UPPER TAMAR LAKE SAILING CLUB

Recent News

Tree planting memorial for Rob Eason

A tree planting ceremony was held at the lake on Wednesday August 13th August, attended by a very large group of family and friends, including a sizeable number from the sailing club.  The Commodore, Nicky Buckett, gave a eulogy, remembering Rob's contribution to sailing club, including his time as Commodore and the many happy times he had enjoyed there.  The address was made more poignant for all those who had memories of afternoons spent over the years watching Rob helm his beloved red Wayfarer across the lake in the background.  The pictures below show Rob's wife Ragna and his sister Sue (with help from a number of club members) planting the tree (a native cherry) close to the water, overlooking the lake which he so loved.

Many thanks to Bob Sampson for providing the pictures.

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Which logo do you prefer?

We're asking club members which logo they would prefer to use for the club in the future.  The two graphics below show the two alternatives on offer at the moment: on the left is the current club logo (dating back some years now) and a new one which has been produced by Simon Veal.  It would be good if you could e-mail me at J.Buckett@exeter.ac.uk to let me know your preferences; alternatively, we'll be putting pictures of both graphics on the noticeboard in the clubhouse, with a sheet underneath for any comments.

Exeter Canal Canoeing 26th April

Another excellent day out, this time at the Exeter Canal where members paddled their own canoes (actually Waveriders), except those that went out double-handed in Canadian canoes.  After setting out from 'Saddles and Paddles' on the River Exe at Exeter Quay, the intrepid group soon got to grips with the craft of their choice and, avoiding the sudden drop over the weir, paddled onto the calmer waters of the Exeter Canal.   The group set off down the canal - and soon found that head winds are a distinct disadvantage in boats without sails that have to be propelled by elbow power.  Nicky and Emily ambushed Bob and made off with his baseball cap, before everybody had to go into limbo mode to shoot a very low footbridge, as demonstrated by Simon below.  The whole flotilla arrived safely at the 'Double Locks' pub for a well-earned drink and a meal, before setting off back for a (wind-assisted this time) return to Exeter Basin for a quick look round the varied craft moored there (see picture 4) before heading back to the starting point on the Exe.

An excellent day out and many thanks to Steve for organising it - and thanks to Bob for the photos.

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Padstow Cyclists walk South

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Despite leaden skies and heavy rain driven by gale-force winds, a hardy band of Tamar regulars nevertheless turned up at midday at Wadebridge on 29th March for the Padstow cycle ride, apparently game for anything.  Nevertheless, a few moments standing on the bleak tarmac of Lidl's car park soon tempered Tamar's normal sunny optimism with a cold dose of reality and it was quickly agreed that battling the exposed and windswept reaches of the trail to Padstow was not an enticing prospect, especially given the likelihood of having to pedal into a fierce headwind on the way back.  Instead, as a compromise, the group decided to do a gentle walk along the hopefully more sheltered inland section of the Camel trail, heading towards Bodmin.  Heading off through the town, gender stereotyping soon set in, with most of the ladies disappearing into a discount shoe shop whilst the men succumbed to the blandishments of the open door of a tool shop.  With all these competing attractions, Bob as walk leader had a hard time and getting all the individuals headed out in the right direction was somewhat akin to herding cats, but eventually the group made it out into the terra incognita of the trail towards Bodmin, where no-one in the party had previously ventured.  In the steep-sided valley, once out of the wind and with the rain easing and stopping, spirits soon rose; like dismounted cavalrymen on the retreat from Moscow, murmurings were heard that actually we didn't need to have come on foot - and actually could have cycled this way after all.  Nevertheless, the group pressed forward on foot, with a tacit agreement that we'd turn round in good time so that we didn't go too far.  As usual on Tamar socials, though, everybody was soon so busy chatting as to not notice the passing of the miles and were brought up short when John Leveridge (who'd had the good sense to bring his OS map) announced that we'd passed the point of no return and that it was now shorter to walk on to Bodmin than to head back to Wadebridge.  With rumours of a good pub on Bodmin outskirts to entice everyone on, the group continued forward, though looking along a long straight section of the former railtrack disappearing into the middle distance, some faint-hearted souls did wonder if the pub was something similar to the mirages of oases encountered by weary desert travellers.   The Camel trail was considerably more gentle and welcoming than the average desert, though, with daffodils and early bluebells along the path and the swollen River Camel rushing noisily over the rocks.  The next landmark was Boscarne Station at the end of the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway branch, but a quick examination of the timetable revealed that the last train of the day had already gone.  However, an encouraging local said that the pub was just a few minutes further on and soon the by now slightly weary band straggled into 'The Borough Arms', which did indeed live up to its reputation as an oasis of good food and drink.  By the time the group had got to the coffee stage, however, the rain had returned in earnest and no-one fancied retracing our steps.  Fortuitously, what must be one of the few bus routes in Cornwall with a regular service stopped immediately outside the pub.  After an uncomfortable few minutes huddled in the lee of the pub wall, the bus silenced any doubters by turning up absolutely on time and after a headlong dash through the winding Cornish roads deposited the Tamar sailors back in Wadebridge - in fact, so quickly that there was still  time for several of the party to get back into the shoe shop just before closing time and purchase sufficient stock to probably regenerate the entire local retail economy in a single afternoon....  In all, there was general agreement that it had been a very enjoyable afternoon out, perhaps especially because the prospects had seemed so poor at the outset.  Many thanks to Bob Sampson for organising the day and persevering with it - and to Nicky Buckett for the photos, taken to prove that despite the weather, we'd made it out and had a really good time.

