Gresford Sailing Club

Summer Season Round-Up

Posted on Sep 25, 2022 Updated on Sep 25, 2022

Here’s a summary of what been happening at Gresford Sailing Club this season:

The Schools Sailing Introduction has been going very well with the twice daily Thursday sessions for local schools. We have been told by the RYA Wales that the total number of children attending The Flash in all our school & club classes are more than half of the total listed in the whole of North Wales. Our club has gained a great reputation.

Discover Sailing Week started on Sunday 29 May finishing on the following Sunday attracted some new members to the club

Jubilee celebrations

The clubhouse was done up to the nines for the Queens Jubilee celebrations with snacks on the galley counter available throughout the day.

Outside the clubhouse was decked with bunting fluttering in the North-easterly breeze, the union flag flying proudly at the top of the pole. Four dinghies on the water for members to enjoy and visitors to taste the thrill of sailing and hopefully acquire a liking for it. The paddle boarders were busy circumnavigating the Flashes calm waters outside the markers. One point which drew a lot of attention was David’s demonstration of the spinnaker to make the most of a favourable wind. The highlight of the afternoon was the barbecue and the ladies running it, a big thanks to Zoe for all the work she put in and the material she supplied. Made the day!

Model Boat show

The weather took a downward turn Sunday morning curtailing all the planned activities on the lake this channelling all the energy into the model boat show in the clubhouse. this brought out some never seen models. Some very smart little, small boats on show kept the punters enthused for a couple of hours then it was time for a brew and use up the goodies from the barbecue. thanks to Lorraine and Zoe for the cake plus Chris for the scones.

Model Boaters Chain-link Competition

The model boat section held a competition whereby the entrants had to modify a chain-link into a model. Paul is the happy winner with Gone Fishing, Well done!

Dinghy Instructor Courses

We hosted a RYA 5-day instructor course, a big thank you to all members who made this possible and well-done to 6 candidates on their success. All present were very impressed with our very safe to train location.

Heatwave

July saw the start of the heatwave; this caused us to lose a lot of water on the Flash (around 18 Inches) but we still were and still are able to sail.

We have had St Martins Scouts and another scout group visiting the flash over the summer for some evenings of sailing

Below is a picture of Chris’ entry into the Gresford scarecrow festival featuring Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh sailing a Topper in front of the Royal yacht Britannia.

BBC Weatherman Walking

August saw Derek Brockway the Weatherman Walking Visiting the Flash with a Welsh BBC film unit and was with us throughout the afternoon and early evening, they were busy capturing video for the forthcoming BBC TV broadcast, “Children in Need” program.

The experience of the afternoon was enjoyed by all of us and one member of the film crew told me they would love to come again. Eddie Kept the kettle on and cups of coffee and tea, a good stock of biscuits and Lorraine’s absolutely taste bud tantalising cake, Thanks, Lorraine

Bala

Our juniors attended an all-day On Board Dinghy sailors’ event at Bala Lake. This gave our team opportunity to experience a competition away from Gresford. We congratulate Jessica, James, Freya & Sam for achieving such good results. Thank you again to the support team.

Pirate Day at The Flash

All who attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves as did the parents. Again the organisation was spot on & much appreciated.

Model Section

Our model section continues to go from strength to strength with organised class racing on Wednesdays & Saturdays. Other organised novelty events with timed tug towing & mooring which takes a lot of skill to complete. We also have high speed electric & some very well-built scale models on the lake to marvel at.

Stand Up Paddleboarding

We still have SUP members taking advantage of our lake which is ideal for gaining experience on. They mostly attend on Tuesday / Thursday evenings & Sundays, not as a group but pair up for safety. We hope to continue the Sunday sessions until the end of the year.

Funding

We have been awarded a substantial Grant from RYA/Sports Wales to procure some new equipment, soon if not already you would have seen a new fleet of Toppers for our Junior section to use, some Laser 2000 double handed dinghies to replace some of our ageing GP14 club boats and soon we will also have a new electric outboard and battery pack.

One of our members Elin along with her friend and skipper Lou have competed in the round the Britain and Ireland race (aboard Chris’ White Knight of Purbeck) becoming the youngest female crew to finish the race, well done Girls!

That’s about it for now, thanks again to all the volunteers both on & off the water for supporting our club.

(Pictures courtesy of Barrie and members from our WhatsApp group)