http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45NPKnXvZ-Q&feature=related

Proposed Clyde Coastguard Closure

At the AGM on 21st Feb a vote was taken and an overwhelming majority of those attending agreed on the motion that the proposal to close local coastguard centres was a regressive step. The Commodore then agreed that the Club should issue its own protest on the issue. 

However it should also be noted that  the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have announced a series of public meetings concerning the proposed Coastguard modernisation programme
The purpose of the meeting is to provide an opportunity for the local communities around the existing Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) to hear more about the proposals, ask questions of MCA representatives and have the opportunity to express their views. Each meeting will be independently chaired and will begin at 7:30pm, expecting to draw to a close by 9pm.

Attending such a meeting may be an effective way to register dissatisfaction with the proposals and our local Clyde meeting will be on  Wednesday 2 March 2011, Port Glasgow Town Hall, 35 King Street, Port Glasgow.

 

The Government has recently produced a paper containing proposals to modernise the Coastguard service around the country to bring it into the 21st Century. They are proposing closing 10 out of the 18 existing Coastguard stations, including the bases on the Clyde and Forth and considerably reducing the numbers of Coastguards employed. In future Scotland will be managed through one main control centre at Aberdeen with a sub centre at Stornoway or Shetland which will be a daylight hours only station. The closure of the Clyde Maritime Co-ordination Rescue Centre is planned for 2012/13.
The Club has received a letter from the Clyde Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre saying that they consider the proposal to be seriously flawed.
They identify the following concerns:
Loss of local knowledge and expertise would delay response times
Reliance on two main centres places pressure on the other if there is a technical breakdown at one of them. The present system has more capacity to cope with such a situation.
The higher dependence on IT rather than local centres staffed by people with local knowledge, increases risk and reduces capacity in the system in times of stress
Why close the busiest station in Scotland at a time when the west coast is becoming busier with yachts, merchant shipping and cruise liners.

They close the letter by saying that they feel that this is a cost saving exercise which will have an impact on the mariner and the coastal user on the west coast of Scotland and urge us to make our concerns known.

:Read the full proposal here

If you wish to respond to the paper click here

The consultation period ends at 5pm on the 24th March 2011. If anyone would like to see the full version of the letter from the Clyde Maritime and Rescue Centre, let me know and I’ll send them a copy. However I would urge you, if you feel strongly about this proposal, to make your views known.

JANUARY NEWSLETTER 2011
A Message from the Commodore
During the Christmas and New Year period, we have had another severe, and this time earlier, winter which amongst all the disruptions of frozen pipes, treacherous roads and traffic chaos, forced us to cancel the Club Dinner and Prize Giving, an unprecedented event in the club’s history.
This was not an easy decision to take and I apologise for any inconvenience caused but in the light of so many cancellations it became obvious that it would not be viable to run the dinner. As a result any cheques that were sent to me to pay for tickets have now been shredded and will not be presented to the bank.
Although we considered re-arranging the Dinner at a later date in January, this proved to be impossible to organise.
However to allow those of you who were successful in the races to adorn your sideboards with silverware, we have decided this year to amalgamate the Prize Giving within the AGM and this combined event will be held at The Golden Jubilee Hospital on Monday 21st February.
I hope you will be able to attend and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM and Prize Giving.
Tom Barrie
Commodore

Annual General Meeting - 21st February 2011
The Annual General Meeting of the Serpent Yacht Club will be held on Monday 21st February 2011 in the Board Room at the Golden Jubilee Hospital, Beardmore Street, Clydebank.
A buffet supper will be served at 7pm with the AGM starting at 7.30pm.
The 2010 Prize Giving and Annual Photographic Competition will follow the AGM.

Annual Subscriptions
Your annual subscription is now due, so if you haven’t already paid by standing order could you please forward your cheque to:-
Val Glen, Treasurer, 9 Abercromby Pl, Stirling, FK8 2QP
Subscriptions have been held at £10 for single membership, £15 for joint /family membership. Cheques should be made payable to “The Serpent Yacht Club”.

Annual Dinner and Prizegiving

Due to the current extreme weather conditions it has reluctantly been decided to CANCEL the above event on Friday 10th December with a view to arranging a suitable future date.

Portavadie Day in June 2011

This year, in June, the club held a very successful jaunt to Portavadie where a pontoon party was followed by a good meal in splendid surroundings. The wonderful weather which June is delivering these days certainly helped and the prevailing view of those attending was that a repeat in 2011 was in order.  Unusually, this event did not take the form of a race but it has been suggested that the Club could do more to offer pursuit races to encourage those who are somewhat intimidated by conventional starts (and with Stewart Toy around the start line  who could blame them! ).  The Portavadie outing would seem an ideal opportunity for a pursuit race and the Committee are keen to hear the views of active members on this suggestion. Please use the comments facility at the end of this post to state your views.   

Annual Dinner and Prizegiving 2010

Catherine Toy, recovering from having been hit by her horse (requiring 8 stitches in her head), has asked that a notice about the Annual Dinner be posted.

The Annual Dinner and Prizegiving 2010 will be held in the Glasgow Art Club on Friday 10th December at 7.30 for 8pm.  This is always an enjoyable and sociable evening and this year the speaker is Prof Paul Dodson who is an old chum of our Commodore.  In addition to the distribution of the familiar galaxy of tin pots, the prizes for best photo and best log of 2010 will be awarded.  The evening commences with a drinks reception and all Serpents are encouraged to attend. The cost is £45 pp and we are assured that with new caterers  great things are expected. The booking form is attached to the newsletter which all members should have received either royally or by email but failing that get in touch with Tom Barrie asap.

Frostbite Race

October 30th provided perfect autumnal sailing conditions for the Serpent YC 'Frostbite' race around the Cumbrae from Largs. With bright sunshine and a southsouthwesterly wind up to the high teens we couldn't have asked for better. As ever it was a small and somewhat motley collection of yachts gathered for the event but there could be no doubting the general enthusiasm although the start had to be postponed for 10 minutes to allow late arrivals from Kip who had underestimated the journey time in the prevailing conditions. The start involved the bizarre Serpent technique allowing the committee boat to join in the race without too much delay The obvious thing to do was to hit the Cumbrae shore and tack up it but as is usual with the Serpents there were in evidence any number of variations.

The two spinnaker boats were first to the Tan Spit where spinnakers were deployed for a fast run up the west side of the Cumbrae. Troikka made sure that this year she found the correct green buoy and took line honours although she waited anxiously as Guilty seemed too close behind for comfort.

In the brisk conditions Neil McDougall's Camus Bosta was well able to sail to her extraordinary handicap and was the clear winner of the restricted sail Class3. After the race Troikka and Guilty headed straight back to Kip while Aquaholic, OOTB, Camus Bosta and Emma Louise went into Largs and Tulla headed off for afternoon tea in the Holy Loch.  

 Troikka ended her season with a stressful moment as the engine cut suddenly on the final approach into the Kip  entrance channel. However some quick work by the crew had some headsail back up and a rapid response by the marina staff meant that she was able to go alongside in the marina without mishap. It turned out that the cause of the problem was a spinnaker guy around the prop - definitely something to be avoided at all costs. Here are the results: