News archive
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2007 News
12 Dec New DRAFT Sailing Programme for 2008
Fed up of Winter already? The draft Sailing Programme for 2008 is published here, so you can start planning next year's campaign now. Sailing starts on 13 Jan, so make sure Santa knows to bring warm winter gear for you!
4 Dec Working Parties
More 'working' than 'party' I'm afraid. However, the Bar will be open immediately afterwards, so there's no excuse really. Each fleet has been asked to provide teams of four to man the stripping and painting parties. They will take place each Sunday after New Year, from 10:00 to 12:30. Please liaise with your fleet captain for your fleet's dates.
14 Nov Updated Social Calandar
As Winter sets in, the social activity takes off: Social Programme
13 Nov Fast Cat News
New Results, New Teams, New Year: Read FCN
4 Nov Cam's Conquest
News just in from James:
"Latest News. Laser 4.7 Inland Championships, at the weekend Cameron won the Laser 4.7 Inland Championships at Rutland Water Sailing Club with a score of 1,1,3. " Well done Cam.
1 Nov Junior Tour News
James has updated us with news of the Juniors' exploits around the country, here.
1 Nov Spitfire Rigging Gallery here
2 Oct Video Training Nights
Not getting enough? Get some mid-week sailing training action at the Club's Video Nights: details And share your tips and experiences over a pint.
2 Oct Club Championships
Another successful Championship with 16 boats taking to the water. The weather fooled everyone - less than F6 for a change, so everyone was at sixes and sevens while they adjusted to a pleasant conditions and flat water. The 'clement' conditions took their toll though: three boats were off the water within minutes. Swallow allegedly slowed while Deetox approached on port (note, Spitfires aren't always going faster than everything else), thereby ruining Deetox's calculation that they'd clear her sterns. Two down before Race 1 had even started. Skiff Little Fingers (the Naughty Niner is the latest of the Blair's boating challenges) was still proving to be a Skiff Big Handful and appeared to offer the ultimate challenge by capsizing on the ODM, with the tide and wind pushing her hard onto it). Skiffs aren't designed to cope with that for long. She didn't. The racing itself was made more interesting when we found the Cats beating to 2, while the monohulls were coming downwind on the same leg, and just to add spice, WKSC decided to use the bouy adjacent to 2 as their windward mark. The water between 2 and 1 was much more crowded than usual, and definately a deeper shade of blue. Combined with a desire to stay clear of the beach after losing a daggerboard last time in those waters, White Tiger found herself gybing under spinnaker five times between 2 and 1. Good for practise, but not great for speed, and I'm convinced we could have saved the required twenty seconds in less crowded water, to win the Championships... But hey, we weren't alone - Pussy Galore tangled with a "big cat" in Race 3, but did she lose a minute and a half? I don't know - but poor Will was out of it by then anyway, after a novel start to Race 2, in which he started above the Ark, went to dip the line, but failed to clear it in the eyes of the RO team. Sixty nine minutes of racing later he received an OCS for his efforts, costing him second place in Race 2 and thereby second place in the Championship. However, his OCS allowed Permanent Waves to retain enough points in the Long Distance Race (2) to equal White Tiger on points overall and win the Championship on countback - and rightly deserved too, as Team Moruzzi had beaten WT in both of the shorter races. Close racing all round - with three different winners over the three races, and the top two each getting a 1, 2 & 3. The longer course of Race 2 favoured the Fast Cats, and saw a very close battle between White Tiger and Klingon 2 under the guidance of guest crew Alan (many Bala series wins under his belt!). These two battled it out particularly closely on the spinni runs between 2 and A - with Klingon 2 riding slightly higher, faster and wider, and WT typically gybing for the mark first and just sneaking ahead.
There was a Monohull Championship too - featuring a couple of guest boats which is great to see. John Pryor must be kicking himself - an improper finish resulted in a DNF for Race 1, which cost him the Championship. Raspberry Blower took full advantage with a first and two seconds to win overall, while Tony Marston made an all too rare appearance on the water with an IC that looked more like a Stealth Bomber (if only it had been painted matt black instead of a deep gloss, he'd have persuaded me), putting in a string of thirds to take second spot overall.
