We are in the
process of setting up ‘The Royal London Yacht Club Charitable Trust’ to
help and encourage Island based children and young people to get afloat and
learn about life through Sail Training.
It is very
pleasing to report that the Club is now being recognised by various
organisations for the help we are offering these youngsters, who in almost
every case cannot afford the fees. The feedback is most encouraging and it
really gives one that ‘feel good’ factor to see how these children really do benefit
from being part of a ships crew.
Our budget this
year enabled one of the Cowes Sea Cadets to spend a week on the M V John
Jerwood that is used for training those intending to make a career the Royal
Navy. See letter below:-
“Thank you for your letter regarding Kuba Frankowski and I have
pleasure in enclosing our cheque for £240 to cover the cost of the trip, that I
hope will have been of benefit to this young man, and now look forward to
receiving his report and any photos.
We have now set up ‘The Royal London Yacht Club Charitable Trust’
with the principal aim to promote sail training and help Island youth
organisations and especially those whose Parents cannot afford the fees to send
their children on courses.
We would like to continue to support Cowes Sea Cadets and maybe
give you more next year so any suggestions you may have will certainly be
considered.
This Club is very much involved with ASTO, the Association of Sail
Training Organisations and their annual Regatta here in Cowes. This year we
sponsored the IYWAC entry and hope to extend our help further in 2010. I have
suggested to Peter Scott that the Sea Cadets could enter a yacht and the RLYC
would help financially.
I am sure your cadets would benefit, as they would be mixing with
some 300 youngsters from very different backgrounds and experiencing sailing
for the very first time.
I am sure some of our Members would like the opportunity to visit
Royalist when she is in Cowes so please let our Club Secretary have the details”.
Following the
Club’s sponsorship of ‘Our Boys’ in the Asto Regatta in 2008 we supported the
Island Youth Water Activities Centre (IYWAC) entry, ‘Paddiywack ‘ in this years
event and in very testing conditions they came second in Class.
Earlier in the
year we sponsored 2 young people with IYWAC to gain their Competent Crew
certificates on a weeks cruise that included the Cowes- St Malo race:-
Report on
Paddiywack race to St Malo and Competent Crew Course 10th July – 15th July 2009
·
Mike Acton –
Skipper, manager of IYWAC
·
Susie Moore –
1st Mate
·
Jed Frampton
(age 16) – Sponsored by Royal London Yacht Club
·
Nigel Lane (age
16) – Sponsored by Royal London Yacht Club
·
Ben Colebrook
(age 15)
“Paddiywack” is
a Seaquest 32 owned by the Island Youth Water Activities Centre. The Centre
offers a full range of cruising courses, short cruising opportunities and
racing. “Paddiywack” competes in the Round the Island Race, Cowes and the JOG
offshore series. All of this is offered to young crews aged 13 – 19.
“Paddiywack”
entered the RORC Cowes – Dinard- St Malo race starting at 12.00 on Friday 10th
July. The aim of the trip was to give a racing and yachting experience to three
young men, two of whom are just embarking on a career in watersports after a
chequered history at school.
The start and
beat out of the Solent. The morning was calm and the wind filled in just in
time for the start from a SSW direction. The tide was still flooding slightly
so the crew set off beating close to the shore down the NW coast of the Island.
The wind built steadily and by the time the tide had fully turned it was time
for a headsail change. A few of the crew got a bit wet during the sail change
as the waters off Yarmouth started to chop up. Exiting the needles channel the
tide had begun to run and the seas were building up, a reef went into the
mainsail and we settled onto a starboard tack close-hauled course for the trip
across the channel.
It was soon
clear that not all of the crew were coping with the motion of a small yacht
beating in a force 5-6. One of our crew Jed was feeling increasingly ill and
incapable of doing much for himself, he tried a spell lying down in his bunk
but after a while resurfaced very pale and getting cold. He couldn’t make it to
the leeward rail and was ill over himself. Having been witness to a number of
cases of seasickness, Mike the skipper quickly assessed Jed to be one of the
more severe cases he had seen and decided that the best course of action would
be to head for the nearest port rather than carrying on for another 24 hours or
so. 2Paddiywack2 retired from the race at around 19.00 (they weren’t the first
to retire nor were they the last). Poole was due North and they got alongside
just after dusk.
