Newsletter September 07

 

AGM

The 2007 Sailing In Dublin Club Annual General Meeting was held in the National Yacht Club on August 29.

The commitee for 2007 is now

Ann (Treasurer), Brenda (Secretary), Cearbhall (Chairperson), Nicola (Dinghy Secretary), Peter (Ruffian Secretary), Wyn (Maintenance/Safety).

The minutes of the meeting are available at http://sailingindublin.ie/masterdocs/AGM07/AGM2007.html

 

Maintenance

John Gorman(Ruffian) and Wyn Hughes(Dinghies) will co-ordinate maintenance of boats. Please note this does not mean they will be doing work on boats, their role is to see that the work gets done. Please keep Wyn and John informed of any work in progress, or issues, and please provide any help you can.

 

Maintenance is the responsibility of all members, and SID’s fleet of boats requires regular maintenance in order to keep them in good conditions for sailing. The maintenance procedure outlines the process but in summary:

·         If it needs repairing: Fix it!
·         If you can’t fix it: organise it!
·         In all cases log damage and repair in the maintenance log book (which is kept in the container)

While you may not have the skills to carry out all repairs, with a little research (on the web or from other members) most tasks can be completed easily. Some maintenance tasks might only require ordering parts from the web or going to Viking Marine or drop/collecting sails from the sail repairer. 
There are also a lot of small regular task done during the year such as getting petrol, removing rubbish, cleaning the container/Ruffian, printing log sheets etc that can be done by ANYONE but SOMEONE has to do it! Larger tasks during the year include the lift in/out, anti-fouling the Ruffian, getting all the engines serviced etc.

Apart from maintenance there are always opportunities to help to improve things, for example this year a wind gauge was fitted to the Ruffian, decals were ordered and fitted on all the dinghies, new racing buoys were made up and new anchors bought for the Ruffian and the rescue boat etc. There are always things that can be repaired or improved, look out for them and please lend a hand.

 

Training Courses
There are plenty of opportunities to improve your sailing skills over the winter. Excellent theory courses are run every year and come highly recommended by members who have taken them in recent years.

Shore based winter theory courses : The ISA Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore shorebased courses develops a recreational sailor's ability to skipper a sailing or motor yacht on coastal and/or offshore passages during daylight and at night.  In recent years members have attended these courses either in DIT Kevin Street (run by Glenans) or the course in the www.dmyc.ie . Other clubs also run courses Check the ISA site for details.

Other theory courses to consider over the winter include : VHF radio, First Aid and Powerboat. In recent years members have attended powerboat courses run by the RStGYC and the NYC which are usually held in Oct/Nov each year. National Powerboat Certificate (level-2) is the minimum qualification that every member of the club should have.

Glenans are also running a number of sailing courses in Dublin over the winter. Currently scheduled are the following:

 *  a series of 3 weekends Bay Cruising -level 1- two  places available - starts 29th Sept

 *  a 5 days course Bay Cruising -level2- four places available - starts 1st October

 * International certificate of Competency test in November 2007

 * a program of organised courses level 1 to 4 from April to June 2008

 

Outside of these dates the Beneteau First 31.7 "Rhythmis available for groups of four  either for leisure sailing or for a custom course.

 

Promotion Of Club

Angela Long has kindly volunteered to be our PRO for the next year. Angela is currently looking at ways in which we could promote the club and attract new members, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, or if you are willing to help out please let her know.

 

SID Regatta

Unfortunately the regatta planned for last Sunday (Sep-2) was cancelled due to strong winds. Sunday September 23'rd is now the provisionally rescheduled date. Sheenagh will provide details. 

 

Collanmore Regatta

Enjoy the last rays of the summer sun. Join the exodus to the west for a great weekend's racing and join the competition for the much coveted Deadly Buzz Cup.

September 28-30. Please let Jo know if you plan to travel or need a lift.

 

Baltimore Match Racing

Get up close and personal with your very own Americas Cup style match racing (one on one). October 12-14'th.

 

DBSC Racing

SID’s Ruffian Ruffin’it made a return to Dublin Bay Sailing Club racing this summer for the first time in a number of years.12 members took part regularly (Angela, Ann, Bronagh, Bryan, Damien, John, Kate, Paul, Peter, Ruben, Susan & Una), with other joining in on an occasional basis.

Our aim was to sail on Tuesday nights (white sails only) and we took part in 13 of the Tuesday races. Of the 25 Ruffians entered in the DBSC series 15 took part in Tuesday night racing and Ruffin’it came 7’th overall due to our consistent (or should that be persistent?) performance. Ruffin’it also raced occasionally in the DBSC series on Thursdays and Saturdays.

 

Ruffin’it also took part in Ruffian Nationals (3 days of racing), the Dun Laoghaire Regatta on 3 out of the 4 days of racing (retired due to equipment failure), in the Lambay Race where we achieved 3’rd place, and in the South East Regatta (2 days) in Wicklow. Thanks to everyone who helped with the organisation and everyone who took part!

 

Racing is open to all members at all levels and is a good way to sharpen up your sailing skills and learn the rules of sailing/racing.  Racing on Ruffin’it is not taken too seriously with only the occasional shouting! Next year we will aim to take part in more DBSC races and to have more members involved.

 

More information is available on the racing page on the SID website.  If you are interested in improving you racing skills then why not consider the Start Line or Intensive Skills courses with Glenans.

 

Racing will continue untill Saturday the 29'th. Contact Bronagh if you would like to sail on the Ruffian.

There may be some Saturday dinghy racing opportunities. Contact Wyn if you are interested.

 

End of Evening Sailing

Evening sailing finished at the end of August. Thanks to all the captains, vice captains, organizers and to everybody who took part. There are lots more weekend opportunities to sail. The Ruffian will be in the water for another two months and dinghies will sail all the year round, now is the time to get warmed up for the frostbites.

 

ISA Instructor Pre-Assessment
An ISA Instructor dinghy pre-entry assessment weekend will be run in Collanmore 5'th-7'th October. Noelle Doran will run the course.
There will also be a day-boat Instructor Pre-Assessment in Baltimore in a similar timeframe (date tbd). Ruth Ennis will be in charge.

 

Both weekends cost e220. There is usually a coaching weekend before that for a minimal charge. Completing assessment is a prerequisite for the instructor training which will run over Easter week 2008. Contact GISC office for details.

 

Last call for Jackets

It's your last chance to contact Mairead this week if you want to order a club jacket to keep you warm this autumn.

 

Cearbhall Daly

Chairperson

Sailing In Dublin Club

http://sailingindublin.ie