Lough Foyle Yacht Club

The Foyle Festival Cup was postponed today as it was too windy and deemed unsafe.

The Foyle Festival Cup is now proposed to be combined with the Hot Toddy .

The Culmore Regatta postponed PUNT race was held today. All boats sailed well with each crew achieving good positions. All other boats notwithstanding the story here really was the Hockleys. Three Hockleys in a boat and three straight wins (James Snr, Jnr and Emerald). Great sailing guys!

The Brian Frazer cup was also scheduled for today for the Dinghy’s but the winds dropped and Race 2 was cancelled. So it was decided to use the one race completed today as a Race in Series H

The Brian Frazer cup will now be raced on the 21/10/17

Great to see James McL out sailing in a club laser. He has been awarded an LFYC handicap of 1195.
Based some recent good results Anton H and James P H have had their Laser handicaps reduced from 1180 to 1175.

Sailing today at full tide. Good wind F4, gusting and shifty. Race one, Gilmores, Power Station Faughan (1 lap) and in race 2 Harts, Gilmores, Power Station (2 laps).

Anton H sailing with Joy W went for a swim in race 2. Over in a gust. Recovered well and sailed on.

Ciaran and Eva M got tangled with the navigation mark near Faughan forcing a DNF. They escaped the encounter only with minor damage.

Ken and Davy L impervious.

The course tonight was just two marks, Harts and Faughan. A reasonable breeze F3. Anton H and James P H swapped boats after the second race. Anton H found it hard going in the Phantom after a gap of several years.

That race marks the end of summer sailing on wed evenings. Just Saturdays from here on in.

BTW: This year for the first time ever(?) in LFYC we will have a Laser frostbite series in November. It consists of 4 race days. Everyone welcome (open to all). We are planning to have three short course races each day, starting at 10am each sat.  If you have a Laser sitting in your garage and fancy a bit of winter sailing, now is the time to shake off the dust and check the rigging.

A temporary OD was working today (who shall rename nameless) and it didn’t go well. He or she gave two courses out, one course to one boat and a different course to the other boats.
To offer redress two actions were taken (a matter of the least unjust remedy).
1. The boat that took the shorter course was given a time penalty of 30 seconds in race 1 and 60 seconds in race two (relative to the perceived advantage gained).
2. The Foyle Cup which was today and in which silver ware was to be decided has been moved to Sat 23/09/17, as it seems a bit unfortunate to decide silver on a day such as today. Todays race will count as Race 1 and 2 in Series H.

We will welcome Big Pete back to duty as OD with renewed enthusiasm next week. 🙂

Other than that matter above it was a great day out sailing. Windy enough, maybe F5. Massive shifts. All boats declined to fly spinnakers. Course from the slipway to Power Station, up to Harts (through the line?) down to Faughan. It was very reaching course (with no dead run). Kevin T had a very sporty time, in the reaching friendly Laser, seen flying by the point at high speed only to capsize in an overtaking maneuver. Ciaran and Eva M handled the bigger winds with case – nice sailing guys.

Many thanks to James H and Kevin L who did rescue today.

the last race of August, the nights are beginning to close in so there was time for just one race tonight.
Great to see Mary J sailing and taking over as skipper from Bill. George G sailing well in the Solo.

A beautiful sunny morning.

Race 1, Start at the slipway, Gilmores, harts, around the mark at the slipway. A big ship was coming into port and being turned by two tugs so we raced in culmore bay without going into the channel. He gave us a big warning hoot anyway. Two laps
Race 2, Start at slipway, harts, Faughan. Just one lap. On the way back up to the finish line we encountered a huge amount of debris from the flood. You had to navigate through the gaps, not easy, everyone got tangled and had to stop to clear centre boards and rudders. The race must go on!

Eva M officially gave the new ladies changing room its first use. She said it was very nice. Many thanks to the Port and Docks.

Thanks also to Liam on the rescue boat and to big Pete as OD.

Racing today in Culmore bay, Windy enough. Anton H going very well in the club Laser. There was lots of debris on the course – after the flooding on Sunday night.

All the usual preparations were made, marquee set up, new ladies changing room installed, sandwiches made, teas, coffees, soups, cakes. The Lough Foyle Punts were gathered in the boat yard….but alas it was blowing a gale and the Punts could not sail. We all held on through the morning to see if the Dinghys would sail. At 3.00pm the OD said OK to launch. Just three GP14 class boats ventured out in very strong winds.

Here are the results and times:

Times were very close. Race two was decided by just a second with less than a minute between first and third. Many thanks to the sponsors and the event organisers and to all those who came down to the point to support the event.

Earlier that day there was a boat naming ceremony as Ken D launched his new Punt

Why do people make such a fuss about launching a boat? It is because of the analogy. A boat carries you across the water – through life to your destination – heaven. A boat is crewed by family – it has value – like land, except it is not stable and travels through waves and wind the most ephemeral and powerful of things. People christen boats with Champagne and babies with water but the symbol is the same – to mark a new life and the voyages within. Yes, I am certain it is the analogy that causes people to make a fuss and that fuss making is somewhat glorious.

And so it was with the launch of Ken D’s new boat; a Lough Foyle Punt that he made himself. Here he is pictured with his crew Stuart D and Ciaran H and his wife Joan. It is a family and community occasion most certainly worth marking. So, simply to say fair winds to Wild Wing III.

Strong winds tonight. Anton H went out with Bill J who assured him it would be very easy and a nice wee sail. No sooner had they launched except the wind picked up and was extremely shifty with much leaning out and jumping back in.