Clapham Model Yacht Club

I regret it was a disappointing day at Clapham.
We should have been sailing the 1Metre class, but while the weather was fine, as was the breeze, the water was a little low. A few skippers did try sailing the 1M,s but found the boats were grounding in a few places, although much of the pond was useable.
Some skippers who were watching seemed to have decided that racing would be marginal, with placings being largely dependent on whether or not the boat hit or missed a hazard and an air of uncertainty prevailed and it needed “somebody” to take charge and decide whether all those with 1M,s should get on the water, or make the decision that as conditions were borderline we should sail the Soling,s instead. Either way some skippers would have been disadvantaged by not having the appropriate boat to sail. In hindsight the decision should have been made to sail the 1M,s as that was the scheduled class race for the day. The question is, who is the “somebody” who should make that decision?. As Chairman, perhaps the decision should have been mine after taking a consensus of opinion. I apologise to all for not doing so, although in my defence I was not feeling at my best today.
The situation does highlight the need for a greater degree of discipline on scheduled sailing days. First we must start on time, or at a reasonable time. Second, we must endevour to sail the class of boat designated for the day unless there is a compelling reason why that is not possible. There will be times when some skippers will be disadvantaged by not having the class of boat to be sailed on the day but I see no way around that problem. The decision on 1M or Soling is not so bad as many skippers have both classes, but the decision on 6M days is more divisive, although strangely, when I checked in the Clubhouse today I counted 8 Six metre boats, almost as many as each of the other classes.
Another problem we have is Club members fiddling with other interests such as power boats, kites and computers rather than concentrating on getting a class boat on the water. These other interests are best left to Sundays other than the 1st and 3rd Sundays, or to Wednesdays so as not to interfere with the Club programe.
At the risk of appearing dictatorial I shall in future make these decisions myself after consultation, but I must expect support. If no action is taken I fear the Club will not be fullfilling it,s function of being a dedicated Model Yacht Racing Club.
It would be helpfull if those reading these notes would let me know by Email at derek@crossderek.wanadoo.co.uk whether they agree or not with the sentiments expressed in this blog, but failing feedback I shall put these thoughts into practice at future meetings. Derek.

Sadly there was not a great turnout of Vintage Club members and there were few boats worthy of note, apart from a nice wooden Marblehead type brought by Russell Potts.
Happily there were almost as many Clapham Club members (8) who had turned up to support the Vintage Club. We also welcomed a new member, Robert Cumming, who has purchased a Soling and seems quite keen. There being so many members there it seemed a good idea to do some racing, and chose to sail 1M,s. Hugh and Leslie had not brought thier boats but managed quite a few races by sailing boats offered by other owners. As it was not a scheduled race day I regret that no results sheet was kept but there were several winners. One of the first was Leslie, sailing Derek,s Triple Crown. He romped home a fine winner but I do not think he won again. Jim , as always, did well. Derek had two wins, after some technical tweeking of the boat by Ted. Ted chose not to sail his boat so as to give the rest of us a chance, but cheered us on from the sidelines. I guess we had 7 or 8 races, some very close and in a fleet of 5 boats sailed by 8 skippers all got at , or near, the front.
Next scheduled race day is the 21st June, but as advised in the last blog,this is the day of the London to Brighton bicycle race which starts from Clapham Common and I think Rookery Road will be closed to parking. Those who come by car could well have a problem.
We had a good , if impromptue , race day and Leslie , if given a decent boat to sail, shows promise of being a fine skipper. Derek.

I initially thought sailing would be unlikely when I was wakened at 5am by loud thunder and torrential rain, however, by 8am it was clear and the sun showed signs of breaking through. When I set out for Clapham at 10am (I was late) it was dry but cloudy. There was quite a crowd at the pond (8) and we made a start on racing about 11.30, only to be rained on, but only for about ten minutes or so. In the rush, while we had set up the starter box, we had neglected to provide a score sheet and so have had to rely on enquiries made after racing finished. The results showed quite a spread of winners and runners up as follows-,
Richard. 2 wins, using Ted,s boat.
Ted. 4 wins.
Hugh. 2 wins, 3 second places.
Jim. 2 second places, 2 thirds.
John S. 1 third place.
If I have missed anyone out I apologise.
After the slightly damp start the weather cleared and the sun came out and remained out for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. The wind was a little flukey but we all had some good racing.