Full results in the usual places: Club Championship - Catamaran and Monohuls
Congratulations to both Winners: Team Moruzzi and Ian McLean
Simon Stannard
25 Sept Junior Mirror and Handicap Dinghy News
Lots of activity on the Lake, while the rest of us filled in Tax Returns, painted garage doors, and suchlike. JMHDN here.
24 Sept Tapas Night at DSC, Friday 28th September
Dave Mac is taking us to another country again! This week it's Spain: Tapas at Dee Sailing Club.
Forget flying to Spain - get a taxi to Dee. Friday 28th September 7.30pm
Bar Open from 6.30pm £4 per person.
20 Sept Junior Fleet Growth
David Harris has been moved to poetry to describe his pleasure at the growth of the Junior fleet's activities on the Lake on Saturdays... (well, almost). Story and photos
20 Sept RYYC Dart 18 TT - Dee SC 1-2 (and 4)
DSC appear to have dominated procedings at last weekend's TT - we're claiming top spot on the basis of Jonathan Harris's crewing. Copy of Y&Y report here.
19 Sept Smoke Me A Kipper, I'll Be Back For Breakfast
I think Mike and the crew of My Tern have earned the right to choose whatever title they like for their report. While some of us were considered crazy for sailing on the estuary on Sunday, they were making a return crossing to the Isle of Man. They had the worse of the weather!
18 Sept Lake Series Reaches Its Conclusion
Down to the last race, and seconds to spare.. so who clinched it? Report & Photo by Simon Moruzzi.
17 Sept Cruising for a Bruising
Jon Bloor has rightly pointed out that it wasn't only 'racers' that ventured out in the lull between the gusts... Some monohullists were also tempted. Report
I can't say I saw much of anyone else at all - couldn't even see my crew half the time!
17 Sept Another Windy Day
Yesterday was another mixed bag of weather and a decidely mixed bag of results for the day. Should those who went home early have done so? Story
And Colin's thoughts? "We thought you had lost the plot staying out as long as you did - we found that you couldn't trap high enough because you couldn't get on the wind properly and fly the hull - had Mike sitting on my knee when wiring and he was hit by a wave - boat all over the place - and massive wind shift dunked us both before the next wave piled in - we looked at each other in that knowing kinda way that says the beach is that way. We came screaming in on the gust with both hulls under water and Mike trying to get the daggers up - couldn't tell if he was still on the boat.
Never mind, soon be the 29/30 of the month - I think we are having a practice day on the Sat if ya fancy going out. "
Michael and Cam enjoying tbe breeze
13 Sept Wayfarer and Dinghy News Here.
10 Sept Phantom Nationals
News from Ian McLean:
Congratulation to John Pryer who finished 22nd in a fleet of 71 at the Phantom Nationals. John, what any chance of a report? [Ed, Indeed - no-one goes to an event without having to produce a write-up. 22nd, or not.] Cheers Ian. And here it is: Story
9 Sept Fast Cat News
Great sailing today - and Richard has achieved his goal for 2007. What next? FCN here
8 Sept Club Championships
It's time again to determine who's King of the Cats and Doyen of the Dinghies... The Club Championships will be held on Sunday 30 Sept. This will be open to non-members, so invite your friends and make it a real battle. More info here and a downloadable Poster here
8 Sept Winter Sailing
There will be Winter Sailing this year. See the Sailing Programme for details.
4 Sept Dart 18 Worlds, Lake Garda Italy.
Dee SC was represented by 5 helms (+ 4 crews) at the Dart 18 worlds at the end of August.
Gareth and Will came 8th overall and won two races.
Geoff and Jenny Lloyd came 42nd
Simon and Michael Moruzzi (one of the yougest crews) came 53rd
Mat Pollock 96th and Chris and Anna Aspinal 102nd
The fleet was 123 in total. We are hoping one of the guys will give us a full write up in due course to cover the conditions, looking at the web site it seems there was a good deal of waiting for wind or for wind to drop.
