Commodore’s Report - March 2015

BURGEE

BURGEE

BURGEE

BURGEE END of SEASON 2018

In this issue:

· Commodores Report

· Treasurer’s Report

· New Committee for 2019

· Prize Giving

· Winter Social at Beetle – Booking Details

· GTSC & The Battle of the River Plate

· Topper News

· NSSA Regatta 2018

· Vintage Merlin Regatta

· Club History from a Former Member

Commodore’s Report

Commodore’s Report 2018

I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas and a good New Year and that your resolutions have not been abandoned yet!

The following is the Commodore’s Report from the AGM which gives a recap of the main events of last year.

In March we had the Spring work party with about 16 people arriving to help. Roger Wood and Peter Hunter were in charge. We reduced the height of the Oppie stand to make the top more accessible, repaired the OOD hut notice board, fixed the fenders and moved the boats away from the river plus other jobs too. Jennie Wood provided bacon rolls, tea and coffee.

We missed the first two weeks of the Spring Points due to poor weather. We started on the 23rd March with a Northerly wind and a strong stream just to make it interesting.

Open Day was unusual this year as we decided not to have any boats out on the water due to red boards the day before. This simplified things greatly as the only boats were on static display on the grass. The juniors spent a lot of time showing visitors all around these and nobody seemed the least put out by there not being any sailing. It’s likely that we will do the same next year as the number of new members we had was no less than in previous years. Using the PayPal card reader that we now have, we took about £2000 in membership fees on the day, rather than hoping people would later actually join and pay the fees.

The Spring Social went well with Jill Marsden organising fish and chips from @The Plaice@ in Woodcote plus a nice pudding. We had a quiz again after the food which was noisy and fun.

The President’s Bowl had 7 adult racers and 3 juniors. The weather was dry and cloudy with a gusty North-Easterly wind which made for some hard sailing.

As President, Paul Bradstock ran the race of course and Patricia made a lovely tea.

At the end of May was the King Georges Fund for Sailors race. 11 boats took part and the weather was sunny and warm with light and fitful NE wind which made for a slow and rather tiresome race. Rob was running it and, much to everyone’s relief ran only the one race. Then he’s set out a very nice cream tea for everyone.

In June we had the 75th Anniversary Party. We put up the marquee which was looking very fine after it’s refurbishment at Carters of Reading. Incidentally, it’s looking good for a great many years more use hopefully.

There was a great deal of organising that had to be done for this event and it was led by Rob from the beginning. A lot of people took part in it’s organising – too many to mention really. Jill worked too hard even though she wasn’t supposed to at the time.

Sara Funnel did the catering and did a fine job. Is was great as, as soon as she arrived she took over that part of the evening completely and it went very smoothly.

The band was Loveshovel and they were very good indeed. It was a very successful and memorable evening.

A lot of people helped to clear away the next day as well which is always nice.

The next day was the Commodore’s Cup which was my job, of course. The weather was hot with not much wind so I and Dee Smith – the SO – put 2 chairs out underneath an umbrella and watched the boats go slowly by as we sipped beer and cider. That is a good way to OOD a race.

Karen and I sorted out the tea plus we had a fair bit of food from the day before so it was a good spread.

The Moulsford Cup was at the beginning of July. There were 7 adults and 1 junior – Alicia Condie – racing in this one. It was very hot – 30c and the wind was Northerly but swinging wildly between West and East. This made the whole race quite hard work but very enjoyable. It was one of those days when the thought of a beer at the bar at the end was very appealing.

The Regatta Day was organised by Anita Owen.

The wind was very strong for this with quite a few capsizes. But we managed to get all the races in. The Seniors Race went well as did the Novice Race. The Youth Cup and the Ladies Race ran at the same time as each other. Next was the Parent/Offspring race followed by Bart’s Bash and the JMS Challenge. We had about 16 boats for that which was a good result. I have no details for the day as I wasn’t there myself.

