Winsford Flash Sailing Club

 Visitors flocked to the Winsford Flash Open Day on 27 April!  The first arrived as soon as we opened the doors to the public and couldn’t wait to get on to the water.  They were soon kitted out with buoyancy aids and afloat, the first of many.

The club looked great with the large gazebo erected after much banter and laughter at the antics of members of the Enterprise fleet, and with bunting and banners to finish off the decorations.  A smaller gazebo housed the BBQ from which Kate Billinge and Tom Mitchell cooked delicious burgers and sausages throughout the day to satisfy everyone’s hunger pangs.

Inside the clubhouse Commodore Sheila Sowley manned the welcome desk whilst Helen Walsh, Tammy Foulkes and Linda Shaw made numerous cups of tea and coffee accompanied by delicious homemade cakes.

Visitors were given the opportunity to sail in a variety of dinghies, including Albacores, GP14s, the club training boats, RS Visions, and a Mirror, under the supervision of our experienced helms, Paul Lennie, Jon Close, Dave Burrows, Tom Mitchell, Keith Sowley, Steve Bellamy, Alistair Gott and David Parke-Smith.  Broad smiles on everyone’s faces showed that a good time was had by all, from the youngest 5 year old visitor to the youngest at heart 80 year old!  Such was the enthusiasm of the visitors, many waited patiently to have a second (or third or more!) go.

Lots of visitors also took the opportunity to take in the beautiful scenery of the Flash during a cruise in the club Committee Boat.  Tony Walsh provided a running commentary on the amenities that club members enjoyed and caused great excitement when he announced that the club would soon be installing a hot tub – he was only joking!

The chance to experience paddle power in kayaks was supervised by Tracy Cormes, whilst Malcolm Friar and his merry band of helpers ran informal learn to sail lessons in an Optimist for some keen young visitors.  And visitors who already had some sailing experience tried their hand at sailing the club Laser and Topper.

Everyone was safe in the knowledge that Brian and Charlie Henbsy, Henning Caesar, Peter Bayliss and Philip Smalley were keeping a watchful eye on events in the safety boats.

Thankfully the weather was much kinder than it had been in the lead up to the big day and the gazebo provided welcome shelter from the squall that brought a hailstorm mid-way through the afternoon.  Boats headed back to shore rapidly for this brief period, providing the shore crew, amongst them Jon Latham, Anna McCrae, Sam and Ian Clarke, Pam Gott, Fiona Niddrie and Ian Foulkes, with the challenge of catching everyone in time.

As the day drew to a close and visitors made their way home Barry Williams, who had met visitors at the gate and looked after the parking logistics, was delighted to report that everyone had commented that they had had a great time and how friendly club members were.  The tired but happy volunteers packed everything away and some retired to the bar afterwards for a well-earned drink.    Jo Cleary took his parting shots, having captured all the action on camera throughout the day.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped to make the day such a success (and apologies if you haven’t been mentioned by name), we couldn’t have done it without you all.

After last year’s successful Open Day with over 100 visitors, the proud members of the Winsford Flash Sailing Club aim to top the experience that everyone had in 2012. On the day people will have access to experienced sailors and crews, with RYA accredited coaches and trainers also available, a full safety crew will be on the water, and refreshments  will be available in our modern club house.

On the day anyone, young or old, will have the opportunity to sail a boat of their choice on Winsford Flash.

See Poster attached to this Blog.

Refreshed Website for 2013

The Events calendars and other pages have been updated:

http://winsfordflashsailing.com/site/events

The Photographs of the Prize Giving have now been posted:

http://winsfordflashsailing.com/site/prize-giving

A new page has been added to give access to our Club Newsletters.

http://winsfordflashsailing.com/site/newsletters

Some of the Billboard photographs have also been refreshed to acknowledge the youth of our club.

Unfortunately the Members Site has been closed down for security reasons as I was receiving 200 emails a day of hackers requesting access. New solutions will be discussed.

For any items, articles or photographs for either the Club Website or Newsletter please send to: RS200.fleetcaptain@winsfordflashsailing.com

Message from the Winsford Flash Sailing Club Commodore

First of all, I’d like to thank all of you who voted for me to be Commodore.  I’ll do my best to support, promote and develop the club as much as I possibly can in this role.

