Newsletter 24 09 25
Published 22:00 on 24 Sep 2025
Welcome to WKSC Newsletter. |
| This week a report about our DF95 Radio Racing and link to a great article about The Wilson Trophy. Plus 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. ..
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| A View from the Bridge |
The Ceildh was a great success and a workout for all! Thanks to our wonderful House Team for setting that up. The Boatshed is now a Boatshed and (nearly) ready for the boats to come in (thanks again to our over busy House Team for dismantling the 'Summer Pavilion'). Some good racing was had by all in variable winds this weekend. It was especially great to see so many novice racers, of all ages, out with Tony's Start to Race. The next big event is the Fireworks night (Saturday 1st November) where we raise money for the RNLI. Peter Williams has spent many an hour organising this event with the Council. Many people are already volunteering to help run the event, Fireworks Team, Catering, traffic cone lay out, First Aid, Safeguarding to name but a few. The Police require us to have more stewards than previous years, so if anyone can help out with Stewarding please contact me, Emma Hall or Peter Williams so we can add you to the group. If we don't get enough people to help, we won't be allowed to run the event. You will be glad to know I won't be gracing your TV sets again as Saving Lives at Sea have moved on from West Kirby Lifeboat. That brief moment of awkwardness is now over, you'll be glad to know. Chris |
| News & Notices |
WKSC - Winter Yard Storage As you can see the yard is currently full of boats, with a waiting list of dinghies eager to sail and Cruisers, Hilbres and Stars due to return in the next few weeks. We are delighted to see that the boatyard is so busy but the demand for yard space is now such that we need to prioritise spaces for members' boats that are sailed regularly. There is no point in having a yard full of boats that do not sail ! Dinghies If you have finished sailing for the year please take your boat home and confirm this by emailing boatstorage@wksc.org.uk. We can then release your space for others who wish to continue sailing into the winter. If you have not sailed this year please consider keeping your boat at home. A refund of 30% of your annual yard fee paid will be available in respect of dinghies that leave the yard by end September, on prompt request to boatstorage@wksc.org.uk. There is no refund for lake licences which are already heavily discounted. In line with a lot of Clubs with limited space, we are also considering dinghy racking for next year and will be liaising with the Class Captains to obtain members' views. Falcons If you can take your boat home at the end of the Autumn Series please do so and email boatstorage@wksc.org.uk as soon as possible to confirm so we can manage the space. Cruisers We are endeavouring to find space for all cruisers that were in the yard last winter but if you have not launched your boat this year and can store it elsewhere that would also be much appreciated. As always the yard will be congested in September and October so please bear with us. Any queries please email boatstorage@wksc.org.uk or speak to your Class Captain, Mike Hartley (Rear Comm Sailing), Sam Riley Captain), Tony Marston (Sailing Sec), Jean-Louis Simons (Yard Manager) or Andy Hillyard (Boatman) Thank you for helping us to manage the yard to benefit as many members as possible. Mike Hartley (Rear Commodore Sailing) Snooker  The snooker season starts in earnest on 15 October with a home match against the mighty Hoylake Sailing Club. If there is anybody out there that can pot a red followed by perhaps a colour, then please get in touch with us as we would welcome any new blood to the squad. Practice starts in October too and details of dates and time will be provided. Fixtures 15 Oct Hoylake SC - Home 22 OctWallasey YC Home 26 Nov Dee SC Away 03 Dec Hoylake SC Away (Billiards) 07 Jan Wallasey YC Away 21 Jan Hoylake SC - Away 04 Mar Dee SC -Home 18 Mar Hoylake SC Home (Billiards) Many thanks Chris & Jonti Booth 07717511899 & 07778 411675 Wednesday Winter Quiz returns! - Wednesday 8th October  Absolutely everyone is welcome. Get a new team together or turn up and join one. The quiz is a great way to stay social over the winter months, so please try and support it. Bill Williams Trophy - Have you been cruising this year? As the season draws to a close I think it's time to think about the Bill Williams Trophy. The trophy is awarded for "the best log submitted for a cruise or cruises under the WKSC burgee in 2025". Never submitted a log before? Have a go this year. Submit the log to the President who is the adjudicator. If you want more information or guidance ask the President. He is always keen to help. Closing date for entries is the 5th December and the trophy will be presented at the AGM. Last Night of the Proms & Ceilidh We have had some great events the last few weeks. Helen Brown cooked up a storm for the Last Night of the Proms, with a delicious three course dinner. The music was fantastic and the company was great.  The Ceilidh was the last event in the Summer Pavilion this year. The House team have already returned it back to the Boastshed ready for the returning boats. Before the drapes were taken down the Ceilidh band Two Left Feet had everyone dancing up a storm. It was a great afternoon with lots of laughter, some incredible dancing skills and great food served up by Helen, Paul and Will.  Helen's Sunday Roasts are back!!  Thursday afternoon RC sailing at WKSC - come and join us!  Event Suggestions Your House Committee are planning next years events. If you have any requests or suggestions please pop a note in the box in the foyer, or email the House Team - house@wksc.org.uk. We are starting to fill the slots for our Thursday Talk series which commences in October. If you would like to share your passion for something outside of sailing - we'd love to hear about it - please contact house@wksc.org.uk for available dates. Merchandise Some of our older stock is currently on sale. Pop down to the Club and see if anything takes your fancy. |
| Galley |
The Galley on Friday  Seafood Shack is providing a fabulous menu this week. Click here to view the menu |
| Sailing Matters |
