Newsletter 12 03 25
Published 10:00 on 12 Mar 2025
Welcome to WKSC Newsletter |
A round up of Club news this week... including sailing, training and upcoming social events. Also included are links to the Galley on Friday menu and current boats for sale. .. |
| A View from the Bridge |
| Morning All, The deadline for the Wilson Trophy fell last weekend with a final push in the final 24 hours putting 40 Teams in for 32 places! Thursday night saw the 40 only reduced to 34..... They couldn't bring themselves to bring it down any further..... Whilst the 'Cardinals' were deep in the 'Wilson Enclave', and before the white smoke rose, Martin Whittingham-Jones and friends were giving a fascinating talk on Radio Controlled Yachts and the Model Yachting Association. This is officially my next new hobby, after bee keeping.... We now know about swarming bees from last week, and now the difficulty of spotting your RC yacht is in the mix. I wonder, could the two talks be blended? Queen Bee in RC yacht? New sport?    Absurdity aside, the talk was genuinely fascinating, and a larger fleet of Dragon Force 65s and 95s would be fabulous at the Club! The national standard is exceptionally high and it seems that the camaraderie of the fleet is something to be envied. The price of these gorgeous craft was remarkably good! Thanks to Mike St Paere and Lynne Pengelly who brought down their classic model Yachts, which beautifully bracketed the display of the modern racing Yachts. I think it would be amiss of me not to mention Dave Potter here, an ex-WKSC member whom it was delightful to see back in the Club! I'm sure if you have a questions Martin W-J would be delighted to answer them. The Instructors were busy this weekend doing an RYA Senior Instructors (SIs) Course, they will finish off next weekend. Hopefully the first of many SIs courses. I understand many people want to do this, and the Training Team will do their very best to accommodate everyone. The ladies who paint were busy giving the new 'Junior Sailors Lounge' (sounds fancy!) a much needed once-over with a brush! Soon to be completely refurbished, details to follow. I'm not sure that paint was the only liquid that was disappearing in significant quantities up there....!?! Helen did her very best to feed every single Club Member this weekend, with Friday night food, Sunday Brunch and Burgers for the Rugby Saturday and Sunday. I have just realised that between Friday morning and Sunday evening she made all bar one of my meals! The Brunch on Sunday raised over £1000 for the Wilson, so thank you to Kathryn and Terri for organising the raffle, and Helen and her team for the aforementioned food. A big thank you to everyone who turned up to support the event, who bought tickets and who donated the prizes!!! The weather joined us for the weekend too! Sitting on the patio in the sun was what the Club is about. Apologies for the windows not yet being sorted in the Main Room, just a few more 'i's to dot and 't's to cross before we can move there — it's all about insurance, as you can imagine. But don't for a moment think Fabrics have been slacking! If you poke your head into the men's changing rooms, you will see real progress there, a new floor has been laid!! Well done Peter and his Team! Eric kindly sent in a few photos of the sailing this weekend.   It was a glorious day for a racing on Sunday and great to see everyone out enjoying the weather. Have a great week! Yours Aye, Cap'n Chris |
| News & Notices |
2025 WKSC Handbooks The 2025 handbooks have arrived and will be sent out to members over the next 2 weeks. If you are in the Club this week please feel free to take yours (and any others that you can deliver). They are in the Macdona Room (sorted by area). If your handbook is not there then it is out for delivery ! The envelope is addressed to the "primary member" of your group. Generally there is one handbook per envelope. If you need more please ask in the Office.Bar Hours The summer bar hours will be starting on 1st April. Monday 18.30 - 22.00Tuesday 18.30 - 22.00 Wednesday 12.00 - 14.30 18.30 - 22.00 Thursday 17.00 - 23.00 Friday 17.00 - 23.00 Saturday 12.00 - 19.00 Sunday 12.00 - 19.00 (exceptions for booked events) SAILING MATTERS Thursday 6/3/25 Talk on Radio Sailing Martin Whittingham-Jones introduced the talk on Radio Sailing, reflecting on the rapid growth of radio sailing in the era of 2.4Ghz radios and in particular the introduction into the market place of inexpensive Dragonforce 65 and 95 ABS boats by Joysway. The 95 is more suited to West Kirby Marine Lake and has resulted in 13 members acquiring them and now regular racing takes place on Thursday afternoons. Peter Baldwin from the Model Yacht Association (MYA) gave a perspective