From the Commodore’s Cabin

We start the year on a sad note with the recent death of our dear colleague Norman Millar. Norman had been a stalwart supporter of the Club who had given many years’ tireless and cheerful service. He will be sorely missed in the starting hut on race nights and his hard work in helping to maintain our grounds will be hard to replace. He always had a cheerful word of encouragement for members and was a welcoming figure in the Clubhouse. Our deepest sympathy goes to Maureen and the family circle.

In my piece this time last year I thanked the membership for electing me as Commodore, and I do the same now for re-electing me for another year. I will do my best to repay the trust shown in me. We have a new Committee, listed elsewhere in Jib Sheet, but I’d particularly like to thank Deborah Hetherington for undertaking the role of Captain, and convenor of the Social Sub-Committee, Alan Montgomery for undertaking the role of Honorary Treasurer, and Mandy Rodgers for convening the House and Grounds Sub-Committee. We now have a very good sub-committee structure and I anticipate good progress on issues this year. In welcoming new members we must, of course, thank those who have made a great contribution and are now stepping down. Fred Bell who has served as Hon Treasurer for nine years, Gary McFarland who has led on our Social Sub-Committee, and Conor Brown who took over the House & Grounds sub-committee. Dan Kennedy has also stepped down and Jim Shields has completed his one year on Committee as Past Commodore.

Already we have established a great calendar of events for the coming year. The social events programme started with the Burns Supper in January and St Valentine’s night dinner in February. In March we have the Commodore’s Dinner. For the first time we’ll also be holding a May Ball. Since April 15th marks the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic we will be holding our commemorative event on that day – although our Spring Series will have started, there will not be a race on that Sunday. The Sailing Committee has put forward a great series of cruising events throughout the season, including a Copeland’s barbeque, a Portpatrick trip and a Strangford trip. Racing, of course, will including spring and autumn Sunday series and Tuesday and Thursday points racing in the summer. I’d especially encourage people to support the regattas this summer. We had a memorable event at our Club last August and I think there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had at these events. Junior sailing will be a strong focus of the Club’s provision, with both training and racing events arranged. Our collaboration with the Active Communities Scheme should lead to much greater participation this year.

Of course, problems still remain. We very much need to increase membership of the Club. It is not easy to sustain our present scale of operation on the membership numbers we currently have. With our enhanced emphasis on cruising and fun on the water days, it would be good to see more boat owners in the marina joining us – I’m sure we have much to offer to help them get more out of their boating. Finance remains a significant problem. Prompt payment of membership and boat park fees helps with this.

The Clubhouse is much more fully used these days, with all our rooms in use on some midweek evenings. We must, of course try to increase our income from this usage, even in terms of bar takings. Our catering facilities are excellent and, if you haven’t yet done so, I’d urge everyone to try the weekend restaurant or bar meals.

I look forward to a very active year in the Club: a year in which we will see one of our members, Ryan Seaton, representing his county in the Olympic Games. This is a real honour for the Club. I wish everyone a great season’s sailing.

Roger Woodward

Commodore

Cruising

Firstly, thank you to everyone who attended the cruising meeting in December and assisted in putting together a calendar of cruising dates for 2012. I look forward to seeing you all at future meetings where we can help to further the cruising activities of the club.

Please put the following dates into your calendar.

Sunday 15th April Titanic Commemoration Event
Saturday 19th May Glenarm Barbeque
Sunday 3rd June Family Fun Day (Classic Sail Weekend)
Saturday 23rd June Copelands Barbeque
Saturday 30th June Cruise/Race to Rathlin Island
Saturday 4th August Cruise in Company to Strangford
Saturday 18th August Cruise to Portpatrick
Saturday 1st September Cutter’s Wharf

The Boxing Day Cruise (27th December 2011)

Although the weather forecast was uncertain we were fortunate in having a brief lull in the winds on the Tuesday morning and the event was well attended with some 15 boats and 80 hardy souls making their way to the Abercorn Basin pontoons and onward to the Duke of York where we enjoyed the delicious soup and sandwiches kindly arranged by Andrea Martin.

Speakers Nights

Thank you for your continuing support for these popular nights.
Coming up soon:
Wednesday 22nd February Lyndsay Buckley “Sea Survival Equipment”
Wednesday 21st March Denis & Jill Wilson “Peking to Paris in a 1927 Rolls Royce”
Wednesday 18th April Susan Anthony “Sea Shepherd Conservation Society”

Training News

Everyone is looking forward to getting back on the water this year and our juniors are certainly keen to get back into their wetsuits and get sailing!

In November we ran some topper coaching for a few weeks and we plan to do the same again in March. This will enable our CSC junior sailors to develop their skills and prepare them for competition at topper travellers and regattas.

