Hi everyone,
It’s hard to believe that this time last week we were just wrapping up Regatta Week – and what a week it was! A huge thank you to all our volunteers who helped to make the week so special and, despite the less than ideal forecast, it turned out to be a fantastic week! There was so much activity both on and off the water, and you can read the full report for Regatta Weekend here – and for the Regatta Week via Yachts & Yachting here – we also got a mention in this special report about the Wonderful World of Regatta Weeks.
Looking forward, club activities have been back in full swing, with various events taking place over the past week (more on these below).
This weekend sees our Sundown Series continue on Saturday afternoon (4pm onwards) – an informal race series, all welcome, club racing on the Broad Sunday, and paddleboarding on Monday evening (6pm). Both Sundown and paddleboarding have traditionally been very well supported, but attendance has dropped in recent weeks; we realise it’s the summer holidays and there is lots going on, but if there are any reasons why attendance is dropping, or anything we can do to support attendance, please get in touch (news@horning-sailing.club). Don’t forget that you don’t even need your own paddleboard to take part in paddleboarding (but we would appreciate knowing in advance so we can arrange one for you) – and all are welcome – children and adults.
Commodore’s Update
I am writing this from Pwllheli National Sailing Academy in Wales. From returning from the ITCA Topper Worlds in Cork Ireland on Saturday afternoon, it was back down to the Club straight into our Club Regatta. The weekend on the Broad saw some lively sailing with some strong gusts but some nice sunshine both evenings followed by a Mad Hatters Tea party & the Berry Shield which was very entertaining both with Juniors & adults.
Monday saw the start of the of the regatta week on the river, the weather forecast was not good, but we were very lucky to have sun with again lively winds; throughout the week we had very good racing with good turnouts from the fleets, some of the “B” & “C” had some spectacular capsizes & death rolls, and the evenings having a selection of entertainment, more in Peter’s report.
On Thursday we had Presidents’ Day, where we had chance to catch up with long standing members of the club. My sincere thanks to our Presidents Bob, Christine & Holly Hancock for their extreme hard work for not only this day, but all the years & many hours they have given & still give to the club, also presenting the spoons & trophies. Friday saw the close of the regatta, with myself not only firing the gun for the last boat finishing, but presenting the glasses, followed by the water frolics where not only the juniors but the adults had some great fun too.
My sincere thanks to every one of our volunteers (too numerous to list), without your help the week wouldn’t be possible.
After our regatta Abbey & myself drove to Pwllheli, where Abbey is representing HSC in the ITCA National UK Championships. Following two days of qualifiers, Abbey again made the Gold Fleet & is now taking part in 3 days of Championship races, with some challenging conditions, also no wind, where sailors were on the water for up to six hours, also some racing had to be abandoned . Very proud of Abbey & good luck to her.
At the event, I am also CSL - Course Safety Leader, responsible for whole fleet of approximately 30 safety ribs covering Regatta, 4.2 & 5.3 Fleets for 180 toppers.
Commodores' Day will be rescheduled, date to be advised.
See you soon,
Will – Commodore HSC
commodore@horning-sailing.club
Vice-Commodore’s Clew
I hope you all enjoyed Horning Week. It was a very busy week both on and off the water and I think we managed to do justice to the importance of the occasion. The racing reports will have featured elsewhere in this likely bumper edition of Jibsheet so I will confine my piece mainly to the off water activities.
The Regatta weekend saw the start of our daily bar opening and Izzy and Ezra were kept very busy all week running and restocking the bar. I think at one point they managed to clear the shelves of a local supermarket of their complete stock of certain beers. There were some amazing home made hats being worn at the Sunday Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and the cakes were equally impressive.
Monday was the popular fish and chip night with pub games and the Chippy served 86 portions. I think the most popular game was probably the football table, which then seemed to feature for most of the week thereafter. As usual the Quiz Night was the biggest turnout of all and we discovered that the Club does not actually have enough chairs and we may have to acquire some more if we can find space to store them. I think we had 18 quiz teams competing to answer the quite difficult questions set by Bob Barham-Brown, our excellent quizmaster.
The Casino Night on Wednesday and 90’s Rave Night on Thursday were written and performed by the Fields family with additional help from Julie Thomson for the Casino games. As usual Julie did lots of other things including running the ‘something out of nothing’ competition, which I think was won by the fish model. The Casino Night ended with an auction in which people bid with their winnings for mystery prizes, reaching thousands of pounds in very dubious gambling gains. The Rave Night has probably caused a degree of temporary noise induced hearing loss for some of us and some aching joints and muscles for others.
The week ended on Friday in the traditional manner with a gun for the last boat over the line and the Water Frolics, which is basically everybody getting soaking wet. The Tex Mex evening consisted of some dodgy looking ‘Mexicans’ with big tashes and big hats, and Trudy Sargeant’s excellent chilli beef with accompaniments, which she prepared single handedly in the galley while the water was flying about outside. I think the attendance for Tex Mex was just under 60, which is not bad for the end of a tiring week.
