Page 45 - Masthead - Salcombe Yacht Club 2019 Yearbook

and his team. We appreciate all that they do to help the SYC calendar of events run smoothly and are particularly grateful to Phil Goodhead for helping make the Fairway operate well, particularly on busy days.
And so, to our events...
This year our mini Cadet Regatta
ran at the end of Whitsun Week. The regatta commenced with RYA Courses and concluded with an ambitious day
of multiple races with Cadets switching boats and crews. Whilst this was a Race Management challenge, we rose to it and
it proved to be a wonderful success with great fun and valuable learning on the water. During this Cadet week we also held the inaugural David Jayne Memorial Cadet Race, which likewise had its challenges. Just as we had the 24 Cadets positioned in the Yawls (with experienced Yawl helms on the tillers!) the wind got up. As the
five-minute flag was raised, the squall came through which led to an exhilarating experience of Yawl sailing for the Cadets, who were delighted with the event. The David Jayne Memorial Cadet Race will
now become an annual fixture and the future generation of Yawl sailors are already looking forward to it!
With the onset of high summer and the Regatta Weeks, once again the Club and Estuary were at their busiest. Salcombe Gin SYC Regatta gets better each year, and this year was testament to that. The close fought competition and social events were all very special gatherings and the Salcombe Gin prizes were acknowledged as some of the best we have had. Thank you Salcombe Gin!
Together with the sponsorship of Tropic Breeze we planned a new post Regatta evening sundowner Series to keep people sailing in August. During the planning we envisaged balmy evenings with boats gliding up and down the estuary – instead we mostly experienced grey mizzle and challenging winds, keeping our rescue crews busy. Nevertheless, a series came together and those who participated enjoyed the quiet of the estuary at 17.00hrs and by the end of the week the Tropic Breeze sundowner Series had become a firm favourite. The series ended with Rum Punch all round thanks to our sponsors and we could almost hear the sound of swaying palm trees in the SYC bar. Such was the success, its already booked in for next year and will run on the three evenings running up to the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Pause for thought: In a close fought Saturday Club Series I found myself following Malcolm Mackley into Race Mark 4. Thinking about the line I would take back
up Yalton Creek (always a challenge!) I rounded up too quickly and lightly touched Malcolm’s Transom. Bother! I knew I had done wrong and so sailed off and took my penalty turns. Now I really did have to think hard about how to get back into the race. But as I tacked back I reflected on how much better I felt that I had sailed by the rules. Many times, in the year I have heard complaints of various sailors repeatedly sailing too close to the rule book and when obvious errors have been made – we
are only human, stuff happens - penalty turns have not always been taken. This reminds me of the famous quote from Paul Evalstrom, “If you win the race but loose the respect of your fellow competitors then you have not won the race.” We certainly don’t want to be organising a protest Committee each Saturday afternoon but do think there needs to be better adherence to the Rules of Sailing (even in Club Series for each fleet). We would therefore ask you all to remember the rules and take the correct penalty when needed so that we can avoid daggers drawn at the terrace flagpole and rather enjoy the more preferable post sailing banter, where we are all learning from each other and enjoying our sport.
Finally, I would like to share the words our Cadets used to describe sailing a Yawl in the David Jayne Memorial Race. I think you will agree that the words shouted
out as the Cadets came ashore, still high with excitement, are heart-warming, and sum up something of why we all love
to set sail:“Amazing, awesome, breath- taking, life thrilling, wonderful, epic,
lively, funny, terrifying, jellyfish full, pole snapping, fast, windy, intense, gripping and EXTRAORDINARY.”
Jayne Morris, Sailing Coordinator
“AMAZING, AWESOME, BREATH-TAKING, LIFE THRILLING, WONDERFUL, EPIC, LIVELY, FUNNY...”
Club News 43