Stewartby Sailing » Wednesday Racing

Wednesday Walking Group

Karl Pountney — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:07:52 +0000

With the summer sailing season over, a number of members have got together and will be starting a regular Wednesday Walking Group. With walks planned throughout the winter months across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, each walk will commence late morning visiting a local pub for lunch en-route before returning to the starting point. The first walk will take place in early November.

If you are interested in taking part, please contact John Williamson on 01234 216311

Wednesday Evening Sailing

Karl Pountney — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:38:51 +0000

Wednesday Evening Sailing is approaching the half-way point in the season and it’s hard to thing of a better way to relax after a hard day at work or school/college than a sail in the summer evening. This year numbers of both racing and recreational sailors, continues to rival, and often surpass, numbers on Sunday afternoons.

Importantly, racing is not possible without those taking part giving-up one evening to provide rescue cover or run the racing. Please remember that from the beginning of July we start the second of two duty blocks. If you have done a duty in block one, we kindly ask you to undertake a second duty in block two. For more information on dates and start times, please consult your club handbook.

Wednesday Evening Sailing Starts on April 6th

Karl Pountney — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:51:14 +0000

From the beginning of April until the end of September you will be able to get your mid-week sailing fix each Wednesday evening. It all kicks-off on 6th April from 6.15pm. The Galley and bar will be open after sailing for a meal and drink.

As usual, Wednesday evenings cannot take place without members giving up their time to provide safety cover and run the racing. A duty sheet will be available on the notice-board from April 3rd. If you intend sailing on Wednesday nights please sign-up as soon as possible. Remember, no duty crew, no race. Read-on for more details.

April/May Race start times

The start-time will be at 6.15 pm on Wednesdays 6th and 13th April.
For April 20th & 27th the start-time will be at 6.30pm.
During the whole of May races start at 6.45pm

Safety Cover & Race Officer Duties

As with previous years, the 24 weeks over the summer period will be broken down into two blocks. If you intend sailing throughout the summer, from April to September, we will expect you to do wednesday evening duties. Preferably one in each block.

Remember, Wednesday evening duties do not count towards your annual duty commitment to the club. However, everyone that takes to the water do appreciate the time you give.

Rules Quiz Evening

Karl Pountney — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:44:40 +0000

Good news! Following the rules quiz on Wednesday 16th March we can confirm that at least 6 people have a pretty good understanding of the Racing Rules of Sailing. 6 popular sailors pitted their wits against a quiz-master Karl Pountney’s carefully prepared questions. Focusing on what you might see while racing at Stewartby, the quiz tested everyone’s basic rules knowledge in 3 rounds with over 30 questions being based on animated boat-on-boat situations.

Congratulations to Mark Norman who came first in what turned out to be a very high scoring quiz.

Results

Mark Norman — 38pts.
Simon Whitham — 36pts.
Steve Ivory — 35.5pts.
Bill Strange — 35pts.
Ruth Ivory — 30pts.
Ian Parish — 24pts.

Test Yourself

For those that didn’t take part, the two main rounds were based on an online rules quiz created by Uli and Wolfi Finckh. So why not test yourself at http://game.finch.net/.

Round 3 was a paper based quiz and a PDF copy of this can be found in our racing documents download area.

Sailing Simulator Evening – Wednesday 16th

Steve Ivory — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:27:34 +0000

Following the very popular event last year we are pleased to announce the return of the full size sailing simulator on the evening of Wednesday 16th. Last years event was as competitive on dry land as it usually is on the water! Come along and brush up your skills in time for the new season.

Flotilla Sailing 2011

Karl Pountney — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:00:59 +0000

As part of our Winter Wednesday series of evenings members are invited to come along to the club on December 15th to learn about the joys of Flotilla Sailing and to hear about an a trip for members that is being planned in 2011.

The evening will see Bill Strange and Ian Parish talk about a trip they took recently to Greece. This will be followed by a short presentation and discussion regarding the planned trip for 2010.

As with normal Winter Wednesdays’ there will be a galley meal available and the bar will be open.

It seems that already there is plenty of interest and if you want to find out more please come along. The evening starts at 7pm.

