February 2010 newsletter Update

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Wanlip Sailing Club February 2010 Update

 

1.    The Commodore - Bill Trewick

 

Welcome to 2010, the Chinese Year of the Tiger.

 

The year has got off to a roaring start, Wanlip is having the Spring Clean as promised, the Thursday gang with help from members are like soldier ants. No stone unpainted, no curtain not cleaned, no door not fixed, don’t sit down too long or you will be made over! Work still to be done, see Jeff and the “Boys & Girls”, volunteers are better than the Press Gang.

 

Now I need your help, the Annual Presentation Evening and Barn Dance takes place Saturday 27th February at the Rothley Centre and I want you to turn out as never before (You are allowed, nay encouraged to cheer or boo as the trophies are awarded) to support the evening. For you see, the more people attending means more money can be spent on the Glorious Commodores Evening, 13th March at Wanlip, well it is in my honour. However, as I am feeling generous, it will be free and with a Grand Buffet as well (Vice Commodores please note GRAND). Yes I did say free, but I will expect the collection plate to be full. All in a good cause, no not me this time, the RNLI.

 

Now for the Serious Bits; hopefully all you “Racers” read the last Newsletter, RYA Racing Rules Book, still available for sale. They are water resistant, good idea that and are being considered as your being your “Licence” to take part. This doesn’t mean you have to understand them or in fact have read them. It means you have helped the club funds by purchasing a copy.

 

Our standing in the sailing fraternity appears to be going up, we have been invited via one the Vice Commodores to allow some of our Junior members to sail against similar members from Melton SC. How about that boys, are you up for the challenge, you can do it at Wanlip, what about shark infested foreign waters? Talking of sharks, it has been noted that some members with replacement (Newer, Faster) boats are already practicing and honing their skills ready for the start of the new racing season. Well done them, we are open as usual even if racing doesn’t start for another month. With sailing never really stopping the need for a Safety Boat becomes paramount; last year we tried to run a safety Boat Course and Failed, this year we will succeed. Starting after Easter we shall provide basic lessons: Watch for Notice in Club House.

 

Membership and Boat Space Fees are staying the same as last year! However, Boat Spaces or lack of, we might need to make a few adjustments, but we will let you know where we have put them if they are moved (Promise).

 

As a member of this great sailing club it is YOUR DUTY to do two Sunday afternoons either on Safety, Tea Bar or for those in the know OOD. The Rota is on display in the Club House with various dates awaiting your name. It is a good way of meeting fellow members and making friends, unless of course you are OOD on a bad day.

 

So with the promise fair winds and fine weather etc, etc. till the next time

 

Bill Trewick

 

 

2.  Social Events

 

Hello everyone, we start 2010 social season with the Annual Barn Dance and Presentation evening. We hope it will be a good year for sailing and socialising.

 

We (The Vice Girls, Elaine and Maureen) have put together a programme of events which will be fun and entertaining to all. If there are other things that you think would be good idea please, let us know and we’ll try to include them.

 

v     

Annual Barn Dance and Presentation Evening at the Rothley Centre, Rothley. Saturday 27th February.

 

Come and join in. Food and entertainment provided for the wonderful price of £7:50 for adults and £3:50 for under 16s. We can only keep these prices low if we get sufficient support for this event. So please put your name on the list or contact Maureen or Elaine to book your place.

 

v     

Commodores Evening March 13th At the sailing club from 7:30pm.

 

Come along and meet old and new members of the club.

 

v     

Saturday 3rd April Easter Egg hunt

 

 at the sailing club.

 

Children & Adults welcome.

 

v     

Sunday 4th April. Easter Bonnet Competition. Everyone welcome to take Part or just come along and see how good they all are.

 

Saturday 17th April at the clubhouse Quiz. From 7:30pm.  Come along and join in.

 

v     

Saturday 15th May Wanlip’s Got Talent. At the clubhouse from 7:30

 

v     

Saturday 5th June Wanlip Wet & Wild Junior Sailing.

 

v     

Saturday 19th June Night Sailing

 

At the Club

 

v     

Saturday 3rd July & Sunday 4th July Wanlip Sailing Club Regatta.