Once again we will be running some junior sailing courses commencing in July. We have two definite dates for RYA YSS Stages 1 & 2 for junior sailors aged 8-16. These are week commencing Monday the 2nd July and week commencing Monday 23rd July. If you would like to book a place for your child or you know of any juniors who would be interested in learning to sail please email training@carrickfergussc.org

We also plan to run some RYA adult sailing courses in the Bahias. These courses will hopefully begin in May and will take place over a weekend. For more information and to arrange a suitable date please email training@carrickfergussc.org

As always to help us develop our junior sailing we need volunteers to help us out both on and off the water. If you could spare some time please email rorymmoore@hotmail.com and we can add your name to the volunteer list. It would be greatly appreciated by us and by the junior sailors!

Management Committee

The Club has completed its registration with Companies House and is now a Company Limited by Guarantee. The Management Committee are members of the Board with their associated responsibilities. The Memorandum of Understanding and Articles of Association can be viewed at the club house or on the web site.

New Members

This quarter we have six new members and would like to welcome them into the Club. They are David Davison and family, Ronald Bishop, Tony Walker, Thomas Townsley, Sudhir Tardon, and Colin de Vrieze. We look forward to seeing you around the club in weeks and months to come.

Carrickfergus Ruffian Affair

Carrickfergus has a long association with the Ruffian Class of boats. The Ruffian 23 is a 23 foot keelboat which was designed and built by brothers Dickie and Billy Brown at Portaferry, County Down, 35 years ago. The Ruffian 23 is a one design racing yacht, but is also an extremely family friendly cruiser for its size and has been cruised in the waters around Ireland, the UK and further afield. Around 200 Ruffians were built and many are still raced regularly in Dun Laoghaire, Wicklow, Skerries, Baltimore, Carrickfergus, Strangford Lough, around the Clyde, Isle of Man and even in Hong Kong and Uruguay.

The original Ruffian was a 33 foot ocean racer designed by Billy and Dickie Brown in 1969/70. It was so successful that the brothers set up “Weatherly Yachts” and went into production with a smaller 23 foot model. There are over 70 of these boats in Ireland which were built during the 70’s and early 80’s.

The first Ruffians started to appear in the club in the late 70’s. These were a mixture of the 23 foot model and the larger 8.5 metre version. The first 23 foot boat was Mellow Yellow sailed by Robin Fielden. The early 8.5s were Grousebeater (Alan Beggs), Rum Rouge (Henry Wilson and Maurice Kane), Moonraker (Ian McMurray), Polyanna (P. Scott) and Ruffun (Sam Burnside).

The next 23 footer into the Club was Hot Orange owned by Hamish Barbour. These boats were bought as a hull and deck and then finished and fitted out by their owners. Hamish reflects with passion the early racing on Hot Orange particularly against Cordon Bleu sailed by Alan Richmond. He also recalls the Tomatin in May 1982 when Grousebeater and Hot Orange represented the Club. The overnight feeder race from Bangor to Tarbert was particularly memorable. On advice from Terry Windsor, they tacked immediately for Whitehead and then north up the County Antrim coast. All other yachts sailed due east. The Carrick boats managed to stay in light winds all night while the others were becalmed. Grousebeater was first on the water and won her Class by sixteen hours on corrected time and Hot Orange won her Class by eleven hours corrected time.

The next three years were also successful for them and in 1984 in the feeder race Grousebeater was first, Rum Rouge second and Hot Orange third. They also raced in the Nationals in Dublin Bay in very testing conditions and had a record speed of 14.2 knots. Hamish says there was no noise from the crew as the rudder trembled while Sam Montgomery gybed the spinnaker.

These successes encouraged others in the club to buy Ruffians. Walter Ewing bought Bloodhound in 1988. This boat was built in 1977 and originally was from Strangford and then Dun Laoghaire. Alec Kirkpatrick also bought Carageen around that time and he has shown a clean pair of heels ever since. He and his experienced crew provide the standard everyone in Carrick has to beat. Last season Carageen was second in the National Championships in Dun Laoghaire and won the Corrin Trophy as the best boat from outside Dublin Bay.

Originally Ruffians were raced in IRC Class and Walter has documentation of the boat weights when they were weighed at Kelly’s coal yard at the harbour. Their weights varied little between 1.82 and 1.92 tonnes.

These boats change hands regularly and there are currently twelve in the club most of which take part in the one design club racing. The current regulars on the start line are:

Carageen – Alec Kirkpatrick
Bloodhound – Walter Ewing
Hot Orange – Cyril Noble
Riki Tiki Tavi – Alan Harpur and Simon Toland
Coyote – Lisa and James Waugh
Daisy – Wendy Grant
Roosky – Charlie Hilditch

Ruffians are well made boats and have stood the test of time. They are very forgiving and have given their owners lots of joy over the years. They also add a touch of colour on the water. Their vibrant colours brighten any race and the starts can be likened to a fireworks display, sometimes in more ways than one.

