FOR THE SENIOR & VETERAN WINDSURFERS ASSOCIATION

December 2016 No 6 www.seavets.co.uk

This is taking place on Saturday 28th January 2017 at the same venue as lastyear, The Bird in Hand Hotel. This is an excellent venue with loads of parkingspace and our own room. The booking sheet and information is included withyour newsletter in paper form or as an attached pdf if you receive the newsletterelectronically. It will also be available on the website as a pdf for downloading.As this is the first Seavets event of the year and with day lengths increasing, itis an excellent way to start thinking ahead to all the forthcoming Seavetsevents. We look forward to seeing as many as possible of you for this enjoyableget together.

M erry ChristmasAnother Seavets year is coming to a close. It has been very successful with onlytwo issues - not enough wind and too much wind! Otherwise, all things happenedas predicted (well nearly, fell off a carve gybe!).None of this happens without organisation from your committee, excellent inputfrom other members and of course yourselves.To cap it all, Seavets was voted Club Of The Year and the National WatersportsFestival in September.

On behalf of the committee may I wish you allMerry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Winter Lunch

Secretary Steve FletcherEmail: steve.m.fletcher@btinternet.com14 Rutland PlaceMaidenheadBerks SL64JA01628 624401

Membership Secretary / TreasurerPaul FettesEmail: Paulfet@aol.com63 Mitchley Hill, Sanderstead,Surrey CR2 9HJ0208 657 7628

Editor Tony ChandlerEmail: tonychandler7975@btinternet.com7 Lea Road, Sonning Common,Reading,Berks RG4 9LH0118 9723976

Newsletter Deadline12th February 2017

Chairman Derrick HallEmail: derrickhall@hotmail.com4 Carlyle CloseCleethorpesN.E. Lincs DN35 0QR07795397874

Regional & National Events

LWA London Windsurfing AssociationUKWA United Kingdom Windsurfing Association

Month Date(s) Venue InformationFeb 25 Farmoor LWA AGM, Melting PotMar 18 Queen Mary LWAApr 22 Fisher Green LWA

29 - 30 Whitwell UKWA Inland 1

May 13 Burghfield LWAJun 2 - 4 Rutland Water National Watersports Festival

10 - 11 Datchet UKWA Inland 2 and LWA

Jul 22 Farmoor LWASep 9 - 10 Grafham UKWA Inland 3, Youth & Masters

16 King George LWA30 - 1 Pitsford UKWA Inland 4

Oct 21 Bewl Valley LWA

Derrick Hall, Chairman, presented the Chairman’s cup to Paul and Jean Fettes inrecognition of their many contributions over the years including of course Quibe-ron and Paul in his role as Hon Treasurer.

Our Treasurer Honoured

Members News & Views

Articles to Jean FettesPaulfet@aol.com or 0208 657 7628

Make it a New Year's Resolution to send in any interes-ting article about what you Seavets are up to. Its allgood news and it does not have to be about windsurf-ing. I expect bike rides and skiing to appear over thecoming months.

Seavets’s memberships for the coming year are due for renewal on the 1st January! So ifyou pay by cash or cheque a red cross should appear beside your address on the envelopeand a renewal form will be enclosed with this Newsletter. However if you joined since 1August 2016 there is nothing to pay for 2017 so you will not have a renewal form. I am pleased to confirm that the subscription rate remains unchanged at £12.00 perfamily.For those members who receive their Newsletters by Email their membership renewalforms will still be sent by post even though this Newsletter will be included in the Emailson their computer. Accordingly for December they will receive an envelope with a redcross on the address label and inside will be their membership renewal form for 2017.

Bankers Orders Over half our members now pay their subscriptions by Bankers Order. This makes life alot easier for all concerned. A Bankers Order is NOT a Direct Debit but a Standing Orderi.e., it is an instruction from the customer to the bank to pay a fixed sum on a certain dateeach year. If you wish to switch to Bankers order please return the completed BankersOrder form to me with your renewal form and I will issue it to your bank with appropriateinstructions.

If you already pay by Bankers Order you should not have received a renewal form.

Donations to Supported CharityMany of our members take this opportunity to make an extra donation to our supportedcharity “The British Society for Research into Ageing” with their subscription. There is asection on the renewal form to enable you to do this if you wish to.

Gift AidCharities are now able to claim back tax on all donations provided that the donors havesigned a form confirming that they are tax payers. Most members who pay by cash orcheque signed a Gift Aid form for the new charity with their donation last year so there isno need to sign one again. For members who make a charitable donation with their Bankers Order payments but didnot sign a Gift Aid Form last year a Gift Aid Form but not a Renewal Form is includedwith this Newsletter. Please complete it and return it to me. My address appears at thefront of this Newsletter.

