Newsletter 25th January 2021

Some Essential Reminders & Updates

Covid-19 regulations

Just to remind ALL Members that the Club house is closed, but the pontoons are open and the phones and doors “manned” from 0900-1700 hrs on weekdays.

Annual General Meeting

February 13^th 11:00 put in your diary. More details have been sent out in an email.

Mosimann’s Click and Collect Service

See here for the Menu (with new items and pricing)  and instructions for ordering,  or you can even refer to the front page of the Web Site, where there is also a link. This service (Wed-Sat) is being offered to non-Members so if you know someone who would like a lovely dinner and is not a Member, why not let them know, or even put a Menu in their letter box.

The ArtEx

The Art Exhibition is ongoing and online only.  Something to interest you in our Lockdown. Voting finishes on the 31^st January 24, 2021. To download the pictures

Send your top 3 favourites to Gillian [email protected] by no later than 31st January.

Real Bridge Monday 16:30

Last week’s winners were NS Kate Skerry & Beryl Manners  EW Marilyn and Geof Holmes. There were 8 tables.  Full details on joining

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 

Be Part of our Team

We have two new exciting opportunities to join our crew.

We are searching for a part time Membership Services Administrator and part time Accounts Assistant. Both candidates will ideally have a passion for the yachting industry but this isn't essential; experience, enthusiasm, and energy are more important to us.

For more information about both jobs, please click here: 

We’d be lost without many of the people who keep the wheels turning who aren’t so visible to our Members and customers and opportunities in these areas can be rare so if you would like to join our expanding team then please email your CV to [email protected].

Burns' Night 2021

Who would have believed that Burns’ Night, usually associated with lots of dancing, skirling pipes, funny speeches, many toasts, Haggis, and “getting a bit wobbly” would ever have worked on Zoom? Well, it did. Mosimanns provided a stunning Guinea Fowl stuffed with Haggis and all the trimmings, which was so well prepared that it was easy for us to cook at home (or even ‘Hame’). We then listened to Ian (AKA The Laird) recite the Selkirk Grace and the Address to the Haggis in such a forceful manner as to make us all sit up a bit straighter.

 For the full report and more photos

Social, Physical and Online Activities

Coffee Morning

I recommend some extra strength coffee before this week’s coffee morning, as we are finding it harder to get up in the mornings, but on the other hand, it is staying lighter and lighter in the early evening which is a very cheering thought.    I do hope you’ll take part in the fun Spring Survey which is an idea that came from a chat at the Coffee morning a few weeks back.

Happy Hour

A jolly beer and discussion went ahead for an hour, but then it was time to go and cook the dinner, as chaps often have to do.

Gardening

The Social Committee thought it would be very helpful to have some gardening advice for those of us who are not naturally green-fingered and we wish to thank Jane Clegg for sparing her busy time to give us some tips once a month and I hope you will enjoy reading her article.

Zoom Yoga and Pilates Classes (introducing Kettle Bell)

A reminder that our talented and friendly Yoga and Pilates teachers  Dawn, Katy and Jenny have continued their classes on zoom and welcome new members.

Jenny has also introduced a couple of Kettle Bell classes.

Please contact them for details of classes and how to join.

For more details on times and contact details etc.

Spring Survey/Quiz/Fun Topic

Please take part in our fun questionnaire - should provide you with a few talking points, or maybe better to wait until you have filled it in and return it before you discuss with friends and family? Up to you, but would love to hear your ideas.

 Mary Bell

  Chair Social Committee

Junior and Youth Activities

Last Wednesday saw one of the most popular online Junior Zoom Lectures with the topic of INEOS, Britannia and The America’s Cup, coming hot after the fantastic first weekend racing we had the biggest turnout of the Winter with over 70 Participants from the Junior and Youth classes, as well as a good number of parents and grandparents.

Hugh Styles did a fantastic job of arranging this at very short notice and Miles Seddon mastered the IT side of things. Time differences between NZ and the UK prohibited a live event, however we had a personalised video message to the RLymYC Junior and Youth sailors from Matt Cornwall followed by a detailed presentation of the technology and tactics of the America's cup.

For the results of round 3 of the Junior VR Racing 

Zoom based Race Team Training

The first session, last Tuesday had an excellent turnout with about 70 people listening to the tales of the Navigational Exercises. The discussion was interesting and really highlighted how keen our racers are to get back to racing.