Roger Wood had organised the Merlin Meet at GTSC. It was the first one for a very long time, since 2003 in fact. We even have a large and expensive silver trophy for it too.

The wind was light and had been forecast to be a lot wetter than it actually turned out to be. There were 6 boats in all and they all looked really lovely out on the water.

After the race there was a 3 course meal which went very well so thanks to Roger and Jennie Wood for the whole event. A full account with results and photos are included later in this Burgee.

The Island races went well. The first, in May, had good, windy weather and was a delight to sail, as usual. We won that overall. For the home race, they raced 5 boats out of a total of 16. It was cool and bright with not much wind. Rob had arranged for the hedge 100yds off the western edge of the river to be cut down to about 6 feet or so the week before and this made quite a difference to the wind for racing. This was very noticeable in subsequent races too. We think that we will cut it back to the same height every 2 years from now on. We won that day too and kept the trophy.

23rd September was the Laser Cup and the Single Handed Championships. There were 6 for the Lasers and 4 for the singlehanded.

30th September was the Double Handed Championships. That was well supported with 10 boats.

The last race, as always, was the Washing Up Bowl. It was windy, dry and cool at about 12c. There were 12 adult boats and 3 juniors which was a good way to finish off the season.

The Autumn Work party went well. Ten of us turned up and a lot of work was done. So a big thank you to all of you.

Saturday Sailing continues to be well supported with Kids Club looked after by Tim Wakefield and an RYA coach on hand all day.

Training

This was written by Mark Foster for the AGM.

2018 has been another very successful year for the Training team:

The beginners’ course in May was oversubscribed and we had record numbers with 10 adults and 11 juniors completing the course.

The Junior half term course was also busy with 9 juniors getting their Stage 2 course. And both the June Level 2  and September Level 3 courses were well attended.

We have had 3 new Dinghy Instructors helping out this year: Rosie Turtle , Thomas Owen and Emily Foster have all fully justified the financial sponsorship the club have given for the RYA Dinghy Instructor courses. Also our Assistant Instructor programme has given us some very enthusiastic support from the up and coming juniors who we hope we can support through to getting DI too.

We have had a handful of new Power boat PB2 qualify this year which helps a little way toward filling safety Boat duties next year.

With Rachel stepping down as Training Principle there is, as always, a need for support for the training team next year. Providing Training courses is a vital part of attracting new members, and if anyone would be interested in helping as an Assistant Instructor, qualifying as a Dinghy Instructor, or even going further and getting Senior instructor or Power Boat Instructor then please contact Mark Foster.

Mark is stepping back into the Training Principle role for 2019. Thanks go to Rachel for the effort she has given to the role for the last 2 years (see her letter below).

Finally, don’t forget the Winter Social on the 26th January. It is going to be at the Beetle and Wedge at Moulsford. Let's be there at 7pm for a drink to sit down at 7.30 to eat.

Would you email me (simonlidbetter@btinternet.com)  your choice of menu please and pre pay either with a cheque to me (payable to GTSC) or BACS to GTSC 30-13-42   00029763.

The price per head is £28.

We went there a few years ago and they were very good so I'm looking forward to a good evening again. Details and the Menu are given later in this Burgee.

Simon Lidbetter

Commodore

Note from Rachel

Hi everyone, I am so sorry not to be celebrating with you at the end of another fantastic year at GTSC.

You will have noticed I've not been around much this year and for this I am incredibly sorry.  Work and personal commitments mean that I can't give as much to GTSC as I'd like to, or do it well and so I have come to the sad conclusion that I will be leaving GTSC. 

I have loved being able to spend time coaching and training and it's because I can't give as much as I want at the level you all deserve that I'm leaving. 

This last three years has been wonderful and I have appreciated all the support you've given me, from putting up a marquee for our wedding and Manning the bar, to helping me rig comets, toppers and visions as well as putting up with me capsizing and generally getting in the way racing.

It has been a privilege to be part of the training team down at GTSC and see so many people grow and flourish in not only sailing, but confidence, teaching skills and community. 

