Not the Sound of Jura

Where? At this time of year?

It's David Toy on board Exody, crewing for Peter and Marion on the south Atlantic leg of their circumnavigation. They left Cape Town on 6th January - that's Table Mountain in the background - and expect just one stop at St Helena in about two weeks. From there it's onwards to Salvador in Brazil in time for the carnival on the 5th Feb. It may look a bit West Coast grey but apparently the temperature there is 31 degrees.  We wish them all fair winds.

2015 Annual Dinner - as reported by The Commodore

Our annual SYC dinner on Friday 27 November was a huge success and well supported by Past Commodores, Serpent members and guests.

 The Commodore introduced his top table and welcomed nine new Members to the club this year.  To allow more time for social interaction the committee had opted, on this occasion, to have no invited Speaker and so the programme for the evening included an excellent dinner from the Central Hotel,  a photo competition, the sale of new merchandise and the prize giving.  Additionally, a raffle in aid of the Yorkhill Hospital Trust, prizes for which included a £125 voucher donated by Specsavers Newlands, and malt whisky and wine donated by the Committee raised a magnificent £410.

David Toy (as seen in the previous posting) entertained the company with his ‘14 ways to wear a buff’ resulting in a total of 62 buffs and 4 ties being either sold or ordered.  This initiative by Catherine Toy will boost club funds for the forthcoming 40^th anniversary.  The photo competition ‘Summertime?’ was won by our Commodore and was a picture of the crew of ‘Pondskater’ on a day visit to Plockton.

Seamus then introduced the prizegiving by thanking our race secretary, Charles Sutherland, for organising this year’s cruising/racing programme.  Unfortunately, the Spring and Craobh Musters had to be cancelled due to inclement weather.  Tom Hutchinson on ‘Aquaholic’, was awarded the Schering Trophy for the overall best corrected time and Val Glen on ‘Tulla Mor’ won the Rose Bowl for the Autumn Muster Ladies Race.  Other winners were Black Pepper, Out of the Blue, Silverjack, Kerrera Moon and Emma Louise.

The Serpent Log was won by Peter and Marian Jennett who are currently in Cape Town on ‘Exody’.
 

 The Wooden Spoon was awarded to our Commodore for a course deviation during the Frostbite race – enough said! 

Our Commodore concluded the evening by thanking the Committee for their excellent help and support throughout the year and outlined the programme for next years 40^th anniversary as follows:

1.   A race on 30 April 2016 off Kip followed by dinner.  Next day (Sunday 1st May) a sail past the RGYC at midday followed by lunch at the clubhouse.  The club's first event was on 10 May 1976 with 21 boats on the water so we hope for a similar turnout on the day - please save the date.

2.  The Annual 40^th anniversary dinner is to be held on Saturday 26 November 2016. Your Committee is planning a special occasion at the Art Club and hope to have a bumper turnout.  Please save that date also.

3. Following last year’s success, your Committee is holding another Serpent Curling Bonspiel, organized by Martin Yuill, on Sunday 7th February at the Hamilton Ice Rink.

4. Our AGM will once again be at the Hamilton Ice Rink Boardroom on Wednesday 10th February 2016 to which all are invited.  John Highcock, from Saturn Sails, will give this year’s presentation.

 

Serpents in the Buff

The Serpent Yacht Club marketing juggernaut has come up with an unmissable opportunity.  Catherine Toy has organised the manufacture of bespoke club Buffs.  What is a buff?  Well the photo below shows Catherine modelling one.

Buffs are an immensely versatile addition to the unisex outdoor wardrobe. Essentially they are tubes of stretchy fabric and can be used as a scarf - as modelled by Catherine -to stop spray going down your neck. They can be worn as a kind of balaclava or other headwarmer variant (great under ski or cycle helmets and have a use in midge protection too).  There are also numerous other possibilities including the jihadist look as modelled below by David Toy.

The Club buff is very attractive in navy blue and dotted with the Serpent logo.  Every club member should have one even just for walking the dog. They are available from the club at £14 collected directly at a club function or £15 to include postage.  Much more useful than a  boring old tie although those can be supplied also.

