includes trolley, cover, padded foil bag and measurement certs. Good value
at £700 ono, contact: Julia email: julia@edenwoodpr.demon.co.uk
or
call 01737 248543.
-
For
Sale GBR 3982 - Excellent starter/club racing boat all ready to go,
includes trolley and covers, fully measured, good value at £500 ono -
contact Peter Deeming to view 07789 995745
-
Oppy
and Youth Camp registration now available! - Details and application for
the ever popular Oppy and Youth Camp are now available by clicking
here.
This takes place from Sunday 24 July - Thursday 28 July. We need to start
preparing now so in order for us to get an idea of numbers for catering etc
please complete the application form and return it to Chris Hopkins as soon
as possible. For those of you new to Oppy Camp its a great opportunity to
sail every day, have fun with your friends, camp overnight and improve your
sailing skills in an informal and safe environment. The format will be
similar to previous years but we are taking steps to try and reduce the
level of tiredness of participants at the end - for example earlier bedtimes
and adjustments to the programme, so that we start earlier on the Sunday and
finish earlier on the Thursday. We are also planning to include some Race
Coaching by RYA coaches for those competing at the Optimist or Laser 4.7
Nationals this summer. Camp is primarily aimed at those from Oppy Club
however the Grade 5 group will work in other classes and we are able to take
a few younger teenagers who may wish to join the Camp. Teenage Assistant
Instructors are of course encouraged to teach during the weekend and PARENT
VOLUNTEERS are essential for the safe and effective running of the camp
- please contact Chris Hopkins if you can help! Please email Chris at youth@wwsc.org.uk
-
Amy
wins the Spring Series - but only just! - The last race of the Spring
Series saw gusty winds and only 3 boats entered as many of the regulars were
at Cobnor. Very close racing between joint leaders Amy Bennett and Caitlin
Hamilton saw Caitlin leading for most of the sausage/triangle course until
sailing into a light patch on the south shore Amy negotiated the conditions
well to overtake and held the position until the end to take lines honours,
closely followed by Caitlin and not far behind Zak Riley in 3rd. Well done
to Amy her first series win. This left Caitlin 2nd and Millie Hopkins 3rd
overall. For final results click
here.
-
Picnic
and Proms Saturday 25 June! - Please come along to the picnic and proms
on Saturday evening 25 June, bring your own food for the barbeque, excellent
dance band, plus overnight camping at the club if you've had one Pimms too
many! Turn up on the evening from about 19:00 - see you there.
-
Inland
Champs - bit of a windy one! - 5 of our sailors headed for Grafham last
weekend for a windy Inland event. The main fleet of about 200 sailors got
away no problem in gust up to 25 knts and some large waves. Emma and Abbie
put in some good races on day one to be well positioned overnight. On the
lighter second day Emma put in some particularly strong results to end the
event 27th overall and 5th girl - well done. Bit of a different story in the
Regatta fleet where multiple capsizes on day one saw racing abandoned. On
day 2 the fleet sailed an amazing 5 races George put in some good results
including a 9th in the final race to finish 30th out of the 100 in the fleet
and Louise battled on to finish 87th overall. In the afternoon Louise seemed
happier telling people what she had been up to at the event. See 3 minutes
onwards in the video by clicking
here to see what she said! A good event overall and you can see the
final results by clicking
here.
-
Great
Success for Club
Open Day - Many thanks to all children and parents who helped to make
the youth section so busy on Saturday. We had about 10 boats out on the
water at one time and lots of interest from children in Oppy and 4.7
sailing. On the day the club signed up 14 new members most of which included
children so should be good growth for the youth.
-
Emma
Baker gets 3rd in Eric Twiname Championship - Well done to Emma who
battled to 3rd place in a windy Eric Twiname last weekend in Rutland. Emma
got some excellent results on day 2 in particulary incuding a 2nd and 3rd
out of 55 Optimist who were specially selected for the event. Emma was
leading the fleet in the final race but got hit by a 30 knot gust near the
end but managed not to capsize and still finish in 3rd.
-
Oppy
for sale - Excellent starter boat GBR 3621 - GRP - New sail, good
condition ideal first boat only £300. Contact Jo Mason email: jomason@rowcliffe.co.uk
-
Emma
and Georgia Baker join 998 other Optimist sailors at Lake Garda, OH and Sam
went too - Only 1000 sailors made their way to Lake Garda this week for
this huge Easter event to see how things are going click
here.
