October Newsletter

Commodore's Message:
The season is rapidly drawing to a close, finishing with the Frostbite on 18 October from Kip Marina. Our annual dinner and prize giving is not far away as well and will take place on 14 November at our new venue in the Central Hotel. Our speaker for the evening is Jim Pollock, who will be entertaining us with highlights from his recent circumnavigation. I am also pleased to welcome to the club new members Elizabeth and Kenneth McCartney. For our entertainment this winter, Martin Yuill has put together a curling event on 25 January - this will be a first for me! I look forward to meeting up with you at our annual dinner, the details of which are in the newsletter. Please book as early as possible so that we can make arrangements with the hotel. Thank you.
Séamus Lalor, Commodore

Annual Prize giving and Dinner
The Committee is delighted to announce a new venue and date for our annual dinner and prize giving. This year the dinner will take place in the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow on Friday 14 November 2014. We hope you will join us to celebrate another great year. In keeping with tradition there will be a photo competition and this year the theme is ‘Serpent Fellowship’ and judging will take place on the night. There will also be a charity raffle in memory of Alan Robertson with donations being made to the RNLI and Heart, Chest and Stroke Association. Please email your photograph entries to Roisin Harris by Friday 7 November 2014 to allow for printing and display on the evening. We would also welcome log entries.
Tickets for the dinner are £40 per person and include a delicious dinner and a welcome drinks reception. The evening will commence at 19:00. We are also delighted to announce that Jim Pollock will be entertaining us with some great stories from his world cruise.
Seamus and the rest of the Committee look forward to welcoming you and your guests to the dinner.
The hotel is offering a 15% discount on room bookings enter the code "FUNC15" in the booking form promotion code box on the hotels Internet booking form
If you have not managed to return your cups yet, please do so asap so they can be engraved and prepared for the dinner. Cups can be passed to Catherine Toy at the Frostbite. At the very latest please return your cups to Seamus by noon on 1 November.

Download the form for the Annual Dinner here

Forthcoming Events
Frostbite – 18 October (instructions circulated in last newsletter)
Annual Dinner – Friday 14 November 2014, Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow
Curling Bonspiel – 25 January 2015

Serpent Curling Bonspiel   - Martin Yuill writes:


A convivial afternoon of curling and repartee is being arranged. For those who have not curled before, this is your chance to come and try our country’s most famous sport.
Two sheets of ice have been booked at Hamilton Ice Rink for Sunday 25th January2015 at 2.30 session duration approx. 2 hours. This is normally enough for 16players, but we can cater for more for those trying curling for the first time. This ice rink is easy to find and is owned and run by curlers. Direction will be sent out nearer the time, but the rink is close to the M74 Hamilton exit. It has a good viewing area and I envisage an afternoon tea for the non-curlers with drinks, tea and coffee from the bar and homemade cakes and biscuits supplied by the club.

There seems to be a hidden pool of curlers within the Club. Only people who have sailed on club boats may curl so I will accept entries from teams but as it is a social event I will either match two strong teams together or reserve the right to reorganise the rinks to make them more balanced. Teams will play for the Serpent Rock ( Unless someone already has a previous Serpent curling trophy ? phone me ).
Scoring will follow the traditional pattern of shots up then ends up. The “on frozen water” umpire will be Founder Commodore BobbyCorbett, a member of The RCCC Area Standing Committee, whose decision in thecase of protests will be final. The alternative penalty rule will not apply!! Protest flags are not required for question about the rules.
Individuals are welcome to enter and I can accept up to four non curlers who must be prepared to attend at 1.00 p.m. on that Sunday for basic tuition before stepping onto the ice. If there are many more non curlers interested, then an early entry is needed, so extra ice may be requested.
The dress code is warm clothing and a clean pair of trainers. All equipment is supplied by the Hamilton Ice Rink. Costs will be £10.00 for the curlers plus for them a £2.00 temp membership to the ice rink. Those not curling are free.
I plan 8 ends or the bell but if the session is massively oversubscribed I will split the time and have two sets of four ends. Please submit your entry now, along with your cheque for £12 payable to Serpent Yacht Club. This will give me a chance to gauge the numbers and try to book extra ice if available. Entry form below. A reserve list will operate so only early applications are guaranteed to play. Please let me know if you plan to attend outwith a curling group to allow me to assess numbers for afternoon catering. The food and hospitality at Hamilton is really rather good and has an excellent reputation. The ice rink has a contracted out restaurant facility who can supply a good quality high tea, more details to follow in the next newsletter. I propose to have the prize giving after the curling supper, which will be booked for 5pm. 

