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Club Calendars for 2015 Available

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You still have time to buy the 2015 Toward Sailing Club for yourself or as a Christmas stocking filler for friends and family. The calender is packed with some excellent photos, all taken by Club members and with enough space to write in daily appointments they make really nice Christmas presents. And at only £5 each they are definitely good value while profits going to club funding.

There are still some left so please contact Sue Chandler to order your calender today.

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New Kayak Section Forming

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Sea Kayaking at TowardA new section of Toward Sailing Club is currently being formed.  It is the Kayaking Section, and it aims to bring paddle sports into the club. The primary focus will be sea kayaking and we intend to offer coaching for beginners of all ages starting in late spring/early summer 2015.

The kayaking section will be open to all existing as well as new TSC members to come along and try out. We are currently trying to apply for grants for equipment.

You can keep up to date on progress in this regard on the kayaking section specific web page on this site.

Our kayak section events are listed on our events page.

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Regatta 2014 – Results and News

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Saturday and Sunday marked Toward sailing Club’s 44th annual regatta. With classes catering for everything from keelboats to Oppies there was a fine mixture of boats on show throughout the weekend. Saturday’s race began with plenty of wind, in fact a little too much for some, however shortly after the start of the Keelboat class it vanished completely. Just when the Race Officer was beginning to tear his hair out it filled in again and held steady for the rest of the race. A spell of spectacularly heavy rain arrived towards the end of the race but at least the sailors could come ashore to burgers and hotdogs provided by the hard working kitchen crew. Sunday dawned brighter and drier than the previous day but with even more wind. This time it blew from the south adding waves to further test the already challenged dinghy sailors. What proved to be a cracking sail for the keelboats turned into a war of attrition for the dinghies with less than half the starters making it to the finish. In all the classes consistency proved to be the key factor. In the keelboat class Ruairidh Campbell in his First 29, Voila notched up three firsts to secure first overall. Similar results were achieved by Neil Towart in the Fast Handicap class, Alasdair Ireland in the Flying Fifteens and Yasmin Price in the Oppies. It was only among the slow handicap dinghies that wins were shared around. The weekend ended with a splendid spread of baking provided by the members, followed by the prize giving.

RESULTS

Class1 – Keelboats

1st          Voila (First 29), R. Campbell, TSC

2nd        Saorsa (Moody 336), G. Finlay, TSC

3rd         Gimcrack (GK 24), D. Hillhouse, TSC

Class 2 – Flying Fifteens

1st          Ragamuffin, A. Ireland, HLSC

2nd        Gentle Maid ,R. McTaggart, IOBSC

3rd         Effortless, A. Marshall, IOBSC

Class 3 – fast Handicap Dinghies

1st          Stubborn Tart (ISO), N. Towart, HLSC

2nd        Dr Feelgood (Contender), J. Orr, TSC

3rd         Nae Loser (Laser), A. McLean, TSC

Class 4 – Slow Handicap Dinghies

1st          Topper, D. Baird-Dean, TSC

2nd        Lucky (Topper), K. Baird-Dean, TSC

3rd         Topper, N. Campbell, TSC

Best Senior Result – Neil Towart, IOBSC

Best Junior Result – Y. Price, IOBSC

 

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My Regatta 2014

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Regatta 2014

A personal account by Kriss Baird-Dean

Well the day of my first Regatta dawned.  I was up at 6 to look at what the wind was doing – of course I knew it would change but at 6 it was strangely calm.  Too calm!

We headed down to the Club full of trepidation and met up with the other competitors for Class 4 that we knew from the club.  Connor and his sister Beth were there already and equally as nervous as me.  We started to set up our boats and pulled everything tight as we had been taught, ready for the windy conditions.

At around 1.30pm we all started to launch in order to get to the start on time.  It was windy but thankfully the waves were not too big as the East wind had come across land and not had the chance to whip the waves to any height.   Arriving at the start was fine and we were happily reaching up and down when all of a sudden Connor and I got tangled up and my wind burgee got bent in the ensuing chaos.  As Connor tried to free himself, he fell in!   I was sure the final signal would go before we were ready.  All was ok though and he got back into his Pico.  Meanwhile time was passing by; it was getting near to the final signal when Beth said she felt unwell and retired from the race along with Connor.  Dave meanwhile came over and fixed my wind burgee.  Thank goodness as without it I could not tell the wind shifts apart!  Finally the lights extinguished and we were away!  It was very hard going getting up to the first mark and Dave capsized a few times on the way!  I kept going and focused on the most direct route to the mark.  I was sure I would be fine if I could just get round the first mark.  Finally I got round and headed up to the” I” buoy.  After that everything went well and I passed the Mirror from Bute and sailed on into the lead!!!  I was amazed and overjoyed to win the first race of my first regatta!