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Some 'Start of Season Scrub-Up Day' photographs

The half-dozen photos below mark the first day of the new sailing season, back on 2nd March, when it was possible to get on the water (unlike some of the Sundays since).  The top three photos show a clutch of Tamar sailors, huddled against the cold, going through a thorough and thought-provoking refresher on using the RIBs.  Many thanks to Bob (a member of the Lakes Trust watersports staff with RNLI background) for coming up from Roadford and making this a valuable session, especially since he was still recovering from a recent spell in hospital .  The lower three photos show a handful of the Tamar boats that made it onto the water for the afternoon race.  Fingers crossed that we soon get some more Sundays when the weather is sufficiently kind to allow everybody out on the lake...

Many thanks to Stephanie Heasman for the photos.

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Follow up to the Quiz Night query

As promised, I've followed up the unanswered query about one of the questions posed to Bob and Steve.  The original question was where would you find the quotation 'Stood on the shoulders of giants';  the answer was that it is engraved on the edge of a two pound coin.  However, there was a feeling that this was actually just part of a longer quotation by a famous scientist.  Courtesy of Google, I've now chased this up and indeed it is so: the full quotation is along the lines of:

'If I have seen a little farther than other men, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.'

and it is believed to have been said by Sir Isaac Newton.

Many thanks to Steve and Bob for setting the questions for the quiz - and also to Neil and Barbara for hosting it at their house; it was a very enjoyable evening, with lots of chat, talk about the forthcoming season - and of course, food and drink, to leaven any possible brain strain....

Link to test video clip footage

As an experiment, we have done some tests to see if it is possible to display video footage of club sailing on the web site.  The link below should display a couple of minutes of footage of video taken last season - many thanks to Jennie Leveridge for shooting it.  The quality of the video clip as as it displays on my PC isn't very high, nor is it very big (I'm sure it should be possible to do better in future), but it's potentially important to see both: a) Whether club members can access the clip successfully and view it , plus, b) Whether they think it's worthwhile.  On the first point, the video clip has been converted to Macromedia Flash format - the consensus of people vastly more technically capable than myself is that this is the best format to display video on website; however, although most web browsers will have built-in capabilities to view this file format, there may still be some people whose browser can't access it and who will need to download a Flash plug-in for their browser for it to work.  (As an aside, one of the drawback of video clips is that they take up a considerable amount of file space on the web site). I'd be grateful if anybody who looks at the video clip could e-mail me with feedback (both positive and negative) at J.Buckett@exeter.ac.uk