I’d also like to thank the outgoing Commodore and flag officers for the work they have done of the past 2 years, and for advancing the club to where it is today.

But please remember this club belongs to all the members not just to the Officers. The Officers job is to take notice of the wishes of the membership as a whole, and to take the club forward in manners and directions that reflect those wishes. As members, you need tell us your opinions, whether you think we a doing well or not and whether we are taking the club in the right direction or not. As Commodore I will be always be happy to listen to any member, and to make sure his or her opinion is presented to the appropriate committee. I’d also encourage anybody who wants their voice to be heard clearly to join the appropriate committee.

This Club is like life as a whole – the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Of course you are welcome to come to the club sail and go home again. The Treasurer tells me that he’s quite happy for you not even to sail so long as you pay your subs. But could you do a little more? Could you fill a seat, on one of the committees and help steer the Club forward? Could you man a safety boat on a Sail with Confidence Day? Could you help with maintenance between as well as at the working parties? Or could you join the training team and fleet captains with the development of sailing? Whatever you think you can do, please give it a try. I’m sure you will find it rewarding.

Thank you

Sheila Sowley – Club Commodore

On 15th and 16th September West Lancs Yacht Club will be holding their Annual 24 Hr. Race

WFSC have taken part in every race since this event started in 1967. There has been some interest shown wanting us to compete in the race again this year. For us to do this we need lots of volunteers to -

For further information or to offer help on any of the above please contact  vc.sailing@winsfordflashsailing.com

Saturday 4 August was super not only because Team GBR won three Gold medals in the Olympic stadium but because WFSC had three different training events taking placed simultaneously.  It was great to see the club so well used and so many members enjoying themselves on the water.

First up were the participants in the RYA Level 1 Learn to Sail course with their instructors, Steve, Keith and Dominic.  The conditions were perfect for our new members, Rachael and Chris, Vicky and Simon, Rick and Dave (hope I’ve included everyone?!) as they began to get to grips with their new skills and sailed in a number of different boats.

The Sail with Confidence sailors were second on to the water under Nigel’s careful guidance.   This group were clearly also having a good time and improving as the day progressed.

The third group, three new junior members, Alex, James and Ollie, took to the water in the club Oppies.  It was wonderful to see the Oppies being sailed again and these enthusiastic youngsters were great fun to be with and did remarkably well.  The wind was straight down the Flash before lunch and soon they were sailing across the water and back with big smiles on their faces.  After lunch the wind dropped off but was the perfect opportunity for a spot of boat football.   Thanks to Jon Latham and Paul Lennie for their invaluable help to make this informal session possible.

To sum up in Ollie’s words, it wasn’t just a good day, it was an amazing day!

Winsford Flash Sailing Club is hosting an Albacore Open on Saturday 23rd June 2012

Why not come down and compete or watch the racing

11.00 am Start

3 Races  2 to count

£10 entry per boat

2 course lunch and all refreshments £4.00

For further information please contact albacore.fleetcaptain@winsfordflashsailing.com

Winsford Flash Sailing Club is holding an Open Day on Sunday 24th June. We are anticipating many visitors on the day. There will be plenty of volunteers from the club with a wide selection of dinghies for all people, young and old, with or without experience, to sail.

The Open Day has been widely publicised in local newsletters and will be included in this week’s Guardian editions as well as on the BBC website.

The RYA is also behind the event and has been promoting our Open Day too.

The weather on the day is forecasted to be variable, so if you would like to be taken out on to the water then we suggest that you bring appropriate clothing.

We look forward to hosting all visitors from 10.00am.

This is your opportunity to show the other fleets what you are made of in a great afternoon of fun and games.  Come prepared to laugh – and to run, hop, skip, jump, pull, push, dribble, haul (no doubt getting wet somewhere along the way) and generally enjoy the challenges set by the Social Committee.  You think you are the top fleet?  Well prove it!!!!  All the family – including non-sailors of course – can take part.

There will be a bring-your-own food BBQ and musical entertainment will be provided afterwards so you can unwind and reflect on the day’s highlights.  Don’t miss this social event of the year!