End of Season Sailing

Hello again all. We’re well past the middle of the sailing season now and the countdown to the end of the season is only 4 days ahead of the countdown to Brexit! There’s a good degree of certainty in the DHSC programme from here on though, and maybe you can help one or two events turn from ‘Provisional’ to ‘Confirmed’!

As I type this, I’m on the Red Jet from Cowes to Southampton, having attended the Skippers’ briefing for the Rolex Fastnet Race 2019. It’s looking to be in interesting one, starting with some very light winds, repeated again near Lands End and then some forecasts giving gusts up to 38kts across the Celtic Sea! Good luck to all DHSC members participating in the race. Maybe pop a message on the club’s Facebook page to let us know which boat you’re on. I’m on Julia (GBR 4081L, a Beneteau Oceanis 55).

As always, if you’re interested in an event, please let me know asap so we can try to get the numbers confirmed and a boat booked asap.

This Newsletter’s Promotions

These events are great opportunities to get some quality time on the water. Let me know if you’re interested asap, as early booking allows us to secure the best boats and pricing:

Finn Trophy & Crossley Cup, 20-22 September

Committee member René Chinnery is on the team promoting the City Sailing Series. Born out of the Inter Bank Regattas, the City Sailing Series combine some friendly racing with good socialising.

The last of four City Sailing Series weekends in the sailing season, organised by the Lloyds Insurance, Baltic & Stock Exchanges, with Saturday dinner in the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes. It should be a superb weekend! If you’re interested in this event please get in touch.

Solent Cruise, 4-6 October

This is one of the club’s regular events: a casual cruise around the Solent in early October. No racing (*). No formalities. Just simple, late-season sailing. Being later in the season, the published fee range is £120 - £260 so superb value, especially if we get the full eight berths occupied.

We’ve recently had a skipper come forward for this event, with his partner too, bringing the total booked to four. Just two more bookings are required to get this event confirmed, so please contact me asap if you would like to go along.

(*) Although it has been said that the definition of a race is two yachts sailing in roughly the same direction!

End of Season Rally, 4-6 October

The End of Season Rally is a great opportunity to catch up with lots of club members. In 2018 we had enough attendees to warrant three boats and some casual racing on the Saturday; hopefully we can have the same attendance this year. The semi-formal Saturday evening dinner (included in the sailing fee) is a great social event: venue suggestions for the are welcome!

Those who can’t come along to the End of Season Rally itself are welcome to join everyone for dinner on the Saturday evening.

As with the Solent Cruise above, being an event near the end of the season this event affords great charter rates from Fairview, the published fee range being £160 - £210. This fee includes the Saturday evening dinner (£40 for those only attending the dinner).

We already have one full boat so let’s start getting the bookings in to fill a second, or event third, boat! Contact me now to book or if you have any questions.

Quick RNLI Fundraiser

A friend is having a clear out of his yacht and has asked if I would find a new home for some spare wet weather gear. I’m taking the opportunity to raise a few pounds for the Club’s charity of choice: the RNLI.

On offer are a Gill Coast Jacket and Trousers (both Medium size) that have been hardly used and are in excellent condition. Unlike this year’s model, these are unisex so suitable for all.

The RRP of both items was around £300, so a bargain could be had here!

The technical specs of the jacket are:

Rollaway fluorescent hood with volume adjustment for improved fit
High cut thermal collar provides warmth and comfort with faceguard for protection
Adjustable cuffs with PU inner seals for watertight comfort
2-way zipper protected by a double front storm guard
Fleece lined hand warmer pockets
Large capacity cargo pockets with drainage
Life jacket attachment facility
High visibility Reflexite® reflectives
Adjustable shock cord hem
2 Dot™, 2 layer coated fabric with a durable water repellent finish
Fully taped seams for a waterproof seal
Non-absorbent and quick-drying lining

If you’re interested in acquiring these items, they are being auctioned individually. Please submit your bids via email to me at the usual address, stating your maximum bid for each item. Starting prices are £20 for the jacket and £10 for the trousers. I will raise the prices in increments of £5, up to the highest bidder. In the event two people have the same highest bid, the earliest dated email wins. Closing date for bid emails is 11:59pm on the 31st August. The winning bidder(s) is responsible for paying postage, if required, at cost.

Please note: Bids will only be raised by £5 above the second highest bidder, so please make sure you send your absolute highest bid from the outset! For example if someone else bids £30 and you bid £50, your winning bid would be £35.

Southampton Boat Show, 13-22 September

There’s a discounted ticket offer for Dark Horse Sailing Club members: buy between 1 and 5 tickets at £13.50 each, and get a FREE ticket with each purchased ticket!

Booking website: https://www.southamptonboatshow.com/

Important notes:

State Promotional Code JG1 when booking.
Tickets are Standard Entry tickets and valid for ANY one day of the show.
Tickets can be ordered up to 23:59 on Saturday 21st September.
Youngsters 15 years or under go free (up to two per accompanying adult) provided their tickets are requested when ordering adult tickets.
A single transaction fee of £1.99 applies whether ordering one or more tickets.
Tickets are only available as ‘Print at Home’ via the Southampton Boat Show website.
You may be asked to select the day you expect to visit. This is merely to help predict visitor numbers.
Terms & conditions are available at https://southamptonboatshow.com/terms-conditions/

Membership Posters

As always, we're keen to attract new members. A great way to help with this is through advertising the club in your place of work or local sports or sailing club.

Feel free to print the posters yourself (available for download from the website) or drop me an email and I'll send some in the post.

That’s it for now. Please check out this year’s programme and email me if you have any questions. As always, when booking please let me know the role you’d like on the boat: skipper, mate or crew. Don’t forget to check the latest news on the DHSC Facebook page too!

Kind regards,

Simon Jackson
Dark Horse Sailing Club

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Please note: While the language used in these newsletters sometimes implies the reader is a DHSC member, its distribution is to a much wider audience. Indeed, we actively encourage all readers — club members or otherwise — to forward the newsletter to friends, family and colleagues who may be interested in sailing.

If you're not yet a member and like what you've read, you can subscribe here or contact me about membership. We're open to all, from complete beginners to Ocean Yachtmasters!