The Topper Tournament

has been rescheduled from Saturday to

SUNDAY 16th JUNE at 11.00am.

BBQ to follow

Sailors of all ages and abilities welcome

This will replace the programmed dinghy race.
 

2013 RYA Junior and Adult Dinghy Sailing Courses

This year’s courses will run from Monday 1st July to Friday 5^th July As in previous years we plan to run Junior Stages 1 – 4, and Adult Level 1,2&3, and possibly Start racing and Sailing with Spinnakers courses according tp demand. Courses will run for 3 hours each day Monday-Thursday, mornings 9.30-12.30, afternoons 1.30-4.30 and possibly evenings 5.30-8.30. We hope to finish the week with a day of fun activities or a short cruise on Friday but this will obviously depend on the weather.

Participants must be current members of the club. Short term membership is available.

The cost of the course is £45 for juniors and £60 for adults.

If you would like to take part please complete the form and return it to me at Rassal, Kishorn, Ross-shire. IV54 8XE or email to lochcarronsc@aol.com.

All participants must provide a suitable buoyancy aid and wear it at all times whilst on the water.

A wetsuit and spraytop is the best clothing but otherwise wear warm waterproof clothing that does not restrict your movement and old trainers that can get wet. A hat, preferably attached to your buoyancy aid, will also help you stay warm.

Jenny Baker

Principal, Lochcarron Sailing Club

First Yacht Race of the Season.

Sunday 19th May. Meet at Clubhouse at 12 noon.

Starting Gun at 13.00hrs.

Forecast is for Light winds and Sunshine. Honestly!

Easter Egg Race -- Sunday 31st March at 10.00am.

Yes folks, the day you have been waiting for is just around the corner. Lochcarron Sailing Club Sailing Season will begin at the crack of dawn on Easter Sunday (Well 10.00am to be precise. Remember that the clocks will have gone FORWARD on Sunday morning -- so this does mean an early start!)

The forecast is for bright sunshine and very light winds. There shall be Easter Egg prizes!!. Do come along to join in for the first sail of the 2013 season.

(All help would be welcome to help set up the boats and clubhouse on Saturday at 11.00am.)

See you there?

Not for the faint-hearted?

Sunday 3rd March at 10.00a.m.

This is the last of the frostbite races. Make sure you keep warm. The loch will be at it's very coldest -- but Rescue will be at hand!

 Work Party Saturday 16th February

11.00am

Here's a couple of Pics from last Summer. D J asked us to post them.

Hopefully they will speed his recovery after his recent spell in Hospital.

(Davie enjoys the bouquet of his wine as the Barbie is lit on Meridian.)

(But even these Sea Dogs had to Abandon Ship!)

Roll on Summer 2013!!!

Hello Everyone,

The date of the AGM is Wednesday 30th January 7.30pm

at the Clubhouse.

Please come along and support Sailing in Lochcarron.

Items for the Agenda by the 26th of January please.

Thanks

Carol

Frostbite Race  2nd January at 10.30a.m

The plan will be to have a couple of short races -- not long enough to cause serious damage.

Survivors will have circulation restorers available in the clubhouse afterwards!

Please come along .. bring some found and drink with you...........

Start 2013 with a splash!

Result:

Eight dinghies participated and had a couple of exciting races in squally conditions.There were six Laser Radials, one Full rig and one Phantom.

Dave surprised everyone, including himself, by winning the first race in his Laser and Steve got his act together to take the second in his Phantom.

(Grey and gusty. Great!)

Second Frostbite Race Sunday 9th December at Noon.

Get the thermals out .. it might be a bit chilly!

Get your Thermals Out and get ready to Race!!

Planned for Sunday 11th Nov at 15:00h

 Warm drinks will be served to those who are brave/stupid enough!!

The Laying up supper is on the calendar for the 23rd of November, at the Carron Restaurant.

Numbers are limited to 40.

It is suggested that the price will remain the same as last year at £20 per adult and £10 for age 15 and under.

Please can you email me asap if you would like to attend.

thanks

Carol

lochcarroncottages@gmail.com

We were joined by two teams from Plockton and one team from Gairloch at the Gunn Trophy this year.

In the morning there was no wind at all so we went Seal spotting and played "Catch the tail of the Dog" as we towed the Toppers across a glassy loch.

After the barbeque the wind picked up and we were able to sail four competitive races.

Here are just some of the sailors (Apologies to the gairloch sailors who had gone off to get changed when this photo was taken.

