Commodore's February Update

Published 12:18 on 4 Feb 2022

Well what a start we have had to the New Year. The fire escape has been an eye sore for a number of years and many of you will have seen at the end of last year it was taken down and has now been sand blasted, new panels put in where required, treated, and repainted and it is now back in position and looking so much better. We are now waiting for a new door to be fitted to the first floor kitchen. Many thanks to our House committee and particularly to Bruce Harrison who oversaw the project.

Bob de la Haye and his House committee have been busy and many of our other long-standing projects are coming to fruition. Thanks to Allie Daly for organising the new Trophy Cabinet which is now in place in the lower deck area, and we are just waiting for the internal lights and the final coat on the outside but it is already looking splendid with many of our great trophies on display rather than locked away in the sailing store.
I have been told that at long last the new laminated glass is ready for the Chart Room so I am expecting this to be fitted this month and the new curtain window, up the stairwell, and the windows in the landing and office will not be far behind. I know that the House Committee are also looking at ways to improve the appearance of the outside of the entrance to the club house.
As always Cath Moisan and her Social Committee have been keeping us well entertained. Many thanks to Rachel Smith for organising the Burns Night celebrations. It was the first time that I had attended this event at the club and what a success it was. Looking ahead they are arranging a Valentines party on February 12th. Tickets are now available through the office.
The St Patricks Fitting Out supper will be on 19th March. After the success of the sea shanties, we are hoping that Nick OHare will be leading us with traditional Irish ballads! Why not put a reminder in your diary to keep these dates free? There will be more information shortly

Our Sailing programme starts very soon with the Spring Series taking place on February 20th, March 6th and March 20th. Please try to join us on the water if you can. I understand that some of the boats may be looking for crew so if have some experience and would like to get racing please let Jason know in the office. This year we are planning to race down to Biscay. Jeff Speller is Race Director and is looking at the various ports as this may not be as straight forward as usual with the problems due to Brexit and Covid. As soon as we have got things finalised, we will let the know the plans. Deborah Hutchings, your chair of Rallies has a full programme arranged for this year starting with a rally down to St Malo and the Rance over the Easter weekend. She will be letting you the details in due course.  As you will have seen from my newsletters, we do have a great team working behind the scenes. Come April when we have our next AGM we will be looking for new members of the Executive and the other Sub Committees. If you think that you would be interested in standing for any of these please let Jason know  and I can always phone you back to have a chat about what is involved. We are always looking for new Blood!   

Dates for your diary

12th February - Valentines Party
20th February - Race 1 Spring Series
6th March - Race 2 Spring Series
19th March - Fitting Out Supper [Irish Theme]
20th March - Race 3 Spring Series followed by Prize Giving
2nd April - Race 1 Offshore Series to Minquiers 
8th April - Race 1 Alex Bleasby Retired Gents Race 
15th April - Rally to St Malo
30th April - Marine Auction

Rhys Perkins

Commodore St Helier Yacht Club