I can't really express in words how much of a haven GTSC has been for me, and how much fun I've had.

Do keep in touch, a number of people have my email address - feel free to email/Facebook etc. 

Thank you

Rachel Conway-Doel

AGM 25th November

Treasurer’s Report for Financial Year ending 31 October 2018

Firstly, many thanks to Maureen Whitcher for, auditing the Club’s accounts and keeping me on my toes.

And to Kathryn Foster for sorting out our Corporate Tax return. As a Club we are liable for Corporate Tax on profit made from non-members and will need to do an annual return. I have not a clue about this so am very grateful to Kathryn for sorting it out.

The end of year figures show that we have just under £38.4k in the bank, there was a small deficit on the year of £255.34. However, as SSE have just repaid us £371.02 (unfortunately after the financial year end, you could argue a surplus of £115.68!

Overall our income has dropped this year due it would seem to falling training receipts as Membership fees (our main source of income) continue to gradually rise. This has been matched by a drop in general expenditure, apart from some key items.

These being the £6.5k paid to "trim" the hedge across the way. From all reports this seems to have been money well spent.

There was also a deficit of nearly £900 from the 75th Anniversary Summer Party, and a deficit on the Junior activities, mainly due to reduced numbers, with fixed expenditure. In addition allocation of expenses – it seems last year the coaching expenses for Saturday Sailing was allocated to training, this year I have allocated it, some £1360, to Juniors, thus giving £200 surplus on Junior events but leaving training as just breaking even.

Following on from my concerns expressed at last year's AGM concerning the profitability of the bar, although takings are not up, expenditure is down, which has led to increased profits. My thanks to Heather Merryweather, at the start of the season, and Jennie Wood who took the bar on mid-season, for keeping tight hold of the reigns!

The Club is in a strong financial position and the Treasurer and Committee continue to keep a close watch on the finances.

Jean Mitchell

Honorary Treasurer.

AOB: The proposed move to card payments for the bar.

Opening total 1 November 2017

38,643.65

Add Surplus/Deficit for Year Ended 31 October 2018

-255.34

Represented by Closing Balances at 31 October 2018

38,388.31

Accumulated fund at 31 October 2018:

Deposit Account closing balance

31,104.82

Current Account closing balance

7,162.17

Plus closing cash in hand

121.32

Closing Total

38,388.31

New Committee

Committee Posts

Name

Commodore

Simon Lidbetter

Vice Commodore

Rob Jones

Rear Commodore

Roger Wood

Sailing Secretary

Neil Champion

Treasurer

Jean Mitchell

Secretary

Jill Marsden

Membership Secretary

Yvonne Francis

Committee member

Andy Nicoll

Committee member

Dee Smith

Committee member

Don Francis

Committee member

Jennie Wood

Committee member

Mark Foster

Committee member

Peter Hunter

Committee member

Tim Wakefield

Committee member

Keith Hathaway

Non Committee Posts

Name

Chief Powerboat Instructor

Pete Owen

Training Principal

Mark Foster

Junior Development

Rob Jones

Adult Sailing Development

Bar Manager

Jennie Wood

Site Maintenance

Roger Wood/Peter Hunter

Bosun

Simon Reed

Burgee Editor & Publicity

Robert Harrison

Prize Giving…

.. and Received

GORING THAMES SAILING CLUB
PRIZE GIVING 2018


Series

Winner

Runner Up

Spring Series

Mark Hayzelden

Peter Hunter

Summer Points

Andrew Darke

Simon Lidbetter

Summer Pursuit

Andrew Darke

Rob Jones

Wednesday Evening Series

Andrew Darke

Pete Barefield

Autumn Series

Donald Francis

Andrew Darke

Improver Series

T Owens

Karolein Mas

Junior series

Spring Series

Holly Turtle

James Herbert

Summer Series-

Emily Foster

Will Almond

Autumn Series-

Charlie Merryweather

Rosie Turtle

Junior Series

Charlie Merryweather

Emily Foster

GORING THAMES SAILING CLUB
PRIZE GIVING 2018
 (continued)