ChequesPlease make all cheques payable to “Seavets”. Subscriptions and charitable donationsshould be included in the same cheque.

Paul FettesMembership Secretary

Membership Matters

Stocking Fillers !!!

Quiberon 2016

Our campsite – Penthievre Municipal – is situated at the north end of theQuiberon Peninsula just before the isthmus – the narrowest part. The prevailingwesterly winds give a variety of cross offshore breezes with reasonably flat waterfor the first mile or so offshore. The cleanest wind comes over the isthmus abouthalf a mile from our usual launch point. When the wind is right – westerly force 4- it is possible to plane 6 miles there and back to Port Haliguen, nearly at the endof the peninsula. The beach is a short distance over the dunes from ‘EnglishAlley’ our camping place and sailing is possible some 4 hours either side of hightide.

In lighter winds cruising mode is called for using long boards to sail to St PierreQuiberon, Saint Colomban and Carnac – usually for coffee or an ice creamalthough a bit of shopping was also done this year. As the wind rises we move toblasting mode and on to short boards. The braver souls cross to the windward sideof the peninsula to play in the waves.

From left to right, Alan, Derrick, Andy, Kevin, Martin, Keith, Joe, Dave at StPierre Quiberon for coffee.

We learnt a bit about sea sailing - on a cruise to Saint Colomban in a steady force3 Kevin and Joe chose to stay on a run catching the waves as we moved furtherfrom the shore. This surfing proved to be quicker than the gybing course taken byAndy – but he may have had the more comfortable ride with some planing.

The Carnac cruise was quite a stretch with a long fetch on the wind giving quitenoticeable waves as it rose. On the way back, railed boards cut through the wavesto give a rapid beat – which then developed into full on blasting once we reachedbase and moved to the isthmus bay. Most sailing days were cruising this yearwith three or four good for short boards albeit with big sails

If the tide is not right or the wind too low cycling is in order. Groups cycled toPortivy , Cote Sauvage, Carnac, St Pierre Quiberon and back from Auray aftertaking bikes on the train. A feature of the rides were the plants in gardens;magnificent hydrangeas and agapathus amongst others. Maybe it’s the sea airwhich produces such splendid specimens.Andy, Joe andLinda cycledalong the CoteSauvage toQuiberon stop-ping for lunchat a seafoodcafé on a rockyoutcrop.After lunch wemoved on thro-ugh Quiberonto Port Halig-uen and backto PenthievreThe ruggedrock at PortHaliguen isjust visible inthis picture –Alan, Daveand Joe sailedout to find it ona very lightwind day; Alanremarked thatit was a verypeaceful sailbut the tinyisland washard to find.Quiberon 2016 gave us all types of sailing as always and the cycling trips wereoutstanding.

Joe Coulson

With the promise of unseasonably warm weather and brisk winds there was agood turnout of 9 for the last cruise of the season, those sailing were Alan, Chris,John E, Steve, Adrian, Andy, Maurice, first time cruiser Brian Tilbury plusmyself, we were also joined by David Thomson who was unable to sail due to aback problem but would cycle to Emsworth and meet us for lunch.We set sail from Beachlands at 11.00 and headed E along the seafront with a lightSW wind on a very lumpy sea which made for an uncomfortable start so much sothat Chris decided to turn back and another sailor who will remain anonymoussuffered sea sickness, as we turned into the Chichester channel the sea flattenedout and the remaining 8 of us regrouped at HISC.Setting of again the 15 knot wind that had been promised kicked in and we had alovely broad reach all the way down to Emsworth, on arrival we were greetedwith a heavy shower and hurried up to the pub for lunch, only to be turned awayas it had become a gastro pub and we hadn't booked, we then went to the caféinstead and sat outside in the rain and enjoyed soup and toasties, very Brit-ish! David had been held up by heavy rain on his bike journey and arrived just intime to see us disappearing into the distance.The sun did come out again as we set off to sail up to the bridge beating into thebrisk SW wind, there were various techniques used to get underneath theroad bridge and over the old railway bridge some more successful than others butwe all made it through and were faced with an unusually choppy Langstoneharbour, and an even brisker wind making us work hard on the beat up to theferry. After a short stop to regroup again we launched into the channel, with the tidenow running out very fast for the final leg back to Beachlands, the sea was quiteconfused at the entrance to the channel but we all survived, some with more easethan others and landed back at 3.30, having covered the 20 miles in just over 3hours sailing time, there was some discussion afterwards as to the strength of thewind during the day, so on Adrian's suggestion looked up the wind history on thechimnet.co.uk weather station positioned just outside the entrance to Chichesterharbour, this confirmed the wind had been 7kts during the morning and had variedbetween 15 and 20kts during the time we crossed Langstone, no wonder it felt likehard work.This was the last cruise of the 6 we have done this season and one of the mostenjoyable, looking forward to 2017 already.