Lochcarron A team (seen here) won the series. Lochcarron B came second, Plockton A third, Plockton B fourth and Gairloch came fifth.

All Highland Clubs are invited to send teams of three juniors to compete for the Celebrated Gunn Trophy!

Saturday 22nd September.

This is a fun event. Sailors must still be at school to compete and should be able to bring their own boats. (It may be possible to borrow a Topper -- but this is not guaranteed.)

 Briefing at 11.00a.m. We plan to run 5 or six races -- with all results counting towards the final score. The day will end with a barbeque and prizegiving. There is no fee to enter. 

If requested, informal coaching may be provided on the water. 

Please contact D Murray on david.murray@btconnect.com for more information.

Notice of Event:

All Highland and Moray Sailing Clubs are invited to send one or more teams to take part in this Junior Team Racing Event which will be held at Lochcarron Sailing Club on Saturday 22nd September.
The Gunn Trophy is aimed at Topper Sailors competing in teams of three. The best overall team score over a series of four or more short races will win the prize. There is no entry fee but there may be a small charge for the barbeque at the end of the afternoon. The emphasis will be on friendly competition and team playing. Adults from visiting Clubs will be invited onto rescue boats to help identify sailors and to ensure fair play!
All participants must still be attending School. Scoring will be on a low point system with the aggregated overall score of each team counting towards the final result. There will be no discards. It is intended that competing teams will be sailing Toppers..

The trophy is a scale replica of a British Navy cannon. (It is named after the late Douglas Gunn who was commodore of Lochcarron Sailing Club in the 1990s.) The winning Team will have the option to host the Gunn Trophy Event at their Club in 2012 if they wish.
Briefing will be at 11.00am. (Probably 2 or 3 races followed by a short shore break and then 2 or 3 more.)  Award Ceremony planned for 4.00pm.
Please Contact Dave Murray on david.murray@btconnect.com with any queries and to notify us of your intention to attend. It would be very helpful if clubs will let us know in advance if they intend to participate.
(Lochcarron sailing Club has facilities for changing and one shower in the male and the female changing rooms.)

Provisionally. Our last Yacht Race will be starting at 1.30 p.m.

From Plockton, back to Lochcarron.

Sunday September 16th. All welcome. (Entry fee one bottle of wine.)

Watch this space for confirmation 

Lochcarron Annual Dinghy Regatta: 25th and 26th August.

EVERYONE WELCOME

This is an open Regatta. All sailors are welcome to come along to enjoy a weekend of friendly competition on our beautiful Loch with excellent shore-side facilities.

Briefing at 11.30 Saturday. First Race 1.00p.m.

A typical start line up at our Regatta. We value individuality!

And we can cater for one design racing too!

Cost : (Including  breakfast, lunch and tea and cakes over both days) £35 per double-hander, £20.00 single hander.

Two course evening meal available at clubhouse on Saturday at £8.00 per head. (£4.00 for juniors).

We look forward to seeing you here. Registration from 10.00a.m.

Notice of race

Pursuit Race this Sunday. Open to all. Entry is one bottle of wine per boat.

Meet at Club house at 1.00p.m. Two hour race proposed with staggered start. Finish time probably 4.00p.m. 

Come along and join the fun!

A pusuit race means that the slowest boats start first. The faster boats join according to their handicap and all boats will finish at roughly the same time. 

The course will be set within the inner Loch and will allow for up to five laps within the allotted time.

Kishorn Cup This weekend!

The date for the Kishorn cup is now 4th August. Meeting in Achintraid at 10am at Graham Macauley-Smith's house.

This is just above the Scottish Sea Farms Site on the South Shore. All are welcome.

The idea is that those who wish to go for a sailaway can go on from there.

Destination to be decided -- depending on weather and wishes.

Five yachts competed in ideal conditions last Sunday. the result was veeeeery close. On handicap, the top four boats all finished within less that 40 seconds of one another. (Need to sharpen up that start Rob!!  --- Look who's talking.)

(Seen above are (L to R) Planet Express, The Rebel, Amatory and Escape. Missing from the photo is Saorsa, the ultimate winner. (Sadly Mhojo was unable top compete as she awaits intensive (engine) care in Kishorn.) We are hoping to see the renamed Sassie and Ella for the next race on 15th July. 

Jenny hands over the winning trophy to Teo and Crew.

Remember, all our yacht races are open to visitors. Entry fee: one bottle of wine!

Please note that the Kishorn Cup Race which had provisionally been planned to take place on Saturday June 2nd has been postponed and will probably be held in August. More details to follow.