To view, click on the link below  and wait for it to load -  note, only view this clip if you've got a broadband connection, otherwise it will take a very long time...):

Link to experimental sailing video clip

Team Racing at Roadford - a retrospective roundup

Back at the end of September and start of October, a band of intrepid sailors from Tamar Lake took their dinghies onto the broad expanses of Roadford Reservoir for a team racing event with the host club.  Although this is now a little while ago, there are now a couple of additional things on the web relating to the event that deserve a quick update.  Although the Roadford club were very clear winners of the team racing overall, the Tamar contingent had an enjoyable time over the two-leg event, though the lack of wind on the second weekend tried the patience of all the competitors.   The race reports produced at the time are still available on the 'Race Reports' web page:

1) 30th September report (scroll down to find the Team Racing write-up)

2) 7th October

In addition, there are now a page of photos (taken by Robin and Sue Burnham of Roadford SC) of the event on the 'Pictures' website, click on the photo below for these.  The photos include pictures of the massed start of the first race on the first week and the first few minutes afterwards, and then mainly images of some of the Tamar sailors going round, including Nicky Buckett, Mike Ford (out in grandson Tim's Laser instead of his current Bosun), Bob Sampson and Jane Chadney enjoying the wide-open spaces in  the RS200, Simon Veal , Dave Harker (grappling with a gennaker single-handed), Toby Tobias and John Leveridge (with Toby making a welcome reappearance for Tamar) and John Buckett.  Also included is a picture of one of the Roadford boats, because it's a great shot of a planing dinghy moving at speed (probably an International 14, though whenever I saw it coming, it was going past so fast it was just a blur!).

Click on the picture below to see the photos....

The Roadford Sailing Club website has complete race results for the event - congratulations to Bob Sampson on coming in as top Tamar boat in 6th placc.  To view the results, click on the Roadford logo below for a link to their series results web page and then scroll down to the Team Racing event:

Peter Pocock Achievement Trophy Award Ceremony

Once again this year, the club has run a series of races for juniors, with the winner being awarded the Peter Pocock Achievement Trophy. The series has been run on Sunday lunchtimes during the summer, mainly using Picos kindly loaned by the Lakes Trust. The races have proved a welcome attraction for juniors who have developed their sailing skills at the Trust’s Saturday morning cadet sessions; the timing of the races, held when the water is relatively clear of other boats, (whilst the club members are concentrating on their lunchtime sandwiches) means that they offer a useful stepping-stone for aspiring dinghy helms and crews before venturing out into the cut-and-thrust of the full club sailing programme. The photographs show the trophy and awards being presented by Mark Pocock, son of Peter Pocock, a much-liked and respected member and officer of the Tamar club in its formative years, in whose memory the trophy was presented by his wife, Rosemary This year, the competition was again very close, with the series eventually being won by Adam Pollard. In second place were Sarah Balsdon and Grace Waterhouse (sailing as a two-handed team), with Victoria Forrest-Mitchell and Tamsyn Keens tying for third. Unable to be present at the presentation were Victoria Forrest-Mitchell and Fraser Martyn. The centre photo shows Mark Pocock making the presentation of the trophy to the winner, Adam Pollard, whilst the photo on the left shows all the competitors who were able to be present.

Congratulations are due to all the competitors for demonstrating determination to complete races in conditions that were often taxing. Senior sailing club members watching from the club veranda commented on how the general standard of the racing increased as the series progressed, giving a clear indication of how the experience of racing was helping to improve sailing skills. The series was also used as a means of gradually introducing the concepts underpinning the various racing rules to the juniors throughout the series, so that they were not overwhelmed by all the intricacies of the rules at one go. Special praise must go to Adam Pollard for his consistency and resolution which made him a deserved winner of the trophy – well done.

