Sailing News

Forthcoming Events

Streaker Open - Saturday 4th May 2013

Saturday 4th May will see Rotherham Sailing Club hosting a round of the Sail Register Northern Paddle Series.

Entry is £10 and includes free tea and coffee all day. Hot food will also be available on the day. First Race is 11.00am

Notice of Race (PDF).

Rotherham Sailing Club Open Day - Saturday 18th May 2013

Rotherham Sailing Club based at Harthill Reservoir are again holding their annual open day.

On Saturday 18th May from 12.30pm we will be offering FREE to all visitors:

- A chance to experience sailing with one of our qualified dinghy instructors

- Learn about sailing course on offer (beginners are very welcome!)

- Understand what we offer to members including a lively social calender

- And our regular sailing on Thursday evenings and Sundays throughout the year

Refreshments and drinks will be available for a small charge. Guaranteed fun, all you need is some shoes that can get wet and a sense of fun! (all required safety equipment is provided!)

A great day out for all the family, whatever age.

Click here for our Poster (PDF).

YHYSA - Saturday 8th June 2013

On Saturday 8th June the Yorkshire and Humberside Youth Sailing Association Travellers series will be visiting Rotherham Sailing Club. Not a member of the YHYSA? No problem, still come along and enter and find out what Youth Sailing is all about. Garry Chambers will also be on hand to talk to anyone who wants to attend the NSSA Regatta in Bassenthwaite as part of the Yorkshire and Humberside squad.

Entry is £8 and the club will be open to receive visitors from 9am with the first race starting at 11am. Hot food will be available on the day including Bacon butties on arrival.

Reports

2012 Trophy Winners

The 9th February saw the annual Dinner Dance and prize giving at Mosborough Hall, where the winners of the trophies for 2012 were announced. Congratulations to the following winners;

FROSTBITE SERIES

MEASURERS POT: LASER Joel Wakefield

MILLENNIUM TROPHY: STREAKER Peter Cogill

EDWIN HART: TOPPER Jenni Parsons

14FT INTERNATIONAL TROPHY: MENAGERIE Simon Fleetwood (Enterprise)

SPRING SERIES

RSC SMALL: LASER Joel Wakefield

ESME MORRIS TROPHY: STREAKER Peter Cogill

SYDNEY FRITH TROPHY: TOPPER Jenni Parsons

HENRY HALL TROPHY: MENAGERIE Chris Cooper (Phantom)

SUMMER SERIES

TRANSOM TROPHY: STREAKER Peter Cogill

THE JOHN COOPER TROPHY: LASER Garry Chambers

CANDLESTICK TROPHY: MENAGERIE Chris Cooper (Phantom)

AUTUMN SERIES

CROFTS JUG: LASER Ollie Thompson

CYRIL MORRIS TROPHY: STREAKER Peter Cogill

MARGARET WIDDOWSON TROPHY: TOPPER Jenni Parsons

PARKIN TROPHY: MENAGERIE Chris Cooper (Phantom)

PIE AND PEA SERIES

WADSWORTH ROSE BOWL: LASER Billy Rushforth

LOWE TROPHY: STREAKER Denis Webster

FLANNERY TROPHY: MENAGERIE Chris Cooper (Phantom)

RHODES TROPHY: TOPPER Jenni Parsons

OTHER TROPHIES

CHROMOMETER - HIGHEST PLACED HELM OVER 50 IN PIE & PEA SERIES Denis Webster

PUDDING SALVER - PUDDING MEETING Chris Cooper (Phantom)

MINUTES TROPHY - HIGHEST NUMBER OF RACING STARTS Chris Cooper (Phantom)

BRAMLEY SHIELD RSC YOUTH SERIES: EASTER REGATTA and PUDDING MEETING Josh Bennett

WILKINSON TROPHY - LEADING RSC BOAT IN THE YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE TRAVELLERS Joel Wakefield