-
Hayling
Island Open Meeting - Only one day sailed in this event but well done to
Sophie Dorrington for finishing all 4 races on the Sunday.
-
SE Spring Championships 9 and 10 April -
An excellent event in near perfect conditions both days. The event was
won by Daniel Thorne-Large from Chipstead with some of our sailors putting
in flashes of brilliance just looking for some consistency now. For full results click
here. Please see full report from Chris Taylor here:
Over
the weekend of the 9th and 10th of April we hosted the
Optimist South East Championships. The event attracted competitors from
around the region including Chipstead, Papercourt, Bewl Valley Sailing
Clubs. Sailor started to
arrive at around 8:30 and started to rig their boats, and got changed before
making their way the front of the club house for the briefing. The briefing
kicked off 9:45 and Pete started to explain about the carantec course and
who was out on the water if you needed help. Optimist sailors went out onto
the water up at the far end of the lake towards buoy 5 and awaited for the
start of the first race.When everyone was out on the water the 5 minute
warning went, boat started to cruise around the start trying to get the best
start they could. The first race started as one compact fleet, but spread
out later on in the race. Daniel Thorne-Large from Chipstead, came in first,
followed by Emma Handley from Papercourt who came second and Harriet
Lucas-Clements also from Papercourt came third. The second race was similar
with Daniel and Emma coming in first and second and Millie Hopkins from Weir
wood coming third. The third race had more wind which changed the order
Daniel dropping to second, Harriet going up to first, and Freya Black from
Bewl taking third place. The
final race of the first day saw Emma getting her first win, followed by
George Blatchford from Weir wood coming second and Harriet in third
place.Day two had light winds and we sailed a triangular course for the
final two races. The first race of the day Emma and Daniel were first and
second and Alice Handley from Papercourt came third. The final race saw
Daniel come first, with Iain Bird from Papercourt coming second and George
coming in third place.Overall Daniel Thorne-Large from Chipstead Sailing
Club took the overall trophy with Emma Handley from Papercourt coming second
and Harriet Lucas-Clements also from Papercourt coming third.
Everyone
enjoyed the racing and had a great time!
Christopher
Taylor aged 11 (GBR 6044
-
Club
Open Day May 7 - Help to get new potential members out on the water and
showing them what a great club we are. All day event - volunteers of all
ages needed ask one of the Oppy Parents for info.
-
Oppy
Cobnor places still available 20 (Evening) - 22 May! - Please note there
are still places for Oppy Cobnor which is a fantastic weekend sailing a
variety of boats in a great setting for further information contact Chris
Hopkins.
-
Spring
Championships Weymouth - Five of our sailors travelled to Weymouth for
the first major event of the year. The Olympic venue seemed quite empty with
only 210 Oppies! It is a bit stressful the first day particularly when you
have to put on new Gill sponsor stickers! It's a big chunk of water and day
one was a bit too much for Chris and Louise and they retired early. George
Blatchford did well to complete the first race but lack of wind led to a lot
of hanging around and with no WWSC rib to support decided to call it a day
at lunchtime. Emma and Georgia completed both races in light winds to get
some useful scores to take into day 2. All had a great time in the evening
meeting at a restuarant with others from Bewl and Chipstead, Louise managing
to eat half an ocean of seaweed! On Day 2 our sailors were able to go to the
Bewl support rib mid-races which made it a lot easier and chance for a rest.
The fleet set off at 10am in a good F3 with race 1 underway by 10:30. Emma
Baker scored a good 27th in her fleet and George had about 20 boats behind
him in his. With winds slackening Race 2 was postponed and finally got
underway at about 14:00 Louise did well to complete her first race at a
major event, Georgia completed all 4 races, George finished with a good 30
boats behind him and Emma 70th. The fleet returned at about 15:30 after 5.5
hours of intense sailing - well done. But it wasn't all over for George who
was involved in a protest, although the protest was nullified it was great
experience for him and a few lessons learnt! Our guys and girls did well in
a top quality fleet and a great experience. For full results click
here.
-
Oppy
Club New Season, VCC Presentation Saturday 19 March! - Oppy Club
restarts on Saturday 19 March. The Volvo Champion Club presentation with the
RYA and various VIPs will take place at the clubhouse at 13:30 then it will
be out on the water for photos and a sail around normal Oppy Club will then
follow. Please can you ensure that boats are rigged and children changed
BEFORE the presentation so we can get straight out on the water afterwards.