Ladies Cup

Alicia Condie

Elspeth Drew

Single Handed Championship

Roger Wood

Peter Hunter

Laser Cup

Mark Foster

James Barlow

Double Handed Championship

Trevor Jackson

Roger Wood

KGFS

Mark Hayzelden

Andrew Darke

Washing Up Bowl - Adult

Donald Francis

Roger Wood

Washing Up Bowl Junior

Anna Foster

Emily Foster

Potters Points Cup

(fast handicap)

Mark Hayzeldene

Simon Lidbetter

Pursuit compass

(slow handicap)

Andrew Darke

Roger Wood

Hammond Plate

Jane Howe

Laser Series

Simon Lidbetter

Rob Jones

Commodores Cup

Andrew Darke

Mark Foster

Commodores Cup – Juniors

Emily Foster

Jamie Lewis

 Presidents Bowl

Roger Wood

Peter Hunter

Presidents Bowl – Junior Fleet

Olivia Condie

Anna Foster

Moulsford Cup

Mark Hayzelden

Andrew Darke

Moulsford Cup Junior

Alicia Condie

Regatta

Senior Moments

Peter Hunter

Andrew Darke

Junior Cup

Will Almond

Youth Cup

Alicia Condie

Alice Hathaway

Novice Cup

Dee Smith

Parent and Offspring

Alex Rowe-Jones and Rob Jones

Tom and Peter Hunter

Barts Bash -

James Middleton Stewart Cup

Donald Francis/

Fiona Stewart

Mark Hayzelden

Merit Awards

Helmsman Cup

Donald Francis

Endeavour Award

Dee Smith

Endeavour Award- Junior

Ellen Bradstock

John Whitcher Memorial Trophy

Richard Withers

Winter Social – Please email Simon at (simonlidbetter@btinternet.com)  with your choice of menu please and pre pay either with a cheque to me (payable to GTSC) or BACS to GTSC 30-13-42   00029763. The price per head is £28.

GTSC and our club’s link to history: Battle of River Plate

A famous and successful naval battle at the beginning of the Second World War, but how do we connect the Battle of River Plate to Goring Thames Sailing Club. Not an easy one and not one I would have thought of before….until I was watching an old black and white film recently.

First a background about this battle..

The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the Second World War. The German Pocket Battleship the Admiral Graf Spee had cruised into the South Atlantic a fortnight before the war began. Once war was declared it then started attacking and sinking cargo shipping, delivering essential supplies for the Allies.

Several groups of Allied ships were sent to search for the Graff Spee. One of the hunting groups (Hunting Group G) sent by the British Admiralty, comprising three Royal Navy cruisers, HMS Exeter, Ajax and Achilles (the last from the New Zealand Division), found and engaged their quarry off the estuary of the River Plate close to the coast of Uruguay in South America.

Commanding this Allied Hunting Group was Commodore Henry Harwood.

On paper, 3 British cruisers against one German pocket-battleship would have been no contest. In fact, the Graf Spee was potentially an awesome opponent. The Graf Spee was fast enough to outrun any battleship but was also armed with sufficient weapons to be a potent enemy. The Graf Spee had six 11 inch guns, numerous anti-aircraft guns and six 21 inch torpedo tubes at her stern. Her broadside range was 30,000 yards. Her weaponry was superior to any carried by a British heavy cruiser and her armour, at 5.5 inches, was sufficient to resist shells up to 8 inches.

The British cruisers, though faster than the Graf Spee, were all outgunned. The Exeter had six 8 inch guns, Ajax and Achilles were equipped with eight 6 inch guns.

In the ensuing battle, Exeter was severely damaged and forced to retire; Ajax and Achilles suffered moderate damage. The damage to Admiral Graf Spee, although not extensive, was critical; her fuel system was crippled. Ajax and Achilles shadowed the German ship until she entered the port of Montevideo, the capital city of neutral Uruguay, to effect urgent repairs.