of the sport from a regional, national and International level touching on WKSCs previous commitment to staging a World Championship for the 1 Metre Class in 2011 (many members will remember a visit by the MYA Patron HRH Prince Philip at the event). Our very own Dave Potter concluded the talk, explaining the natural enjoyment of model yacht sailing for him from an early age starting with a toy Star Yacht (made in Birkenhead), understanding how sailing boats work, getting involved in racing model yachts at the Birkenhead Model Yacht Club, competitions and understanding the set up and tuning of a model racing yacht…then into dinghies and yachts. There were plenty of Radio Boats on show (Dragonforce 65s and 95s), plus Mike De St Paers impressive Victorian Pond Yacht with Gaff Rig and jack yard top sail extending upwards to the ceiling and Dick Priests vane A Class Highlander which won a World Championship in the 1960s. A very good and interesting evening which was well attended. Our thanks to Peter and Dave for travelling from Cumbria and Wilmslow respectively and to Martin, all the way from Greasby! Friday 7/3/25 The Illusion Super Cup Martin Hartley won the Illusion Super Cup on Friday afternoon. Five races sailed in a good breeze most of the time but rising to maybe 20 knots in race 4. That's fresh to frightening as the Aussies would say, when it comes to Illusion sailing - water ingressing over the coaming - pumping out necessary.  Peter Williams came second overall with 13 points to Martins 5 and Alan Irving 3rd just 2 points behind Peter. 7 Competing. Saturday 8/3/25 Introduction to Racing A lovely morning greeted the Introduction to Racing group. The south easterly breeze blowing straight down the lake enabled an exercise in cross tacking and checking rule observation after starting from a long starting line. Four windward leeward races were completed the last proving a bit more interesting for all concerned… the forecast was for 11 knots but with gusts of 20 knots around mid day. The actual wind speed had been about 8 knots and the gusts hadn't come to much until the last race. The fleet was running down to the finish when a good blast of wind capsized most of the fleet. The gusts kept coming after that. It took a while to recover every one back to the sailing club. A coffee and steak pie restored things back to normal before a debriefing.14 boats taking part made up of Lasers, Lightnings a GP, Mirror and a Pico. Sunday 9/3/25 Lake Early Spring Series Races 3 & 4 Though the wind was light the Sunday mornings racing was blessed with warmth, for a change, and this encouraged more folk to go afloat. Twenty boats made it all worthwhile for the Armstrong family (three generations) to conduct the race management. The first race starting from the north starting line got away after a short postponement to allow the wind to settle. The dominant group of an Albacore (John Carlin & Chris Elles-Toner), D-Zero (Liz Potter), Solo (Martin Hartley) and Laser (Steve Jardine) edged away from the pack but not by much. With the land warming up a sea breeze took over reversing the wind direction to a NNW on the last lap. The tricky wind swing didn't prevent the D-Zero from taking line honours followed by the Albacore then the Solo which was close enough to the leading three to win comfortably on corrected time by 2.5 minutes. The Armstrong Race Team moved to the old baths area, to set up the start line for the second race. This race followed a similar pattern to the first with the same dominant group of boats moving away from the pack joined by another Laser sailed by Stuart Dawson. Just the same order for crossing the finishing line and Martin Hartley winning again on corrected time by 3 minutes from Laser (Stuart Dawson), Albacore (John Carlin & Chris Elles-Tomer), D-Zero (Liz Potter, Laser (Steve Jardine). If there are 20 boats going out to race in March, how many will be out in say May? 40 perhaps ?!! Full Results online : wksc results  LAKE COURSES for 2025: Much time and thought has gone into reviewing lake courses, not just for this year but in previous years. I sincerely thank you to all concerned. I recognise that there can be emotion in this whole process and consternation in the final result. This time round it falls on my shoulders to make a final decision as Sailing Secretary. I also have taken time considering the recommendations and have decided that the courses are not changing for 2025. I emphasise: Course 41 - As defined by the Race Officer is re introduced. (Note: this was re introduced during last season but some race officers for 2025 may not be aware of this). Race Officers are politely requested to think carefully before making up their own course. It should