Saundersfoot Sailing Club's annual Coppet Week held last week had a tremendous turnout with 97 dinghies competing at some time or other over the week and 20 of those were local.

Before Commodore John Griffiths handed out the prizes, he reflected on the week's events. The weather did not completely play ball with us, but at least we got six good races in and the sun shone for a fair amount of the time.

We had some good fun in the bar in the evenings and the video of the day's sailing went down well as always, but the highlight of the week in the clubhouse was Jane Wood singing and getting us all dancing until almost midnight on Wednesday. It's got to be one of the best nights I have had here and we will have to see if she will do it again next year.

I understand though that there will be a ban on crews going to the Sands after shut tap here next year as it apparently affected their performance the following day, just a good thing the race was in the afternoon really!

A big thanks must go to John Keatley, our bar manager, for keeping the supplies coming, to Molly and Ray, our hard-working bar staff, and to the ladies for snacks at lunchtime.

On the sailing front, as most of you will have realised, we run this event with as many of our own dinghies competing on the water as possible and this means that the really hard work falls to an ever-present small band of helpers. So a big thank you to everyone who has helped out this week. I cannot name them all, but they know who they are and have been out on the water in cruisers and patrol boats all week setting great courses and getting us all back safely. There was a drink behind the bar for each helper with the club's thanks.

Particular thanks to the lads from Tenby SC who brought their patrol boat around every day and to Pembrokeshire Watersports who provided an extra boat for us at the weekend.

I must mention our dinghy captain Nick who spent all week organising things as beachmaster and computer operator. Nick also handled the tally system so well it's been a great help to us in both race management and as security so that we know we have got all sailors back to the beach safely.

Thanks to the race officers Rolfe, Tricia and Rod who have been there all week laying on good courses and results that nobody has dared question. Even though they probably needed a drink more than most, they were presented with an SSC mug as a token of thanks.

John concluded his speech saying how great it was to see everyone, thanked them for all coming and hoped we would see them all again at next year's event, which will be a week later due to the fact that the Bank Holiday is moving, so Coppet Week 2002 will be the first week in June.

John was ably assisted by Bethan and handed out prizes as detailed below:

In 49th place and first GP14, Jack and Jenny Mead from Birmingham Brookvale SC.

In 43rd place and first Osprey, Roger and Nick Daily, Hunt from Blithfield SC.

In 42nd place and first Lady Helm in her Laser Radial, Bev Brown from Sutton Coldfield SC.

In 36th place and first Topper, David Campbell from British Steel SC.

In 28th place and first Enterprise, Paul Young and Richard Craddock from Birmingham Brookvale SC.

In 24th place and first Redwing, Bill Dowell and Nan D'Ortez from Tenby SC.

In 22nd place and 'Best SSC based dinghy not to have previously won the week itself,' in their ISO, Colin and Jenny Harrison of Saundersfoot SC.

In 18th place and first Solo, Ian McDonald from Blithfield SC.

In 16th place and first Laser, Rhys Jones from British Steel SC.

In 13th place and first RS600, Nick Mountford from British Steel SC.

In 10th place and first RS400, Gordon and Ruth Evans from British Steel SC.

In 9th place in his RS700, Dan Jackson from Tenby SC.

In 8th place, Scorpion 1921, G. Jenkins and R. Jones from Chipstead SC.

In 7th place, Moth 9285, Martin Weatherstone from Bartley SC.

In 6th place and first RS700, Steve Stubbs from Tenby SC.

In 5th place and first Int. Canoe, Colin Newman from Draycote Water and SSC.

In 4th place in Fireball 14663, John and Paul Griffiths from Saundersfoot SC.

In 3rd place, Moth 404, Andrew Davies from Sutton and Bartley SC.

In 2nd place, National 12 3455, Robin and Ben Wood from British Steel SC.

1st Fireball and Coppet Week Champions for 2001 are Ian Fryett and Jonathon Bales of Stokes Bay and Portishead SC.

Congratulations to the winners and well done all those who took part in the event.

NON-SAILORS

HAVE FUN TOO

As one of the race officers for the week I must say it was great to see so many dinghies out throughout the event.

It was certainly a challenge recording all those numbers, but I thoroughly enjoyed the involvement.

The atmosphere in the clubhouse each evening was great for unwinding and the presentation mug was a much appreciated bonus.

It just goes to show, you do not have to be a sailor to join in the fun, landlubbers always welcome!

Thanks to everyone who helped and made the event the success it was.

SUNDAY RACING

Last Sunday was back to our usual club race that started at 3.30 pm. This was a no points race so that those who had sailed all week could have a rest, but there were still 10 dinghies on the water.

A four-leg course was set which presented some challenges and two laps of the course took between 74:47 and 96:32 mins.

Adam in his Optimist completed one lap in 59:16 mins and finished in fourth place, well done Adam. Andrew in his Laser took third place, Simon in his Byte took second place and Tonia and Julia took first place.

It was also good to see so many cruisers out enjoying the weather and getting a race in too. Apologies for not having the results of their race to hand.

Dinghy racing this Sunday will be at 10 am with the first race of the Mid-season series. We look forward to seeing everyone on the water.

SAIL TRAINING

Tomorrow (Saturday), sail training is scheduled as beginners from 1030 am - 1 pm, with improvers etc. from 3 - 6 pm.

WHIST

After missing the Monday in Coppet Week, the whisters were back again this week and keen to get down to their card game.

There were only three points between the top three scorers, with Betty Stroud highest, Vera Burrows second.

Cards had to be cut for third place which then went to Mabel Whittaker, and the booby went to Robert Irvine.

If you would like to join in please just come along to the club on Monday, you do not have to be a club member and you do not need to bring a partner to be able to play.

Doors open 7.15 pm and the game starts 7.30 prompt.

See you around the clubhouse.

LANDLUBBER