Page 42 - Salcombe Masthead 2020

40 Club News
MANAGER OF SYC
Having now completed 2 years as Club Manager I feel I am beginning to understand the mechanics of the club both on and off the water and this year has certainly had more highs and only a few leaky lows!
After last year’s refurbishment 2019 has been more about maintenance of the club and upgrading kitchen and bar equipment. We finally decided to improve our coffee machine which although was very simple with one button to press – apparently produced pretty horrible coffee (as I do
not drink it, I could not say!). So thank you to Tony Rowe for persevering and finding us a company to purchase the full barista machine. It has certainly paid its way ten- fold and people seem to be much happier with the product – although don’t order 5 at a time – grinding fresh coffee can’t be rushed!
On the event side, New Year’s Eve was
a great success. We used Entertaining Food as our caterers and the meal was delicious. The rambles have gone really well and a huge thank you to Tony Rowe for taking over the lead on these walks. Those ramblers had both amazing days but also walked in the wettest of weather but with
a tasty meal back at the club and slowly steaming up the windows, they would laugh it off and plan the next one. The more the merrier on these walks – some great ones also planned for 2020 – so please do look on the SYC calendar. We had some amazing talks this year most with a meal included which all had good attendance. Our Themed Suppers again seemed popular this year, and we have many more of those in the diary for 2020 – they are a great way to entertain friends and family.
In March we had a Wine Tasting Evening run by St Austell Brewery – which found
WE HAVE HAD TWO MEMBERS WEDDINGS TAKING PLACE ON THE TERRACE – BOTH BEAUTIFUL AFFAIRS AND WE WISH BOTH COUPLES EVERY HAPPINESS.
us taking part in a quiz to prove whether we were listening or not! Merlin Silver Tiller saw our favourite Pig Racer Byng – come back with Byng Bingo – this was a hilarious night and great fun for all ages! During the Yawl and N12 Open we also had a Jazz Night – where the Gilly Jazz duo came and thoroughly entertained us for the evening.
This year we have had the wonderful Wild Artichoke at the club 3 times and also Jamie Rogers from Restaurant 27 became a weekly fixture during the summer – both had excellent reports back on both food and service.
We have had two members weddings taking place on the Terrace – both beautiful affairs and we wish both couples every happiness.
We were very sorry to see our Head Steward Auguste leave in May but her dream to be involved in large event management came to fruition with a
job offer in Plymouth that she could not turn down. We were then lucky enough
to employ Scott Cook as our new Bar/ Functions Manager. Scott’s background is in professional singing and running Blues/
Jazz festivals and bars. We definitely turned this to our advantage with Scott booking a Saturday Live Music Session every Saturday during July and August. These proved to be extremely popular and gave a great vibe out on the terrace! We also had our wonderful Chef Jo Vickers return from the ski slopes
in May. We cannot speak highly enough
of Jo, she treats the club like her own and produced only the highest quality food and all with good humour! On several occasions she was producing food for over 50 entirely on her own – a feat only she could pull off! Jo we will miss you over Christmas but know you will be back with us next May – stay safe on the slopes! We welcome Maria Parker-Scott as our new winter chef, who brings with her a wealth of experience from The Cellar Door at Sharpham.
It goes without saying that this club could not run without the amazing staff
in the office. We feel as though we understand Sailing Club Manager (online booking system and website manager) better now and Fiona, forever calm and focused, has been tweaking areas to really make them work the best for the club