Under International Law a warship could only remain in port for 24 hours. British Diplomats tried to have the Graf Spee interned or forced to leave. In the event Lansdorff extended his stay by 72 hours, but was forced to leave on 17th December.

Rather than face the allied ships or have his own ship interned Lansdorff took the decision to ‘scuttle’ his damaged ship.

Commodore Henry Harwood – leading the Allied Hunting Group was promoted for his success in the battle, becoming Admiral Sir Henry Harwood by the end of the war.

How does this link to our sailing club? I ‘googled’ Admiral Sir Henry Harwood and found that he had lived in Goring until he died in 1950. A thought…his connection with the navy and sailing! Could he have been a member of the Sailing Club?

It turns out that Admiral Sir Henry Harwood became the Club President of the Sailing Club in 1949.

He donated a trophy to the club which we present each year at the Awards Presentation. This year (2018) that trophy went to Roger Wood.

PS.

As a further ‘twist’ on the story and one that only came to light on the day of the Awards at the Club, Roger Wood who received the trophy then told us a further story…

“Admiral Sir Henry Harwood lived in the Artists house in Goring on Station Road. In the1960’s his widow Lady Hardwood built a Dorma bungalow in the grounds of the Artists house for her retirement. The house was subsequently sold and in 2014 we bought the house. It is a nice coincidence and honour to have won the trophy Admiral Harwood presented to the club.”

Neil Champion

Hon Sailing Secretary

Topper Stuff

South Topper Region Autumn Traveller series.

Congratulations to Alicia Condie ( AKA Alice Candy) and Anna Foster for coming 10th and 11th overall in the Topper autumn traveller series.

They received 2nd Best and 3rd Best girl trophies for that performance.

AND congratulations to both girls for being selected for the RYA Topper South Zone squad for a second year.

NSSA Regatta 2018 – by Emily Foster

The NSSA Regatta is always a highlight of my year, 2018 was my fourth regatta, and as usual I loved it.

This year I sailed a Dart 18 Catamaran in the fast handicap fleet as a member of the 34 strong Oxfordshire team at Datchet water.

We got some good sailing in, despite light winds on some days (all the better for the Goring Sailors)!

EMiILY in the DartROSIE in 29er

I finished 18th in my fleet, Rosie Turtle (also in fast Handicap, sailing a 29er and achieving her yearly visit it A&E) finished 19th and Dan Nicoll (Crewing a 29er in fast handicap) finished 14th.

DAN in the 29erTOBY BAKER in the club Comet

Tom Robson in his laser Radial finished 35th in his fleet.

Sophie Robson defended the Goring name beautifully, coming 12th in Laser 4.7, and Olivia Condie came 19th in the same fleet.

Charlie Merryweather finished 14th and Alicia Condie finished 17th (2nd best girl!) in the Topper Fleet (which was 65 strong this year)! And finally Toby Baker finished 16th in the medium Handicap (sailing the Goring club Comet, now fully kitted out with new rope, fixed gudgeon and repaired sail during the event)!

NSSA of course is not just about the sailing, on the Wednesday evening we all slipped and slid over the aqua park after a very hot week!

I love every aspect of NSSA from the social to the sailing, and it is a great event for juniors anyone who wishes to get into racing!

Olivia launchingOxfordshire team

Vintage Merlin Open Day 22nd September 2018

We hosted the Vintage Merlin fleet for the open day, 4 visiting boats came to race with 4 boats from GTSC. The weather was no kind to us with rain all day and light winds.

We were able to hold all 3 races with Don Francis (3165) of GTSC giving the visitors a close race.

Paul Bradstock (2046), Peter Bradstock (1596) and Roger Wood (1126) of GTSC also took part in their Merlins.

