Spring is here and countdown to sailing has begun!

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September 2016

Wow, how quickly has the racing season snuck up on us and once again so much has been achieved in our working bees during these past 4 months. With only two weekends to go before open day this will be our last and final push to get the club rooms in ship shape condition prior to opening day.

The Opening Day of the 2016-17 sailing season is Saturday 8 October. All members, family and friends are invited to join the Flag Officers, Committee of Management and our distinguished guests at our Opening Day celebrations on Saturday 8 October.

The official activities will start at 1pm with the formal opening of the season, the flag raising (1:30pm) and then on to the ‘sail past’ of the south jetty to raise your cheers to the official party. After the official sail past a short social race will be held, followed by a BBQ on the upper deck.

Awards will be given to most colourful/best dressed boat, best dressed crew, loudest hail, and best helmsman-ship for those who have to avoid bumping into the jetty.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the club on opening day.

Simon van den Berg | Commodore

Sailing season news

The sailing season opens Saturday 8 October with an innovative new sailing calendar. Gone is the limited 7 race series. Now we have an 18 race series, taking best 9 races. If there is an equal result, there will be a count back to determine the winner.

See the website for the sailing calendar, Notice of Race, sailing Instructions, season entry form, and safety declaration and equipment checklists (for OTB and keelboats).

Working bees are a buzz!

With only two working bee weekends to go it is all hands on deck to help finish off the huge list of maintenance jobs around the Club. The working bees start at 9.30am to around 12 on Saturday 24 September and 1 October, followed by a tasty BBQ.

This Saturday was a typically Spring day with lots of helpers here to push those projects along to conclusion – there is an air of excitement around the members about the impending start to the season.

A group of helpers, at the end of tug of war rope, lowered the Club flag pole for renovations; the Jack Cox came in for its annual maintenance, service and repaint. The pontoon bumper replacement project moved closer to realisation for the first pontoon, with the rest following up in the coming year. Willy 3 returned from its inflatable repair during the week and has its new T Bar Bimini fitted.

The repairs of the upper deck is nearing an end and wish to thank Andrew Kiel and Alan O’Brien and the team for all their efforts.

After over 11 years of tireless service the Willy 1 trailer was found to be in an unserviceable condition at the end of last year, so has been retired. A new Dunbier trailer has been ordered and is due any day. This will be a great contribution to the ongoing effort to ensure the club has safe and serviceable equipment to help provide the high quality of rescue activities each season.

During the off-season, we also stripped and completely refurbished the James Pearl trailer, extending its life significantly into the future.

BBQ rosters

All sailing members please be aware that a roster to staff the after race BBQs have been placed on the website this week, and will also be on the noticeboard at the club. We have tried to share the load among all sailing members. Those who have helped at a number of working bees during the winter generally are not required to help on the BBQ roster. Each member is responsible for checking when they are on roster, and organise their own swap if they are not available on their rostered day. When you are on roster, you are responsible for putting out the food, cooking the BBQ and cleaning up afterwards. The canteen helpers will generally prepare salads and onions. For some of you, particularly trailable sailors, it may mean de-rigging and packing away your boat may have to wait till after the BBQ.

You can find the BBQ roster on the website.

Social news

The Social Committee have put together a calendar of various events for the coming sailing season as a result of the survey we did at the end of last season. So check it out the calendar of social events on the website and make sure you put some of the dates in your own calendar, so you don’t miss the events.

Save the dates

Opening Day of the Season – Saturday 8 October. After the formal opening, sail past and social race, all members and families are welcome to join us for a free BBQ on the upper deck to kick off the new sailing season.
Friday 4 November will be the first of our Friday night food, music and bar open evenings for the season. Fancy Hot Dogs will be the food theme, and some lively music will be provided from local musicians. These evenings are geared for our members and their guests to enjoy the great location and facilities at the club.

Opening day of the sailing season - Saturday 8 October

Join us for the formal opening, sail past and social race. All members and families are welcome to join us for a free BBQ on the upper deck after the race. The official activities will start at 1pm.

TACKERS January program - bookings open

The club will be offering TACKERS Levels 1, 2 & 3 training programs during the January school holidays. So if you have kids, grandkids or friends you think might like to get involved in the games and fun based introductory sailing for kids programs, the information is all on the club website.

Open day TACKERS sail past

Calling all keen TACKERS to join Grace, Alice, Jarrod, Oliver and Hayden in the TACKERS sail past as part of the Opening Day of the Season celebrations on Saturday 8 October. Come in costume or wear a silly hat and join in the party atmosphere. Water pistols are allowed!

Meet at the club by 11.30 to get Optis organised. Free BBQ held about mid-afternoon.

TACKERS fleet starts Sat 15 October

All WSC junior and family members up to about 13 years old are invited to come and join in our TACKERS Fleet sessions which will be starting on Saturday 15 October. They will run from 10am till midday each Saturday through till the week before Xmas, and then again from mid-January. These activities are free and a benefit of you club membership.

The Saturday program is both for experienced TACKERS sailors, or those who would like to give it a go. Potential participants who may be interested in having a try before committing to the Level 1 training in January are welcome to come and join in. Non-members can participate in 3 sessions, then need to join the club as a sailing member to continue with the Saturday morning activities.

If you have a life jacket for your child, please bring it along. If not, the club can provide life jackets. This early in the season the water temperatures are still cold, so bring warm clothes and towels for hot showers, and preferably wet suits are best for the water based activities (but certainly not compulsory).

At the Saturday morning sessions, parents must stay at the club. This year we will have a sign-in system and will be separating kids into skill levels to better target activities that suit them. We look forward to having parents assist as required including helping out in the canteen over the season.

Club rowing dinghies

Both of the fibreglass dinghies now have wheels fitted and rowlocks and are available for immediate use to access moored boats for extended periods.

Canteen helpers

Calling any new parents, partners of sailors and also sailing members. Lois is needing some extra helpers for canteen duty over this coming sailing season. Even if you could just do one session over the season would help us out. You can help in the canteen and still go sailing- if needed we can be flexible on time to rig boats etc. There are two separate roles on each canteen day. One person needs to do the fresh food shop and then join the second helper to prepare and sell food from 10am to 1.15pm. If you have never helped in the canteen, we can put you on with one of our experienced operators. If you are available to help at all, please email Lois at social@williamstownsailingclub.org.au

enewsletter and website

Calling all professional digital comms people... Fiona would love to train someone in how to send out the enewsletter and update the website. If you have the relevant skills, please email admin@williamstownsailingclub.org.au.

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