Weekly Club News - 18th October 2023
Published 11:58 on 18 Oct 2023
Blue Green Algae Update
The weather at the end of last week and so far this week has resulted in the algal scum disappearing and the bloom subsiding. This is fantastic news as it the areas of concentrated scum which pose the greatest risk to health.
As a result of the scum no longer being present we enjoyed a full weekend of activities including ITCA Open Training, Spinnaker Youth Training and Club Racing. However, the bacteria which causes Green Blue Algae is always present in our water, and there is always a possibility of blooms returning.
As a club we have learnt many lessons about how we can manage the risk from algae in the future over the last two weeks. While we will shortly be able to relax some of our procedures we will retain all the policies and procedures for if we need to use them again in the future, helping us to speed up our response to events such as these.
Regardless of whether there is algal scum we would always advise our members to wash their hands before eating and drinking following afloat activity.
Thank You!
A big thank you to the team of volunteers who gave up their Tuesday this week to being lowering and thinning the hedge along our southern boat park. This hedge has grown to over 18 foot tall in places, and was starting to overhang our boat park and the footpath.
The team have made a great start, and we will be doing another day's cutting in a few weeks. All our vegetation management work is done in consultation with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust who manage the Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve we sit in.
Colder Weather Is Here
Those of us who have been afloat in the last few days have definitely felt the recent drop in temperature. This has been fantastic for helping to disperse our algae bloom, but does mean we need to consider what we wear!
Please remember it is a Club Byelaw that from 1st November to 31st March a drysuit or wetsuit must be worn whilst afloat (along with the usual buoyancy aid). It is worth however considering what you are wearing before this date. Sunday was a great example of how the temperature can quickly change. Some sailors who went afloat in neoprene hikers and a 1mm thermal top were complaining it was too hot at the end of race 1, before shivering and regretting not wearing more layers by the end of race 3.
AGM and Winter Prizegiving
Sunday 3rd December will be a very busy day at the club! In the morning we have two races of our Winter Series, before our Annual General Meeting and Winter Prizegiving in the afternoon.
We strongly encourage all our members to attend our AGM, and the formal Notice of AGM including the agenda will be available shortly.
Club Championships This Weekend
This Sunday sees the first 3 races of our Club Championships, with the second 3 races on Sunday 29th October. The format for both days is the same with a first race start at 11.30, before 2 more races run back to back from 13.00. Your best 3 scores from the series will count, so you only need to race on one day to be in with a chance of being Club Champion 2023!
You can see more details about the format in the Notice of Race here.
Firefly Open Meeting - Sunday 5th November
The Twisted Tube is now fully booked for Saturday 4th November and we are very excited for a day of Random Pairs Team Racing!
We still have lots of spaces for members to enter the Firefly Open Meeting on Sunday 5th November, including 2 Club Fireflys available to hire!
You can see more details about the Firefly Open Meeting and enter it here.
Last updated 09:41 on 20 December 2023