The series will be running again in the 2008 season, although dates have yet to be decided. Any new junior sailors who might be interested in taking part in what has always been a gentle and non-threatening introduction to dinghy racing are very welcome; contact the Vice-Commodore Roger Heasman (tel 01409-241055 or e-mail rogerheasman@hotmail.com) for more information or with any queries - and we look forward to seeing everybody on the water in a few months time and the series continuing to grow from year to year.

Dartmoor Walk - 22nd September

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Following the successful tradition started by Toby Tobias, the club once again ventured on one of its terra-firma expeditions, this time under the watchful guidance of Bob Sampson.  Under Bob’s instructions, 14 members rendezvoused at a car park just off the Okehampton-Tavistock road, with the Commodore and consort last to arrive, despite the fact that they had the least far of anybody to travel….  After posing for the first photograph (see above left), the happy throng set off for the slopes and wilds of Dartmoor.  Adhering to the principle followed by all good leaders of getting the worst of the pain over at the start, Bob’s route led inexorably uphill, heading for Arms Tor – and soon the group started to change from a compact bunch into a long straggling line, looking a bit like a mini retreat from Moscow (albeit with a lot more laughing and joking).  However, the views from the summit were rewarding and after a lengthy respite, club members headed off across the slope to claim their second summit at Brai Tor, with Mike giving an instant tutorial on recognition of breeds of cattle, whilst others in the party put the whole world’s problems to rights as they walked! 

After a much-awaited stop for coffee and snacks at the next location, Doe Tor, the group then headed downhill, with a small detour down the side of a small ravine and across a noisy Dartmoor stream where Nicky found out her walking boots were not very waterproof underwater and then, suddenly the car park appeared in view.  Having cast off walking boots and Wellingtons, everybody piled back into their cars and headed for the nearby Dartmoor Inn, for a delayed lunch and lots of chat, interrupted only by some eyes wandering to the TV screen with some nervous nail-biting as Samoa came very close to giving England a serious upset in the Rugby .World Cup.  Everybody agreed that it had been an excellent day and warmly thanked Bob for organising the trip and leading us round.

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August Bank Holiday Regatta and Barbecue

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 After the almost uniformly damp and depressing summer of 2007, the weather finally came right for the Vice-Commodore’s Bank Holiday Regatta.  Although there was very little wind on the Saturday morning, a gentle breeze gradually arrived to get the regatta underway in bright sunshine.  The first race was a ‘funny hats’ race, where those with the most striking headgear received more favourable handicaps, with Tamsin and Katie getting the judge’s verdict – lots of people took part in the race, including sailors and windsurfers from the Trust’s Saturday Kid’s Club.  Later on, Roger’s addiction to the automotive world showed itself in a race with a Le Mans start, with two people per boat and the requirement to switch helms between laps – and drink a beaker of fizzy lemonade on the pontoon; trying to steer a course with lots of bubbles up the nose was certainly a new helming experience. More racing followed later, as the wind built to a reasonable strength.  Several club members stayed  on overnight (in a very crowded camping field), including Jane Chadney (in her distinctive tepee tent), Bob Sampson and John and Katie Leveridge (who play a tough game of Scrabble!).

Sunday had the usual racing programme (see the ‘Race Reports’ page as usual) – though with a long morning race, a  Pocock Achievement Trophy race at lunchtime and 18 starters for the afternoon race, there always seemed to be a lot going on.  The barbecue was, by common consent, the best attended and most enjoyable of the year.

