Welcome members and visitors.

The Annual General Meeting of DHSC was held on the 19^th of October in the clubhouse. There was an attendance of 30 persons comprising of members and clubhouse members.

The outgoing Commodore Mr. Maurice Brennock thanked the committee for their support over the year with special thanks to Ms. Sandra Wynne, Ms. Brid O’ Kennedy, Mr. Edwin Fay and Mr. Austin Flynn for managing the successful Junior Sailing courses during July and August.

The Treasurer reported that the club was in a good financial position after the year.

The membership subscriptions were set at €250 for family membership, €180 for a single membership and €75 for clubhouse membership.

The incoming committee members for 2019 were elected as follows:

Officers:

Commodore: Mr. Kieran Donnelly.

Vice-Commodore: Mr. William Bumster.

Treasurer: Mr. Austin Flynn.

Secretary: Mr. Michael Whelan

Committee Members:

Mr. Maurice Brennock, Mr. Frank Shortall, Ms. Mary Flynn, Ms. Brid Kennedy, Mr. Edwin Fay, Mr. John Connolly, Mr. Declan Walsh, Mr. Kieran Moynihan,

Membership:

Memberships are due from the 1^st of November with existing members in good standing until the 1^st of April 2019.

Memberships are payable on line, by cheque or in the clubhouse at weekends.

Memberships paid on line are difficult to track and confirm if the payees do not put the correct information in the correct boxes, therefore the Treasurer requests that you email or text him once you have paid your membership to confirm same, Thank you.

DHSC bank details:

Account Name: Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club, Davitt's Quay, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.

BIC: AIBKIE2D                                  IBAN: IE60 AIBK 9340 7010 0413 04

Boat lifts:

The October boat lifts went smoothly with 14 boats being lifted on each Saturday. Well done to all in the crane team and traffic management team with special thanks to Ms. Mary Flynn for providing soup and rolls which were very much appreciated at the end of both days.

Junior Courses:

A new program for junior sailing courses will be launched in the New Year.

Friday night sailing and new members:

New members are always welcome to the club and to facilitate this initiative a draft program of Friday night sailing is posted on the website homepage under “sailing information>adult sailing”. It is envisaged that boat owners will bring new members sailing and show them the ropes.

Pontoon:

The water supply to the pontoon has been isolated for the winter and the piping and fittings drained to prevent a repeat of the frost damage and leaks which occurred last winter. Many thanks to Mr. Donal Walsh for carrying out the repairs last year and draining the system this year.

 Communication to Members:            

Communication to members is mostly by texts, emails and by posting information on the website, so please keep a weather eye on the website over the coming months.

Michael Whelan,

Honorary Secretary.

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Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club

Dates for your notice board/fridge door.

The children’s Christmas party:  date to be finalised

Welcome members and visitors.

The clubs website is back on line and the committee hopes you enjoy its new look.

Over the winter the club presented slide shows by Donal Walsh, Austin Flynn and Sean Moloney of their respective circumnavigations Iceland and Ireland.

Austin Flynn organised and presented with the help of some “sean eolai” members of the club a series of shore based sessions on navigation, safety at sea, VHF and GPS use as an introduction to sailing. This was a great success and was enjoyed by everybody. Many thanks to the “sean eolai” for their time and expertise.

Congratulations to Donal Walsh, Clare Morrissey and Maura Walsh who received the top awards at the Irish Cruising Clubs Annual Dinner recently held in the National Yacht Club Dun Laoghaire.

Maura received the Faulkner cup, the ICC’s most prestigious trophy for her voyage to Greenland in Annabel J, a 64 foot Bristol pilot cutter. Donal received the Strangford Cup, which is awarded when the adjudicator has two logs of equal merit for consideration for the Faulkner Cup, for his circumnavigation of Iceland in Lady Belle an OVNI385. Clare received the Glengarrif trophy for her circumnavigation of Ireland in Lady Belle.

Maura is the Afloat magazine “Sailor of the Month” for the April edition.

Boat lifts:

The 2018 season is quickly approaching with the first boat owner’s boat lift on the 7th of April. The second lift is on the 15th of April. Start time on the 7th is 0800hrs and on the 15th is 1400hrs. A total of 23 boats have signed up to the lifts so far.

