Newsletter: 18th January 2021

Some Essential Reminders & Updates

Covid-19 regulations

Just to remind ALL Members that “Lockdown” is in operation. The Club house is closed, but “manned” from 0900 -1700hrs on weekdays

Annual General Meeting

February 13^th 11:00 put in your diary. No more GC nominations. This is being discussed as the Newsletter goes out. Look out for a Communication from the club during this week.

Mosimann’s Click and Collect (and new delivery days)

See here for the food Menu and here for the wine menu. (with new items and pricing)  and instructions for ordering,  or even the front page of the Web Site, where there are also links.

As so many of us have been  enjoying the service provided by Mosimann’s during lockdown and to ensure that this is sustainable,  the Club has agreed to extend Mosimann's service to the wider Lymington community from 27th January, as was done very successfully over the pre-Christmas period. (See Secret Santa below). Continuing to serve our local community will also enable us to widely promote the Club and show what we have to offer to our community,  both on and off the water. 

The ArtEx

The Art Exhibition is ongoing and online only.  Something to interest you in Lockdown. Send your top 3 to Gillian [email protected] by no later than 31st January. To view all the Exhibition entries:

Burns Nicht (the nicht)

Hurry to book your place – see instructions below. You only have until Wednesday.

The Online Book Club

Join us for the next meeting if you can. You will be welcome on Monday 1^st Feb. at 15:30    Full details are here 

Previous Online Lectures.

See them here 

Previous Junior and Youth Online Lectures

See them here 

Lockdown Burns' Night, via Zoom. An update

As you will see if you download the “Order of Service” we the Clan, led by our Laird, Ian, have tried to do the best of a bad jobbie. We know of no-one who has had a Burns’ Night via Zoom, so we have worked in collaboration with the Mosimann’s team  to try to find a way for you to enjoy Burns’ night safely in your own home. You will notice that while the dining time has remained at 19:30, the festivities start at 19:00. This is so that Peter can get a beer in beforehand and also so that we can address the Haggis properly before we EAT it. So don’t let Lockdown dampen the spirit of Rabbie Burns, and join The Clan & Mosimann’s for a distinctive twist on the traditional Haggis, Neeps and Tatties (see Menu). Then join in the fun in an interactive Burn’s Night Supper via Zoom.

Order your takeaway 2-course supper for 2 for £44 including Petit Fours and 2 Whisky miniatures that have been paired with each course. Please order before Wednesday evening. If you are a single and wish to join in, give Mosimann’s a call – they will try to fit you in.

Be ready to start Zoom at 19:00 and eat at 19:30 on the 22^nd January The evening will consist of an interactive topical quiz (prize to be won), descriptions of the Whiskies and it will be punctuated with traditional speeches from Ian Hunter & The Clan, including the Selkirk Grace and toasts to the Lads and Lassies – as is Club Tradition. 

For the Order of Service of our Burns’ Nicht, the Menu and more important details of how to order for delivery:

Zoom based Race Team Training

The Race Team Training will start on the 19^th January at 18:30 hours as planned, entirely by Zoom. 

 The topic will be the “Navigational Exercises” that happened in 2020 – what they were, how they were communicated and what lessons both sailors and Race Teams can learn from them.

 The second session on Tuesday 26th at the same time will be given by John Doerr on the subject of “Changes to the Racing Rules that affect Race Management”. There are some significant changes this year and it is important that Race team members keep up to date. You are advised to refer to/be aware of the book as shown in the photo.

 Our presenters will be John Doerr, Nick Ryley,  William Newton and John Whyte for as long as he can attend.

 Zoom link for Tuesday 19^th January at 18:30 hours is here

 If needed : Meeting ID: 896 7038 0125  Passcode: 100200 

 The link to the list of Race Team Training sessions

Mary McGough

Social Committee

Come and take part in a light-hearted, fun quiz at the Coffee Morning tomorrow, Tuesday. There will be no right or wrong answers, so no need to feel awkward and - no scores!  Intrigued?  It’s short too, so there will be plenty of time to chat afterwards.

 Also last week, amongst other things we suggested ideas for TV and films as most of us have finished re-watching all the box sets we ever owned by now and as a result we recommend giving  “Bridgerton” a try if you haven’t already.