The session was recorded and will be uploaded to the club website when possible.

This Tuesday, 26^th January is John Doerr’s talk on how the changes to the RRS affect race management. Please note that this is aimed at current and future race team volunteers and that John will be doing a separate talk for Racers in April.

The link to John’s talk is here

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

The next talk will be Roger Wilson’s talk on Safety and Risk Management on Tuesday 2^nd February.

All the links can be found on the club website

 Mary McGough

Cruising Lecture No.14 - 5 Days in August

The Cruising Division’s 14^th lecture this week is ‘Five Days in August’ and will be presented by Andrew Campbell via Zoom on Thursday 28th January 2021 at 18.30hrs

By August 1942, the besieged and starving population of Malta had just two weeks' food, munitions and fuel left. Operation Pedestal was the island's last hope.

SS Ohio, manned by a British crew and carrying vital fuel, was the only tanker of this most powerfully escorted convoy of WW2. Despite being torpedoed, set on fire, bombed, holed by near misses and twice crashed into by enemy bombers, SS Ohio finally limped into Grand Harbour, to the ecstatic joy of the 250,000 Maltese people and 30,000 Allied servicemen who would otherwise have been forced to surrender.

The ultimate success of this convoy changed the course of the Second World War.

Some info on the Speaker and zoom codes

Our Gardens in January - a Member helps the Editor

Just to prove that sometimes it is wise to ask for help, (see last week’s F. T Ed.s C.) a lovely Member has offered this advice for our gardens.

Although we are feeling confined, particularly in these dreary days, we can make the most of the time we have now to plan ahead, and to complete some necessary garden maintenance tasks before the arrival of Spring, when suddenly there will be so much more to do. Already we can see the hopeful shoots of snowdrops, crocuses, and the earliest daffodils, as daylight lengthens. In my garden, Camellias, Hellebores, and plenty of primroses are already flowering to cheer me.

Some tasks can be done indoors, but on the better days do use the chance to get outside, as even just one hour spent working in your garden can give useful progress and provide the tonic of some exercise and welcome fresh air for you.

Here are a few suggestions to encourage you: 

Well-being in Lockdown

Once again, we find ourselves in another Lockdown, this time I have found some others including myself, are finding it harder to cope. Some of these reasons listed below might resonate with yourselves or someone around you: -

• Zoom is not the same as face-to-face contact
• Being unable to be with friends and family, makes life less social,  resulting in a new form of loneliness. (This can even occur when you have a lovely partner living with you)
• Having completed lots of useful Lockdown projects, discovered new interests, and learnt new skills in the first Lockdown, this time I am finding it harder to come up with an interesting new project and being motivated. Myself and others find this has been exasperated by the weather, because in this lockdown the weather is colder, outdoor pursuits or outdoor exercises are less appealing.
• Are you feeling a bit dejected, like myself? I love helping others. Now this is harder to do as so many others feel stuck.
• We are concerned for ALL members of the family and our friends due to the highly transferable strains of COVID-19.
• Hospital appointments are harder for some people to access, and so you worry for them too.

For more of Pauline’s excellent advice on how to keep yourself better in Lockdown

Cruising Lecture 13. The RNLI Saving lives at sea

The Cruising Division’s latest Winter lecture ‘RNLI - Saving Lives at Sea’ was presented on Thursday 21^st January 2021 to a record Zoom audience by RNLI Community Safety Officer & Club Member, David Monks.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was formed in 1824 by Sir William Hillary, originally as the ‘National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck’. Since that time only 150 RNLI Gold Medals have been awarded for conspicuous gallantry and this decoration is considered to be the lifeboat equivalent of the Victoria Cross.

David illustrated his talk about the RNLI’s remarkable history by describing a series of dramatic ‘Gold Medal’ rescues at sea over the years. These awe-inspiring, life-saving attempts included Grace Darling’s famous rescue of 9 sailors in distress off the Northumberland coast in 1838 and the Penlee disaster, when 8 volunteer lifeboatmen perished whilst assisting the Union Star (illustrated below) in heavy seas off Cornwall in 1981.