The races were closely fought and the results are as follows,

Race 1

1 Richard Puesey (2040) Upper Thames sailing Club

2 Stuart Jenkins (3560) Hampton Sailing Club

3 John Bell (1201) Hampton Sailing Club

Race 2

1 Stuart Jenkins (3560) Hampton Sailing Club

2 John Bell (1201) Hampton Sailing Club

3 Sel Shah (1596) Thames Sailing Club

Race 3

1 Stuart Jenkins (3560) Hampton sailing Club

2 Sel Shah (1596) Thames sailing Club

3 Richard Puesey (2040) Upper Thames Sailing Club

The overall Winner was Stuart Jenkins 3560 of Hampton Sailing Club, second was Richard Puesey, and 3rd John Bell. Simon Lidbetter the Commodore presented the winner with the Harwell Trophy on behalf of GTSC. The trophy remains at GTSC for next year.

Congratulation to Stuart who also won the De May Trophy for the overall Vintage Merlin series held over 9 events in 2018.

Between races we were served an excellent 3 course lunch by Jennie Wood, Sally Wicks and their team of helpers. It was much appreciated and has set a standard for other clubs.

My thanks to Andrew Dark, Elspeth Drew, Peter Hunter who ran the racing, and Simon Lidbetter and Rob Jones for their help with car parking and general organisation.

The Merlin Association has asked GTSC to make the open meeting a regular event and the next one will be on 7th September 2019, put the date in your dairy and come along to see some fine racing.

Photos courtesy of Mark Hayzeldene and Simon Lidbetter.

And early club history from a former member

Find us on Facebook www.goringthamessc.org.uk Follow us on Twitter

An optional service charge of 10% will be added to tables of 10 or more guests. All gratuities are distributed between all members of staff. Food Allergies & Intolerances

All dishes can be tweaked to accommodate your needs. Please speak to a member of our management team to discuss ingredients in your meal.

The Beetle & Wedge Boathouse

Goring Sailing Club Saturday 26th January 2019

To Start...

Game Terrine, Fig Relish & Toasted Bloomer Or

Curried Celeriac Soup with Herb Sippets Or

Smoked Salmon, Beetroot Chutney, Pumpernickel & Horseradish Cream

Served with Mediterranean Olives & Freshly Baked Bread

To Follow...

Fillet of Seabream, Noodles, Pak Choi, Red Thai Broth & Nasturtium Or

Roasted Butternut Squash & Coconut Risotto with Pumpkin Seeds Or

Saddle of Venison, Roasted Cauliflower Florette, Blackcurrants & Parsnip Crisps

Served with Seasonal Vegetables & Roasted New Potatoes

To Finish...

Rich Chocolate Delice & Berry Coulis Or

Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding, Toffee Sauce & Butter Toffee Ice Cream Or

Vanilla Crème Brulée

Cafetières of Freshly Ground Columbian Coffee

An optional service charge of 10% will be added to tables of 10 or more guests. All gratuities are distributed between all members of staff.

Food Allergies & Intolerances

All dishes can be tweaked to accommodate your needs. Please speak to a member of our management team to discuss

ingredients in your meal.

The Beetle & Wedge Boathouse

Goring Sailing Club

Saturday 26

th

January 2019

To Start...

Game Terrine, Fig Relish & Toasted Bloomer

Or

Curried Celeriac Soup with Herb Sippets

Or

Smoked Salmon, Beetroot Chutney, Pumpernickel & Horseradish Cream

Served with Mediterranean Olives & Freshly Baked Bread

To Follow...

Fillet of Seabream, Noodles, Pak Choi, Red Thai Broth & Nasturtium

Or

Roasted Butternut Squash & Coconut Risotto with Pumpkin Seeds

Or

Saddle of Venison, Roasted Cauliflower Florette, Blackcurrants & Parsnip Crisps

Served with Seasonal Vegetables & Roasted New Potatoes

To Finish...

Rich Chocolate Delice & Berry Coulis

Or

Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding, Toffee Sauce & Butter Toffee Ice Cream

Or

Vanilla Crème Brulée

Cafetières of Freshly Ground Columbian Coffee