DHSC February Newsletter

Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club

Newsletter February 2015

Welcome to the February 2015 Newsletter

Contents:

• Junior Sailing.
• Members receive awards for sailing achievements.
• Winter work
• Boat launching dates.
• RNLI AGM.

 Junior Sailing:

The junior sailing is off to a good start in 2015 with the first shake down race taking place on the 18^th of January. It was a very cold day with a fresh breeze, five hardy sailors took to the water, Gregory and Ella Fay, Jack Kiely, Larry Brazel and Joey Curran. Three races were held and the winners were: Race1. Gregory Fay, Race 2. Jack Kiely, Race 3. Larry Brazel, the overall winner of the series of three races was Jack Kiely. There was one or two gear failures and capsizes (Brrrrr). Junior sailors are advised to check their boats, sails and rigging for wear and tear. Most class association websites will have information on what to look out for. All experienced dinghy sailors in the club would be glad to offer assistance and advice to junior sailors and parents. The ISA newsletter identified a mobile app called “Wind Aware” which is free to download from the app store and Google play. The app helps turn knowledge into understanding of how sails should be set for various wind directions.

Winter League:

The winter league commenced on the 1^st February and will run every second weekend until the 29^th of March 2015 weather permitting. Results will be posted in the activities section of the website.  Three competitors competed in the first races in cold conditions with a gentle breeze. Hopefully we will see more junior sailors out on the water on the 15^th and that it will be warmer now that Spring is here.

Members receive awards:

Congratulations to Andrew and Maura Wilkes who have received awards from both the Irish Cruising Club and the Royal Cruising Club for their sailing expeditions in the Arctic in 2014. The Irish Cruising Club awarded Andrew and Maura “The Fastnet Award” for exceptional achievements and excellence in cruising under sail. The Royal Cruising Club awarded Maura and Andrew “The American Cruising Club Bowl” for their trip to Greenland by way of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Baffin Island and finishing up in Newfoundland. Maura and Andrew now seem to commute between England, Ireland and the Arctic Circle.

Club Winter Work:

In January the keystone to the arch over the door to the store in the DHSC was repaired by Austin Flynn and Tommy Power. Mossy Brennock serviced one of the outboard engines and power washed all the red rescue boats. Other members showed up at various times to help with anti fouling them and to help out with running the junior sailing. Many thanks to all members who helped out in cold weather conditions.

Boat Launch dates:

The 11^th and 25^th of April have been tentatively identified as launch dates for the larger boats so it is time to commence making that “to do list” of maintenance jobs.

RNLI AGM:

The RNLI Fundraising Committee AGM was held in the clubhouse on the 23^rd of January at 8pm. The committee had a very successful year running fundraising events, the amount of work undertaken by the committee requires a huge amount of commitment to the organisation by them. Their hard work has been recognised and the committee has received two awards for 2014. The committee received an award for Community Services at the Waterford Community and Voluntary Awards in the Park Hotel recently and a Regional Award from the RNLI.  Many thanks to all the committee for their dedication to fund raising work. The Committee thanked the club for the use of the premises for their meeting and for all the help from DHSC throughout the year.

Memberships:

Memberships are now due for the new season since the AGM in 2014. 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. 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