4 Sept Laser National Championships, Weymouth
Cameron Douglas flew the DSC flag at the Laser 4.7 National Championships in Weymouth in Mid August. The wind was consistently over 20knots and one day was lost altogether due to strong winds. Cameron won 3 races and also counted a 2nd/3rd. He had to count a 30th due to most of the fleet missing a shortened course signal. Two black flags for being over the line (black flag used on every start!) were the discards and cost him the event. He came 6th overall out of 49 boats and and was the 2nd youngest in the fleet.
3 Sept Monster Race - August Bank Holiday 2009
You cannot have failed to notice the Monster Race that was held on August Bank Holiday weekend - no, not the Coronation Cup, the other one on Loch Ness. If you have no idea what I'm refering to, here's one of the stories. The next one is being scheduled for two years time - August Bank Holiday weekend, 2009. I only missed this one as it coincided too closely with my son's GCSE results - but in 2009 he'll be getting his A level results, which are a week earlier. Game on... If you want a challenge, or perhaps a chance to beat a Volvo VX40 (on handicap!), mark your diaries now. Sorry, all you monohull sailors will have to learn to sail a cat - Dart 18 or faster. And, no it's not too far away - this year's winners came from Australia!
30 Aug Wirral & Mersey Regattas Prizegiving
The prizegiving for the Wirral Mersey Regatta Series will be held next Saturday:
Saturday, 8 th September 2007
Hoylake Sailing Club
7.30pm for 8pm
30 Aug Coronation Cup
This year's event was rescheduled to August Bank Holiday after the original day delivered no wind whatsoever. As regular sailors will have noted, the last few weeks have been at the 'feisty' end of the scale wind wise (not forgetting the Dee chop), so it is as well that Doug Reeson has taken his flock of cruising monohulls under his wing and taught them a thing or two: where the Start line is, not to be intimidated by racing, or racers, and how to get round the course. Whether he included storm training I don't know, but the Wayfarers had a 50% success record (entries to finishers), not too dissimilar to the Spitfires, so well done Doug. I still haven't got to the bottom of the story behind Swallow's retirement - merely losing helm and crew overboard is surely par for the course!? Anyway, one element of race training that Doug forgot to pass on to his fledgelings was that the duty of recording the event for posterity falls to he who comes fourth. Fortunately, even with an attritition rate in excess of 60% due to the conditions, there were sufficient entries for a fourth place to be awarded. Thanks then to Peter Beardmore for the Wayfarer's perspective here: Report. The rest of the results, featuring craft as diverse as a 49er and Paul's RS Feva are here: Results.
28 Aug Dart Worlds
From James Douglas: The DART 18 world championships started yesterday on Lake Garda in Italy.
Dee SC has four boats taking part in the Championship.
Geoff and Jenny Lloyd had the best result in the first race 23rd out of 115 boats.
Simon and Mike Moruzzi, Gareth Owen /Will Thompson, Chris Apsinall are also taking part.
You can keep track of the results at http://www.circolovelatorbole.it by following the links to the Dart 18 results. [Ed: Take the English option - obviously translated by Google into something, well, using English words, but not as we'd know it.]
22 Aug Wayfarer and Dinghy News - Cruising and Training WDN here
9 Aug Coronation Race Rescheduled
It will now be held on Bank Holiday Monday. Details Start Times here
9 Aug Oppie National Championships
The DSC Youth Squad continue to do well - news.
9 Aug We Are The Champions...
Congratulations to Gareth and Will for winning the recent Dart 18 French Nationals, they now head to the Swiss Nat and then the Worlds on Lake Garda at the end of the month.
Simon and Mike Moruzzi will also be going.
30 July News from the Bosun's Locker Offers
18 July Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
It would seem that most of the club have been sailing in the Irish Sea over the last week or so - this time Ali, James and Pete took part in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, along with almost 600 other boats. Here's their story.
18 July My Tern Cruise Report - The Full Oirish
Mark is back. So are the rest of the crew, but Mark has written about it. Prepare for a long coffee break, sit back and enjoy this.