Sunday 14th June,
The Vintage Club will be at the pond and should be worth a look.

Sunday 21st June.
This is scheduled to be a 6M race day and I believe we might also see Jack Sanday,s family there sailing some of Jack,s boats (it is Fathers Day), BUT, I have seen a sign which says the London to Brighton bicycle race is on that day and it usually starts from Clapham Common. In the past parking in Rookery Road has been banned and parking generally is restricted and will be difficult. You have been warned. Derek.

Jack,s funeral took place on the 20th May. The Club was well represented with six members being there, one of them acting as one of the pall bearers. We all went back to Jack,s home where the family had laid on a reception. The weather was kind and it was a good send off for Jack.
It has been suggested that we should run a comemorative race to remember Jack, and as Jack was keen on racing 6 Metres it has been decided that the event should take the form of a 6 Metre match race, the event to take place on the 20th September this year.
The organisation should be straightforward, we have a series of match race cards in the Clubhouse to suit fleets of from four to twenty or more boats. So, here is your chance to get all those 6M,s back into commision, or there is just about time to build one!. More details will follow in due course, but I should like to get some idea of how many boats we could expect on the day. Derek.

Sailing, what sailing? The day started badly with heavy rain and those who did arrive at the Clubhouse early found it still raining and a heavy wind. Happily the rain stopped about 11-11.30 but the wind was still strong and very gusty, and for 6M sailing it was thought borderline. No-one seemed anxious to rig a boat so we stayed in the Clubhouse. It was noticeable that some members have been busy over the last week or two re-arranging things and the main room is much better organised. This brings up a point which needs airing.
The Clubhouse provides a reasonable degree of comfort and amenity.Tea and coffee are readily available and provided free by by one or other of the members yet it is sad to see that some of those who take advantage of the amenities do not bother to clear up. Cups are left unwashed in the sink, and even when disposable cups are used these, and teabags, are frequently left around after use insread of being disposed of. The Clubhouse is for the benefit of all members and all should make an effort to keep the place clean and tidy. An occasional sweeping of the floor, tidying of magazines and clearing and
washing cups/disposables is not too much to ask, and the bucket should always, repeat, always be cleaned before the last member leaves the Clubhouse. This last, regretfully, has not always been done and it is wrong that these simple tasks are left to a few, very few, members. All have a responsibility to see that these things are done and not leave it to the next man. I hope to see a general tightening up on these basic points.
The Chairman.

I have made an error in the date of the cremation service. It is Wednesday the 20th May. I obviously went crosseyed when looking at my calender. My apolog ies for the error. Derek

I am afraid I have to report the death of Jack Sanday who passed away over the weekend after a long illness. Jack had been a long standing member of the Club through the heydays of the Club in the 70,s, 80,s and 90,s. He was an accomplished sailor and the builder of numerous boats of all shapes and sizes, from Marbleheads to the giant three masted schooner “Winston Chuchill”
He became ill several years ago but had had periods of remission untill the illness got on top of him. He had spent the last several months in a Hospice where he was said to have been happy, still continuing to make models to occupy his time, so much so that it was only in the last couple of months past that he staged an exhibition of his work at the Hospice, giving all proceeds for the benefit of the Hospice.
Jack is to be cremated, the service being held at the North East Surrey Crematorium in Lower Morden Lane at 2pm on Wednesday the 13th of May. I shall be attending, as well as some other members of the Club, to pay our last respects. The family have requested “no flowers” but donations to the Hospice where Jack died will be welcomed. I intend to draw a modest cheque on Club funds in favour of the Hospice in memory of the long service that Jack gave to the Club