Although Monday might have been expected to be something of an anticlimax, in fact it was anything but.  The morning started off with a relay race between three teams; this generated lots of shouting (when, for example, one sailor wasn’t quite sure which of the approaching boats belonged tohis team and continued to circle as his team-mate finished their lap); in the end, it was Bob Sampson’s team of seasoned sailors who won top slot.  The regatta finished off with a Chocoholics race.  In a growing easterly onshore breeze, getting the race started at all proved to be something of a struggle, with the Laser sailors needing help in getting away from a lee shore; Stephanie Heasman did sterling work in getting everybody safely onto the water.  Coming back after the race wasn’t easy either, with the double handers having to exercise careful judgement in their approach to the pontoon; all managed it safely, but the dangers were sadly well illustrated by a visiting Mirror which hit the pontoon with a sickening crack and knocked a hole in its bow.  In his anxiety to minimise the numbers of gybes in the strong wind, the OOD set a course that involved going twice into Inlet – where the wind all but disappeared – and also involved avoiding fishing lines.  Despite all the hazards, Jane Anderson triumphed to come first on handicap, but the race was also notable for some stunning sailing by Katherine Muller in her Topper; she showed benefit of her experience in competing around the country by coming in second just a few seconds behind Jane on corrected time.  To round off the weekend, Bob Sampson demonstrated the most spectacular sailing on the lake as he planed the RS200 up and down after the race and getting the adrenaline of crew Jane Chadney flowing.  Derek Farnfield, who safely eased his Wanderer round the course single-handed (an impressive feat in the strengthening winds) generated favourable comment, as did Emily Veal, who did stunningly well in difficult conditions to complete the course for someone so new to sailing

All in all, an excellent weekend; many thanks to Roger and helpers for organising and to everybody who came along for making it such a good time…

More pictures below; thanks to Bob Sampson and Stephanie Heasman for supplying the photos...

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Upper Tamar Lake Users' Meeting - December 2006

A Lake Users meeting was held at the cafe at Upper Tamar Lake at 6pm on Tuesday 12th December, to which all Lakes Trust members were invited.  The meeting was hosted by Watersports Manager Angie Martelli, with Lisa Tame (Marketing and Publicity Officer) assisting.  All those attending were welcomed with mulled wine and mince pies provided by Colin Vallance (Food and Retail Supervisor) and, after a delayed start to await late arrivals caused by a road blockage, the meeting got under way with Angie giving a review of the past year.  The Lakes Trust standpoint is that the situation vis-a-vis the helixors remains the same until RYA produces its report.  Angie did announce that as a result of the late start of the sailing season because of the helixors, there would be a rebate of £5 per person from this year's fees, which would be paid as a reduction on next year's fees.
 
Following this, she threw the meeting open to questions, which were almost entirely concerning the sailing aspects of use of the lake.  Although there was a good attendance by members of the sailing club, there were no representatives of fishing interests present.  Angie explained that this was due to the fact that there was no fishing club actually based at Upper Tamar and they therefore had no mechanism for inviting fishermen to the meeting.  The feedback session included a number of fairly hard-hitting questions but the meeting was conducted in a generally good tempered and constructive atmosphere.  The meeting started with a query about the growing practice of fishermen casting along the bank between the slipway and up towards the windsurfer point, and it was suggested that some years ago, they had been forbidden from using this area.  Concerns were voiced about the amount of silt on the slipway as water levels fell, with the added likelihood of people slipping as they launched and retrieved boats. In the same area, one suggestion was that a portable winch should be purchased, to enable owners of heavier boats to be able to retrieve their craft without recourse to using a car (or rounding up other members to help push - something not possible if sailing mid-week).  The need for additional fendering on the pontoon and concerns that the chains currently come up over the edge of the pontoon rather than up through the tubes were both points that seemed to attract general support, plus the desirability of extending the bottom end of the launching ramp to reduce difficulties when lake levels are low.  Members also raised questions concerning niggling maintenance issues on the shower and toilet blocks; Angie noted that some maintenance had been carried out by contractors over the previous winter, but as these were working under the instructions of South West Water, rather than directly to the Lake Trust, there was no direct route for her to raise matters over which she had concerns.  The issue of restrictions on car parking adjacent to the Watersports hut generated a number of comments, particularly the question of consistency about how many lines of cars were allowed and also concerns that on occasions other users seemed to be allowed greater leeway than were allowed to sailing club members.