Day 2. Comp crew
course. Poole - Portsmouth The wind was still blowing hard as the crew set off
from Poole bound for Haslar Marina in Portsmouth. Everyone took turns steering
the boat as the swells increased across Christchurch bay. Jed was once again
feeling quite ill but managed to hold onto his breakfast. A fast trip was
enjoyed through the Solent and we carried the tide from Poole to Portsmouth.
Day 3.
Portsmouth – Bucklers Hard A lazy morning in Gosport was followed by a tough
beat through the Solent with the wind constantly force 6-7. The crew were beginning
to work well on sail handling, and a tricky entrance into Beaulieu River was
handled with relative ease. Once in Bucklers hard a meal was enjoyed on board
and then the boys went for a walk along the riverside path to Beaulieu.
Day 4. Bucklers
Hard – Chichester Harbour – Cowes – Hamble The wind moderated for the passage
to Chichester Harbour, however the forecast foe the following day was such that
we did not want to stay in the harbour with the prospect of force 6-7 from the
SSW the following day. So Paddiywack moored for afternoon tea off Hayling
Island SC and then returned through the Solent to Cowes for an evening meal
before setting off on a night time exercise in the mid-solent. A navigation
exercise was set for Susie the 1st mate to find the unlit East Knoll buoy in
the dark. The crew assisted with torches and taking compass bearings. The buoy
was found at the second attempt and we repaired to Hamble for what was left of
the night.
Day 5. Hamble –
Port Solent A late start was made from Hamble towards Portsmouth wind picking
up once again. We haven’t seen the full mainsail since the first day. As an
exercise in sail handling we sailed all the way up Portsmouth harbour and
Portchester lake, dropping the sails in time to motor into the lock at Port Solent.
Day 6. Port
Solent to Cowes Once again beating into a stiff breeze the Paddiywack crew
completed the short passage by midday giving plenty of time to clean the yacht
and dry it out ready for the next crews to go sailing next week.
The Paddiywack
crew completed 200 miles at sea over the 6 days (double the required mileage
for RYA Competent Crew). The boys passed their RYA Competent Crew course having
completed all of the tasks plus some things from the Dayskipper syllabus.
Jed had this to
say:
“I had a really amazing time and learned a lot. I felt like giving
up and going home after the first day but was really pleased that I stayed on
till the end. One of the best bits was the bacon sandwiches; my worst time was
feeling ill and being sick. Thank you very much for the chance to do it.”
Nigel said:
“The trip was fun and exciting; the best bit was sailing past the
Needles which was very challenging. The whole week was good although I got
tired of Michael Jackson songs on the stereo. It was a good way to start my
training as I got to know the senior staff at IYWAC in a relaxed way. I am
looking forward to doing more yachting and getting to France next time, thank
you very much.”
Conclusion
Although we
didn’t make it to St Malo this was a challenging trip for the two boys. Their
skills improved and I had the chance to get to know them much more quickly than
I would if they were on 9-5 working. Working with young people like Jed and
Nigel needs to be approached on an individual basis, the insights into their personalities,
strengths and weaknesses will help me tailor the training given over the next
year to enable them to get the best out of their time with us. The week was
particularly good for Jed, he had a poor start with the seasickness, but once
he got past this his confidence soared.
The 2009 Cowes
Small Ships' Race was held from 2 to 4 October. The line-up of vessels for this
event has steadily increased since the race began in 2004 and now attracts over
30 entries each year. The diversity of the vessels participating is vast and
attracts a wide range of rigs, to include what is probably the world's smallest
square-rigger through to large classic gaff ketches and high performance racing
yachts. Everyone competes and races under a handicap system specially devised
by Sail Training International.
The Club’s
support of the ASTO Regatta has now established this event on our calendar and it would be
good to see more Members supporting this very worthwhile organisation next
year.
The Windsor Cup is another event that does not
attract sufficient support from our Members. Probably because it looks like
another weekend regatta but it is the medical world supporting the Jubilee
Sailing Trust. There are disabled children on the Island who would benefit from
a week on the Lord Nelson or Tenacious and this should be another way for the
Club to help.
When we know our
budget for next year we will be having some serious discussions with the
various sail training organisations, at the many ways where we can encourage
youngsters to gain self-confidence by being on the water. Any ideas or
suggestions from Members will be most welcome.
Rodney J C
Barton
8th October 2009