After the sailing we have a party with DJ and food starting at about 17:45
for about 1 1/2 hours all are welcome. There will also be training this weekend with Ben Ainsworth. Places are
still available so sign up now you can do one day only if required. Get back into the swing of things fast!
To apply click
here
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No
parking in Oppy Bay! - At the end of last season Oppy Bay turned into a
car park and your flotilla leader was as guilty as anyone! As from now
please do not park in Oppy Bay unless you need to drop off a boat or
have work to do on the area which involves heavy tools. Once the boat is
delivered then please return your car to the main car park. It represents a
safety hazard to your children, the area is being churned up by cars and the
reservoir is an area of outstanding natural beauty and as such must be
respected. Please can you adhere to this and avoid embarrassment as you will
be asked to move your car - thank you.
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Volvo Champion Club
award details 5 and 19 March! - We now have full details of the Volvo
Champion Club award. The award will be presented at the Dingy Show at
Alexander Palace on Saturday 5 March at 16:30 on the Volvo Main Stage. Its a
great event and a good chance to get some new kit for the start of the
season so please come and support. There will also be a second presentation
at the club on Saturday 19 March with press, local dignitaries and the RYA.
This will take place at 13:00 before the first Oppy Club.of the season. To
buy tickets for the Dinghy Show click
here
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Dover
Training - A great/wet time was had by 6 of our sailors at Dover last
weekend. Some big waves made it very challenging for some but it was a great
experience in salt water!
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Oppy
Bay improvement - This is almost complete but boats need to be put back.
We will be allocating an area for the new Oppies and this will be explained
at the start of Oppy Club on 19 March.
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2011
IOCA Membership - Please note membership of IOCA is now due for
renewal. It is important to be a member so please renew your membership by clicking
here.
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Autumn
Series Final Results! - Well done to Lewis Johnston for winning
the series. Prizes awarded at this years prize giving included Millie
Hopkins for overall series results, Chris Taylor most improved
racer, Yun Shin most improved overall and Glenn Chandler for
most improved beginner. A special Flotilla Leader award also went to David
Haw for his outstanding contribution to Oppy sailing at WWSC, we wish
him well in the 4.7s - well done to all. Click
here to see final
results.
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Emma
Baker and Jacob Hamilton selected for SE Optimist Zone Squads - Congratulations
to Emma and Jacob who have just found out that they are in the SE Zone
Squads for next year - a big well done!!
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Ex
Oppy and Current Oppy sailors make it a clean sweep at the Interclub - The
Cadet team dominated the Interclub Championship at Bough Beech last
Saturday. 3 firsts from Matt Giles and Fiona Harrington in the RS200 giving
them 1st overall, 5th and 7th overall from Jacob Hamilton and David Haw in
their Optimists gave Weir Wood clear victory over the 7 other cadet teams -
excellent. Oh and the aged Senior team did pretty well too with help of
verity Hopkins crewing for David Giles in another RS200, they were placed
first as well, giving overall victory to Weir Wood SC - well done to all.
For full results click
here.
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End
of Seasons - Georgia Baker does one better than a Bakers dozen! A
12th in the last race gave Georgia a good overall position in the Regatta
fleet at Rutland last weekend and her sister Emma made the top half in the
200 plus Main fleet - well done to both. For full results click
here.
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News
of Zone Selection from Richard Baker our intrepid reporter - The
third event of the Zone Squad Qualifiers is now complete with over 50
hopefuls being taken through their paces on Saturday 2 October at Bewl
Valley Sailing Club. The qualifier events this year were the Weir Wood Open,
The SE Zone Championship and the Bewl Valley training day. We had light wind
but there was enough for a good look at the potential and attitude of those
on the borderline for selection. I was lucky enough to accompany Paul Wren
and Marcus Lynch as they studied the performance of many of the sailors. I
have been very impressed with the professionalism with which they considered
the difficult decisions. There is such strength in the SE fleet this year
that it is hoped that funding may be found to increase the squad size. For
Weir Wood there is great news. Firstly, looking at the results from the
first 2 events we hope to have 2 sailors in the squad. These can only be
confirmed when we see how many of the competing sailors achieve places in
the National Squads. This shows that the effort of the last 2 years is
starting to take effect, as it will be the first time for some years that
Weir Wood Optimists have achieved places. Secondly, I think it is even
better news that we have at least 7 younger sailors who are developing and
we hope will challenge for places next year. They all did well in the
competitions this time round, gaining valuable experience. For those not yet
in the squads we are in the process of setting up even better winter
coaching this year with 6 weekends including 2 on the coast. This subsidised
training will be a great opportunity for all in IOCA's South East region.