Our next yacht race will be held on Sunday June 10th. Briefing at clubhouse at 11.00a.m. Convener of this race: Doug Angus.

First Yacht race of the Year.

27th May -- meet at 11.00a.m. at the Clubhouse.

Entry fee is a bottle of wine. These may be consumed at the impromptue prize giving afterwards. This race will be organised by Bart -- please contact him with any queries.

This Saturday are YOU ready for a challenge?

Starting at 11.00a.m. we will be hosting a FUN challenge race with adults, juniors, beginners and old-timers competing in Toppers. There will be a series of short fun races and everyone will be able to watch from the comfort of the committee boat.

Afterwards we hope to have a barbie and warm ourselves in the first warm weather of the season. the forecast is for light winds and SUNSHINE!!

No charge to join in... come along and enjoy!

REGATTA 2012

25th-26th August.

Mark your diaries now! We welcome all visitors to our club for this event. More details will follow closer to the date.

2012 Programme Published!

Check out the tab on the left marked, rather unimaginatively, "Programme 2012" to see what activities we have planned for the coming season. Can't wait to get back on the water after a damp, grey winter? Make a start on April the 1st with our first dinghy race of the season.

We will have a free barbeque too to get us off to a flying start.

See you there!

Report by Cameron Kitson Jones

My brother Fraser and I took part in the RYA Volvo Youth Nationals, which was held this year in  Pwllheli, North Wales and is the biggest youth sailing event in the UK. It had a record number of 390 sailors, 144 of which were 29er sailors (72 boats). The fleet was split into two flights for qualifying, yellow and blue, qualifying was done over a two day period and we managed to complete all 7 races however sadly missed out on the gold fleet by two points. This meant we had a good chance in the silver fleet . There was no racing on Wednesday as the wind was gusting up to and above 40 knots so we had to look forward to Thursday which was looking very promising for a good sailing breeze. So Thursday arrived and the wind was strong, 15 – 20 knots, the plan was to do 4 races and three the next day. We started the first race off in style finishing third, which put us in the lead of the whole fleet, so no pressure! The second race came and half way down towards the leeward gate we were lying in 4^th place, unfortunately we had a collision with a boat coming up wind and the mainsail came down forcing us to retire from that race, this meant we could not afford to have a bad race for the rest of the regatta. The third race came and we had fixed our sail, the wind had dropped which made the racing very close and we managed to get a 12^th place after some close aggressive racing. The last race came and the wind had unfortunately dropped off even more, we knew we needed to get a top 10 finish to keep us in the chase for a top three finish, and we were successful by getting a 9^th place which was a relief. After Thursdays racing we lay in 5^th position in the silver fleet with our fellow squad boats in front in 4^th and behind in 6^th . We were still capable of getting a top three finish with good results on Friday. We managed to do three races as targeted, and as the wind slowly picked up we managed to get a 4^th place which really gave us a shot at a top three finish. The next race came and we were unfortunately spat out on the start line and forced to sail passed the fleet in last, knowing we had no discards left. We gained our way up the fleet and managed to finish in a respectable 8^th place. It was all down to the next race, we had beaten our fellow squad member so we were lying in 4^th place and with a good race we could take 3^rd or 2^nd. Unfortunately the wind dropped and we never got into the race and sadly finished in 15^th this put us back into 5^th place overall. We were unlucky not to get a top 3 finish however for our first big event we are both pleased with our overall position.

The Youth Nationals is a fantastic event where you get to compete with the best in the country, you gain so much experience and have a great time and I strongly recommend that Lochcarron's young sailors think about what they want to achieve out of sailing and to consider competing in more sailing events to improve your sailing and compare your level of sailing with others.

Individual Adult £50
Individual Junior £25
Family £80 (2 adults + children under 18 on the 1st of Jan)
Associate (Non sailing) £15

Cheque Payments as soon as possible please to
Lochcarron Sailing Club,
c/o Carol MacKenzie,
Membership Secretary
Craig Cottage
Achnashellach
Strathcarron
IV54 8YU

Many thanks
Carol

There will be work parties on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th March from 10.30am

The main task will be to rebuild the sea wall which has taken a real battering over the winter.

All help greatly appreciated.

Extra shovels and/or barrows that would help to speed up the job.

Committee Meeting

Clubhouse

Thursday 8th March 7.30

AGM

23rd February 2012

7:00pm for 7:30pm start in the clubhouse

Your sailing club needs you.  Please be supportive.