Club news

Warm winds and sunshine saw a good turnout for this year's Island Cup with 9 boats starting and finishing including 6 Dart 18s. Conditions were lighter than expected with a shifting NE wind for the seafront and Chichester harbour legs favouring those at the front of the fleet. After a mostly liquid lunch stop at Langstone Sailing Club, and with the wind now blowing from the SW, the fleet squeezed their way through the old railway into Langstone harbour searching for the best wind for the beat home.

The club has a new anemometer which replaces the long-serving but increasingly decrepit old one. A key feature of the new one is that it is bluetooth enabled so you can download an app to your Android or Apple smart phone and see what the wind is doing from anywhere within a 50+ metre radius of the clubhouse.

App details and instructions are on the website on the club anemometer page.

I want to thank everyone on behalf of the Club for a fantastic team effort at the weekend, both on and off the water. A lot of hard work but good fun too, and loads of positive feedback from the competitors and guests.

Full results and links to reports, GPS tracks and photos can be found on the SFR 2018 race page.

Richard

The inaugural Roy Stickley Trophy Race in memory of Roy, a long time club member who sadly passed away last year, took place on 6th August with a great turnout and great conditions. Penny has written to thank everyone who made it such a special day: 

A number of committee members were at the club today installing the new water tank lids and digging out the slipway ready for the new season with more space for boats each side.

Don't forget the work party on SATURDAY 25th March...

Hayling Ferry Sailing Club have been chosen to host the 2017 F18 UK National Championships which will be held over the August bank holiday weekend from Saturday 26th to Monday 28th August.

Planning is well under way for this prestigious event and we look forward to welcoming all competitors to our club.

Many thanks to all members who have volunteered to help.

Congratulations to Steve and Adrian for winning the Bryon Marathon yesterday in glorious conditions. Full results and report on the race page: /sailing/events/2016/trophy-race-4.

We have had some epic days out on the water this year - last Sunday was almost perfect, with a steady Sea Breeze over a flat sea and wall to wall sunshine - fantastic! It makes me wonder why there are so many cobwebs growing between some of the boats in the compound...

This coming Sunday it's time for our next event, we have 3-4 SW and Sunshine forecast at the moment so unless you are out of the country or otherwise indisposed, come down to the club and sail with us, or head out on your own, making the most of our fantastic location.

We are forecast reasonable South Westerlies on Sunday and the weather isn't looking too bad. We'll run a Sea Fronts Race on Sunday!

This usually involves a blast in front of Hayling and Southsea beaches. We'll determine the marks on the day according to the wind direction.

Please let me know if you are planning to come - or if you are looking for a Helm / Crew and we'll see if we can pair you up - there are some Crews already available!

Everyone welcome as usual!

The sun shone (some of the time), the wind blew, the band played, and a great weekend was had by all!

Thanks to all club members and others who put in so much hard work to make both the race and the Band on the Beach a resounding success.

For the race report and results have a look at http://www.hfsc.org.uk/solent-forts-race/2016-race, and for lots of photos and a couple of impressive videos, check out the Solent Forts Race facebook page.