Look out for the dates which will be published soon.
-
Katie
Wood selected for Topper National Youth Squads - Well done to Katie
Wood for being selected for the Purple Marine ITCA (GBR) National Youth
Squad. One of only 32 places throughout the country - congratulations.
-
Good
results at Queen Mary and some TV stars - Near perfect conditions
met our 11 sailors at the SE Zone Qualifier event at Queen Mary Sailing Club
on 25 and 26 September. They were joined by Sarah Ayton 2 x Olympic Gold
Medalist who was there for the whole weekend. See if you can spot some of
our sailors and their boats in Sarah's video plus top tips to view click
here. (Its the third video so scroll down). Day 1 saw some good results
for some of our sailors in particular Emma Baker got a 2nd in one of the
races leaving her 7th after day 1. Jacob Hamilton and David Haw put in some
consistent sailing and most of the others finished every race. Day 2 saw
much windier conditions up to 20knts which saw a few capsizes and nosedives.
Well done to all the team and in particular to Yun Shin at only his 2nd open
meeting completing all 6 races and finishing 43rd out of 58! Will the
results be enough for any of them to get into the zone squads? Watch this
space! For full results click
here.
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Great
turnout for our Open
Meeting held 18 September photos now available- A great event and
we managed to sail 4 races on Carantec courses in fluky and changeable
conditions. Good to see many of our sailors up on the line in the main fleet
although with Emma Baker and David Haw both getting OCS on one race it was
fortunate there was one discard! The top of the fleet was dominated by the
visitors with Syd McLean from Hayling Island, Daniel Thorne-Large from
Chipstead and Jamie Webb from Wraysbury dominating the main fleet and
finishing 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Emma Baker finished a creditable 16th
overall and won first Weir Wood boat and some good performances from many of
our other sailors with some satisfactory outcomes. The regatta fleet again
was dominated by the visitors and was won by David Grimwood from Chipstead
and in 2nd Alice Handley from Papercourt. Well done to Rhiannon Deeming for
finishing 5th with her new boat (I recognise that!) and Louise Harrington
for winning youngest girl. The new starter fleet went well and something to
build on for the future. For full results click
here. Photos of the whole day can be seen by clicking
here. We really must get a smaller anchor for that Committee boat! Many
thanks to everyone who helped to make the day a great success.
-
Papercourt
Open Meeting 4 September more good results from our sailors - Light
winds greeted our 7 sailors amongst the 93 others across 2 fleets and the
wind remained fluky all day. This didn't deter our guys and girls with Emma
Baker posting a 6th in the first race! Fantastic. Lots of 'huddles', as
Louise Harrington puts it, at the marks with sometimes 40 boats rafted up
and a good deal of pushing backwards from some of the other competitors.
Louise reported that she got a gust and was very pleased to wave goodbye to
one of these offenders! Elsewhere in the main fleet Chris Taylor was putting
together some excellent results at his first external event finishing 34th
overall. Yun Shin sporting his new boat finished a creditable 44th and
Georgia Baker won the perseverance prize to finish 56th. Meanwhile in the
Regatta fleet George Blatchford was sailing really well and concentrating in
the challenging conditions to finish 18th overall - very good and Louise
finished 42nd with Sophie Dorrington 44th. Emma posted good consistency in
her final 2 races to finish 16th overall well up with National Squad sailors
- well done to all.
-
Excellent
Oppy Camp - A great week for all concerned,
a big thanks to everyone who worked so hard to give the children a great
time on and off the water. We do have a huge amount of kit left over in the
changing rooms so if you are missing something please look for it at the
club. Pictures will follow soon.
-
Great
time at the Nationals in Weymouth and some good results - In the
last week in July seven of our intrepid sailors took part in the largest
nationals event for any class. The conditions throughout the week were
perfect with 10 - 15 knots SW most of the time and sunshine every day apart
from one. The sailors were spread amongst the 5 fleets and this was the
first nationals for all of them. The youngest in the Regatta Starter fleet
Louise Harrington had a great time meeting new friends and singing, oh and a
bit of sailing. This is what she thought "I felt a bit nervous at the
start as this was my first Nationals and I didn't know any of the children
in my fleet. The coaches helping were very funny and I soon made new friends
and really enjoyed my time on the water. Our caravan was very nice and we
had lots of barbeques with the others from Weir Wood. I won a sailing bag at
the prize giving for being Cool as a Cucumber. I am looking forward to the
next one".
