Happy New Year to everyone at GDSC. Whilst you were thinking of another year of gardening your Sailing Committee were busy discussing things of great import.

First of all please welcome our new Asymmetric Fleet Captain …Dave Burke.  Dave has been doing sterling work on planning the club’s future but I’ve managed to hoodwink him into this additional role.  Roger Knight, Terry Flanagan, Richard Smith and Robert Clark continue in the posts for the Laser, Scorpion, Javelin and Junior Fleets but we still don’t have a Handicap Fleet Captain.  Anyone interested? It hasn’t escaped my attention that we have a growing GP14 contingent at GDSC, thanks largely to the work of those people who run the Sailing Courses at the club throughout the year.

There will be a change to the sailing format for the start of the new season. Out will go the first handicap race, to be replaced by a pursuit race, starting at 11.15.  If any of you think this is familiar, you are dead right. We are returning to the format that we had a few years ago in order to compact the day’s racing and to cut out hanging around. Much more radical though, is that each Sunday will be looked on as one event with the best two results counting towards a placing for the day. 

The Sunday race results will be stored as usual in the results book. The latest version of the Portsmouth Yardsticks will be used; they will be kept in Race Control. The committee is developing standard course suggestions for less experienced race officers. There will also be the possibility of some club race officer training.

This year there will be a big effort to promote the Dragon Pursuit. Anyone who would like to spread the word please contact me and I will be only too happy to let you have some posters. There will also be an advert and a write-up in Yachts & Yachting. Let’s make this year a bumper year for the event. Please make sure you get out on the water to swell the numbers. The target for turn out is sixty boats.

This year GDSC hosts the High Peak Regatta on Saturday, May 6. In addition to the clubs normally attending, we have invited Pennine and Dovestones. The event is open to all club members, the results of the three best placed boats from each club to count.  Please turn out for your club.  Later in the year the North West Water trophy will be held again at Rivington Reservoir. I will be writing to NWW in an attempt to change the handicap system as GDSC is somewhat disadvantaged by the current system.

GDSC is making a big effort to become an RYA Volvo Champion Club, which is great news for juniors. The Junior Trophy this year will be held on Saturday 24 June. The Fennel Trophy (Optimists) will be held on Saturday, September 2, the Mirror and 1181 Trophies will be held on Saturday 9 Sept. All parents please note these dates. Junior night will be continuing on Fridays

4 reasons I don't race

• Somebody will shout at me

• I'll get in the way

• I'll only be at the back

• I don't know what to do 

We all started racing fearing that we'd get in the way and look foolish but look at me now (ISO 1166, now RS800 807) ! Oh, well, perhaps I'm not the best example.

For those of you who would like to try racing but have been prevented by any of the above excuses, turn up on Saturday, May 13 for
An Introduction to Club Racing.

It won't be strenuous, no-one will shout and, above all, we won't make you race.

What we will do is explain what racing is all about, how to start & how to get round a course.  Once you can do this, you're ready to make your own decisions of when you would like to race.  Here's a suggested path though :

1. Race Training Day

2. Funday Racing

3. Sunday Pursuits
   (each fleet starts at a separate signal)

4. Sunday Handicap
   (start a couple of minutes after the others, if you wish)

5. The Atkinson Trophy !

So, why not give it a go and join us for Sunday racing ?

Contact Roger Tolman for more details, nearer to the time.