12 July Wayfarer and Dinghy News - Cruising and Training WDN here
4 July RYA Rules Advisor - Training Available Locally
The RYA is offering training for the new role of Club Rules Advisor. The idea is to have an 'advisor' at each club who has the power to offer a 20% Position Penalty in the event of an infringement. This removes the need for a full Protest Committee hearing, and therefore the possibility of being DSQ'd by that committee. The underlying goal being to encourage the application of the Sailing Rules of Racing by removing the overhead of running a formal protest hearing, which is perceived as too onerous to bother at club level. If you'd like to be trained as an advisor, here are the details.
4 July Race Officer Training Available Now
Iain Blair will organise a 'skills transfer' session for anyone wanting to learn more about running races at the club. Contact Iain, and he'll schedule you to spend time with an experienced RO on either a Sunday or Monday. What better way to learn - and it is an excellent way to improve your own race starts!
2 July Round The Island
Alasdair and Brigid Davidson and Grant Vaughan with other local sailors recently competed in the Round The Island race (the other one, down south somewhere). Here's their great write up and pictures from the event.
1 July Youth Team Win Dee Regatta- story
1 July Bosun's Locker
Your opportunity to dress as one of the team! We have a new stock of branded gear here.
1 July Hog Roast 14 July Details
Sunny day, fine wines and beers, good company, fantastic views, and a sizzling pig on a spit. Good for you, not so good for the pig.
23 June Junior Travels Update here and Northern Area Championships Report here
15 June Commodore's Cruise What is it all about?
12 June Greek Night - This Saturday, 16 June Poster
12 June Wayfarer and Dinghy News - Cruising and Training WDN here
8 June Dee SC Regatta - 1st July
The club's regatta rounds off the Wirral and Mersey Regatta Series on Sunday July 1st. As the final event in the series, it should be the deciding event, as well as a regatta in its own right. Details of the races are in the Notice of Race.
27 May Commodore's Cruise Details
27 May Social Calendar Dates for Your Diary here.
27 May House Committee Memberships and biogs are now published here.
26 May Friday Evening Socials
The Bar is open on Friday evenings to get the weekend started early. Details.
21 May Official Launch of the Dee SC Clubhouse, Friday 25 May
The recently redecorated clubhouse will be open on Friday Night from 7.00pm, for an official re-launch (Put more simply, the Bar will be open and nibbles will be served!) Everybody is welcome, young and old.
15 May Junior Travellers
The Optimist Squad have been out and about again, to great effect. Read about their competition at Zone level up to fighting for places in the European Squad here.
12 May Fast Cat News
Another new F18 Team, Rich, and Need a Crew? Read FCN here.
12 May Dee SC in the UK Wayfarer Association magazine
Doug's been busy with his pen, selflessly promoting our club to Wayfarer sailors across the country. Here's the story.
11 May Wayfarer and Dinghy News - Cruise Details
Latest edition of the 'Cruise News' from Doug, with details of an extensive cruise programme for Summer. WDN here.
9 May Wirral & Mersey Regatta Series
June is looming, and that means it's time for a tour of the Wirral, with sailing on most Saturdays and Sundays. Each day is a regatta in its own right, hosted by one of the seven sailing clubs in the vicinity. Many of the races are on the Dee, and there are opportunities to sail in Liverpool Bay and on the Mersey as well. Details here.
9 May Monday Evening Dinghy Sailing
The 'Dinghy Crowd' were out and about last Monday, snapped here by Pete Clements.
4 May No Sailing on 13 May - or Go To Pen's Spring Open
Penmaenmawr are holding their Spring Open on Sunday 13 May, when we have no water... so if you fancy a trip out, here are the details.