Report by courtesy of Hugh.
It was a One Metre day, being the first Sunday in the month.
Wind was light, coming across the Long Pond from the shelter of buildings on the other side of Clapham Common Southside road, and through trees on the Common. Wind was very variable, initially swinging in different directions at alternative ends of the pond, but veering more westerly towards noon. Strength varied from a breeze that generated ripples, to a glossy apparent calm, with barely a whisper of wind.
After setting up both his Gadgets to suit the wind conditions, Hugh lent these boats to Leslie (a new member), Richard and John. Alan used his beamy Australian skiff, which in the light conditions sailed well. He had some gear problems, as did Ted (tired batteries). Ted also lent out his fast Chris Dicks design.
There were three to four boats sailing at any time. results as far as I was able to record were;
Leslie. 1st,2nd,2nd.
Alan. 1st,2nd.
John. 1st, 2nd.
Richard would have had a 2nd but was slowed by picking up a polythene bag lurking by the marker buoy neat the Clubhouse.
Another potential hazard was a large submerged submarine, sneaking round the edge of the pond like a pike, fortunately without predatory intentions.
Ted sailed sailed a couple of races, scoring 1st,1st. Hugh sailed only one race, getting a 2nd to Ted,s first. Both these sailors should do well anyway as these are fast designs which they sail all the time, so should know how to make them go. Conditions were very demanding, those winning places only doing so by skilled sailing, contesting every inch.
The day was sunny and fine. Also gracing the pond was a museum quality model of a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter, sailing well without any false keel. There was a good crowd of spectators, one asking if the boats were driven by propellers, the water being so glossy there was no apparent source of wind, the only effort being the concentration on the faces of the racig skippers.
This ends the review by Hugh for which I am gratefull.
I am making good progress after the hip replacement and hope to get to the pond on the 3rd May, particularly as I have had contact from a modeller who has built a four foot model of a steam drifter, driven appropriately by a Stuart Turner single cylinder steam engine. He would like to have an official launch party on that day and I have said he would be welcomed. Should be interesting to see it on the water. Once again, thanks to Hugh and I hope to see you all soon. Derek

I regret that I was not at the pond on the 15th but Alan has given me permission to retype the notes he made. Derek.
The wind was from a North Westerly direction but very light, the Clubhouse shielding the wind on the Rookery Road end of the pond. It should have been a Six Metre day but as there were only four Six,s to sail we all agreed to sail the Solings as there were six boats ready to sail including a new member, Richard Coleman. Jim Vice also turned up so Alan let him sail his boat in three of the four races. The racing was very close and the results were,
Race 1.Ted, Jim R, Alan.
Race 2.Jim V, Jim R, Ted.
Race 3. Jim V, Jim R, Ted.
Race 4. Jim R, Jim V, Ted.
Another man turned up interested in buying a Soling and he borrowed Alan,s boat for a while, and on leaving he was going to phone Graham to ask if he wanted to sell his Soling. Thats all for now. Alan.

Hello everyone, I apologise for the long delay since the last blog was posted on the 16th November, but if you think there has been no sailing since that date you would be mistaken, it is just that I have not been there to report it.
The faithfull few have been at the pond every Club day and have only been stopped from sailing by either high winds, snow, or the pond being frozen over, sometimes all three at the same time. However, I was there on the 1st March together with the other hardy few on a day that was cloudy but not particularly cold. The breeze varied a little but was quite pleasant and gave some good sailing. I regret that the starter box was out of action due to the batteries having died the death over the winter so we were unable to have the proper starts and had to make do with me bawling out the countdown seconds. I was quite hoarse by the end of te day. I lost count of the number of races we had but we did manage to get in quite a few before lunch with Ted, Jim and Hugh sharing the first three places in varying order, except for the last race before lunch when Derek had a rush of blood to the head and came in second to Ted, it did not last though. We sailed a variety of 1M designs. Hugh had a Widget, Ted sailed a Mark Dicks design, Alan sailed a New Zealand designed skiff named Highlander, Derek sailed a Triple Crown and Jim sailed the Club Comik. This Comik design is still competitive, on one occasion I saw it sailing downwind in close company with Hugh,s Widget and the Comik was leading. During all the races the Comik was keeping up well with the fleet and the thought occurs to me that we could have a one design race with all the Club,s Comik,s. Jim has one, so does Derek. I believe Alan has one and there is of course the Club boat and there may be others in the Club fleet. A thought for the future perhaps.
I regret there will now be another lapse in the Club blog postings as I am going into hospital for for a short time (I hope) and it may be a couple of months before I am able to drive over to Clapham again, but be assured that racing will continue with, hopefully, more members turning up as the weather improves.
The Vintage Club will be at Clapham on the 8th March (next week) and again on two more occasions later in the year. For your calender the dates are: 8th March, 14th June and 25th October. I would hope to see you all at the June meeting if not before.
I am pleased to see that the Club is still active even if the membership has reduced a little, due in at least two cases to illness, but our recent newer members seem keen and will keep up the numbers at the Sunday meetings. Having said that, I find that Wednesdays are proving popular so if you can get there on that day you will be very welcome.
Bye for now and hope to see you all in 2/3 months time. Derek.