I am sure the Commodore will already have expressed our thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and effort to make Horning Week the success it always is, particularly Vikki and the galley team, whose task always appears the most arduous to me, and all the members of the Entertainments Committee who came up with the ideas and then made them happen. Looking forward to Horning Week 2024.
Peter
Vice-commodore@horning-sailing.club
Rear Commodore’s Update
Wow, what a week! The regatta week went very quickly and from what I heard and saw, everyone seemed to have a great time. Now that we are all recovering, I would like to thank all the various teams and individuals who played a massive part in delivering everything from the food and drink in the galley, the events in the evenings and the race/rescue teams as well as everyone who attended.
Everyone who volunteered that week deserves to be thanked and I truly hope that I have not missed anyone.
I am so proud of our club and believe that we can move onward and upward in the future with your continued support.
Izzy and I will be having a few work parties over the winter with a structured programme so that if you feel able to offer any help you will know what can be done. Currently we need the help of a structural engineer if you know of anyone ... watch this space.
Once again, thank you for your support.
Lorraine & Izzy
Rear-commodore@horning-sailing.club
Galley News
After taking a few days to recover from the 142 toasties, 835 hot drinks and 203 sandwiches, the galley would like to say a massive thank you. We would especially like to thank our wonderful volunteers who, without your support, wouldn’t have made things possible. The biggest of thanks to Mander for keeping things going and Alannah and Anne who willingly stepped in when things got hectic! Also thanks to our youngest but newest recruit Edward, who is welcome to help anytime. Regatta week, over and out!
Thank you from the Regatta Presidents
As Regatta Presidents, we would like to extend a huge thank you to the many helpers and supporters who were part of the day last Thursday. We were fortunate to have good weather, exciting racing to watch, and it was great to see so many people attending the reception then reminiscing with sailing friends. We were helped by a huge amount of people in very many ways, and we are incredibly grateful to you all.
Holly, Chris & Robert Hancock
German Exchange Sailing Taster – from Phil Logsdon
30 intrepid table tennis players from Eislingen in Germany and Taverham in Norfolk have just returned from what can only be described as a fabulous sailing taster session. All the German guests and English friends have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. A big thank you to Andy and all the volunteers that made this possible.
They have done themselves and the club proud.
The number of comments about the patience and professionalism of all the sailors was notable. Lots of smiles all round.
Sailing was followed by a Salsa lesson in the clubhouse, much to the bemusement and amusement of all the Horning volunteers.
On a personal level I can genuinely say that I had a great time too, and I sail every week!
Phil
This week’s activities
Looking ahead to this weekend – Saturday 12th August – Sundown series 4pm.
Sunday 13th August sees racing on the Broad, following Programme C.
We will be continuing to follow the 6/3 start sequence (instead of 10/5 minutes). The aim of this is to reduce time waiting on the Broad – but it will mean that some starts will be a little earlier, so please arrive in plenty of time for the tow to the Broad.
The start sequence is as follows:
Series 1:
10.30am Reedlings
10.33am Yeomans
10.36am Rebels
10.39am Yares & Bures
10.42am Juniors & Allcomers “B” & “C”
10.51am Cruisers (continue into series 2)
Series 2: Start 11.15am earliest
Series 3: Start 12.00pm earliest
The later series will start at a time determined by the OOD. Starts will be separated by a 3 minute interval, except Cruisers with a 9 minute interval.
After racing on Sunday, we have one of our ‘Social Sundays’ and it would be great to see members continuing to enjoy the Club into the afternoon.
Monday 14th August – paddleboarding, 6pm.
By way of reminder, you can download the full racing programme from the HSC website here.
Get your HSC Club clothing
Some of our younger members have been modelling our HSC Club clothing – if you want to get your own, you can check out what’s available here: https://st-cyr.co.uk/product-category/horning-sailing-club/
Helm & Crew Opportunities
I am co-ordinating helms and crews who wish to get on the water... so, if you are a helm looking for a crew, or a crew looking to get on the water now, please contact me (Holly) on holly.hancock@me.com with your requirements and contact details, I will do my best to help with these requests.
Could you contribute to Jibsheet?
We are looking for members both young and old to make occasional or regular contributions to Jibsheet – whether it be your sailing journey so far, achievements or experiences, thoughts on your sailing activities, suggestions for what you’d like to see, or simply information you’d like to share with others - please let me know. You can contact me at news@horning-sailing.club
Holly
Easy Fundraising
If you haven’t signed up yet to support the Club through online shopping, you can do so here at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/horningsc/ - a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us in this way!
Follow us on social media
Please do keep in touch and follow us on social media for our latest news and updates. We’re on Facebook (page here, group here), Twitter and Instagram. HSC’s Galley Instagram account is @HSCGalley.
*If you have any news stories or anything you would like included in the next edition of Jibsheet, please email me - Holly - on news@horning-sailing.club by 5pm, Wednesday 16th August 2023.