It is with great sadness that we have learned that Herb Telford died peacefully on 29 November.

We were pleased that he attended the annual prize giving on Saturday to receive the much deserved Consistency Trophy

Herb has been a big part of the club over the 40 or so years he has been a member, having taken on roles on house committee, bar, vice-Commodore, Commodore and more recently (well for the last 20+ years) official starter. He was the first club member to be bestowed with the RYA’s lifetime commitment award, clearly well deserved.

He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by all.

Our thoughts are with Aileen, Lel, John and their families

Herb’s funeral was on Monday 10th December at St Peter’s church, Kells, Whitehaven followed by a cremation at Distington, and a funeral tea at Whitehaven golf club.

Family flowers only, donations in lieu in aid of The Salvation Army

Aileen and family wish to say a big thank you for the wonderful cards and comments received about Herb and thank everyone who attended the funeral. They greatly appreciated it all.

The 67th Annual General Meeting held in the Clubhouse on Sunday 25th November 2018

Members agreed the following subscriptions for 2019

Ordinary – £185 increasing from 1st April to £205
Family – £90 increasing from 1st April to £100

Senior £130 increasing from 1st April to £145
Junior – £45 increasing from 1st April to £50
Affiliated – £95 increasing from 1st April to £105
Affiliated Family – £50 increasing from 1st April to £55
Country – £95 increasing from 1st April to £105

Bank Holiday Camping – Tents £18/weekend (£42/season)
Bank Holiday Camping – Caravans/CamperVans £25/weekend (£60/season)

Having completed two years in post, Robin Dawson stepped down, and Naomi Smith was elected as Commodore along with the following members on to Council.

Commodore – Naomi Smith
Vice-Commodore – Jon Denwood
Secretary – Pauline Nicholson
Treasurer – Mike Cave
Sailing Secretary – Phil Smith
Rear Commodore –Robin Dawson
Asst Sailing Secretary – Alastair Duncan
Bar – Emma Smith
Boats & Buoys – Alex Leonard
Galley – Claire Kirkpatrick
Grounds & Jetties – Mark Somerville
House – Alan Jones
Membership – Lezli-Ann Pearson
PRO – Mik Chappell
Training – Anthony Woodyer
Safety – Paul/Emily Clark
Social – Joanna Van Lachterop

Fleet Captains
Flying 15 – Simon Longstaff
GP14 – Mike Fairlamb
Mirror – Mik Chappell
Handicap – Izzy Hunter
Laser – Neil Garrison

There were various discussions throughout the meeting regarding the level and cost and challenges associated with rescue cover, and the need for members to undertake their allocated duty.

There has been an approach from a rowing club to make use of the club’s facilities, and the parish council are interested in exploring use of some of our land as part of a pedestrian route linking from Dubwath to Ouse Bridge. Council will consider the requests when better information is to hand.

Robin thanked everyone for all the help he had received during his Commodoreship, wished Naomi well in the role, and closed the meeting at 3.30pm

The Club will be hosting our postponed Bonfire Night on Saturday 10th November.

Please come along for 6pm, and remember to bring a large firework! Snacks & hot drinks will be available, and of course, the bar will be open.

As expected, the lake continued to rise overnight and the lower boat park is flooded.

Is your boat safe? Does it need moved?

With a mass of water, but lack of wind, those that were down were more interested in moving their boats to safety just in case the lake rises again, so the racing was cancelled.

The enthusiasm of the handful of people that turned up to sail rapidly waned as the light conditions at 1pm were blown away by ever increasing winds, evident by a mass of white horses visible when looking down wind!

Racing was cancelled with a vow to try again tomorrow.

With the lake level currently rising at a rate of 30mm/hour, and likely to rise more overnight, it may be prudent to check your boat on Sunday and decide whether it needs moved to higher ground.

Due to the atrocious forecast for Saturday it has been decided to cancel this weekend’s F15 team racing.

Club racing is still scheduled, but actual conditions will determine whether racing can proceed.

After causing chaos in America, there’s another storm heading our way with gusts forecast to exceed 60mph over the next few days.

Is your boat properly tied down? It may be a good time to check to avoid damage to your, and your neighbour’s, boat

Sunday’s Dessert.

With early mist shrouding the Lake the prospects didn’t look too hopeful. It soon cleared bringing sunshine but there wasn’t much sign of wind.  So we had a postponement while the Bates went in search of some.  A usable patch was found near the eastern shore near 5 and 6 but, as the Postponement flag was still up, no one was sure whether to launch.

Eventually all reached the line and, this time there were starts in the FF and GP fleets. It was good to see Jack back on the water crewing for Joan and they won the one race they entered. Paul and Vicky took the GP series.

In the Fifteens Mike & Kayla won in the morning against Neil & Rory but then suffered a major setback.  Someone switched off the galley extractor hood which cut the oven before Kayla’s meal was cooked. They were beaten in both afternoon races which the crew put down to food deprivation!

In the Handicap fleet it was great to see the 100s of Mark, Ethan and Alex at speed just a couple of lengths apart. Scumper and Alex had a dead heat in Race 5 but it was Mark who took the series with Joe second.

Final results.