We hope the Ruffian tradition in Carrick continues for many years to come.

A colourful Ruffian start line

Ryan and Matt qualify for the 2012 Olympics

Carrickfergus sailor Ryan Seaton and his team mate Matt McGovern have officially qualified Ireland for the 2012 Olympics in the 49er sailing discipline. It will be the first time since Athens 2004 that Ireland has been represented in the 49er Class.

A very intensive training programme is planned for the boys in the run up to the event. Congratulations and best wishes. We will all be rooting for you.

Sailing News

The Spring Series starts on Sunday 25th March so get the scrubbers and antifouling out. It runs until 29th April although there will be no racing on 15th April due to the Titanic Centenary Weekend.

Titanic Commeration Event

On April 15th 2012 it is one hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic. The Club will be holding a special event to mark this tragedy. The event will include boats mustering at No. 11 channel buoy (off Holywood) at 1045 hrs and then proceeding down Belfast Lough to No. 1 fairway buoy (off Gray’s Point) to mark the passage of the Titanic down Belfast Lough on 2nd April 1912. The boats will then assemble in a semi-circle at the front of the club house. There will be a short service ashore at 1300 hrs and a brass band will play hymns and a wreath will be laid on the water. A junior member of the club will also lay a wreath in remembrance of the 52 children that were lost. The service will be followed by a reception in the club house at 1430 hrs.

2012 Regatta Dates

Sat 9th June Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Sat 23rd June Ballyholme Yacht Club
Sat 7th July Holywood Yacht Club
Sat 21st July East Antrim Boat Club
Sat 28th July County Antrim Yacht Club
Sat 4th August Cockle Island Boat Club
Sat 11th August Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club
Sat 18th August Donaghadee Sailing Club
Sat 25th August Carrickfergus Sailing Club

Could all boat owners please notify the Sailing Secretary of any boat changes during 2011 so that the Lough Conference records can be updated.

Alternatively send details of changes to info@CarrickfergusSC.org

Please Note: All racing crew taking part in the Club’s Points Series must have either full membership or be a junior, student or sailing associate. members of the Club.

Social Scene

A full Social Programme has been prepared for the year. These events include:

11th Feb Valentines Night (Sit down meal + entertainment)
10th March Commodore’s Dinner
17th March St Patrick’s Night ( food + entertainment)
21st April Small Boat Auction (entertainment in club)
22nd April Irish Boat Jumble
5th May May Ball
1/2 May Classic Sail Weekend
25th Aug CSC Regatta
12th Oct Prize Giving Dinner
27th Oct Halloween Party
22nd Dec Christmas Dinner
23rd Dec Children’s Party + Carols in the Club
31st Dec New Year’s Eve Formal Dinner

TICKET SALES FOR SOCIAL EVENTS

Ascertaining total numbers for social events has always been fraught with difficulty, due to last minute sale of tickets, making it difficult for the caterer to estimate the number of meals required, waitresses to employ etc.   For all future events tickets will be sold at the advertised price up to 3 days prior to the event.  Any tickets ordered or sold after that date will have a £5 surcharge per ticket.

PAYING FOR TICKETS

Tickets can be purchased by PayPal on the club website, or with cash, credit card or cheque at the bar or event organiser.  Money for tickets will only be accepted at the bar up to 12 noon on the day of the event.  Any money outstanding after that should be paid to the event organiser, usually the Social Secretary.

CLUB CARD DISCOUNT

10% discount on bar sales when using your Membership Card is to continue.  A minimum of £20 should be credited to your card to get discount, all cash sales will be at full bar prices.  This is to reduce money transactions at the bar, to ensure the proper use of Membership Cards, and ultimately to speed up service at the bar at busy times.  It will be implemented on 1st March 2012.

The 10% discount will continue to apply when purchasing meals from the caterer.

Your co-operation in these matters is greatly appreciated

Port O’ Call Restaurant & Bistro

Proprietor - Jim Mooney Tel:     07790 870 759

Bar Meals & Snacks on the Upper Deck

Dining Room Service on the Lower Deck

Friday & Saturday 12 noon, last orders 9 pm

Sunday 12 noon, last orders 7.30 pm

Booking recommended.

Carrickfergus Sailing Club
Rodger’s Quay, Carrickfergus
Co. Antrim. BT38 8BE

+44 2893 351402
Fax : +44 2893 359302
info@CarrickfergusSC.org

Printing kindly sponsored by Texam Ltd

Editor : Jim Shields (jibsheet@carrickfergussc.org)