SATURDAY 2nd JUNE & SUNDAY 3rd JUNE 2012

At RWSABC, The Esplanade, Greenock (see website Location tab for directions)

Deadline for Registration Sat 26th May 2012

Our 2012 Regatta details TBA

Accomodation and Camping

There is a tab on our website that will give information on local B&B’s and hotels. We have a garden at the clubhouse for the hardy camping types, first come first served. There are also some club members who have offered camping space in thier gardens within a few minutes of the clubhouse. Would appreciate as much notice as possible to establish how many gardens we will need.

Food

There will be a food stall during the day with tea, coffee, sandwiches, hot dogs & baking.

For anyone staying over there will be access to as many takeaway menus as you can shake a stick at.

We also have a fully licensed bar that will be open for most of the day and into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Boats, Cars & Trailers

There may be Diamond Jubilee events in Greenock on the same weekend as our regatta so please leave plenty of time to get through the traffic from Glasgow to Greenock. There is plenty of free parking near the club and on the Esplanade. Boats can be offloaded at the club then the trailers parked on the adjoining grass verge.

Racing

Course for the Skiffs will be approx 1/2 mile along Esplanade and back. 1 mile in total. Mass starts

We will be offering at least the following catagories:

St. Ayles Skiffs – Open Ladies, Men & Mixed

St. Ayles Skiffs – 40+ Ladies, Men & Mixed

St. Ayles Skiffs – Veteran (50+) Ladies, Men & Mixed

Pairs – Open Ladies & Men – These are Royal West boats that will be availabe for use on the day.

Spectators will be able to watch the racing from the clubouse balcony, Esplanade and beach.

Safety –A description of the course and a separate safety notice will be issued to all coxswains before the race day and a safety brief will take place at the start of the day. All teams should note that they will be required to comply with SCRA rules.

Rowers should note that the main channel in the Clyde run across the course and that the area will be busy with both commercial and pleasure craft. Coxwains should bear this in mind during races.

The Prizegiving will take place approx 30mins after the last race.

Race Fees

TBC

Registration forms

Clubs : All club entries to be registered before the midnight on Saturday 26th May 2012,. Easiest way is by email to rowing@rwsabc.com We will need to know a contact name, tel. no & email address for club Captain (or appropriate member), events being entered and an identifying name for each crew.

Rowers: On receipt of entries we will email out a form to be completed for each crew, to be handed to Regatta Secretary, along with fees, at registration on the day.

Map of the course – Will attempt to get a map posted on the website shortly but will also include it with the registration form following entries being received.

Start time We plan to start the racing at about 10:30 on the Saturday, there will be a coxes briefing at 10:00

Saturday night

There will be a Disco in the clubhouse from about 7:30pm until 12:30pm. All are invited, a small contribution towards the cost of the DJ would be appreciated and will be collected during the evening.

Sunday

As it is an extended bank Holiday weekend in celebration of The Queens Diamond Jubilee we plan to hold a Pagaent along the Esplanade. All visiting clubs are welcome to join us with thier St. Ayles Skiffs and using our other fixed seat boats. We will then BBQ back at the Club and have some fun events on the water involving the Skiffs and all of the other boats in the Royal West fleet.

We have also arranged a live music event in the Clubhouse on the Sunday night. It is a best descibed by the organiser George as follows;

“For people wanting to perform please contact me by email or by phone, evening 01475 888604. I’m looking for entertainers: singers, musicians, comedians, jugglers, dog acts etc. Format: 20-40 minutes by each act. We will round off the evening with an old fashioned sing along with song sheets provided.”

Weather permitting we will be having another family day at the club on the 26th of May from 1pm where members and invited guests can come down and get out on the water in what ever craft you like or just use bar.
Experienced coaches will be on hand to give advice (not in the bar!!)

We might also get the boards out for the kids to use at the beach..

We’ll also get the barbecue sparked up (I’ve been banned from this task after a very poor effort the last time) so bring some food and cook your own.

BEACH TIDY: From 11am to 1pm on the 26th prior to the above activities it would be great if we could have some volunteers down to help give our beach a bit of a tidy up as our Regatta is being held the following weekend

Alex Paterson
Club captain

After the success of last weekend’s activity day we are planning another for Saturday 26th May.

All members and thier guests are welcome to come along and try rowing, kayaking & sailing. There will be an opportunity to try watersports available at the Club, as well as some fun races with dodgy prizes.

Same format as last weekend, plan to start at 1pm and will light the barbecue during the afternoon if you want to Cook-Your-Own.

Come along, have a chat, play on the beach or get afloat.

Adam Graham
Honorary Secretary

Every day of the weekend had something going on.

Friday night was the April Boat Club Session with a group of about 30 gathering in the Hall to enjoy live musical performances. The youngest performer was 13 years old, George & Mary’s granddaughter Anna. It would be impolite to disclose the age of the oldest. A good mix of members and their guests took part. Everyone is looking forward to the May Session.