 Over half way through January now, so not much longer for all those being “dry”. Come and join in Happy Hour (Wed. 18:00-19:00) for some good spirited chat, together with a drink of your choice, whether that’s a delightful home made lemonade or sorrel soft drink. warming whisky or a  glass of wine (just pop the white variety outside the door for a few minutes to chill). Lovely as always to see our regular Happy folk and welcome a few new faces too

 Mary Bell

  Chair Social Committee

The RORC Transatlantic Race 2021

Tim and Mayumi Knight have been lifelong sailors and members of the Club since 2006. They have raced dinghies highly competitively for many years especially Tasars, where Tim was the UK Class Chair that brought their Nationals to the Club in 2010. He made it a remarkable event by serving hot pasties for lunch between races. He also competed at National and World events in many classes, including Lasers, RS Aeros, VX One, and Solos.

Tim will be known to many Thursday Evening Racers as the helm of the microscopic VX One that raced in LAH1 and often did well, especially in heavy winds.

To see their progress so far go to the bottom of the Newsletter

For more info on these Members and their boat

Annual Cruising Log Competition - more time given

Lockdown and heavy rain are a perfect climate for writing up your sailing logs.

Just recently the Cruising Sub Committee have decided to extend the deadline for submission of Logs.  Because cruising has been disrupted through Covid-19 throughout the 2020 season, there is a risk that there will not be many accounts completed in the Log Competition this year.  Cruising Sub-Committee has agreed that for the 2020 competition:

• you may submit an unpublished Log for another year’s cruise, as long ago as you wish        AND/OR 
• you are invited to describe your lifetime’s enjoyment of boating in all its forms.
• Submissions will be judged primarily on what has been achieved.

This week's news is that we have extended the deadline for submission until Sunday 14^th  March - (submissions to [email protected], in a .PDF less than 25 mb).

This is because we have delayed the Cruising Dinner until 14^th  May (Save the Date!), hoping the vaccines will be having an effect by then.  Since we award the trophies at the dinner, you have more time to write the logs, and this gives our panel more time to read them. 

If you want to see the sort of things people wrote last year

Enjoy some great reads, and then hit the keyboard.

George Trevelyan

Captain of Cruising

Cruising Lecture No.13 The RNLI - Saving lives at sea

This week’s Cruising Division Lecture ‘RNLI - Saving Lives at Sea’ could also be subtitled ‘Gold Medal Rescues of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’ and will be delivered by fellow Club Member, David Monks, via Zoom on Thursday 21^st January 2021 at 18.30hrs

David’s talk will deal with a series of dramatic rescues at sea, commencing with an act of incredible courage off the Isle of Man in 1822 which had far-reaching consequences. With stirring accounts of when lifeboats were either rowed or sailed to the service of those in distress, one can only marvel at the courage and determination of those crews.

There will be several well-known names included in David’s talk, others you may never have heard of and inevitably some who did not survive the attempt, but all share one thing in common - immense bravery in the face of dramatic seas and heavy weather.

For details of the zoom links and more about the speaker

Junior and Youth Update

Included in this section is a download of the Progress Report from Hugh Styles which includes his vision for this coming year. All Members involved in the Junior and Youth Division (and anyone else who is remotely interested) is encouraged to review his report:

While not as exciting as the Prada Regatta at the America's Cup this weekend saw Round 2 (of 3) of the Junior and Youth Fleets Virtual Regatta (VR) Racing competing to represent the Club at the RYA VR championships.

This weekend’s regattas saw very close racing, with some off racecourse challenges from competitor’s internet speeds and wifi signals.

For the results and more info

Cruising Lecture 12 Sailing Tall Ships

Last Thursday Neil Dunnet delivered the Cruising Division’s 12th Lecture ‘Sailing Tall Ships’ to a Zoom audience of some 100 Members online.

This beautifully illustrated talk traced the origins of the Tall Ships Youth Trust, the UK's oldest and largest sail training charity, from its founding in 1956 to the present day and provided a fascinating window into life onboard a tall ship. Primarily dedicated to the personal development of young people through the crewing of ocean-going sailing vessels, Neil described a typical day in the life of a crew member before the mast. The charity’s 6 Permanent Crew & 11 Volunteer Crew start teaching the ropes (literally) to their 48 Voyage Crew from the moment they step onboard and very soon these sailing novices are on the wheel, hauling ropes and taking their tall ship out to sea - a truly life changing experience.

For more info and a link to the web sites of the Tall Ships Trust:

Monday afternoon Club RealBridge

Last Monday we had 7 tables, so 28 people enjoying themselves, that’s a result. Here is another one:

The winners Jan 11^th were

EW Sally Muir and Denise Moore

NS  Bron Eccles and Carolyn Derrick.