2010 SWSC Virtual Skipper Regatta

Karl Pountney — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:37:16 +0000

The first of this year’s ‘Winter Wednesdays’ took place on the 17th November with the return of the Virtual Skipper Regatta. The competition would begin in earnest after Dinner with newcomers taking an early opportuity to get some practice in. Four heats later and a final, Tim Robins was crowned Virtual Skipper Champion for 2010.

Heat 1 was won by Karl Pountney with Sam Robins coming a very close second.
Heat 2 saw Simon Whitham triumph over Steve Ivory (who wasn’t quite out the running)
Heat 3 had Tim Robins take the honours.
Heat 4 was a little contentious. Steve, who’d failed to qualify in Heat 2 sneaked in taking a vacant place at the end of the table. 8 minutes later he romped home in first place beating Ruth Ivory and Rosie Norman.

The final was therefore between Karl, Simon, Tim and Steve. The pre-start 3 minutes was a frantic affair with Steve stalking the others determined to ensure they had penalties before the start. On the line however Steve was forced over the line by Karl and forced (with Karl) to round-the-ends and restart. This left Simon and Tim free to head on up the course.

Having taken 3 360-degree penalties Karl headed off towards the startboard lay-line. Steve’s single penalty left him trailing just behind.

Over the course of the two laps, Tim built a modest lead that wasn’t challenged much by Simon leading to a win for Tim. Furtherback, Karl and Steve had made up some distance on the leading two with the final run being the decider. Karl took the left-hand side of the course with Steve opting for the right-handside taking a gamble on the shifting (virtual) wind. At the line it would be Karl that crossed the line first just seconds ahead of Steve.

Results

1st Tim Robins
2nd Simon Whitham
3rd Karl Pountney
4th Steve Ivory

Other competitors:

Sam Robins
Gerry Howcroft
Sue Howcroft
Ruth Ivory
Rosie Norman
Neville Soderberg
Steve Mills
Bill Strange

Many thanks must go to Tim Robins and Gerry Howcroft for setting-up the computers.
Thanks also to Sarah Norman, Rosie and Linzy in the Galley for a fantastic Dinner.

SWSC Virtual Regatta 2010

Karl Pountney — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:51:49 +0000

After the success of last years hotly contested competition, we are once again holding the SWSC Virtual Regatta.
It is to take place on the 17th November 2010 at the club house, and wet weather gear will NOT be needed!

Registration and briefing will be open from 7:00pm with hot food available between races.
There will be 6 virtual vessels racing against each other, helmed by sailors and non sailors alike.
With no expense spared, there will even be a trophy to take home for the triumphant winner!

No computer game experience is necessary, there are only 5 buttons needed, full instructions and briefing will be given, along with the chance to practice for all taking part.

Even if you decide you don’t want to race, come along and ‘bet’ on who you think will win each race and maybe you could still win a prize.

So come along and take part in the driest sailing regatta you will ever get the chance to do … next Wednesday … at the club house!

See you on the virtual water!!

Winter Wednesdays – Update

Karl Pountney — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:03:23 +0000

We thought that we would give you an update on the upcomming Winter Wednesday social evenings. You may remember that last year’s monthly Wednesday evening socials were very popular

The 17th November has an Evening of Virtual Skipper Sailing and will start at 7pm, with dinner served during a break in the evening.

December 15th will be a presentation evening for a potential flotilla sailing trip for club members next year. See separate announcement.

Remember, the Galley will be serving dinner and the bar will be open for drinks. Read on for the other dates.

Winter Wednesday Dates

17th November – Virtual Sailing (Tim Robins)
15th December – Flotilla Sailing 2011 (Bill Strange & Ian Parish)
12th Jan – Quiz (John Williamson & Dave Grummitt)
16th Feb – Sailing Simulator Regatta
16th March – Racing Rules Evening (Speaker TBA, but see Karl Pountney)

Postponement of Wednesday Social Evening

Karl Pountney — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:08:07 +0000

The Wednesday night social evening planned for this week (13th January) has been postponed due to the ongoing icy conditions. With many members travelling a some distance to the club we felt it was better to postpone than have people returning home in sub-zero temperatures.

The planned “Rules & Seamanship” quiz will now take place on Wednesday 10th February.