Working Party for All Members
Many thanks to those who turned up last Saturday. A very useful list of jobs to be done was completed. Graham's soup and garlic bread was also very much appreciated. There is still more to do and anyone available on a Tuesday from 10 am will be welcome to Trevor's 'Tuesday Working Group' (so if you want to slim - become a TWIG!)
Depending upon progress, a further working party day is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, from 10 am. Food and drink will again be available.
As it says on the placards -Prepare ye, the end of the (world) winter is nigh - the season approacheth!
PAN PAN all Members
We will be holding an afternoon's discussion/training on changes to the racing rules and a refresher on safety and race management on Sunday, March 29, 2 pm, in the clubhouse. Food will be available and the bar will be open. This is for all patrol boat drivers, OODs and dinghy sailors. Please make every effort to attend.
If you have not been involved in dinghy racing before, this is an excellent way to find out what it is all about and how to get involved.
Ahoy! Anyone Interested in Learning to Sail?
Anyone (all ages) interested in learning to sail should contact Tina on 812383 or [email protected]">[email protected] for more information.
The club is holding a 'taster' session for beginners on Saturday, April 25, with Saturday teaching sessions during June and an intensive full week of training starting Saturday, July 27, and culminating in a Trainees Regatta combined with the Junior Helm Race on Saturday, August 1.
Big Screen
SIX Nations
The next dose of rugby will be served up in the clubhouse this weekend, starting tomorrow (Saturday) with Italy playing Wales, at 3 pm, and Scotland playing Ireland, at 5 pm, followed on Sunday, at 3 pm, when England smash it out with France at Twickenham. Food and drink will also be served up from Graham's ever-supportive kitchen.
Members Welcome Day
New members will be especially welcomed to the club next Saturday (March 21) when lunch will be available, followed by the three matches which may well decide the final positions of the Six Nations rugby, with food and the bar open throughout.
Games are: 1.15 pm Italy v France; 3.30 pm England v Scotland; and 5.30 pm Wales v Ireland
Coppet Week
Please can those able to help with the running of Coppet Week (May 24-29) in any capacity, please contact Tina (812383 or [email protected]">[email protected])
Fitting Out Supper
Saturday, April 4, 7.30 pm: This is now only a month away, which shows how the season is rushing towards us despite the continuing wintry weather. Make sure you have the date in your diary.
Club News, Membership and Subscriptions
Please note that both the weekly email news and newsletters will be discontinued to those who have not paid their subscriptions by the end of this month. Our rules state that those not paying subscriptions by April 1 shall automatically cease to be members of the club. There is a simple remedy!
Nautical Nips
Beaufort Scale and Beaumont Period from last week: Francis Beaufort RN is associated with the current scale of wind force, which he introduced towards the start of the 19th century, but many wind classifications have been used ever since true seafaring occurred. Beaufort's important contribution was to provide an objective scale relating actual wind speed to sea state and remove the subjective descriptions whereby one sailor's stiff breeze was another man's soft breeze.
The initial scale of 13 classes (zero to 12) did not reference wind speed numbers, but related qualitative wind conditions to effects on the sails of a man of war, then the main ship of the Royal Navy, from 'just sufficient to give steerage' to 'that which no canvas sails could withstand.'
At zero, all his sails would be up; at six, half of his sails would have been taken down; and at 12, all sails would be stowed away.
Apparently, the Beaufort scale was extended in 1946 when Forces 13 to 17 were added, which applied to extremes such as tropical cyclones! Happily, the extended scale is not needed in Saundersfoot and is only used in Taiwan and mainland China.
A Beaumont period is much more important to the potato grower than the mariner. It is a period when the temperature maintains at 20 degrees or more in conjunction with 75 per cent humidity or more and is conducive to the explosion of the fungus Phytophthora infestans which causes Potato Blight.
This was the disease which contributed to over one-million Irish people starving to death in the Great Famines of 1845-57 and a further two-million to emigrate.
The disease originated in Mexico and crossed the Atlantic with a shipment of seed potatoes destined for Belgian farmers in 1845.
The disease was so powerful before the development of varieties with gene resistance, that it was one of more than a dozen agents that the United States researched as potential biological weapons before the nation suspended its biological weapons programme.
Despite varietal improvement, it remains one of the most important commercial problems for the potato farmer.
Next week, the origins of Pan Pan as used above.
Skipper's Mate