Junior Courses:

A full programme of courses is planned for six weeks in the summer commencing on the 2nd of July. Application forms, contact details and course types and dates are on the DHSC Website under Sailing Information-Junior Sailing on the home page.

Friday night sailing and new members:

New members are always welcome to the club and a programme of Friday night sailing is planned to facilitate an introduction to sailing for new members. The programme is posted on the website under sailing information-adult sailing on the homepage.

Communication to Members:

Communication to members is mostly by texts and by posting information on the website, so please keep a weather eye on the website over the summer season.

Michael Whelan,
Honorary Secretary.

Welcome to the June newsletter.

Junior sailing courses:

The Junior sailing courses commence on the 4th of July, there will be three sets of two week courses providing ISA levels 1-4. Contact Sandra if you wish to book a place.

Many thanks to Ms. Sandra Wynne for all the work she has put into organising the courses.

The red safety boats will be launched this weekend, many thanks to Edwin and his team in getting the boats ready.

The blessing of the boats:

Unfortunately this event had to be cancelled due to bad weather and will be organised later in the season.

Maritime College Visit:

The 29th of June is set for the visit to the Maritime college in Cork.

The bus will be departing the clubhouse at 1300hrs on this day, cost is €20.00/person, adults only on this trip, if you are interested in going please contact Mr Edwin Fay at 086 2503895 as soon as possible.

Photo Competition:

DHSC is having a photo competition, there will be a 1st,2nd and 3rd prize.

The competition will close on the 30th of September, so get those cameras out and start snapping your sailing adventures whether it be racing,cruising or just pottering about in boats.

Photos should be sent to the Secretary at [email protected].( please state your name and that the photo is for the competition.)

Each entrant can submit more than one photograph.

Photos should be sized at 1020x740 pixels.

Photos shall be relevant to the 2016 season.

If your photo includes persons other than yourself please have those persons permission to be included in your submission.

Photos will be posted in the gallery section of the website.

Photos will be adjudicated by a panel from the committee.

Prizes will be awarded prior to the AGM in October.

Other News:

The picture underneath is the Isle of Man to Liverpool fast ferry "Manannan" which is captained by Mr. Tommy Fitzgerald Jnr. of Ballinroad, Dungarvan. Tommy started sailing in Dungarvan with DHSC and has followed a career path on fishing vessels, cruise liners and ferries. Tommy now holds a Captains ticket and a pilots licence for ships entering and leaving Liverpool Port. Well Done Tommy.

That's all for this month, if members are more active I will have more to write about so please go sailing.

Welcome to the May Newsletter

Members of the committee have been working hard at getting the club safety boats ready for the 2016 season.

Club Launch and safety boats:

The club launch has been painted, antifouled and had some internal woodwork repairs carried out by Michael Whelan and Austin Flynn with some maintenance work on the engine left to do. A frame was also made at this stage to support the winter cover. The launch is on the water and is in use.

The four safety boats are washed and antifouled with the engines being returned from servicing as we go to press and will be launched the weekend of 28th of May. Thanks to Edwin Fay, William Bumster, Frank Nugent and Tom Spratt for their efforts.

Club Petrel:

The Club's new Petrel "Pandora" is launched and was antifouled on the hard last Saturday by Colin Shortall and John Connolly. Thanks to Colin for the trojan work he has put in getting the boat to the level it is at the moment. Colin has also kindly donated a set of sails for the Petrel to the club.

A sub committee has been set up to manage the use of the Petrel which was purchased to give new adult members instruction in sailing. the Petrel will also be available to club members who want to go for a sail. The Petrel will have to be booked in advance by members (more on this later).

Sailing Courses:

The sailing courses are all set to begin on the 4th of July. All the information regarding the courses is posted on the website in the "sailing information"-"Junior Courses" section.

The courses are filling up so if you have someone interested please contact Sandra as soon as possible.

Entrance Channel to Dungarvan Harbour:

Due to the movement of sand banks in the harbour entrance at Ballinacourty it has been necessary to re-align the channel marks.

This work has been carried out by Mr Donal Walsh in conjunction with Waterford County and City Council and the Commissioners of Irish Lights.

So take care if you are going out for the first time until you get familiar with the new layout.

A new chart of the harbour will be produced in due course.

Cruising Boat launches

The launch days for the cruisers went very well and thanks to all those who helped each other on the days. Thanks to Theresa Hennessy for organising the coffee and scones on each day.