Annual Dinner - Friday 27th November

The Commodore Speaks: 
 
"With the Frostbite marking the end of this season’s  
sailing events, it is now time for our annual SYC dinner, which is again in the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow. This year will see a change in format with the event commencing slightly later with drinks at 19.30 followed by dinner at 20.00.
Your Committee has also decided, as we approach
our 40th anniversary, that there should be more opportunity to socialise with other members of the Club towards the end of the evening and to allow sufficient time for this, there will not be a formal speaker this year.
There will, of course be our usual prize giving, photo competition and fund raising activities which this year will be for Yorkhill Hospital
Charity.
I would like to invite you to support our forthcoming event and look forward to the evening."

Frostbite Race 2015

There was no possibility of frostbite on this year's so-called Frostbite Race.  Having brought the event so far forward in the calendar the Committee is duty bound to rename it more appropriately. That being said the conditions could have been worse.  The Race Officer and his loyal assistant on Troikka were concerned about starting the race in so little wind but elected to run an anticlockwise circuit of the Cumbrae as the perceptible breeze appeared to be coming from the north west rather than the east which was forecast. The picture below by Graham Gillies illustrates the conditions.

 Nevertheless a little breeze filled in and the race started on time. Those who displayed carelessness in not being close to the start line or who were close in to the shore where the wind was completely absent suffered badly.  Aquaholic and Tulla Mhor made a safe getaway but soon found themselves becalmed briefly.  It was certainly not the conditions which favour Camus Bosta and I think Neil would prefer no further comment.  For Class 2 once Troikka had put away the starting gear and joined in an enjoyable little beat to Hun1 ensued with Troikka first to the mark closely followed by Tulla Mhor. Once round the west of Cumbrae the mighty Arcona soon started to gain on the Elan

but looking back it was worrying to see little evidence of Class 3 approaching HUN1.  However, following a few calls on VHF it transpired that Class 3 were prepared to sail on.   Troikka and Tulla Mhor eventually reached the Tan Spit buoy together, Troikka giving water to Tulla and proceeding across Millport Bay 

but in a declining breeze until it ran out completely and we both stopped, Troikka going backwards in the tide of this notorious whirlpool.  There the two boats remained for at least 20 minutes until Aquaholic appeared, creeping along the shore.  Eventually the skeely Hutchinson manipulated Aquaholic around the Hun 9 buoy just ahead of Tulla Mhor and where it was decided to finish the Class 2 race. Troikka meanwhile had drifted southwards on the tide with little hope of reaching the buoy in the next 30 minutes and so she retired.  As there was no sense in asking Class 3 to put up with this ordeal it was decided that their race should be stopped at the Tan Spit buoy where all, with the notable exception of the Commodore had recorded their times, as per the race instructions. We were pleased to see new members Ken and Elizabeth McCartney out on Kerrera Moon, assisted by Martin Yuill and in fact all of Class 3 expressed their satisfaction with the race albeit one in which the conditions were far from ideal.  

The results are below.  The Commodore was saved from disqualification by Graham Gillies who noted that Emma Louise arrived at the Tan Spit approximately one minute before Silverjack and he has accordingly been accredited with this time.  The results are below: click the table to see it clearly

The Frostbite Race

This year's Frostbite Race will be held in brilliant warm sunshine and moderate winds on 10th October.  Returning to usual form the start is off Largs Marina at 10.45am and will, we hope, involve a tour round the Cumbrae and ideally a figure 8 around both Cumbraes.  The Race Instructions and Entry Form can be downloaded here 
Ideally some informal post race socialising would be good but it is up to participants to organise that themselves

The Ladies Race

The 2015 Ladies Race was held on the Sunday after the Rothesay Race. The Race Secretary still thinks that having a round the cans pursuit race is a daft idea but everyone appears to have enjoyed it so it will probably be continued into 2016.  Since we have had two consecutive postponements of the Ladies Race due to unsuitable conditions at Tarbert in May perhaps we should consider making the Autumn Muster the fixture for the Ladies Race. Or maybe just keep it as a moveable thing. Anyway the race this year was well attended and was won by the mighty Tulla Mhor, Val and Dugald Glen's highly impressive Arcona 43.  Apparently the Glens were not sparing anything as some other competitors were treated to a glimpse of her keel.  The finish order was as follows:

1. Tulla Mhor
2. Aquaholic
3.Out of the Blue
4.Pondskater
5.Spirit
6.Silverjack
7.Black Pepper
8.Kerrera Moon