 

v     

Saturday 10th July Wanlip Wet & Wild Junior Sailing with a pirates theme, followed by BBQ.

 

v     

Saturday 7th August Wanlip Wet & Wild Junior Sailing

 

v     

Thursday 12th August Ferry Meadows away weekend Camping & Sailing

 

Where times are not shown they will be posted in the next newsletter(s) and on the notice board and website as soon as they are finalised.

 

Elaine & Maureen

 

3. Sad News

 

Norman Dexter who was a member of our club for many years passed away Monday 15th Feb.

 

Norman was a very active member of Wanlip sailing club. He was one of the very early group of members who built the club up and continued to contribute greatly to the club over the years.

 

Norman held many roles within the club and some of those were: Vice Commodore in 1982, Secretary in 1986, and Commodore in 1993- 1994. He earned the endeavour trophy in 1985, 2003, and as part of the weed work team again in 2004.

 

He will be sadly missed by his many friends at the sailing club.

 

Our deepest sympathy goes out to June and all his family at this time.

 

Ed

 

4. Bobs Bird bit.

 

 It's surprising how the frost changed the distribution of birds.   In my garden, I suddenly acquired 30 or 40 fieldfares and blackbirds, that squabbled endlessly over the apples I put out for them - they seemed to prefer apples to the other sorts of bird food that were available.   But at Wanlip, the frozen pond meant that our usual birds had had to move elsewhere, - though I did see one heron standing on one of the slipways, waiting for the ice to melt.

 

    Today (20th January) it is all different.  My garden is comparatively quiet, but Wanlip has become interesting again.  There were a lot of geese about - over 200 Greylags, and well over 100 Canada geese, and loads of black-headed gulls too, though of course these are still without their chocolate-brown heads..  A party of 6 pochards were there - these are smallish diving ducks, usual enough in Britain , although we don't often see them at Wanlip.

 

    The herons could fish properly again and there was competition for them too, with about 10 cormorants either fishing the water, or sitting at the side or in the trees, digesting their latest meal.      And there were other fish-eaters about too.  A small party of 4 goosanders was near the clubhouse when I arrived, but they are rather shy and quickly moved to the far end of the pond when they saw me.  But when I got into the clubhouse, they returned, and I got good views of them, as they came as close as the safety boat harbour.  They belong to a group of ducks called Sawbills, so called because their bills are not the same shape as most other ducks, but are narrow, with a serrated edge to help them hold on to wriggly fish.  They visit Wanlip occasionally, but I don't see them every year.

 

    Other fish-eaters in evidence were great-crested grebes, which were mostly still in their drab winter plumage, although one was showing very clear signs of its extravagant spring feathers emerging.  Spring must really be on the way! 

 

Feb update;-

 

The whooper swan, on the right, is normally a winter visitor to Britain . It breeds in Iceland . Our local "birders" already knew of this individual when I contacted them. They were able to tell me that it was hatched (presumably in Iceland ) in 2008, and was in Cumbria in the spring of 2009, when it was ringed.   It

 

stayed on in Cumbria that summer, and was last seen there in October.  By the end of November it was around Watermead, and (as from end of January) at Wanlip Sailing Club!

 

    It's known that these are all records of the same individual, because it has a bright yellow ring on its leg, with the code Z3G on it.

 

 Bob

 

 

5. 2010 Renewal notices.

 

In your envelope you will have found your renewal letter.

 

Please let us have the renewal back asap along with your subscription for 2010.

 

We look forward to seeing you all at the club in 2010 and to help us keep you informed about the club and events, please check the details on the renewal letter especially your phone numbers and email addresses.

 

Please note also that the Club access codes will changed at the end of April.

 

There are lots of social and sailing opportunities for you to participate in throughout the year.

 

The address that your renewal should be sent to is different from last year and it is detailed in the letter.

 

Thanks.

 

6. tee shirts for sale

 

We still have a few tee shirts for sale from £5 to £5-75.

 

Please let Sallie Baker know if you want to buy one.

 

Thanks.

 

7. Work Party Progress

 

The work carried out this winter has included, repainting the main area of the clubhouse, creosoting the outside of the clubhouse, Soft furnishings cleaned.

 

The long Island is partly complete and will need some attention next weekend.

 

Many thanks to everyone who has come down and helped carry out the work.  One more weekend to go.

 

The club received this communication from Laser

 

Firstly, I would like to wish you a Happy New Year and a successful season for 2010.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself.  My name is Duncan Adams and I have recently moved from the Dealer Department to the Fleet Department at LaserPerformance.

My role is to cover the Northern area, which is from the Wash across the top of Northamptonshire and cutting into underneath Powys and Carmarthenshire in Wales and up to the Scottish border.  I will be based
on the road with a Bahia , Vago and two Bugs in toe offering a wide range of support to all clubs and schools whether that is new boats sales, Fleet
turnover deals, coaching, Open Day visits etc.

If within your Club you feel you could benefit from a visit or call, please feel free to contact me or pass my below contact details onto the relevant person.
In the mean time if you do have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Duncan

Duncan Adams
Sales Executive - Fleet
LaserPerformance Europe Ltd
Station Works, Long Buckby
Northamptonshire, NN6 7PF
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1327 841672 Telephone
+44 (0)7584 219093 Mobile
+44 (0)1327 841601 Fax
www.laserperformance.com

 

If you wish to contact Duncan individually then the address is above.

 

If there is enough interest then we’ll try to arrange for him to come to Wanlip and bring some boats.

 

If You are interested please let me know by Email

 

John Wells

 

The club has received this Email from the Marine conservation Society.

 

Is the health of the seas important to you?

 

 If so, then please add your contribution to the Your Seas Your Voice website (www.yourseasyourvoice.com), which allows you to say which area of the sea you feel should be protected. You can either nominate your own site, or alternatively, you can vote for one of the 73 MCS-recommended locations we have identified as warranting protection. It takes about 5 minutes to contribute.

 

The success of our recent campaigns for UK and Scottish marine laws means that the creation of a network of Marine Protected Areas in UK seas is now possible. There has never been a better time to safeguard our seas.

 

 Every vote on this site is a vote for a safe and productive future for our seas. The more votes we get, the more powerful our voice will be.

 

If you are willing to distribute some wallet-cards

 

 (business card size), and small displays for us to

 

promote the project, please email with your address, and we'll send you some.

 

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK charity dedicated to protecting our seas, shores and wildlife. Please join us - visit our website at www.mcsuk.org

 

10. Sailing

 

You can see from the Duty rota and social programme that Mark and Tony have put together a comprehensive and varied series of sailing opportunities for you to enjoy this year.

 

There will also be more things added as we go through the year, so keep checking the notice board & website.

 

Please make sure that you have added your names to the duty rota, as all club members should volunteer for at least 2 duties.

 

Also please let Tony know about your interest in WWW (youngsters sailing group).

 

Thanks.

 

The First event to take place is the Barn Dance on the 27th Feb. It is the event where we all get together and have fun, but also present awards to those who have done something special during last year.

 

The next day is the first day of racing for 2010.

 

Ed

 

11. RYA VOLVO Dinghy Show.

 

The show takes place on:-

 

Saturday 6th March, 10am till 6pm and

 

Sunday 7th March 10am till 5pm.

 

Prices are in the RYA website and RYA members receive a reduction. It’s cheaper to buy your tickets before the show, rather than on the door.

 

Melton sailing club is running a bus to the show and there may be a few seats available. If you would like me to secure you a seat on the bus then contact me on my number.

 

 John Wells.

 

12. This true story is about a harrowing and heroic rescue attempt and the dangers of Ice.

 

Sam Trewick and his friend Adam Whitehead were in Watermead Country Park on the 8th Jan 2010, when they became aware of something happening nearby. The following is an extract from the timeline of events as they occurred put together by Sam & Adam.

 

“0 minutes:      Whilst at the top of the ‘Mammoth Hill’, we hear shouts from down on the lake. On looking, we see a man running of the ice towards the bank shouting. Looking to where he has run from we see another man has broken through the ice; he is flapping in the water and clearly in trouble to stay afloat in the water.

