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ed_lovell
Completely dry
44 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Feb 2010 : 7:57:19 PM
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Having just got my renewal stuff in the post I can't help wishing Draycote was a bit more fun..
I've always liked the idea of sailing to somewhere rather than just around and around then back to a concrete ramp - could a pontoon be dragged to the far bank so that people can sail over for a picnic? Even better several pontoons spread out.
There must be lots of ideas out there for those that want something more imaginative than going as fast as they can around barrels with letters on every time someone beeps a car horn? |
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Andrew Blee
Wetter than a very wet thing
519 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2010 : 9:38:45 PM
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What about a sprint format for boat on boat races. Two lines of buoys upwind - tacking up and gybing down. In a boat like a Laser in F3+ it would be kind of fun?
We could have a knockout championship.
Landing on the far shore is prohibited by STW. |
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Mikey 14778
Poke It With A Stick
1631 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2010 : 10:55:31 PM
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For those who want a picnic on the far shore, I wonder if this could perhaps be possible under the new lease. My recollection is that the no-landing-anywhere-but-here regulation was dumped on us by ST 25 years ago, and at the time the public weren't allowed to walk round the lake, so not unreasonably we weren't allowed over the far side either. But these days ST want people to be wandering around the lake, so maybe they wouldn't object to us being there too and getting there by boat rather than bicycle.
On the other hand, the chances of us getting a pontoon over there are, realistically, nil. It would be an instant H&S disaster zone in the eyes of ST. The best you might hope for would be the opportunity to pull your boat up on the shore and take a towel with you to dry your feet before the picnic. And at the moment, even that is a total no-no, although it just might be made possible by the new lease.
Personally I get my fun by going round barrels with letters on as fast as I can, in the company of a lot of like-minded people. But I can see Ed's point. |
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Simon Fox
Wet
298 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2010 : 11:50:55 PM
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| Ed, perhaps you could try windsurfing - but I take you point. |
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robbersdog
Drenched
1427 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 09:27:55 AM
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An interesting topic, but not one which is easy to answer. As Mikey has already said, landing anywhere other than the club foreshore is a big no-no as far as Severn Trent is concerned. It also raises a lot of issues regarding our ability to police activity on the water. This is, of course, all very boring stuff but it does have to be thought about.
I wonder what else would make sailing fun? Personally I like the racing, like Mikey, but I can see that it's not for everyone. What could/should we be doing differently to encourage all the members who don't sail regularly to come and join us on the water?
How about getting a big old launch type boat and having day trips around the lake with a picnic on the boat anchored over the far side? Or a match racing series in a couple of old J24s or similar? If the club had a couple of small yachts like this then they could be used to take people out for day trips and picnics. Perhaps there's scope for more varied on the water activities? Hire canoes on windless summer days or rowing boats?
All just ideas off the top of my head, not fully thought out proposals. I know the problems associated with most of these but we could look at how to overcome the problems rather than not doing them because of the problems. Like Mikey's idea to re-negociate landing on other shores (would certainly please the widsurfers). It would create new problems, but we can think about how best to deal with that.
The fact is that out of a membership of around 700 people we only see a hundred or so regularly. What do the other 600 want?
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Chris Smith
Flying Fifteen 797
Sailing Photos
http://www.sushidesign.net/
http://www.gs-illustration.co.uk/ |
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Mikey 14778
Poke It With A Stick
1631 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 10:45:21 AM
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Some good ideas there Chris. Day tripping on a yacht might find some good interest from members and non-members alike. Chargeable by the day, obviously.
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stumcb
Damp
195 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 10:54:54 AM
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good topic!!
i have noticed that the boat park is full of boats that seem to spend most of there lives under canvas on dry land.
sailing is not a cheap sport and you want to get the most from the club, then you need to be quite dedicated, and i wonder how many new members the club gets per year, or how many do a first course but don't continue
there are events to get involved in friday nights are good (although i struggle to make it regularly)
i am looking forward to summer BBQs
a race where all the helms and crews swaped places would be good fun/carnage.
pursuit races look good, and a sprint one on one appeals.
but landing on the other shores won't go down well with ST plus if you have seen my launch and landing then you will know why
personaly, i have had a great 6 months sailing and it is down to the encouragment of the hardcore regulars who are there every week.
in the last six months in no particular order:
fireball Xmas party
fast handicap prize giving
burns night
darts spontanious compition
2nd place FF race (best race so far...)
bought own boat
crewed laser 5000 in mad winds
crewed a fireball
borrowed rs 300 (thanks chris, rich)
borrowed a laser (thanks james)
made a heap of new friends
capsized every boat except the FRed, still working on that
now for the next six months.......
first race on my own, short course racing, more trapeezing, 1st place FF, summer BBQ's, get my kids sailing,
www.claridgeswarwick.co.uk
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Edited by - stumcb on 16 Feb 2010 10:56:43 AM |
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chris
Poke It With A Stick
1847 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 5:00:10 PM
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In the age of pay and play it is easy to forget that Draycote is a Sailing CLUB not a sailing centre. It is run primarily for the members by the members. Yes, we do have paid staff to oversee day to day items and safety on the water, but we still rely on individuals to get stuff done. If anyone has any ideas that could improve members enjoyment of Draycote then please feel free to organise stuff. The rope talk that Richard Botting organised was a great example of someone having a vision and seeing it through to completion. Nice one Richard! If anyone else has any ideas that they would like to action and need some guidance on how to get it done then please feel free to ask. The committee are all volunteers who only have limited time and resources themselves to get stuff done, so if there is something that you would like to see happening, go for it!
