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Club News - April

An update from the Commodore. 30th April 2020

Posted: Thursday, 30 April , 2020

On behalf of General Committee I’d like to thank all members for their support as the lock-down continues with all club activities, organised and non organised, suspended. Although the club is closed and we are all in lock-down, background activity continues (remotely and via online meetings) with committee members continuing to manage the impact of the current restrictions on our employees (now furloughed), our members, future events and club finances.
Whilst there is no sign of an immediate end to the current restrictions we have started to consider and plan for how the club could operate in what will be a very different and challenging environment, determined by any ongoing measures necessary to comply with the letter and spirit of Government directives. As the situation changes we will provide further briefings. Meanwhile, thank you for your ongoing support and as always, keep safe.
Kelvin Tolson - WYC Commodore.

Found in the archive - Film of the 1959 Flying Dutchman Worlds at WYC

Posted: Thursday, 30 April , 2020

One of several reels of film found in the club archives, this short video shows black and white footage of the Flying Dutchman World Championship and FD Week held at Whitstable Yacht Club in July 1959. It was the year before the Rome Olympics and attracted competitors from across the world. Most notably it was the first time competitors from Russia, Poland and East Germany had competed this side of the Iron Curtain. There were also two boats from South Africa. It attracted a lot of media interest, and The local paper even reported what the Russians had for breakfast they seemed so alien at the time!
Competitors were in two fleets sailing Olympic courses of a triangle, loop and beat. The World Championships with one competitor from each country went first and the FD Week, which was open to anyone, went 15 minutes later. The World Championship was won by Mario Capio of Italy, followed by Adrian Jardine (K17) of Great Britain. FD Week was won by local sailor “Slotty” Dawes (K36) who represented GB at Rome where he finished 7 th. The Flying Dutchman was a new Olympic class in 1960 and had been introduced into the UK by WYC sailor “Slotty” Dawes. “Slotty” was President of the International FD Class Association. Whitstable was the centre of UK FD sailing and went on to run many international events including the Europeans.

RYA eSailing Spring Club Championships - WYC qualifying round winner!

Posted: Sunday, 26 April , 2020

Well done to Tom Oliver, who beat 5 other WYC sailors in the WYC qualifying round of the RYA eSailing Spring Club Championships in some very close racing. After 5 races the results were a tie, with Tom beating Andrew Guerin once RRS A8 was applied. Ali Nicolson was only 2 points behind the leaders to come in third place, with Robert Govier just getting forth place despite tieing on points with Jonny Musgrove, and Ruth Oliver came in 6th only place 10 points behind the leaders.
Tom now goes through to the South East Regional qualifying round, and if successful, through to the Nationals! There are over 230 clubs taking part, so that's a lot of competition!

Reminder: Clubhouse Closure

Posted: Tuesday, 21 April , 2020

Members are reminded that with the ongoing government restrictions, the clubhouse and all associated buildings remain closed to members. This closure includes the Rigden and Stroud sheds.

Whitstable Marine - Support your local chandlery!

Posted: Monday, 13 April , 2020

Don't forget that our local chandlery is still open online: https://www.whitstablemarine.co.uk/. Now's a great time to stock up on spare parts, do some polishing/painting/bimbling if you have your boat at home, make sure you have all the right gear for when we're allowed on the water, or learn a new skill like splicing (https://www.marlowropes.com/splicing-instructions)!
All stock is available for click and collect, and if you can't find it on their website, you can still order it by messaging them through their website or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WhitstableMarines/. They'll also do free delivery for club members in the Whitstable and Herne Bay area.

Virtual Easter Nip Results

Posted: Monday, 13 April , 2020

With a mix of classes sailed across 4 days of racing, 49er on Friday, Star on Saturday, F18 on Sunday and Day Boat Racer on Monday, the 19 gamers enjoyed some close racing for the first WYC Virtual Easter Nip. Across the 12 races, Kevin Dutch showed consistent performance, taking first place in 9 of the races to take first overall. Tom Oliver gave him the most competition to come in second overall. The battle for third place was very close, with only 2 points in it, but Luke Swain couldn't quite get past Rick Perkins, giving Rick the place. The full results can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/tb72wjq.
If you want to join in, sign up for free at https://www.virtualregatta.com/en/inshore-game/ on your laptop, phone or tablet, and then join a race! The next scheduled club races are the Evening Series this week on Tuesday and Thursday, and then the start of the virtual Spring Series on Saturday and Sunday. See the full schedule at https://tinyurl.com/vvd2j5p

Virtual Easter Nip - Day 1!

Posted: Friday, 10 April , 2020

The WYC Virtual Easter Nip day 1 racing has completed, with 14 boats taking part for a great competition on the 'water'! We raced 49ers today, with Kevin Dutch, Rick Perkins and Steve Hodges are leading the pack, but there's plenty to play for as we switch to the Star class for Saturday's racing. See https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pr_bcyGrJbn58cijmSYucOcbYVmJVgSPUqGkRS58txc/edit?usp=sharing for the results so far.
If you want to take part, go to https://www.virtualregatta.com/en/inshore-game/ or download the Virtual Regatta Inshore game from your app store, create a free account, and do the simple training sessions. Then, join a WYC race! We'll be racing at 10am for the Virtual Easter Nip on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There’s a limit of 20 sailors per race, so we suggest you log in at least 10 mins before to join. To connect to the race, log in, go to Custom Race, in the Join tab click the green padlock button at the bottom and add the code (for the Virtual Easter Nip it's "wycnip2020"). There’ll be 3 back to back races per session, so after each race, repeat the process to join the race with the same code. For details of the full schedule, see http://wyc.org.uk/news/wyc-racing-on-virtual-regatta.

WYC Racing on Virtual Regatta

Posted: Sunday, 05 April , 2020

Need get your sailing fix while Social Distancing or Self Isolating? The RYA has organised for Whitstable Yacht Club to get a free VIP pass to enable us to organise club racing online! We've had a few practice races, and the game is fun and easy to use from a laptop, tablet or phone. To get started, go to https://www.virtualregatta.com/en/inshore-game/ or download the Virtual Regatta Inshore game from your app store, create a free account, and do the simple training sessions. Then, join a WYC race!
We're putting together a schedule based on volunteer organiser's availability, so check here for the race start times: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hGaOQv4bd5HgBCHbWgsstQkaFL4XE8VTB5cjLLJjIcY/edit?usp=sharing. There's a limit of 20 sailors per race, so we suggest you log in at least 10 mins before to join. To connect to the race, log in, go to Custom Race, in the Join tab click the green padlock button at the bottom and add the code from the schedule above. There'll be 3 back to back races per session, so after each race, repeat the process to join the race with the same code.
Each race needs an organiser to open and start the race, so if you'd like to get involved with organising more races and races at different times, please contact Robert Govier.