19/04/2022
Well, the end of another season and another fast approaching. I thought it would be nice to have a little catch up by means of a newsletter. Some of the content may have already been reported but it’s good to re-appraise in the form of a hard copy.
So, the beginning of the season saw another AGM in strange times by Teams, which all seemed to go smoothly. The most noteworthy decision to report is James Robinson being appointed as President, who else could it have been!
Dinghy sailing took off at a pace under Troy’s superb organisation. Please see his take on the season.
Against the odds, 2021 proved to be the fullest racing season we have had at the club in 3 years.
The Spring Series saw 7 keen competitors (stir-crazy after lockdown) battle it out in some cold weather followed by the Vice Commodore’s Cup series over 6 races. The Junior Regatta had 8 – 10 boats competing over 3 races in the morning before the wind became too strong to sail. We ran 6 races in the Senior Regatta which saw a record 21 boats compete for the Commodore’s Salver. Harry Edwards series and Frostbite all saw stiff competition and some close handicap racing. A special mention goes to David Pegg who dominated the races over the season and rightly collected quite a haul of silver at the Prizegiving ceremony.
In total, we ran ~40 races and 2 Round the Island fun events including a memorial event for former Commodore, Mike Pearce.
Stand-out races for me were the Dickson Trophy team event against Aldeburgh, and the Sea Race.
In addition to racing, members continue to use the club simply for the joy of getting out on the water in a variety of craft ranging from dinghies of all types, dayboats, yachts to canoes and paddleboards and all are welcome. Tides in the river are particularly strong and we would urge those less experienced sailors to take advantage of “Family Sailing” each Wednesday evening in July and August where the aim is to have a safety boat on the water to recover anyone battling with the tide. For beginners who want to have a go at sailing to see if it is for them, there are “Taster Sessions” scheduled throughout June and early July.
Looking ahead to the 2022 season, you will see from the Calendar that we intend to run a full schedule of events along with a couple of new fixtures. Contact Judith Shallow if you would like to join her “Ladies that Launch” each Friday lunchtime which I understand will feature sailing and lunch or just the latter if the weather proves unsupportive. Also, contact Chris Gill to book yourself on a “More Racing Rules” session as the rules have changed recently and we could all do with a refresher.
Fingers crossed for sunny skies and breezy weather.
Troy – Sailing Secretary
It wasn’t long before we were into Tasters and Training and Sheena’s thoughts are below:
Summer 2021 was probably the busiest on record for the Training Team. With so many youngsters having missed out the previous year, we adopted an ambitious policy of accepting just about all Applications. Suzy Cooper and the indefatigable team delivered an incredible 3 weeks packed with a diversity of stages and levels of RYA accredited courses. Thanks go to everyone who helped to make this possible.
We wish Suzy every success and happiness developing her career. We thank her for all she has given to the club.
How wonderful too that we can announce and congratulate Ruby Brint who will take on OSC Senior and
Chief Instructor roles.
2022 is shaping up with another busy Training Schedule so ably administered by Mary Hackett. Her administrative role involves an enormous amount of work for which the club extends thanks.
Taster sailing will provide 8 sessions predominantly for the primary school children and also adults wishing to experience sailing. Thanks go to Hugh Kemp who not only prepares and maintains the boats for us, but also incredibly keeps a Wayfarer steady while several excited youngsters leap around him. On this note any Instructors or Helms would be welcome to give us more help on these taster sessions.
Finally we wish our instructor candidates every success when they start their training later this month.
Perhaps climate change conditions will favour them in their otherwise chilly endeavours.
Sheena – Rear Commodore Training.
I must take this opportunity to personally thank Suzy Cooper for all her input as Chief Instructor, some may not know Suzy was our first internal CI, having trained at Orford from the basics of sailing to the extremely creditable CI she became. And so to the future, it’s very pleasing to report that OSC have appointed Ruby Brint as our CI going forward, again Ruby is ‘home grown’ and a credit to the training programme she has followed as well as Suzy before her. I know you all will send your thanks to Suzy and best wishes and support to Ruby.
We then had an event to celebrate the life of Mike Pearce, this was organised by Mike’s family, fully supported on the water by OSC and off the water by the community at large reflecting the input Mike had in general to life in Orford.
You may also have noticed the new bench on the decking which was given by the family of our late President, Richard Roberts. A gentle reminder of a dyed in the wool sailor (he wasn’t too bad at being an author either!).
Regattas have been mentioned in Troy’s report but huge thanks to all those that helped make them happen whether on the water, in the clubhouse or simply watching the world go by on Regatta day.
2021 was a stop-start year for social events while Government Covid-restrictions were in place, but we were finally able to kick off with an outside Drinks Party on the Clubhouse Decking on 24th July. The new contactless payment option – SumUp – proved to be very popular and seemed a sensible innovation to adopt in the circumstances. Junior Regatta was superbly catered for by Liz Nisbett and Sammy and Simon Boyd, with the delicious bacon butties selling out. A very successful Fizz Bar, followed by a Summer Supper in the marquee took place on 21 August, with the Orford Meat Shed providing delicious pork, accompanied by a variety of salads. The year ended with Prizegiving & Laying-Up Supper held in the Town Hall on 23 October, with Michelle from the Mixing Bowl providing us with a choice of really tasty main courses and puddings. A particular thank you to Monica Iliff for handling the ticket sales for the Summer and Laying-Up suppers.
Thank you for bearing with us with the uncertainty of social events last year. It was great we were able to enjoy the events we ran in a safe way. Thank you to all the members who came to help and support events.
A full calendar of social events is planned for 2022! Getting involved in social events is a fun way to get to know other OSC members. Please drop me an email if you are willing to help in anyway: helengoody@talk21.com
Helen – Social Secretary
Cruising was a little difficult to organise this season, early on marinas were reticent to book places for visiting yachtsmen as many boats were simply staying in their home berths. Many club members did however cruise individually and the Club managed to get it’s September cruise off the ground visiting Bradwell, West Mersea, Brightlingsea, Titchmarsh, The Stour and The Royal Harwich Yacht Club. All ably organised by James Robinson.
As already reported the sailing season finished with the ever popular Frostbite series and a very convivial Frostbite lunch and prize giving at the end of the series.
I hope you feel that this sums up the season at Orford Sailing Club, all I can do now is say a huge thank you to all those that organise and take part in the events that we run. Let’s hope we are in for a more normal year and season to come and I actually look forward to seeing as many of you as possible, in person, at the AGM.
Stay safe, fair winds and safe arrivals,
Kind regards,
David, Commodore – Orford Sailing Club