Stuart you've managed to cram a lot in to your first 6 months! Sounds like you are definitely having fun!
Chris
 425  720  "ERICSSON"
sailing pictures My pictures |
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robbersdog
Drenched
1427 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 5:23:40 PM
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Interesting post from Stuart, it seems there's plenty to do here!
One very good point this brings up is that you get out of draycote what you put in. Coupled with what Chris has very rightly said it seems it's not that there's nothing fun to do, but rather people want all the fun stuff done for them. If, like Stuart, you're an outgoing person and keen to get stuck in there's plenty to get stuck into.
So, the challenge is to get people involved. This is one area where the fleet system works well, with the Fireball fleet being notably good at creating interest at all levels within the fleet (big well done to Mikey et al.).
The racing fleets do well because they have a common interest. I wonder what could be a similar common interest for those who don't race, and activity to get people involved? Could we do something like a treasure hunt with clues on bouys which wasn't a race, you just had a day to complete it and it got you sailing round the lake as fast or slow as you like? Perhaps it could start at, say, 11am and finish on the water by 4pm and then into the bar to work out the clues over a pie and a pint? You can't submit your answers to the clues until the evening so there's no pressure to race around on the water.
Just ideas, again off the top of my head. See this as a talking point rather than a solid proposal. Any more ideas?
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Chris Smith
Flying Fifteen 797
Sailing Photos
http://www.sushidesign.net/
http://www.gs-illustration.co.uk/ |
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stumcb
Damp
195 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 5:54:29 PM
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fun all the way, wish i could get there more often, i still have loads to learn, if only i had that lottery ticket i have a good idea how i would spend a large part of the week....
www.claridgeswarwick.co.uk
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ed_lovell
Completely dry
44 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 7:20:53 PM
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Glad the idea wasn't shot down in flames anyway - though I think some missed the point a bit.
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chris
Poke It With A Stick
1847 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 8:09:11 PM
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Apologies Ed and everyone else, I just re-read my post and it does sound like a bit of a rant. It wasnt meant that way at all, I'm just trying to encourage more people to get involved with the club.
Chris
425 720 "ERICSSON"
sailing pictures My pictures |
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Iain
Drenched
1537 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 8:35:54 PM
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I agree with Ed, it would be nice to see some other stuff going on. But I would encourage members to get as involved as they can with the club...I've got a rather horrible feeling that I have not actually sailed this year yet, but there's always plenty of other non-sailing stuff going on.
I guess this is perhaps where the RYA machine lets things down...after all it's the sport's governing body in the UK, and I think that the whole utopian youth-oppie-sailor-in-olympian-out mentality just looks after the "sporty" element and leaves your average family cruising miracle sailor wondering what the RYA ever did for him/her. I'd never raced before joining DWSC in 2001 and when I was a kid I'd have loved to partake in the picicing idea!
I'd love to see some J/24s or similar at the club as The Dog suggests, some inter fleet match racing would be great, it would also open the door to more training opportunities and they might be able to pay for themselves with some corporate stuff.
Ed, I know it's a bit "false" but there's nothing to stop you landing at the far end of the open meeting beach and picnicing/BBQinq there? Arrange a day, make it a condition that you have to round every mark in alphabetical order, and anything you eat must arrive by boat, and possibly even organise for launching trolleys to be brought down on the tractor and it could be a nice family event. Wrap it in with the IFC perhaps?
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stumcb
Damp
195 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 9:21:02 PM
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sounds good to me iain i would be up for that - although if all the food has to be in the boat the the beers will be chilled and the sandwiches soggy.
training to help improvers would be welcome, the pursuit races and a sprint race all sound like a great idea as well
its worth mentioning that Burns night was fun and if there is any irish members then St Patricks March 17th - hope you will keep your end up and show these soft english how its done (sorry, sort of off topic)
www.claridgeswarwick.co.uk
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Mikey 14778
Poke It With A Stick
1631 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2010 : 9:39:31 PM
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I agree with Iain's point about the RYA, they might as well rename themselves the Olympic Selection Association (Youth department) and have done with it. Although in fairness, I'm not sure that they could bring very much to the party when we're looking for more fun things to do on our lake.
Back on topic, it would be nice to see some more stuff going on, and I like nearly all of Chris's ideas. But it's also worth making the observation that your membership of the club gets you the right to sail on a big bit of water just outside Dunchurch and the use of the clubhouse. What you do after that is really down to you. We only have organised racing because the racing members give up occasional Sundays to do the OD duty that organised racing requires (well, most of them do anyway). We only have events like the IFC because some other dedicated individuals give up their free time to organise them. So if there's other stuff we could be doing as a club, we really need the brilliant idea AND the dedicated individual to give up some time to make it happen. In the case of being allowed to land on the far shore, it's a minor task to ask ST, followed by a yes or no answer. Pretty easy. But the rest of the grand plans would need a mover and a shaker to make them happen. Personally I'm all in favour, but I'm not personally going to give up my day job to organise them. Maybe we need a bunch of people to form a cruising fleet to harness some of the good ideas, make a solid case for doing some of them, and then make them happen. |
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rodgerwebb
Completely dry
29 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2010 : 10:10:22 PM
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Not wanting to put the damper on things but..... Isn't the whole point of Draycote that it is a racing club? Would we really want loads of "cruising" boats sailing across race lines on a Sunday? Just a thought.
I noticed a lot of younger fitter members are keen on cycling. How about combining with the cycling club for a Sail/cycle race. Bit like the peaks sailing race without the peaks! |
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Making draycote more fun..