Autumns here. Anticipating a change for the worse, its a delight when the weather is good…. sunshine and light winds and its not cold - this week. Even the first lake session for the Introduction to Racing group last Saturday morning didn't suffer too badly from the weather conditions. The wind moderated and the rain stopped, miraculously, for the hour and half that we were on the water. Its that time of the year when we are planning the 2026 Sailing Programme and there will shortly be a Sailing Committee Meeting to discuss the first draft. The sailing programme doesn't just set out the racing programme; it also identifies all the tides for the year, points to useful tides for sailing even when there are no races planned for a particular tide. There are unspecified opportunities ! Why ? - you may ask. Well, to start with, we are bunch of amateurs and our time is limited. We can't plan an organised club event for every available tide. And then there's the weather. Sometimes we will have a great run of tides but a bad run of weather. Its a reminder of that old saying make hay when the sunshines or in our case Go sailing when the weather permits. Of course the lake is nearly always available. Tides over 9 metres make sailing on the lake hazardous, but there aren't too many 9 metre plus tides. All this leads to thinking about our sailing and racing in 2026. That in turn leads to making plans and decisions. Boat parking is high on the agenda of a number of us in the club . We now have a growing list of members who would like to race but cant because they cant park their boats in the boat park. We are full up. There's a waiting list for a boat parking space. SO !!! if your plans are vague about racing next year or even through the winter, do please take your boat home and enable someone to race. Racing continues through the winter.  You might have recognised I'm off on one about SAILING ACTIVITY and all of the above contribute to it…. or not as only history determines. Its always good when events that we have planned work out successfully. And so it was with the first of the Introduction to Racing sessions last Saturday morning. Some 15 x boats took to the water, approximately 10 x club owned boats (Fevas and Picos) and the rest being members boats. Many new faces have joined the group this year. I record my thanks to all those folk who helped out, rigging boats, driving RIBS and just being available to help. Some members who signed up the week before couldn't make last Saturdays session. They will be very welcome when next they can join in and this underlines how important and how helpful it is when experienced sailors can help out. Building up our Junior Sailing Group is top priority and there will be more on this as our plans come together but helping each other out to progress sailing at West Kirby is essential to increase SAILING ACTIVITY. Our Training Section does a great job of teaching sailing in the various courses that we offer. There's a progression into Monday Nights in the season and from there its into the Introduction to Racing (ItR). Racing isn't for everyone. But the ItR is a good way to hone ones sailing skills before deciding on the next step. Sailing is a lifetimes adventure ! Plenty of people choose to crew. Its a great way of learning and pretty much stress free (depending on who is on the helm !). Take to the helm when its right for you. Have a go at racing when its right for you. It was a lovely day last Sunday for the tidal racing. Some great pictures taken by Cath Harley from the committee boat of the Falcons racing. Thanks Cath. There's more on the website under Sailing Matters. Don't forget to sign in.  Evening racing is over for the season as the daylight hours diminish. We have the Sunday morning lake races to look forward to and there are still plenty of tidal races in the programme yet to come. There are some tidal specials - keep your eyes on the WhatsApp groups for more information. Southampton Boat Show comes to an end this coming Sunday. Has anyone been down there? Any feed back would be welcome for Sailing Matters. DF95 Radio Racing Its pleasing to include a report by Mike de St Paer on last Thursday afternoons DF95 racing. I have a friend who bought his son a DF65 (the smaller version) for Christmas last year. As he came away from the shop he thought to himself that it would be more fun for his son, if he could sail against someone…. so he nipped back into the shop for another DF65 for himself so his son wouldn't have to sail on his own … of course. Later he was telling his father about all this. The next day the grandfather, not to be left out, also bought one ! Neither the DF65 nor the DF95 are expensive and a great way to enjoy sailing and racing. The DF95 is more suited to WK Marine Lake. Mike DSPs article:   "The wind was up for DF95 racing this week at around 18kn give or take, and skippers all went for B rig initially which turned out to be the right choice. After a test sail David Pilling decided to go to C rig to make boat handling less critical, but although it was marginal in the gusts the other boats on B were ok. WILSON TROPHY Team racing Team Racing is something special at WKSC. This link is to a great article which captures beautifully the magic of it all. https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/wilson-trophy-team-racing-magic/ Tony Martson Sailing Secretary |
| Sailing and Club Calendar |
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What's on this week: Thu 25 Sep 14:00 Radio Sailing Class Fri 26 Sep 14:00 Illusion Class Sat 27 Sep 10:00 13:00 Training Training Sat 27 Sep 14:00 18:00 End the of season Training BBQ Sun 28 Sep 11:00 Autumn Lake 7&8 Fast Handicap (L) Club Racing Lake Sun 28 Sep 11:03 Autumn Lake 7&8 Novice Handicap (L) Club Racing Lake Sun 28 Sep 11:06 Autumn Lake 7&8 Slow Handicap (L) Club Racing Lake Mon 29 Sep 20:00 23:00 GC9 Committee Wed 1 Oct 12:30 14:00 Gentleman's Lunch |
| Training |
Adult Training at WKSC  |
| Events |
WK RNLI Fish & Chip Fundraiser - Saturday 11th October Please come and support your local Lifeboat Station. Tickets on sale at the Bar.  Halloween - Save the date! - Saturday 25th October The Boatshed of Horrors will return! A fantastic party for all our Juniors. Keep a look out for the tickets going on sale and make sure you get yours early as this event sells out! Junior Christmas Party with Santa's Grotto - Save the date! - Saturday 13th December Father Christmas will be paying a visit to WKSC. |
| Other Information |
| Boats for Sale |
Boats for sale - Click here to view Boats for Sale |
| If you would like something added to the newsletter please contact newsletter@wksc.org.uk |
Last updated 10:25 on 22 October 2025