News and Announcements

New Bar Opens

The bar refurbishment is complete and our new look bar and lounge has re-opened. Members are urged to pay a visit soon and appreciate the new bar layout. As part of the work a new intimate "snug" has been added. The furniture has been completely replaced and new carpeting provided. Wide-screen televisions provide ideal viewing for big matches. New look Ladies and Gents rest rooms have been added.

Death of Liam Cullen

The death occurred recently of Liam Cullen, a former Commodore of Skerries Sailing Club and who dedicated many years of his life to developing the club and improving our facilities. A guard of honour of former Commodores was provided for his funeral. Our sympathies go to his widow and family.

AGM

The Annual General Meeting takes place on March 13 at 8.30. Only fully paid up members may attend and only Ordinary or Family members may vote.

Intervarsity Winners

Conor Byrne of SSC captained the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) team racing squad to victory in Killaloe at the recent Intervarsities, the national championship of college team racing. Emer McNally of SSC crewed for Conor. Byrne and McNally of SSC were also competing on the winning DIT1 team at the recent 'DIT Invitational' team racing event held in Firefly dinghies at Cullaun Sailing Club, Kilkishen Co. Clare. They beat 8 of the top college teams over two days and 56 races in total, drawing with Trinity in the end but winning as DIT1 had beaten Trinity each time they met in the leagues.

Web Site Glitches

A series of technical glitches interrupted display of this web site recently for which we apologise. The site is now running normally again and includes a new cruising section (see below).

Skerries Link to Clipper Round the World Race

Pat Daly reports that The Clipper Round The World Race is currently on the leg from Singapore to Qindao. The boat Jamaica is leading on this leg and on board is Mick Moran who has sailed in Skerries on board Moonraker. His progress can be followed at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

Sailing for people with special needs

Donal Carty is interested in organising a sail for people with special needs (Clontarf do this regularly and like Skerries use punts to get to their boats) and the C.R.C. people were able to manage the transfer from punt to boat with a little help. If you would be willing to help with this effort please contact Donal Carty at <mailto:donalcarty@eircom.net>

An Appeal

The Events Committee urgently need volunteers for our Junior Optimist event in May and a Mirror event in June. We reckon that we need up to 100 people to help out from (wo)manning rescue boats and committee boats, helping boats launch and return, catering, race office, stewarding traffic etc etc. Everyone will be skilled enough to help in some way. Just reply to this email with a "yes" in the subject and I will email you a form (we need this to make sure we have the right people in the right roles!) If you a are new member this is a great way to get to know people (and see over 100 boats in the bay). The dates are: Optimist Leinsters: May 10th and 11th 2008; Mirror Easterns: June 28th and 29th 2008.

New Cruising Section Formed

A recent meeting in the club decided to form a new section representing members who are interested in cruising. Boatowners, crews, aspiring crew-members and those who are just interested can be involved. The group represents those with an interest in cruising, under sail or power, our coast, the offshore islands and even further afield. It hopes to plan courses, meetings, talks, and trips. Suggestions include regular cruising nights, maybe once a month over the winter months. Meetings of a Cruising Section could offer members a chance to exchange ideas about forthcoming trips or reminisce about past voyages. A presentation by Garry Owens on his recent cruise around the Western Islands of Scotland kicked off the new section in the club recently. To help launch the new section a new cruising section has been attached to the Club's website. Go to www.skerriessailingclub.com/cruising. If you had an interesting cruise recently suitable for inclusion on the new website e-mail Brian Lennon at redisle@gmail.com.

Winter Parking

All dinghy owners with boats parked but not paid for, please settle ASAP as boats with unpaid accounts will NOT be allowed to park this Summer.

ISA Junior Courses

The dates for ISA junior sailing courses are as follows:

Level 1: One week courses commence 30 June, 7 July, 14 July and 21 July (Choose any week).

Level 2: One week courses start 30 June, 7 July, 14 July & 21 July.

If your children want to do Levels 1 & 2 they can choose any 2 weeks, they don’t have to be 2 consecutive weeks although obviously a Level One course must be taken first.

Level 3 (One course only) starts 7 July and runs for 3 weeks

Our Fun Levels 2+ and 3+ dates are yet to be confirmed, but they will probably run for 2 weeks each… more information over the next few weeks. For course details and to book contact Siobhan Boylan at skerriesframeworks@gmail.com.

Sailing Talks in the Club

A short season of talks about sailing for newcomers will take place on Thursday nights in Skerries Sailing Club from March 20 to April 17 at 8.15 pm.

The talks are ideal for people who have just taken up sailing, or hope to do so. They are free and are also open to non-members. People attending the majority of the talks will be invited to go afloat in May on practical sailing demonstrations where they can see what they have learned put into practice.

The first talk (which took place March 6) on The Theory of Sailing and included a short film on learning to sail will be repeated at a later date.

Talks on other Thursday nights will deal with issues such as:

Cruising

- Understanding the Tides and the Weather in Skerries

- Starting to Race

- Understanding The Flags

- Understanding Racing Rules

- Sailing in Windy Weather

- Sailing in Light Winds

- Sailing with a Spinnaker

(Some talks may deal with more than one topic)

For further information contact Gerry Byrne at 01-8411190 or e-mail info@skerriessailingclub.com

Cruiser Craning In

The date for “Craning in” is 19th April (HW 12:42 BST 4.0m). This is two weeks before the trip to Carlingford. We will try to organise a race around the cans on the Sunday 27th to give everyone a chance to check their boats.

Offshore Programme for 2008

For a copy of the offshore program please email David Jackson on dgj1@eircom.net

Broadband Link in the Bar

Access to the Internet is being provided in the Bar. A broadband wireless link is being installed so you can bring your laptop down and do some work while enjoying a pint. Access is free. The access code will be provided by the bar staff.

Death of Joe "Tanganika" Boylan

Members were saddened to learn of the sudden death on January 15 of Joe Boylan. Joe was a familar figure around the club and had been sailing whenever his health allowed. Even when, for one reason or another, he could not sail, he visited in his motorhome which could be seen parked in the car park at weekends. He had sold Hullabaloo and had bought a smaller boat in the hope that it might have been more manageable for a person of his age and strength. His nickname stemmed from his days working for the railways in Africa.