 

0 minutes 10 seconds:            Both I and Sam have started to run down the hill towards the man in the water. Sam has said that he has got a tow rope in his car and he heads straight for the car whilst I head to the edge of the lake

 

0 minutes 35 seconds:            Me and Sam have both met at the edge of the lake, Sam now has the rope, and after checking the ice with our feet we have decided to start walking out. After 10 – 15 m we have heard the ice start to crack and so have got down onto all fours to crawl the rest of the way to the man in the water (another 10 – 15 m).

 

1 minute 30 seconds: After having arrived about 1.5 meters from the man, with Sam about 2 meters behind me we have asked the man if there is anybody else with him. The man was panicking and speaking very broken English but after approx 30 seconds we managed to understand that there were another two people in the water. The two men were floating upside down and were barely floating, with only around two football sized amounts of black clothing visible. Initially we had thought that these were both part of a jacket that had come off from the man. We also asked how long the men had been in the water, to which the man replied 2 minutes. By this time Sam had thrown the rope to the man, and he had a hold of it in one hand. We told the man to push the other people out of the water, but this immediately became apparent that this would be impossible. We then asked the man where the heads of the two men were and to try to lift there heads from the water. The man didn’t seem to understand us.

 

2 minutes 40 seconds:            The conscious man attempted to pull one of the other men’s heads from the water and as he did, where his elbow was initially resting on the sheet of ice, this slipped causing him to go completely under the surface of the water. It was at this point that me and Sam decided that we had to just get him out of the water, as it was clear that he could not do anything to help the two unconscious men.

 

3 minutes 10 seconds:            After having pulled the man from the water and away from the edge of the ice, he sat on the ice and seemed to almost freeze to the spot, at this point he was not responding at all to our instructions to get onto his stomach to spread his weight. After some shouting he didn’t get onto his stomach but instead started to shuffle towards the bank. At this point mine and Sam’s attention was turned to the remaining two men in the water. By this time we could hear sirens in the distance, as well as a helicopter heading towards us.

 

4 minutes 10 seconds:            After attempting to get closer to the other two men, the thin ice that by this point had been made weaker still by the actions of pulling the one man out of the water was now too brittle to get any closer. It was at this point that we heard shouting from the bank, and at looking towards the bank we saw one policeman shouting repeatedly for us all to get off the ice. I replied that there were a further two men with their heads down in the water, and had been for approx five minutes. On my second attempt the policeman heard me as he then started talking into his radio. Me and Sam at this point decided to stay on the ice.

 

5 minutes:       By this time the man we had pulled from the water had managed to reach approx 8 meters from the edge of the lake, and two policemen walked onto the ice to pull him across the ice and back onto the bank. After further talking with Sam we both agreed that there was nothing more we could do, and as by this time further police had arrived on the scene, as well as us hearing more sirens closing in we decided to leave it to the emergency services and started to crawl back over the ice.”

 

The timeline goes on to show that second man was pulled from the icy water by helicopter after 10mins had elapsed. The third man was still in/under the water after 15mins and involved about 15 police, 7 firemen, a specialist response unit & a helicopter & crew. It will be interesting to hear what the final enquiry has to say.

 

Sam’s Parents Elaine & Bill Trewick had this to say about what happened.

 

“Thanks to everyone who contacted us to say "well done" to Samuel and Adam. They didn't really want the publicity, but as this was a headline story, they had to put up with the many TV and radio interviews and being sought out by the paparazzi!            We are of course very proud of them for what they did, but - we are also extremely cross that they put themselves in danger and went on the ice, when we have always told them not to! I think that they were very lucky and in using their judgment to know when to stop, prevented this from being a very different story. As parents, you always want to protect your children from danger, no matter how old they are, and even though for them and the man they rescued, it had a positive ending......we are always thinking about the "what if.".”

 

I took the liberty of dedicating a full page to this story because it involved one of our club members, and shows what people can do for others, even when faced with extreme danger. It also shows how very dangerous ice on lakes and rivers can be.

 

Many thanks to Sam, Adam, Bill, Elaine for allowing me to put this in the newsletter.. Ed

 

End……..