THOMPSON TROPHY DECIDED BY THE COMMITTEE: MOST IMPROVED SAILOR UNDER 21 Joel Wakefield

CONTINUITY CONE MOST IMPROVED SAILOR OVER 21 Matthew Lowe

RYA OnBoard Volunteer of the Year for Yorkshire and Humberside: Denis Webster

Boxing Day Punch Party Race

The rain had stopped , the sun came out and the wind blew a brisk breeze across Rotherham's waters for the annual Boxing Day meet. Some had arrived early, too early, as Sam and Margaret Mettam and Richard Anderton had to wait an hour before I arrived and opened the gates. Nevertheless, their wait was worth It as Sam and Richard sailed their fireball into first place. Chris Cooper put in a valliant chase to put in a second place and Ollie Thompson pressed a hard earned 3rd place.

A total of 9 sailors took to the water with a course set heading up to number 2 buoy in a south west brisk wind down to 1 then across the pond to 4 and completing the figure of 8 course down to 5. A scratch team of race officers got the race started (Mark Thompson was unable to raise both arms for a general recall due to one being in a sling) and after a false recall for the Fireball they all eventually got off. There was a good female presence in the form of Abi Cooper, Georgia Martin and Jenni Parsons who put in good performances and it was nice to see Jonathan Parsons out in the Streaker. Chris Noble tested the water temperature a few times as did Simon Fleetwood and Jack Robinson who had to retire due to technical failure. By the end of the race the wind had dropped to a whisper of what it had been.

Back in the warmth of the clubhouse Sam and Richard received their trophy and soon Denis' punch was being toasted which soon warmed people and the atmosphere in what was an enjoyable event.

RNLI Pudding Meeting

Rotherham Sailing Club hosted an Open Meeting on Sunday 28th October 2012 to raise funds for the RNLI.

9 brave soles took on the elements for some good close racing. The event was won by Paul Jago from Hykeham Sailing Club in a Streaker, on his first return to Rotherham since leaving a couple of years ago when he moved to Lincoln. 2nd Place went to Chris Cooper from Rotherham in the Phantom and 3rd place to Joel Wakefield sailing a Laser Radial, also from Rotherham.

Southport 24 Hour Race

This years Southport 24 hour race proved to be an eventful one for RSC. Having finished 56th last year, and therefore starting with boat number 56, we were looking to improve, whilst keeping the ethos of enjoying ourselves. It was also good to see a few new faces from previous years in Team Rotherham

The team started to arrive early Friday afternoon and by late evening we were all in Southport discussing tactics (who was going to the bar next - not sailing) and having the good old social gathering we intend it to be. As the night wore on some drifted to their tents, caravans or campers and others kept drinking! When the race started the following morning it was clear who had been which.

As always the race started bang on mid-day to canon fire and setting off for Team Rotherham, in the fifth flight, was a rather delicate Greg, with a rather less delicate Dave crewing for him. The breeze was straight down the lake so it was a running start and interesting watching the GP14's trying to hit the line spot on with the kite up and travelling fully powered up. Needless to say some didn't make it and automatically incurred a quarter lap penalty - no such worries for our team. After a couple of hours Greg and Dave came in to hand over and we were sitting in the low 50's. And so the day continued with various helm/crew combinations helping to push us further and further up the fleet so that at one point we were up to 30th place with a matter of seconds between several boats from 23rd through to 36th. As darkness fell the honour of cracking the lights fell to Georgia which resulted in the RSC boat being lit up like a Christmas Tree - one with just 2 very dull bulbs on it!

At 11pm Chris and John took up the challenge for team Rotherham and having made up 3 places in the matter of a couple of laps felt things were going really well. The boat felt good with Chris and John working together like a well oiled machine. Then on the stroke of midnight, as the boys went through a tack on the far side of the lake BANG - the boom snapped clean in half. It was dark and not a safety boat to be seen so from the furthest point away from the club possible, Chris and John valiantly sailed the boat back to the dinghy park to pull the boat out of the water, despondant and thinking our challenge was over. Then, around 1.30am, just as we were packing our poor little Enterprise up a tall figure came wandering out of the darkness - something long and thin strewn over his shoulder - was it a giant come to beat us with his club just to add insut to injury? No, it was Simon Fleetwood with a spare boom, which had been kindly loaned to us by our neighbours at Ulley Sailing Club - The challenge was back on.