Racing and Cruising:

The committee will be drawing up a programme of racing and cruising for 2016 any members who would like to help with racing or cruising events can email the Secretary at [email protected] with their expression of interest.

Next newsletter in June 2016.

Welcome to the April newsletter.

The committee hopes you all received the March newsletter by post including the list of dates at the bottom for your notice board or fridge door.

Photographic Exhibition:

This weekend in the clubhouse, during the food festival, there is a photographic exhibition presented by Mr Tomas Walsh from his personal collection of local historic photos. Some of these photos have never been presented in public before and the exhibition is well worth a visit. There is no entrance fee and donations to the RNLI would be greatly appreciated.

The exhibition will be open at the following times:

Friday the 15th of April from 8pm.

Saturday the 16th of April from 11am.

Sunday the 17th of April from 11am.

On the Saturday the RNLI will have a stand outside the clubhouse and will also be providing life jacket inspection and safety advice.

Boat lifts:

The first boat lift took place on the 2nd of April, fourteen boats were launched in wet but calm conditions and everyone was glad to be finished by lunch time. As always people are requested to stay until the last boat is launched and the last mast is up and to help with putting back the bollards, poles and slings, everyone is tired and cold at this point but the more people stay the sooner everyone gets finished.

The next lift is planned for the 30th of April, hopefully it will be a fairer day.

Please turn up to help those owners who helped you with launching your boat on the first lift. Start time for the second boat lift is 0830hrs.

Try Sailing Day:

On Saturday the 30th of April DHSC in conjunction with the Irish Sailing Association is holding a try sailing day. The aim of the event is to introduce new people to the sport of sailing.

This event will take place on the Lookout and a text will be sent out nearer the date with a start time.

So if you know someone who would like to see what sailing is like or is interested in learning to sail you might let them know this event is coming up.

Club Petrel:

The club petrel is ready for the water and will be launched soon. Mr Colin Shortall has agreed to manage this initiative by DHSC to give adults an opportunity to learn how to sail. Details of how to access this facility will be sent out by text in the near future.

If you or any adult wishes to learn how to sail this will be your chance.

Maritime College visit.

The date has been set for the visit by adult members to the Maritime College in Cork details as follows:

Date: Wednesday the 29th of June 2016

Depart: Dungarvan at 1300hrs sharp.

Arrive: Maritime College at 1500hrs( the tour takes approx 2hrs)

Cost: €20.00 per person.

Places can be booked in the clubhouse during opening hours and the total fee must be paid at the time of booking.

It is hoped to arrange visits for junior members during the summer courses.

New Boat:

Congratulations to Mr Donal Walsh on the purchase of his new boat 'Lady Belle', we wish him many "happy" boat face days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all until next month, now get out there sailing

The Club Secretary.

Welcome to the DHSC Newsletter for February 2016.

Happy New Year  to everyone, hope you all had a nice Christmas.

Spring is upon us and it is time to make the list of jobs to be done to your boat, big or small, for the 2016 sailing season. Parents of dinghy sailors should examine their boats for defects in sails, ropes, rudder, tiller and centreboard. Please ensure that the fittings on the boat and mast are in good condition, don't leave it to the week before the sailing season or the sailings courses start.

Membership Subscriptions:

Membership subscriptions are now due for the 2016 season since the AGM in 2015. Membership may be paid by cheque or electronically, please ensure you enter your name in the correct box so as to identify the member on the bank statement.  Please also text the Treasurer at 0876644734 to notify him that you have paid by electronic transfer as it is sometimes not possible to identify the payee.  The following is the clubs bank details if you wish to pay by electronic transfer,

AIB, Dungarvan,

Sort Code:  93 40 70

Account Number:   10041304

Family sub:  €240, Single sub: €160, Club house sub:  €60.

Recent Events:

Talk/Slide show by Donal Walsh:

On the 22nd of January Donal Walsh presented an excellent slideshow and talk of his trip above the Arctic Circle in  his Moody 31 "Lady Kate". A large crowd attended on the night. Donal is a very experienced sailor in cruising to far off shores but this trip was a major feat of seamanship in open waters in very cold conditions. Well done to Donal and his crew Clare and many thanks for the talk and slide show.