RealBridge allows any number of pairs to play, along the same lines as Monday bridge but in a duplicate bridge way: all the hands are played by all the pairs.  This produces genuine winners, something we can’t do with Chicago.  Scoring and the movement of players and the cards between rounds is done automatically behind the scenes by RealBridge and you can review and discuss hands and see how others have bid. Each player needs his/her own separate email and device, you cannot share either. If you are familiar with Zoom or Trickster you will have all the technology you need to use RealBridge.

We welcome you as a pair. See info for contacts

The Club helps Secret Santa, Mosimann's does the job.

The Commodore writes “Last November I was approached by Secret Santa, who happens to be a Club Member, and asked if there was any way that the Club could help her fulfil an important mission at Christmas.

In recent years the Church of St Thomas the Apostle have been able to hold a free lunch on Christmas Day in the church hall, for those living alone in and around Lymington. Reluctantly the Church decided, for obvious reasons, that it was not possible this year to hold such an event. So in stepped Secret Santa who contacted me to see if there was any way that the Club could help out in providing an alternative meal for all those who would otherwise miss out.

I in turn then contacted Mark Mosimann to see if the Mosimann’s team would be able to help and he, together with Executive Chef Nick Hebditch came up with a delicious two course traditional Christmas lunch that they were able to prepare on Christmas Eve for the 72 participants. Secret Santa then organised her team of Elves to collect the meals from the Club and deliver them all locally to the very grateful recipients. It is great to know that the Mosimann team are prepared to join in with the ethos of the Club to help others when the need arises.

Thank you to all concerned, especially Secret Santa.”

Roger Garlick

Commodore

The View from the Editor's Chair

Great to see that our chaps have finished their epic row. They started out in second place and held that all the way. I am very interested to hear their tales of derring do, when they return to the Club and give their lecture. Might be a while tho’.

As I stare glumly out of the conservatory window, looking at my leafless plants and lumpy unkempt lawn, I feel that I should be doing something with all this spare time I have to improve the situation. As Mrs Editor refers to me as “The dig, slash and burn man I live with” I feel undereducated in the horticultural department. Is there a Member out there prepared to offer advice to the Newsletter on what we should be doing to our gardens during this Lockdown period?

The Clan and Mosimanns have come up with a plan (known as “The Clan Plan”) for a super exciting evening. Burns’ Night is one of the many special Club Nights that attracts a whole bunch of Members in normal times, and while we are severely limited by Lockdown, we are not dead yet. So we invite you to celebrate with us. Those of you who do not like Scottish Dancing – well you have a good excuse this year. Enjoy while you can, as next year the Baobhan Sith may get you.

Some new faces at the Happy Hour, always good to see. Some interesting discussions, all amicable. Not only chaps, several partners joining in too. Always room for more as we have not passed a critical enough mass to require muting yet. I am still looking forward to extending our reach past Germany.

The Vendée Globe race is getting more exciting there is now only 220 M between the first 9 boats as they head north of the equator. At this stage any of them are in with a chance.

This week we start reporting the progress of the Knights, (see above and below) and while they are a bit behind, all is never lost, they will not be last.

Lockdown in Lymington continues its inexorable way. The long dark nights are slowly getting shorter, and the days are creeping up in temperature. Spring bulbs are starting to poke through the cold earth like the fingers of the Jolly Green Giant. This means Spring is on its way, Summer is round the corner and my vaccination appointment is due soon. That thought deserves a toast. Stay safe everyone.

           Peter Bell – Editor 

[email protected]

On Shoulders of Giants - Update

Huzzah! They have made it - Our chaps are safe and sound and in second place. As you can see, they won their race in the “Fours”. More importantly they are safe and will have a tale to tell on a Thursday night lecture ‘coming soon’ after they return to a cold wet Lymington. I think we can give them a week or two to recover in the sunlit uplands of the Caribbean.

The Vendée Globe S.H. Ocean Race

Only 3 boats have not passed Cape Horn as Miranda Merron goes through the straits on Sunday. Pippa Hare has not had a good time recently but she continues pushing North. This week another skipper retired with broken equipment leaving only 25 from the original 33 still racing. As you can see, the top 9 are very close to each other

The RORC Race

Here is Sunday’s update showing our intrepid Club Members’ progress in their vessel Kai.