Just after 2am, having lost almost 2 hours on the water, the Rotherham boat was back on the water. Re-joining at the back of the fleet, we didn't hold out much hope for a high placed finish now, but pride was at stake. We were going to finish the Southport 24 hour race!

As tired eyes arose from their beds to take on their turn (and some rather nice breakfasts, with offers abound from various caravans!), the Rotherham team ploughed on valiantly. Chris and Georgia took up the challenge to finish the 24 our race for Rotherham and at Mid-day on Sunday the Rotherham Enterprise was the fourth boat to cross the finishing line to canon fire. Some say the boat seemed to slow down considerably during the last leg so as not to have to do an extra lap, some say the wind dropped and only 2 people will really know, but we finished the race. And our final position? 52nd, we'd done it! We'd beaten last years finishing position, despite losing almost 2 hours due to the broken boom, but more importantly we'd finished the race and everone had enjoyed the weekend - another social success for Rotherham Sailing Club. A big thanks from Chris, the team captain, to all the team members who showed fantastic enthusiasm and most importantly of all a great team spirit. So who's up for next year?

Streaker Open

Streaker Northern Paddle Circuit at Rotherham Sailing Club by Peter Cogill on 19 May 2012

Eight visitors joined two Rotherham Streakers in the latest event on the Sail Register Streaker Northern Paddle circuit. Everyone enjoyed a day of close racing in a steady 10mph NE wind.

In the first race, Tom Whitehead (Welton) led from Alan Gillard (Sheffield Viking) and Stuart Hoare (West Riding). On the second lap Nick Lovell (Ouse Amateur) made up 3 places to lie third, closely followed by Stuart and Ian Bradley (Ouse Amateur). Peter Cogill (Rotherham) made up some places on the second beat. On the third beat Dave Smith (Welton) picked the shifts to take third followed by Howard Frear (West Riding). Alan passed Tom for first place on lap four, and on eighth lap Dave had another good beat to pass both Tom and Alan to take the lead. Janet Bell (Rotherham) had a battle with Richard Long (Hollingworth Lake) who eventually got away on the forth lap. At the finish Dave Smith tacked to cross the line, but Alan Gillard hung on to pass him; they were followed by Tom Whitehead and Ian Bradley.

In the second race, after a Pie & Pea and Apple Pie lunch, Peter Cogill got a good start and was lying second but tried to come into the first mark on port and ended up rounding seventh. Dave Smith led from the first mark followed by Alan Gillard and Tom Whitehead. On the fourth lap Ian Bradley passed Tom for third, and on the next lap Alan passed Dave to take the lead. Dave had a poor beat and dropped to fifth, with Ian second and Nick third. On the penultimate lap Tom regained third from Nick. The Final order was Alan Gillard, Ian Bradley and Tom Whitehead.

After a short break for tea, Howard Frear followed by Ian Bradley and Peter Cogill with his best start of the day, led at the leeward mark in the last race, but after some indecision Howard went round it the wrong way and dropped to seventh. By the end of the lap Ian was followed by Alan and Nick third and Peter. By lap three Howard was up to third. Stuart had an excellent fourth lap made up 3 places to second, but Peter had a poor beat and dropped to sixth. By the finish Alan had regained second. Ian Bradley won from Alan Gillard and Stuart Hoare.

At the prize giving, there was time for a drink and chat. In addition to the 3 club prizes, the Streaker Association gave two Streaker Burgees which went to Janet (first lady) and Peter (the winner writes the report)

The visitors were the top sailors on the circuit, and had a good day. Thanks to the OODS and the Galley teams for making it an enjoyable day for everyone. The poor weather this season seems to have kept the majority of the club Streakers at home, hopefully this warm weather will entice some of them out.

2012 Archive Newsletters

Click here for the February 2012 Newsletter (PDF 672kb).