Hello all,

This Weekend at Redhouse we host and sail the exciting Eastern Cape Inter Club Regatta.

The RYC Eastern Cape Inter Club Regatta is one of our primary events of the year and affords us, and the visiting clubs, the opportunity to compete against each other over two days of racing for the sought after Inter Club trophies.

The first race on Saturday will start at 12h00 sharp following the voluntary skippers briefing at 11h00 and the last race will not be after 14h00 on Sunday followed by the prize giving.

The longterm weather forecast predicts stunning weather and perfect winds all weekend that are ideal for sailing as well as for supporters and spectators on the shore.

The bridge captain anticipates squeezing in four races on Saturday, followed by a happy hour and a bring 'n braai one hour after the last race for both members and our guests.

We anticipate strong fleets of Lasers, Gypsies, Mirrors, Optimist and RS Tera in the main fleet as well as a healthy contingent of Optimists and 09'ers in the special fun novice course.

The RS Vision, Xtras, Dolphins, RS Feva's and Finn that have entered will sail together as the 'open fleet' using PY ratings to determine the actual winner in their races.

The Notice Of Race and entry forms are on the Club notice board or may be downloaded by clicking here.

Every RYC sailor is expected to sail this weekend, show their support to the club, extend the traditional RYC hospitality to our guests and do their best to help us win the Inter Club trophies back from GLYC. The inter club is traditionally a family affair so please encourage your non-sailing family members to support you and enjoy the weekend with us at Redhouse.

The galley will be open throughout the weekend with a good variety of hot snacks, cold beer, wine, soft drinks, tea and cake available for sale.

A nice selection of complimentary salads will be available for all at the communal fires during the bring 'n braai after the happy hour on Saturday.

Please Note:

1./ Anyone needing to purchase a braai pack (adult and child portions will be on offer) for the bring 'n braai on Saturday evening must please ensure that their order is given to Juannette or the galley no later than 12h30 on Saturday.

2./ Braai fires will be provided and both RYC members and visitors are requested to please use these fires and not make their own elsewhere on the property.

3./ Free camping is available at the Club from Friday afternoon till after the Inter Club regatta. Campers are requested to please only pitch tents / caravans on the lawn behind the clubhouse.

4./ The entire lawn area in front of the boat sheds and the hard is reserved exclusively for sailboats and boat trailers the whole of this weekend. No camping is allowed in this area and cars not able to find parking space in the gravel parking area are asked to please park on the lawn outside the main gate. The grassed area between the rear row of boat sheds and the boundary fence is reserved for car parking of campers vehicles only. A security guard has been employed to help ensure the safety of your property and vehicles.

5./ Port Elizabeth has strict water restrictions. As such please curtail time spent in the showers as much as possible and note that hoses may not be used to wash down boats after the racing.

Sailing School - There will be no sailing school this Sunday but all sailing school members are asked to please be at the club both Saturday and Sunday and depending on their ability to sail the races either with the main fleet or the novice course.

New Sailing Boats have been generously donated to the RYC sailing school. Two new RS Tera sailboats were delivered to the Club on Saturday by RS Sailing and a further two RS Tera will be delivered later this month increasing to a total of eight the RS Tera fleet sailing at RYC.

Sincere thanks and gratitude from both the Club and our junior sailors is extended to the donors, who have requested to remain anonymous, for their generosity.

Additional donors and sponsors are still been sought by the sailing school and several sponsorship opportunities remain available. Please telephone me on 041 5815394 or click here for more information on how you can contribute to both your club and to building the wonderful sport of sailing in our region.

The Clarendon School open day last Saturday was a tremendous success and on behalf of the club and all who enjoyed the day I wish to thank everyone who shared their boats and assisted in making it the success that it was.

At their request the next open day will be Saturday 06 February for Herburt Hurd Primary School and I look forward to all members participating and making it as successful as the last open day.

The Max Lippstreu Trophy Race, my personal favourite race on our sailing calendar, last Sunday was very well supported and enjoyed by all.

Congratulations to Sydney Pettitt on a RS Tera and Mike Smailes on a Laser who both sailed extremely well to win the junior and senior Max Lippstreu trophies respectively.

The excitement of the pursuit start, and I suspect several sailors including myself not paying proper attention at the skippers briefing, resulted in a full recall shortly into the start that considerably delayed the restart.

Frank Collier has drafted clear instruction on starting pursuit races as well as the course for the next pursuit races (the Bailey Southwell and Island Cup) on 30 and 31 January. These instructions may downloaded by clicking here.

Changes To RYC Sailing Program - Please note that subsequent to the Western Cape Provincials being moved forward from Easter Weekend till 24 - 27 April the NSRI Regatta will now be sailed over the weekend of 23 & 24 May and will subsequently be the last event on the 2009/10 sailing season.

Race Results for the Christmas Series, the Summer Series and the Max Lippstreu Trophy races are now posted on the club web site and may viewed by clicking here.

I look forward to a fantastic and well supported Inter Club regatta and to joining you on the water as we compete to win the Inter Club trophies back from GLYC this weekend.

Have a wonderful and exciting weekend of sailing at Redhouse!

Yours in sailing

PAUL PETTITT
Commodore
041 581-5394