29 April Team Swallow Forced to Retire
Richard brought the Spring Series to a dramatic conclusion for the Fast Cats today. All three teams were in with a chance, with the Series up for grabs dependent entirely on today's results. The contest was wide-open such that whoever was to win would probably needed to win two races out of three today - so the pressure was on for all involved. Swallow was going well in the first race today, crossing paths with White Tiger upwind, and chasing downwind to the leeward mark. Disaster struck for Richard as he started to beat back to the Line: in getting out on the wire, he suffered a dislocated knee and hence lost all interest in the race. From that point onwards he was treated like Viking royalty, transported aboard his boat across the sea, over the sand and up the hill to whatever fate had in store for his future life. In this case, it was an ambulance at the top of the hill, a visit to Arrowe Park, and an afternoon spent indulging in drug induced visions of victory at sea... The latest news is the Richard has had the errant knee relocated, and is back home receiving motherly care and attention. Surgery will follow later in the week, so we wish you all the best for a quick recovery.
28 April Handicap Dinghies Off to a Great Start
Pictures and Story by Ian McLean
here
23 April One Point Separates Top Three Fast Cats
Fast Cat News FCN
17 April Open Day - Saturday 19 May
Open Day is a great opportunity for visitors to try sailing for free at DSC. Boats of all types will be available for you to try - from high speed catamarans to family dinghy cruising. Club members are also welcome to try something different, although of course we need volunteers to assist with the loan of gear, galley and beach-mastering to make our guests' day go smoothly. There's also an apres sailing BBQ on the club lawn to round the day off. Details here.
16 April Scare Dee Cat Departs
No sooner advertised than sold: SDC is departing for new shores in sunny Scotland later this week. Graham and Nigel will now be treating Animal to more than the occasional romp amongst the 'smaller' boats. Let's see if they can lead the way round the marks...
11 April Starter Boats for Sale
When are boats like buses? When three come along together I suppose. So it's a good job there's only been two added recently: Graham's Hurricane 4.9, and Ali's Prindle 16. Both are ideal "starter cats", and are a bargain at under a grand. A little more up-market is Rob's Dart 16. See the Notice Board For Sale section for more details.
11 April Report of Easter Bunny Series by Ali & Brige here
11 April Wayfarer and Dinghy News - Shore Talk This Saturday WDN
9 April Tall Ships Race 2008 - Liaison Officer Applications
The organisers of The Tall Ships Race 2008 are accepting applications for the roles of Liaison Officers. The idea is to work with the crew of 'your' ship, to ensure they make the most of their time in Liverpool, by helping them to make appropriate contacts and find their way around. The application form is published here.
01 April Spring 123 Race
Officer Report
18 March Adult Training
A programme of shore-based discussions and Saturday Cruising and Training
has already got off to a flying start thanks to an initiative by Doug Reeson.
The main thrust is for dinghy sailors, who have seen a rapid growth in numbers
over the last year. Prospective catamaran sailors are also catered for on
a limited basis, with discussions in parallel, and the same Saturday cruising
and training schedule, which will be oriented to the needs of the 'trainee'.
More information is available
here.
16 March Wayfarer and Dinghy News - Shore Talk This Saturday WDN
12 March Alternative View of Sunday's Race Results here
12 March Fast Cat News FCN
Spitfire 1,2, in Warmup Series
11 March My Tern Winter Cruise
My Tern slipped its moorings a couple of weekends ago, and headed for God's own country we're told, wherein it appears a healthy night-time drink results in God's own hangover... the gory details
4 March Doug Smith's Carribean Cruise, Part 2 Moya Cruise News
3 March Wayfarer and Dinghy News WDN
19 Feb Greek Night on 17 Mar (POSTPONED)
Get your tickets now - details
19 Feb Fast Cat News
New arrival, Rigging Day, Working Party - read FCN here
1 Feb Doug's Smith's Caribbean Cruise update
23 Jan From Y&Y: Stars of the weekend were Cameron Douglas from Dee SC...
18 Jan DSC Prizegiving & Awards 2006 Story and Photos
18 Jan Sailing Programme for 2007 (Draft)
2 Jan Wayfarer and Dinghy Cruising News
Doug is first off the block with news for the Wayfarers and Dinghy cruisers looking forward to an active year.
1 Jan New Years Day at the Lake Picture Gallery
1 Jan Open Forum Results
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