Fleet Captain: Chris Wright (Streaker 1374)

The Fast Handicap fleet comprises a mixture of double and single handed boats:
Supernova, Streaker, Phantom, RS Vareo, Laser Radial, Solo, N12, Laser2000, RS400, Albacore, GP14.

The Slow Handicap fleet curretly includes the Topper & Mirror + Laser 4.7, Pico and Topaz with a few RS Feva's beginning to emerge.

Another sailing season is almost here and I am writing to introduce myself as the newly appointed Handicap Class Captain.

I joined Ripon Sailing Club only a year ago, following the purchase of Streaker number 1374. This has enabled me to return to dinghy sailing after a gap of 30 years. During those years I concentrated my sailing efforts on offshore racing in keel boats before moving into landyachting. Having raced landyachts at national and international level for over 20 years I decided that it would be nice to get back on the water from time to time so bought the Streaker. As it turned out, I spent much more time sailing on water last year than I did on wheels, though much slower of course (and frequently with less success!).

Now to the season ahead and what we want to get out of it. Ambition has to be tempered by ability, I’ve found, so though my personal aims in landyachting might be to do well at British and European level, in my Streaker I’m aiming at less lofty ambitions. I’ll settle for getting in front of Derek Moss more often than I managed last year!

But what do you want to get out of the new season? RSC has handicap class boats across a range of classes and last season we regularly had good turnouts in the Streaker and Supernova classes, but less so from some of the other classes. There are some handicap class boats in the boat park that I never once saw on the water. That prompts me to ask what if anything we should do for those of you who don’t sail regularly to encourage you to make more use of your boat? If you’ve sailed on a Saturday can we help you to get involved in Sunday racing? Would some guidance and encouragement from more experienced sailors, with perhaps a buddy system in place, give you the confidence to race more? If you are inexperienced and want a buddy please let me know. If you are an old hand, or indeed young but experienced (I don’t want to be ageist) and are willing to act as a buddy then please also let me know. If you tell me your class I’ll try to match you to someone who sails the same class.

What do you expect of me as your Class captain? If there are things that you think I should be doing I’m willing to listen to your ideas. I’ll even attempt to translate them into action if they are do-able. I get regular emails from the sailing secretary from another sailing club that I’ve been a recent member of and I enjoy reading about what’s been going on there. From April onwards, when I’ll personally have more time than I do at the moment (thanks to early retirement), I plan to send out regular emails myself about Club sailing and anything else I think you might be interested in. In the meantime I’d be glad to hear from you and, if you’ve got news to circulate, to act as the postman.

And finally… even if you are ready for the new season, is your boat? If it’s a glass fibre one and has been outside all winter then it’s going to need an airing and a good clean. If it’s a wooden one let’s hope that at the very least you were able to keep it under cover and at best you’ll have smartened it up with fresh paint and varnish. Mine gets its final coat this weekend. When removing some of the fittings I was slightly alarmed to find a couple of problems waiting to happen. Not only did the rudder pintle need its screws tightening up, the fixing on one of my toe straps was decidedly suspect and wouldn’t have lasted until the water has warmed up. Swimming in March? No thanks. Yachts and Yachting magazine has recently listed seven essential checks for you to carry out so in readiness for 19 March here they are:

§ Wash and dry the boat properly
§ Clean out any fittings, particularly any moving parts in cleats and blocks.
§ Use a silicon-based lubricant on fittings.
§ Check mast sheeves for corrosion.
§ Check rudder fittings for looseness or movement.
§ Check all rope, halyards and wirework.
§ Make sure the tyre pressures in your trailer and trolley are OK before towing it anywhere.

Here’s to a good season in 2006, blessed with sunshine and wind (a rare combination) on Wednesdays and weekends.

Chris Wright