RNLI AGM:

The Fundraising Branch of the RNLI held their AGM in the clubhouse on the 29th of January. The voluntary work this committee does for the RNLI is gigantic in its efforts to raise funds to save the lives of professional seamen, fishermen and recreational seafarers at sea. The committee raised €58,000.00 for Irish lifeboats in 2015. Well done to all.

Club News:

It has been noted by the DHSC committee that whereas Junior sailors are being well catered for within the club, with the running of Junior sailing course in the summer holiday season along with the option of Junior racing, this is not the case with adult sailing within the club.

There is a poor turnout from adult members for club racing and also a big gap in membership in the 18-40 age range.

In an effort to remedy this situation the club has been given a Petrel Dinghy by Mr Maurice Walsh of Ballinagoul on the condition that the club make a donation to the RNLI. This was duly done at the aforementioned AGM.

It is envisioned that the  Petrel will be used to provide introductory sailing lessons to anyone wanting to learn to sail by ISA certified instructors. More details on this in future newsletters.

That's all for now, hope 2016 will be a good year for sailing.

Welcome to the DHSC December Newsletter.

The Christmas party:

The Christmas party on the 28th of November was a good night enjoyed by all those who attended with excellent music by Gregory, many thanks to Gregory.

Thanks to Tommy and Niamh Power and Austin for all the repainting of the men's and ladies toilets and showers in the run up to the Christmas party.

Thanks to Mary and Tommy Power for the catering for the party and to those members who brought desserts.

Children's Santa Party:

Santa is going to visit the clubhouse on Sunday the 20th of December at 6p.m. Usual present arrangements apply. Members and members friends most welcome.

External Sign on the Clubhouse:

A new sign was recently fitted to the exterior of the clubhouse under the bay window, the carved reliefs on each side represent the dinghy and cruising sections of the club.

Visitors to the town can now identify the clubhouse location.

Adult Sailing:

With a view to getting more adults sailing the club has acquired a Petrel dinghy. It is proposed to have this dinghy available during  2016 to provide beginner sailing lessons to adults in a stable boat. It is further envisioned that the lessons will be provided by one of our own ISA qualified instructors. More details on this in the New Year.

The Clubhouse:

The clubhouse will be open as usual over the Christmas period.

The Committee wishes all member's and their families a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Welcome to the November 2015 Newsletter.

The AGM 2015:

The DHSC Annual General Meeting 2015 was held on the 23rd of October. It was a quiet meeting with no matters arising from the minutes of last years AGM and under Any Other Business the only item was a suggestion to review the wording of the club's constitution in relation to upcoming equality legislation.

The membership subscription rates were set as follows, Family €240.00, Single €160.00, Clubhouse member €60.00.

Memberships are due from the date of the AGM and for those who wish to pay electronically the Club's account details are as follows:

Sort Code: 934070

Account Number: 10041304

When paying electronically please put your name in the receiver message box.

The New Committee:

The new Committee for 2015-16 is as follows:

Commodore: Mr. Edwin Fay.

Vice-Commodore: Mr. Austin Flynn.

Treasurer: Mr. Aidan Hallahan.

Secretary: Mr Michael Whelan.

Committee:

Mr. Maurice Brennock.

Ms. Mary Power.

Ms. Sandra Wynne.

Ms. Theresa Hennessy.

Mr. Tommy Power.

Mr. Eugene Burke.

Mr. Colin Shortall.

Mr. William Bumster.

The Christmas Party:

At the first meeting of the new committee it was decided to hold the DHSC Christmas Party on Saturday the 28th of November 2015 at 8pm. This was a great event last year and the committee hopes to see you there this year.

Winter: 

I hope you all have your boats covered and engines treated for the winter. Persons with boats in the dinghy park should bring their boats home and if not should drop the masts and take the masts, sails, loose rigging, center boards and rudders home for the winter. Wash off the salt and store in a dry warm location.

In the new year the committee has decided to resurface the dinghy park so all boat owners will be asked to remove their boats to facilitate that project.

Persons with dinghies on the pontoon should bring them home also.

That's all the news for the moment until the December Newsletter.

Welcome to the September Newsletter:

The 2015 season is drawing to a close and the boat lift dates have been set for the 10th and 17th of October.

All the information regarding both boat lifts is posted on the website below this Newsletter, so get your name into the hat if you prefer a particular lift as the list is filling up.

All help from non cruiser members is appreciated on this day

A date of the 23rd of October has been set for the AGM and all members will be notified in writing of this upcoming event.

