SPRING NEWSLETTER
Spring seems to have sprung and we have maybe had a little sight of the summer to come. There is quite a lot of action down at the harbour with the start of the dinghy Sailing, ongoing skiff rowing, diving and mooring operations and cruisers being prepared for the summer. It is an extremely busy time of the year for our Harbourmaster so a big thank you to Peter Illingworth for his efforts. If you wish any further information regarding moorings please contact Peter at [email protected].
The craning in will be on Monday 30th April with a second day programmed on Wednesday 2nd May. It is hoped that we can attract more cruisers to our moorings this year so that the mooring costs can be reduced in the future. If you require any information regarding the cruisers activities for this summer then please contact James Dargie at [email protected].
General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR.
You are probably aware of the new GDPR coming soon and may well already have been contacted by other organisations needing your consent to hold information on you, securely and only for legitimate purposes of course.
The changes also apply to Clubs and we are working at formulating a GDPR compliant privacy policy for the Club based on a template provided by the RYA. Once this is done Dutyman will be amended to provide for "opt-in" consent as this can no longer be on an "opt-out" basis.
We will then be in a position to contact all members requesting the necessary consent which you will be able to give electronically or, if you prefer, by sending a signed consent form.
When you get this contact, whether by email or post (for members with no email address) please DO NOT IGNORE IT, there are likely to be a couple of options for how you want to be contacted in future, but without your consent to, at least, keep your contact details we will not be able to administer your membership of Chanonry Sailing Club.
Rowing Skiff
The rowing skiff section has got off to a good start this year with some great trips out already. We’re also taking part in a long social row from Cromarty to Foulis and back on Sunday 29th April along with boats from Avoch and Cromarty. We’re hoping to organise more trips like it this season, perhaps down from Beauly to Fortrose or out to Eathie.
We’re also planning to include some safety training such us man over board and drogue deployment as part of our regular sessions.
New rowers are always welcome so please come along and have a try or let others who may be interested know about us. Sessions can now be booked through the calendar of the club website. For further information regarding the skiff rowing then please contact Sandra Hogg at [email protected].
Dinghy Park
Launch trolley name tags - the wording on some tags is now faded and illegible - if you have a tag on a trolley or tender please check it and refresh the contact information if necessary. If you need a tag please contact [email protected]. Thank you.
Sailing
The sailing season is under way on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. Turnouts have been good, and thanks are due to those who have fulfilled duties thus far. There are some duties to be filled later and we hope that we will not have to allocate duties if they are not being filled. If you think you can help please look at the duty rota on the website at www.chanonry.org.uk/duty-rota.html to identify duties with “tba” in the Member Name column that might suit you. Then login to DutyMan at dutyman.biz/dmmain.aspx?id=C0001544 and view the Roster. On the right hand side you’ll see a button entitled ”Volunteer for a duty”: click that and then follow instructions.
The Sailing Sub-committee has worked hard on the 2018 programme and main dates agreed are:
3 June: Ness Cup
17 June: Nessie Trophy
4/5 August: Dinghy Regatta
11 August: Cruiser Regatta
15 September: Black Isle Challenge Cup for cruisers
The Committee is still seeking an appropriate date for the Open Day as our first choice clashed with the Royal Wedding. It will probably be in July.
Dates of other events including Grenville’s Sail are still being considered and will be notified as soon as known on the website Calendar.
Looking to the one-off events we will be seeking volunteers to fulfil roles such as Race Officers, Safety Officers (and Assistants), Catering etc. If you think you might be able to help during the Ness Cup, the two Regattas or the open Cruiser races then please contact one or more of the following who will be delighted to hear from you - it is good fun and experience.
Richard Evans - [email protected]
James Dargie - [email protected]
Janet Witheridge - [email protected]
Social Sailing
Please contact Calum Pearson and Helen Young if you have questions and ideas about social sailing - [email protected].
Training and Coaching
During the first 100 days of 2018 a series of seventeen half day weekend training sessions have been delivered by Richard and Helen Jenner and Richard Evans; thanks to all three. Participation was good and a total of 105 person-sessions was achieved. Topics ranged through navigation; GPS; tides; how to become an instructor or coach; using Sailwave for results; Racing Rules; safety boat handling and race coaching. The latter two on the water in quite cold conditions at times. Feedback from participants has been very positive and we’ll be running them again in the future and with some follow up sessions this summer on Sailwave and Racing Rules.
We have 4 Assistant Dinghy Instructors in training (Marisa Astill-Brown, Calum Pearson, Gregor Fisher & Kyle Cameron) who have completed 2 full days and just need a single practical session to obtain their certificates (Kyle will have to wait until he is 14 later this year for his). Their help with courses and Dolphins will be invaluable.
Our practical training programme is now underway (details here: https://www.chanonry.org.uk/training.html )
Of note, the adult dinghy level 1/2 course is on 5 & 6 + 12 & 13 May and has spaces so if you know anyone who is interested to go from zero to basic helm, this could be the course for them - contact [email protected]
Also, Dolphins starts on 10 May (Thursday evening) so if you know of a junior at stage 1 or higher who wants to get back on to the water with instructor support and a safety boat, please book them-up by emailing [email protected]
Website
The website has been updated for 2018 and over the next few weeks the main menu arrangement will be modified slightly and will incorporate an updated section for the Health and Safety Policy and related documents.
One of the changes this year has been to introduce a new calendar system from TEAMUP.COM to replace the Google calendar. The Calendars show the composite calendars for all activities and you can select which of those to view. Some guidance is provided on these pages and the TEAMUP help that comes with the system is very good – use it!
One feature that we hope will help Members is the ability to “Signup” for events. This is simply by providing your name and email address through the “Signup” button on a event. Only your name is shown on the event and calendar administrators can use your email address to communicate with you about it. Perhaps you might be encouraged to attend if you see that others are interested? Signup has not been implemented on all events yet as we see how it works. We expect virtually all events to allow Signup in future.
There is quite a lot to participate in for all our members and I hope to see you all at one time or the other on the water or at least at the harbour over our summer season. So best wishes to you all and have a fun filled and successful summer.
Donnie McLeod, Commodore, Chanonry Sailing Club.