Download the application form for Curling here

Member News - by Richard Harris of 'Tanit'

The Round Ireland Yacht Race was the first big offshore event of 2014 for Tanit and the first time the crew had sailed together as a team – although between us we’ve had great experiences in offshore races such as Sydney-Hobart, Fastnet, Middle Sea to mention only a few. Mainly Scottish, we did have home nation representation from our Northern Irish navigator, and the boat was smoothly delivered from Southampton by two members of the crew and settled into Wicklow for final pre-race preparation. The Skippers were briefed to anticipate a slow race due to the light winds forecast.

On the start line we found a good position and reached away across the line heading south. We were soon spinnakering all the way to Fastnet Rock but then became becalmed. It was a strange feeling to be so still at such an iconic point which is infamous for its ferocious weather!
Eventually we did break free of Fastnet and were treated to a spectacular sunrise as we passed the stunning scenery of the Skellig Islands. The West coast was a very pleasant leg of the race but the pressure was building by the time we approached Rathlin Island as the boats behind us compressed our lead in a freshening wind, which reached up to 20 knots as we beat and fetched all the way down the final stretch into Wicklow, finishing at around 10am.
We completed 705 miles in just under 5 days but had to wait until the early hours (sampling a local brew known as Guinness and the great Irish hospitality in order to stay alert!) for our final position to be officially confirmed – there was still a chance that we could be beaten on handicap by our closest rival until then. Celebrations started in earnest once the Commodore announced our overall first place!
As a Skipper/Owner, I enjoyed a truly fantastic, very tactical, race which has been one of my favorites in the offshore classics and I look forward to returning.

Wood Farm Rock

Wood Farm Rock in the Kyles of Bute has long been a place of grounding and expensive keel damage. The positioning of the buoy which moves with the tide has often been misleading.  The CYCA has coordinated its replacement with a North cardinal perch secured to the NE corner of the rock and this has been completed with much thanks to Jamie McGarry of Gareloch Support Services. The full story can be read on the CYCA website or on clydesailing.  The photo below (looking roughly North) shows the new perch in position with the old buoy, just before it was lifted, lying to the tide.

Alan Robertson

The CCC has distributed the following information regarding the passing of Alan Robertson who was also an active member of the Serpent Yacht Club

I am sorry to inform you that my father Alan died on 10th September in hospital in Larbert. He had been unwell for a few weeks, but died peacefully. I would be grateful if you would inform the club and his fellow sailors.
The funeral is on Wednesday 24th September aty Trinity Church in Falkirk at 1400. Family flowers only. -  Gillian Johnston (daughter) 

The address is :

Trinity Church, Manse Place

Falkirk

FK1 1JN

 Directions:

http://falkirktrinity.org.uk/index.php/contact-us/item/32-directions

Next event- Frostbite Race 18th October

This year your committee decided not only to move the Frostbite race date forward but also to have a change from the usual Round Cumbrae race from Largs. Hence the start is once more from Kip with a choice of courses dependent on the wind direction. Hopefully we will be able to find a decent beat in one of them.  A new course letter - 'X' is in construction thanks to Elspeth Yuill and this will denote a shorter  version of each course. Martin Yuill will be the OOD and the race instructions include his details for informing him of your finishing time. The instructions can be downloaded here along with the entry form. Can I repeat the plea to at least email the race secretary of your intention to participate by the Monday of the week in which the race takes place?