Saturday mornings weather was not great but it still saw the “Saturday morning squad” launch Zebra for a trip on the river. As they returned folk were gathering for the Club Activity Day. We had about 30-40 members and guests down during the afternoon trying out rowing and canoeing. The No. 1 pair was launched and taken for a cruise, with outboard, out as far as the Whiteforeland mark. Late afternoon the barbecue was lit and groups/families Cooked-Their-Own. The gathering moved into the Clubhouse after dinner, although the kids carried on playing on the beach.

It has been suggested that an activity day like this is organised on a regular basis through the open season to encourage a more widespread use of all of the boats. There had been plans to run some races on Saturday but folk were having fun experiencing different boats that this was not pursued. Next time round maybe.

The Hall had been booked for a private function (Hen Night) on Saturday night and was decorated for the event. This function generated a very good turnover in the bar and was reportedly very well received by all those in attendance.

Sunday morning saw the arrival of 70th Greenock Scout Troop for a rowing experience session. The new Troop Leader, David Love, has been very active in getting parents involved in widening the Scout activities. Through this process a group of 12 Scouts and leaders spent the morning learning about the Club, its history and the boats. The weather had not been great when they arrived at 10:00 and by 11:30 was no better. A Pair was launched briefly but the waves were too big and any attempt to go afloat with the Scouts was abandoned. They did however learn the importance of team work in launching and recovering the pair. A number have indicated their enthusiasm for trying rowing and will be back down on Thursday night at 17:30 along with the Club’s Juniors.

Everyone who helped or participated in the activities over the weekend is thanked for their support of the Club.

We are having an activity day at the Club on Saturday. All welcome to come along and try rowing, kayaking & sailing. There will be an opportunity to try watersports available at the Club, as well as some fun races with dodgy prizes.

Plan to start at 1pm and will light the barbecue during the afternoon if you want to Cook-Your-Own.

Come along, have a chat, play on the beach or get afloat. This should be the start of a good season at the Club.

Adam Graham
Honorary Secretary

Rather than organising an Opening Cruise this year it has been suggested that a Club based activity day be run on Sat 28th April. Sporting Conveners along with our new Social Convener are looking to arrange some water based activities & races with a social gathering in the afternoon.

Keep that date clear, as soon as there is more detail we will update the membership.

Adam Graham
Hon. Secretary

As you are all aware instruction in all water sports at the Club is provided voluntarily by the Club’s members. Unfortunately we are currently experiencing a shortage of qualified instructors willing to provide kayaking instruction. The Club’s Committee is working with the membership to resolve this problem, but until then we cannot provide any formal kayaking instruction. Adult kayaking continues on Monday & Tuesday nights with competent paddlers being supervised by available instructors or experienced Club paddlers. As this situation evolves we will provide more updates.

Last weekend another Club member qualified as a UKCC Level 2 Fixed Seat Rowing Coach, this means we now have three members with formal qualifications, more than any other coastal rowing club in Scotland. We have been running Junior rowing since April last year and would welcome new participants to this. This area of the Club involves trips around the Clyde Estuary, as well as competitions locally and at other clubs round the Scottish coast. If you are interested, Junior sessions start at 5:30pm on a Thursday night, Seniors about 6:00pm.

Over the last two weekends the Club played host to a British Rowing course for fixed seat coaches from Lochgilphead, Troon, Portobello, Port Seton, North Berwick & Dunbar. The group is pictured below just prior to a session on immersion recovery.

Below is a shot of one of the crews recoverying a casualty from the river.

The coaches will undergo final assessments back at their own clubs in September when an assessor from British Rowing will make sure they are implimenting what they have learned over the last couple of weekends. Royal West coaches have been asked to mentor them over the coming months, either at their own clubs or at Royal West.

Anyone interested in developing coaching skills or just trying out rowing, should contact Alex Paterson at rowing@rwsabc.com, or catch him on a Thursday night. He is the really tall guy.

We have heard from the SCA and RYA that the above consultation is underway. You can read more about it on the following webpage:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/01/04112146/0

In short there is a significant risk that every watersports club conducting any form of training may need to be inspected by a government agent and pay a license, unless the consultation that is now open provides clear opinion to the contrary.

Other that the financial implications, this would place further pressure on the volunteer coaches within the Club. Please look at the webpage and register your opinion before 30th March 2012.

As you may have seen there is a line of Polo Shirts and Red Hoodies available with the Club’s name on it. We are about to place an order for some more and would ask that anyone interested sends me an email asap.

The kit is illustrated in the photos below

Cold, wet but satisfied with a medal and the prospect of a warm cocoa

It is available in almost any size. The smallest Polo is an adult Small and the smallest Hoody is a childrens 7/8 years. Any smaller and the design won’t fit on it.

Prices are as follows:

Adult Polo £ 17.00
Adult Hoody £ 16.00
Child’s size hoody £ 14.00

Cheques made payable to RWSABC. Above prices include VAT.

Anyone interested please email adam_graham@hotmail.com