David also told the extraordinary story of Henry Blogg, a coxswain based out of Cromer, who earned the George Cross, B.E.M, 3 Gold Medals & 4 Silver Medals to became the RNLI’s most decorated lifeboatman - no mean achievement.

To find out more and to be led to an RNLI donate page

The Commodore's Cup - Awarded to Michael Derrick

Normally at the Annual Dinner four racing trophies are presented together with the Commodore’s Cup. Sadly in 2020, for obvious reasons, there was not sufficient racing to warrant the award of those four trophies and as the Annual Dinner was cancelled, the Commodore’s Cup wasn’t awarded either.

However, I am delighted to announce that at the General Committee Meeting on 8 January 2021 I was able to award the Commodore’s Cup to Michael Derrick. This award was made not only in recognition of the considerable contribution Michael made heading up the Food & Beverage Working Party last year, resulting in the appointment of Mosimann’s, but also for the work he carried out in 2006/7 sourcing the new We’re Here and more recently, leading the Pontoon Replacement Working Party in 2015. This is an award that is very richly deserved and long overdue.

 Roger Garlick

Commodore

On receiving the award Michael responded:

In accepting the Cup, I would like to say that I have enjoyed each project. I would particularly wish to acknowledge that the outcome of the F&B review was the result of the input of a great team, members and staff alike, contributing their knowledge and varying experiences, being prepared to have open and frank discussions with common purpose. Nick Clayton and Rod Clark's experiences in the hospitality and outsourcing sectors were, in the final analysis particularly relevant. Of course, it is such a great disappointment to us all, including the Mosimann team, that Covid 19 has set us back from the intended roll out of the new service.

Michael Derrick

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

The View from the Editor's Chair

I am not staring quite so glumly outside these days. My request for guidance in the garden was answered by the ever resourceful Jane Clegg, who basically said – ‘tidy it up and don’t do too much – yet’  I have a feeling that I am being prepped for some solid work in a few months time tho’. So now it is time to sharpen the Axe,  rub down the spade, straighten the fork and gird one’s loins for March.

 Incidentally this help from Jane came after I had asked for help, which none of us should be ashamed to do. Pauline Crates makes this point very well in her article on Wellness. If I had read that article last week, I would not have been allowed to be so glum.

 There has been a veritable tsunami of emails and phone calls offering congratulations to The Clan and Mosimanns for the wonderful Burns’ Night we did on Friday. Personally, I think people were just so pleased to have a Club function to divert themselves with at last. Everyone gave their all, by dressing up (out of pyjamas) and finishing with a hearty rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Not only that but everyone got home safely without wasting money on a taxi.

 Good to see healthy attendance continues for the online cruising lectures. There is more room for folk at the Coffee mornings and Happy Hour events. The Yoga and Pilates classes are also booming. You will note that there is now the option of a Kettle Bell class, and no it is not a distant relation.

 I shall be doing the quiz, as seen in the Social item above. The plan is to collate the answers and publish the results (anonymously) in time for a Valentine’s Dinner. Amusing answers preferred.

 The Vendée Globe race is still exciting. Between the top 7 boats is 300 M  Four boats have gone East & South of the Azores and 3 boats West and North. We shall soon find out who guessed correctly. The Talisker Whisky Challenge (Rowing race)  is having its last report today.  The RORC report shows the Knights plodding along happily at around 6 knots. There is also a report on the Prada and America’s Cup but as the action finished on Saturday, until the real thing starts up, I could not think of much to say.

Lockdown in Lymington continues its inexorable way. We have had less rain and the sun keeps poking through. It is now light-ish at five o’clock which continues to surprise and delight Mrs Editor and myself. We are not quite in the deckchairs on the patio yet, but one can dream.  Stay safe everyone.

           Peter Bell – Editor 

[email protected]

On Shoulders of Giants - Final Update

As we announced last week, our chaps are now having a lovely rest in the sunshine. So this will be the final update. Included is their time and the times of all who have finished by now.

The Vendée Globe S.H. Ocean Race

It is expected that the leaders in The Vendée Globe Single Handed Ocean Race should have arrived by next Monday so this might be one of the last exciting bulletins.  As you can see from the graphic there are two opinions as to which is the better way North then East or East then North. Only time will tell.

You will note that both British Women have dropped a place on last week. Both are as well as expected and sailing happily,  just not as fast as others.

The RORC Race

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