The second day arrived and we were slightly more confident.  For the first race I decided, on advice from Fiona, to put a reef in.  I’m glad I did as once out there it was manic!  The waves were much bigger than yesterday and again I was nervous as I desperately wanted to at least finish the race.  We all got round the first mark “A” and were headed up to the “I” mark when the wind dropped!  Naomi and I could only watch in horror as Dave took his reef out and stormed ahead.  Naomi was in front of me too and with the reef in I could not catch her.  As we rounded the last but one mark the wind picked up again ad we finished the race at speed!  I recorded 3rd place and Dave won with Naomi coming 2nd.

We all went to the club house for a splendid lunch and then it was back out for the final race.  It was 1 a piece for me and Dave so this was it!!  I got a flying start!  I tried to concentrate and not think of winning!  I kept going in challenging conditions, having opted not to reef this time, my brave little topper Lucky carried me round the first part of the course with no problems.  Going into the last part of the race on the run to mark “A” the water kept coming in over the front and I edged my way further back, round the “A” and onto the I – I knew if I could get round the”I” mark I could win!  But as I got nearer the waves were bigger and bigger and Lucky kept filling up with water.  I pressed on with the self-bailer doing its job.  Finally as I got near the ”I” mark the wind had changed slightly and my tack didn’t work and Naomi and I both ended up in irons unable to tack away from the mark.  I watched in horror as Dave, having realised the wind had changed, took a longer line out and rounded the mark before me.  Finally I righted my wrong and got round the final mark, but too late I had lost my lead at the last mark.  I had an interesting run in as the waves were by now huge and I surfed rather than sailed into the finish line taking 2nd place screaming all the way in!  It was an exhilarating finish!

Even though I lost the last race and therefore didn’t win the class I had a brilliant weekend and still cannot believe that after only a year of sailing I competed in a real Regatta and came 2nd in Class 4!!  Last year, I was helping out at the Regatta on one of the safety boats and had you told me I would be competing the following year I would not have believed you!  Many thanks go to Fiona and Alasdair at the club for the training we received, they have been so encouraging.   If you are reading this wondering whether to come and give it a try, I can’t recommend Toward Sailing club highly enough, it is a great place filled with great people all so encouraging and wanting you to succeed.  If you are an old hand at sailing, I apologise for my suspect terminology!

All in all a great weekend, thanks to all the club members behind the scenes that enabled us to have such a great time, and Dave, I’ll be looking to beat ya next year!!!!…….

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Kayak Hub

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argyll sea kayak trailThe Argyll Sea Kayak Trail is well and truly open as part of a new trail from Helensburgh to Ardrishaig and linking, through the Crinan Canal to the Crinan to Oban trail. The route can be found here.

Toward Sailing Club forms one of the hubs on the trail. At Toward there is dedicated free parking for vehicles provided along with a sheltered launch site and storage racks for canoes/kayaks are available within the club compound.  As you would expect Toward Sailing Club was very much involved in the process.

Toward Sailing Club formed their own Toward Flotilla to help welcome the first official paddler to Toward Sailing Club.  On Wednesday 23rd July, the paddler – Dave McBride – set off from Tarbert at about 12.30 and arrived at Wreck Bay in the Kyles at around 5.00pm.  Some coastal skiff rowers from Tighnabruaich joined him for a stretch. Alasdair Finlay, on Saorsa, picked up a few of the Rothesay contingent involved in the project and then to headed up the Kyles to meet the paddler coming down to Toward.  Alasdair’s boat party welcomed Dave to the Kyles and to offer encouragement as well as getting some photos present.  Mike Geraghty also welcomed Dave McBride and took along David Lyons who did a fantastic job of piping in the flotilla with his wonderful bagpipe playing!

About 50 people had turned out from the Club to take part in the flotilla or welcome Dave to Toward. A word of praise for young Sandy Stuart (11) a novice paddler who was among the kayakers that turned out for Dave. Well done Sandy!

The Following morning Toward Sailing Club’s very own paddler Phil Keetley started off from Toward on the next leg of the relay and headed north to Dunoon escorted by Mike Geraghty on his keel boat Lucy. Phil then left Dunoon heading for Helensburgh to complete the trail relay.

All in all this was a great response from Toward Sailing Club members and it certainly helped the morale of those paddling. Thereafter on Friday evening the official launch of the trail was part of the Commonwealth Flotilla Reception in the Sugar Sheds at James Watt Dock. Fiona McLean and her crew and Ruairidh Campbell and his crew represented Toward Sailing Club by taking part in the Commonwealth Flotilla.

 

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Toward Quay

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Toward Quay

Since taking over responsibility for Toward Quay from Argyll & Bute Council, Toward Sailing Club members have been hard at work stabilising the structure and rebuilding the parts which were about to hit the seabed.  New mooring bollards have been installed and most of the rebuilding work has been completed.   Although some further work is required, the quay is fit for purpose and provides a sheltered drying harbour with a clean approach free of obstructions