2014 Autumn Muster

The Autumn Muster once again headed for Rothesay  this time in a continuing spell of high pressure promising sunshine but indifferent wind. A decent turnout of seven to race and two more cruising eventually appeared, some at the very last minute (Note: it really would be helpful if the race secretary could be notified of entries by email before the closing date even if you haven't summoned the energy to toddle down to the postbox).  Don Gillies on Black Pepper volunteered as Committee Boat and started the race off Kip on time on the full course around the Cumbrae. It was a case of hunting the puffs and patches and trying to avoid the holes until past the Skelmorlie Bank around which time the breeze just about disappeared completely. 

Class 2 comprising Aquaholic, Troikka and Stiarna drifted into the Largs Channel on the tide while Class 3 had their race finished at Hun1 with which Camus Bosta attempted unusual intimacy.  Shortly after that a proper sailing wind picked up and this was also experienced in the Largs Channel where both of the Class 2 boats picked up their skirts. By the Tan Spit it was blowing 20kts NW giving a stiff beat up to the Toward buoy while Aquaholic experienced even more after rounding Ardyne. The Class 3s having arrived earlier were well into the pontoon partying by the time Class 2 arrived but eventually all of the fleet were safely parked, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine  in the inner harbour with Jim Pollock's Oyster 47, just back from the Oyster Round the World Rally attached to the long hammerhead. Before heading out for the official meal Commodore Seamus was courageous/reckless/daft (delete as applicable) enough to undertake the then-fashionable Icebucket Challenge and you can view the video on the Serpent Facebook page. 

Thereafter, the Mount Stuart diner being unable to accommodate us, the assembled company made their way over the road to the Victoria Hotel where a traditional and replenishing menu was provided and with those sitting near the window having the additional attraction of the sunset on Rothesay Bay.  As for the results, the times for Class 3 were all in the same ballpark indicating that the handicaps are working and that there there is everything to play for. Despite their usual mid-race hot meal and baking activities the OOTB team assisted on this occasion by Marcus were the deserved winners ahead of Black Pepper sailing two handed.  However in class 2, the apparent distance between Troikka and Aquaholic did not translate into anything approaching a close finish after handicap correction but the level of accumulated experience within the Aquaholic crew was noted.     

 These somewhat fuzzy pics were lifted from the Serpent Facebook page.

Next morning for the return Pursuit Race there was wind in the bay but that disappeared at Toward giving another morning of hunt the breeze. The Troikka crew with no less than 3 doctors on board couldn't be bothered hanging around to wait for a 10.50am start so Martin on Pondskater contributes the following:
 " Neil retired when we finally passed him to windward leaving him in a hole after a duel for most of the passage from Toward. Stewart kept to the Innellan shore and looked to be well out of it only to pick up the wind as it filled in and beat us to the line. This is despite the fact that he was locked into the harbour and started the race 8min late. Neil and ourselves  had to sit in the calm patch and watch him creep back into the race and over the line . I put it down his 'semi professional tactician' in the presence of Marcus on board.
Tom did his usual magic and seemed to be able to accelerate with no obvious wind only to be caught again by the group as it rounded  Toward in a bunch until the maestro finally picked up a steady breeze and left everyone  behind, though  even he  seemed to take forever to get over the finishing line which we took as the start line as there were no southerly racing marks present.  An enjoyable but frustrating sail. "