include at least one beat to windward and a run whenever possible. Existing course cards for the lake are therefore still valid. NEXT SUNDAY 15/3/25 - Tidal Racing - First Start - Fast Handicap :10:45 IMPORTANT DIARY DATE : 26/6/25 WKSC REGATTA Tony Marston Sailing Secretary We are approaching the summer sailing season and, as last year, we will be sending out invoices for you to pay your fees. The new boat fees, effective from 1st April, are now on the Club website. To help us administer this efficiently please could you: 1 Wait till you receive your invoice and then pay promptly - preferably by Stripe or bank transfer; 2 Address all queries to boatstorage@wksc.org .uk - NOT to the office 3 If your boat is not currently in the yard and you wish to bring it down for the summer please email boatstorage@wksc.org.uk As always the yard will be very congested in April as tidal classes and cruisers launch and dinghies return. If you cannot get to your allotted berth the Captain (Mal Jones) and Yard Manager (Jude Stratton) will be able to advise on where to put your boat pro tem. To re-iterate if you have any queries please send them to boatstorage@wksc.org.uk Thank you for your patience Mal Jones Captain A call out to the helpers that we have 2 final working parties on Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th March, 10-1 each day. If you can spare us some time it would be much appreciated. If you can help please email results@wksc.org.uk or contact Kay. We intend to unveil the 6 Fireflies to the Ancient Mariners who have so generously donated to the project this coming Sunday 16th March from 13.00. The boats really do look magnificent and all members are very welcome to join us in celebrating this achievement. Team Racing Group |
| The Galley on Friday |
| Smash Bros will be serving a delicious menu this week. Click here for the menu. |
| Sailing and Club Calendar |
What's on this week: Wednesday 12th 12:30 - 14:00 Gentleman's Lunch Wednesday 12th 16:00 - 17:00 Star committee meeting Thursday 13th 14:00 Radio Sailing Thursday 13th 18:00 - 22:00 St John Dempster Funeral Thursday 13th 19:30 - 21:30 Falcon Meeting Friday 14th 12:00 - 19:00 PB2 Assessment Training Friday 14th 14:00 Illusion Saturday 15th - 16th RYA Senior Instructors Course (3rd Course) 2025 Training Saturday 15th 14:15 - 22:00 Six Nations - SUPER SATURDAY! Sunday 16th 10:45 Arctic Tidal 7 & 8 Fast Handicap Dinghies Sunday 16th 10:48 Arctic Tidal 7 & 8 Slow Handicap Dinghies (T) Wednesday 19th 12:30 - 14:00 Gentleman's Lunch Wednesday 19th 19:30 - 23:00 Snooker Match WKSC v Dee SC |
| Training |
Sailing Taster Day Do you love sailing at WKSC? Invite friends, family, colleagues to come a have a sail with one of our friendly instructors. We're having a sailing taster day to give people a chance to experience why we all love sailing! Pop down on Saturday 29th, we'll be on the apron from 13.30-15.30.  Click HERE to book your First Aid Course.  Click HERE to book your training course. We will be advertising externally so please book now if you wish to take a course.  |
| Events |
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Thursday Talks - 20th March - Hot Topics in Astrophysics  If anyone has a topic they think people would enjoy hearing more about, and would like to present it, please contact house@wksc.org.uk and we will see if we can find a date next year! 6 Nations Rugby Matches It is Super Saturday. Amazing food by Helen and Paul will be available during all matches. The matches will be shown in the Main Room. All welcome, please remember to sign any guests in. The guest book is located by the entrance. The matches this Saturday are: 14.15 Italy v Ireland 16.45 Wales v England 20.00 France v Scotland  Hilbre Cheese and Wine  Weekly Wednesday Quiz New members and teams are most welcome, just turn up. This is a lovely evening to come and enjoy the social side of the Club. Sunday Lunches by Helen Next lunch is Sunday 30th March The fantastic Sunday lunches catered by Helen Brown and Paul Weston are back by popular demand! Once a month the Sunday menu will be served in the Macdona Room. Book your place by putting your name on the list behind the bar. Please pay in cash at the bar prior to the lunch. Last bookings by Thursday. Helen's number is 07855191308. |
| Other Information |
Galley on Friday Menu- click here |
| Boats for Sale |
Boat Parts - Complete set of fittings, rigging etc for an Enterprise Dinghy.Click here for more details Boats for sale - New - GP 14 New - Laser 34383 Click here to view Boats for Sale |
| If you would like something added to the newsletter please contact newsletter@wksc.org.uk |
Last updated 11:33 on 12 March 2025
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