The season overall was good despite the weather which did not entice any of the cruisers out to race, hopefully next year will be better.

Hope you enjoyed the newsletters over the last few months, sorry this one is so short, hopefully next year's Secretary will have lots more news for you.

Welcome to the August 2015 Newsletter.

Contents:

Junior Sailing Course.

Junior summer camp.

Instructors Ball.

Pontoon.

2015 Sailing Season.

Helvick Head Branch of the RNLI.

Junior Sailing Courses:

It has been another successful year for the DHSC's programme of ISA certified training courses for young sailors.

Over six weeks in July and August almost one hundred students of various levels have participated in the three sets of courses ranging from a taste of sailing to level 4 standard.

At the recent presentation of certificates the Commodore stated that the students should understand that it is not a case of pass or fail in any level but more a progression to the level of skill that each student must attain before moving on to the next level.

Ms Sandra Wynne, Junior Organiser was presented with a bouquet of flowers on the night by the course instructors, without the level of commitment that Sandra put into the sail training programme over the winter and summer months it would not be the success that it is.

Similar must be said for Austin Flynn, Tommy Power and Marry Power for all the running repairs they made to the boats and sails during the course. On this note boat owners should realise that a lot of the equipment is getting worn and needs replacement over the winter

Well done to John Geogheghan, Senior Instructor for 2015, and his team of instructors and assistants who ran a very efficient show this year.

Mr Austin Flynn (ISA Training Centre Principal), Ms. Sandra Wynne and Mr. John Geoghegan presented a good account of the club and its activities during a recent inspection by Ms. Sarah-Louise Rossiter area representative of the ISA.

DHSC finished in the top four centres in the ISA competiton for the top ISA training centre for 2014.

DHSC is going to enter the competition again this year so best of luck to everyone.

Junior Summer Camp:

A trial summer camp was run in the second week of August for some of the students who participated in the sailing courses. It proved to be a successful venture of fun activities where participants also practiced what they learned during the summer courses. it is hoped that the club will run more summer camps before and after the training courses next year.

The Instructors Annual Ball:

The Instructors annual ball was held in the clubhouse on Friday the 14th of August, it was a livery night of music and dance enjoyed by the instructors and adults alike. Many thanks to Ms. Mary power who once again provided the excellent catering.

The Pontoon:

The pontoon was well used this year by members and visitors alike despite a summer of poor weather dictated by the jet stream not going far enough north keeping the lows off the west coast of Ireland and the highs over the most of Europe.

The sections of the pontoons have been divided into three areas for efficient usage as follows:

1. A pick up/ set down area, maximum stay 10 minutes ( the first two sections of pontoon on approach from sea).
2. A members berthing area, maximum stay 6 nights with Friday nights free of charge (all sections in between the pick up /set down and visitors areas).
3. A visitors berthing area, maximum stay 6 nights ( the last two sections of pontoon nearest the bridge).

Members and visitors are expected to demonstrate a modicum of pontoon etiquette when using the pontoon as follows:

• Please respect the time limit and area designated as pick up and set down.  Remember other sailors may want to embark/disembark family members too and these are the easiest sections to access.
• Visitors shall berth in the visitors area and shall raft up and leave members areas free for members.
• Members are asked to berth without leaving large spaces between the boats in front of and behind them.
• Everyone likes to be alongside the pontoon but if there is no room please raft up, if rafted up please respect the privacy of others and cross at the forward sections of boats.

Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

2015 sailing Season:

The 2015 sailing season hasn't been the best for the cruising sailors of the club but there is probably six weeks left before a skippers mind goes into de-rigging mode for the winter lift out. So if the weather is good go for it.

Helvick Head RNLI Station:

The Helvick Head Branch of the RNLI have entered an RNLI competition namely "Pride of Place".

The judges attended the Helvick Head station recently and they were afforded a very professional presentation followed by light refreshments, DHSC wishes them luck in the competition.

The RNLI sponsored swim took place on the 9th of August and despite Waterford playing against Kilkenny for a place in the all Ireland final a large crowd turned out to support the lifeboat and swimmers.

Weather conditions were favourable again this year which makes it a pleasant day out.

Many thanks to the members of DHSC who volunteered to help on the day.

Believe it or not another year has gone by and next months newsletter will be the last before there is a change of the guard after the AGM in early October.