Results- Saturday

Results - Sunday Pursuit
1.  Aquaholic
2. Out of The Blue
3. Pondskater

Barts Bash

On May 9th, 2013, Andrew 'Bart' Simpson tragically died in a training accident in San Fransisco Bay while preparing for the America's Cup competition.   There was shock across the sailing world at the loss of this truly great and selfless man and there were clearly many, many people whose lives had been touched by him in some way. A charity in memory of Andrew, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation, was set up by Sir Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy OBE and Andrew's wife Leah to honour Andrew's life and legacy to inspire the next generation through the use of sailing to help young people to develop the personal skills to succeed in life and improve access to jobs and careers within the maritime sector.
The inaugural Bart’s Bash is a sailing race that will be run by sailing clubs all around the world on behalf of the charity, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation. On Sunday 21 September 2014 each sailing club will sail an individual Bart’s Bash race at their location with certain set requirements to meet the criteria for a Guinness world record of the largest sailing race ever .  It is the major fundraising event for the Foundation which is asking people to raise money to support our charitable work.  It is for this cause that they are suggesting people should pay a £5 donation to take part.
In support of this, Clyde yacht clubs are combining to join up for one yachtie Barts Bash at Royal Gourock Yacht Club as their site combines a reasonably central venue with good shoreside exposure. Royal Northern, Cardwell Bay, Royal Gourock, Holy Loch, Fairlie, Largs and Serpent yacht clubs have all signed up to race at Gourock on the 21st September. The race promises to be a fairly straightforward tour of fixed marks in the Rosneath-Gourock-Holy Loch patch and it would be wonderful if a turnout coming close to Scottish Series Gourock starts of old could be achieved. Every yacht taking part in the race must have race insurance but it is possible that with sufficient interest it may be possible to run a Barts Bash Cruise around the course for non racers after the race proper has started. Cruise entries will not however be eligible for inclusion in the Guinness Record attempt. All participants must be a member of a yacht club but participating clubs will be able to offer temporary membership to non members who wish to take part and those clubs can be contacted through the BartsBash website. There is loads of further information on the BartsBash website and in something of the spirit of the Commonwealth Games it is a great opportunity to bring participation in a truly global event right down to the Gourock seafront.  

Autumn Muster - From the Race Secretary

The Autumn Muster is on 6th-7th September 2014.  As in previous years this involves, for those who want to race, a race to Rothesay from Kip, ideally by way of the Cumbrae.  The harbourmaster in Rothesay is always welcoming and space has been reserved.  Seamus our Commodore has arranged dinner in the Victoria Hotel which if nothing else has the obvious advantage that no bus is required.  And of course there is the Pursuit Race back to Kip on the Sunday.
Hopefully the entry form will be emailed out in a newsletter soon but in the meantime the entry form and instructions can be downloaded here  .as a Word document. 
Furthermore there is an additional download available - this is an Excel results spreadsheet which was originally devised by Tom Hutchison. In the downloadable form it is ready populated with the usual Serpent suspects complete with handicaps and only requires the OOD to fill in the elapsed time to the finish for each boat. It is very easy to use for anyone familiar at the most basic level with Excel and if interested you are invited to download it and have a play. Excel calculates the results to decimals of minutes but since Serpent racing is so close (!) and everyone wants to know their time differences in actual seconds, the third last column has been added and that is where you enter the decimals of the minute - For example say the corrected time in minutes is 55.47. You would enter the .47 in the 3rd last column (headed 'decimal seconds') and in the second last column this will automatically appear as actual seconds. You then enter the final time in the last column by putting in the whole minutes from the corrected time column and inserting the whole seconds that you have just had calculated.  Much simpler to do than it is to describe but email me if you have any questions about it. I have found that the spreadsheet works fine on an ipad running Quickoffice and thus is usefully portable for on board use. My thanks to Tom for making it available.

It would be nice to get some more pictures on the website so please email your best cruising photos to serpentyachtclub@googlemail.com  and we can have a little gallery - perhaps with some commentary if you provide that too.  Ideally it is best if you don't email full camera resolution shots at 8Mb a pop or whatever. For those au fait with these things a .JPEG image (not RAW!) 1920x1080 pixels is more than plenty fine but this is by no means critical.