We had 3 sailors in the Regatta Coached fleet Caitlin Hamilton who scored a
4th in one of the races and Amy Bennett who sailed really well all week in a
fleet of over 80 boats! This is what Georgia Baker said about the event
"On Saturday we arrived to a scene of mayhem, which was good because my
boat is called Mayhem! Nearly 500 boats were arriving. I was in the regatta
coached fleet and there were 82 boats. On Sunday we had our first briefing
we were split into groups of 7 or 8 with one coach. My coach was called Dan
and we called him Dan the doughnut. Each morning we did training and then we
came in for lunch. After lunch we went out again and did racing. We were 2nd
start behind the regatta racing fleet. It was really windy and I had to hike
a lot. On Thursday we did a sail away day and we dressed up as pirates and
we went to Castle Cove and had lunch on the beach. On Friday there wasn't so
much wind, we went out and did some racing and we didn't come in for lunch!". Meanwhile in the Main Fleet Junior Emma
Baker and Jacob Hamilton sailed well in the qualifying section but just
missed out on Gold Fleet. However once in the Silver Fleet they notched up
some fantastic results with a 6th from Emma in one race and 11th overall and
Jacob (best moment of the week for the flotilla leader seeing Jacob leading
the fleet of almost 80 at the first windward mark) finishing 3rd in one race
and 22nd overall. Emma's take on things "Everyone arrived on Saturday
morning to a very busy boat park. We unloaded all of the boats and the 2
ribs the club had kindly let us use for support. Then rigged and changed to
go out to do some last minute training before the main event. We launched
and went out for about 3 hours. Saturday night we had an early night ready
for the practice race the next day. We woke up bright and early on Sunday
morning to find a good steady breeze of about 8knts. At 12:45 the 2 main
fleets launched for the practice race. Throughout the event we had fantastic
wind ranging from 8-20 knts. The venue was great and they organised some
brilliant entertainment for the evenings. We all had a chance to see Ben
Ainslie and I was very pleased to talk to double gold medallist Sarah Ayton
and her 470 crew Saskia Clark. Ben Ainslie even joined in one of our starts
in his Finn, maybe he misses one of the toughest and crowded start lines
around! We even had a successful attempt to get into the Guiness Book of
Records for the most boats tacking simultaneously on the whistle!".
Meanwhile in the Main Senior Fleet David Haw was finding it a bit more
challenging up against some of the top sailors in the world including Spain
(overall winners) and the US. David stuck at it all through the week,
finished every race with a good number of boats behind him. Over to you
David "What a week in Weymouth the Oppy Nationals have been! Perfect
winds and the rain holding off until the very last evening so it was sun,
sun, sun all the way. On Sunday all of the main fleet got into the world
records book for the highest number of boats tacking on the whistle,
smashing the old record by over 100 boats. It was nice on Tuesday for the
Commodore Simon and his son Rory to come all the way to Weymouth to see how
we were all doing. With such a huge number of boats it was such a great
atmosphere. I'd like to thank WWSC for letting us use the club safety boats
and a big, big thank you to all the parents for taking us there and all
their support". Off the water a great time was had by
all, the BBC were interviewing many of Olympic starts who were there most of
the week. Ben Ainslie made an appearance on the start line in his Finn (not
your best start Ben!) Authographs were signed for the children and we all
went along to the Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clarke talk one evening. All in all
a superb week which the children really enjoyed and look forward to seeing
more of us there in Wales same time next year. For full results, news and pictures
click
here. More pictures
to follow.
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Hire
boats - We have 2 Oppies available for hire at any time. It is
particularly useful for those coming out of the beginners group who are
unable to find a suitable boat at short notice. To reserve your hire boat
contact Richard Haw at oppybosun@wwsc.org.uk
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Important
message for parents! - Can we remind you all that it is a requirement of Oppy Club that
for every child a parent or other responsible adult must be on the club premises
at all times when children are sailing with Oppy Club. We are not a
child-care service and will fall foul of Child Protection regulations if we put
ourselves in a position where we are taking care of the children. No problems if
you want to go sailing or sit in the clubhouse but please keep an eye out for
your child as your help may be needed to get children ashore in adverse
conditions. Thank you.