 
Questions about future plans for watersports at Tamar were raised; Angie explained that the Trust only had sufficient administrative manpower to undertake one major project at a time.  Major projects completed in recent years included the Wimbleball, Roadford Lakeside and Stithians developments; the order of future projects was likely to be Siblyback and Roadford watersports, but it might then be the turn of Tamar for improvements.  Questions about improvements led on to more general discussion about financial viability at Tamar.  It was noted from the floor that if the Trust was hoping to increase income at Tamar, then in terms of attracting more boatowners, the capacity of the boat park had been a limiting factor a couple of years ago and even now, there was relatively little room for expansion unless the size of the boat park could be increased.  The desirability for greater publicity for watersporfts at Upper Tamar was raised, prompted by the fact that there was no coverage of the lake in the most recent edition of 'Windward'; Lisa Tame provided approximate copy deadlines for the next edition of Windward and several ideas for possible articles were suggested.
 
Thanks were expressed to Angie for allowing the Trust's Picos to be used free of charge for the juniors racing for the Pocock Trophy on Sunday lunchtimes.  This had been a pleasing success and Mrs Pocock had been delighted to be able to present the trophy this year, dedicated in the name of her late husband; Angie indicated that she was keen to support junior racing and hoped to inaugurate inter-Lake junior racing in the 2007 season.  Members also passed on their thanks for the help of Tim, Dave and the other Lakes Trust watersports staff over the season, for being supportive of the racing and helping on occasions such as taking the Race Officer out in the RIB to make it easier to decide the finishing order in Pursuit Races.

2006 Season Trophy Winners

The list of the trophy winners, as awarded at the 2006 AGM in December, is given below.  For full details of all the placings, see the link at the top of the 'Race Reports' section or click on the link below:

Link to details of all 2006 race placings

Sailboat 7 races, 3 discards, 24 in series
1st   Neil Wallace and Nicky Buckett
2nd  Jane Anderson
3rd  Bob Sampson

Barnwell Cup  7 races, 3 discards, 26 in series
1st  William Pepworth
2nd  Vicki Duncalf
3rd Jane Anderson

Commodore’s Cup 7 races, 3 discards, 30 in series
1st  Phil Brown
2nd  Bob Sampson
3rd Jane Anderson

Tamar Cup   10 races, 4 discards, 31 in series
1st   Neil Wallace and Nicky Buckett
2nd  Jane Anderson
3rd  Bob Sampson

Spalding Cup  7 races, 3 discards, 25 in series
1st  Jane Anderson
2nd  John Duncalf
3rd  Paul Whybrow and Steve Axford

Aegerter Trophy  7 races, 3 discards, 14 in series

1st  Paul Whybrow and Steve Axford
2nd  John Buckett
3rd  Phil Brown

Harman Cup   7 races, 3 discards, 13 in series
1st   Jane Anderson
2nd  John Duncalf
3rd  Vicki Duncalf

Junior Helm  5 races, 2 discards, 6 in series
1st   William Pepworth
2nd  Katherine Muller
3rd  Katie Leveridge


Ladies Cup 5 races, 2 discards, 8 in series
1st  Jane Anderson 
2nd  Stephannie Clark
3rd  Vicki Duncalf

Pursuit Race 5 races, 2 discards, 27 in series
1st John Duncalf
2nd  Bob Sampson
3rd Jane Anderson

Gosling Shield 5 races, 2 discards, 27 in series
1st  Roger Heasman
2nd  Toby Tobias
3rd Nicky Buckett

Icicle 6 races, 2 discards, 20 in  series
 1st  Jane Anderson
2nd  Rob Eason and George Frost
3rd Steve Axford


Frostbite  6 races, 2 discards, 21 in series
1st  Jane Anderson
2nd  Rob Eason and George Frost
3rd Mike Ford

Peter Pocock Memorial Trophy 5 races, 2 discards, 4 in
series
1st  Katie Leveridge
1st Stephen Muller
2nd Vicki Forest Mitchell
3rd Adam Pollard

Vice-Commodore’s Cup (for most improved sailor over the season)
John Chandler 
 

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