Richard Wiiliams

PS My Demon 7.5 which was on its last legs finally gave up the ghost during thecruise, so I am looking for a replacement if anyone has one tucked away, or pleaselet me know if you hear of one for sale, thanks.

Hayling Cruise

The dates for this are June 26th - July 10th

For all you early bookershere are the Quiberondates for 2017.As usual these are onlyguidelines and you canchoose whichever datesare suitable for you.The first week are morn-ing tides and the secondweek are afternoon tides.Jean & Paul

"Seavets relaxing in thesun after a hard day'swindsurfing at Quiberon2016."

Quiberon 2017

Goodies for 2017

PooleLast year a number of Seavets who camp for Poole Week migrated to HuntickFarm and this smaller and very friendly camp site, only a mile and a quarterfarther out looks set to become the preferred site. There will be more on this in thenext newsletter.

BalaThere is a new watering hole in Bala main street. It looks a bit like an off licensebut has now introduced a bar area at the back of the shop. It does not havetelevisions or piped music and you can sit and chat while enjoying a beer from aWelsh micro and even pico brewery Or wine of course. If you fancy having ameal you can always bring in your own. Love it.

SEAVETS SHOPNew Stock

SWEATSHIRTS £15.00POLO SHIRTS £12.00CAPS & BEANIS £ 8.00

NAVY BLUE ONLY, ALL SIZES

Sail Stickers £5.00 each

AVAILABLE AT EVENTS OR BY POST(IF YOU ARE ORDERING BY POST A £3.00 POSTAGE CHARGE WILL APPLY)

Derrick Hall Email derrickhall@hotmail.com

This event is run by the London Windsurfing Association and is held on three ofthe four Saturdays in November. Seavets entered a team of four, John Ellis,Richard Williams, Steve Fletcher and Tony Chandler.The first event was at Datchet and despite the low water level we had good windsfrom the north. The second event at Queen Mary was dull and overcast withdrizzle and light winds which died in the afternoon. The third was at Farmoor andat least we had wind all day albeit light.Our Seavets team came last but this was to be expected as Steve and Tony sailedwith 7.8sm sails which we no match for the 9.5sm sails most of the others wereusing.It was nevertheless a good to be out and having a chin wag with everyone.

Tony Chandler

Ice Breaker

Blue Chip Express RepairsThe Real Force in Windsurfing Repairs since 1980

The UK’s most experienced One-Stop shop Repair and Retail Centre for Windsurfing.

> Boards, Sails and Accessories always in stock – Like New repairs, fully guaranteed.> 24 Hour sail collection & delivery service available.> We are recommended by all the windsurfing insurance companies> We repair Pryde, Naish, Ezzy, JP, Mistral, Fanatic, Gun, Gaastra, Severn, Tabou, F2, Starboard, Tushingham, Quatro, Thommen, Goya etc.> We stock loads of DIY repair products for boards and sails

Blue Chip, 94 Church Hill Road, Cheam, Surrey, SM3 8LJ(15 minutes from J8 M25)repairs@windsurfer.co.uk

Tel: 0208 715 0040 - www.windsurfer.co.uk

SEAVETS DIARY 2017At some venues buoyancy aids are compulsory - always bring one with you.

It is also wise to wear protective headgear in strong winds.Events in green italics are run by other organisations

Events in Blue have yet to be confirmedAny changes to this programme will appear on the website and in red here.

Weekend events usually have a group evening meal or bbq.* Racing Series Events.

Fancy trying racing but do not have a raceboard? Contact either RuthTracey or Tony Chandler and we will try and bring one to the event.Also available are windsurfing on the South Coast and at Datchet reservoir.The latter includes informal racing and short boarding. See inside for details.

Jan 28 Winter Lunch Bird In Hand HotelMar 25 Burghfield AGM & Social SailingApril 1 * Brogborough Racing

8 * Hollowell RacingMay 20 * Datchet RacingJune 12 - 15 Poole Week Social Sailing, HT Mon 11:29 Fri 15.05

17 * Farmoor Racing, joint with Midland Region WA24 * Barnet Green Racing, joint with Midland Region WA26 – 10 July Quiberon, Brittany Holiday

July 15 - 16 * Whitwell Social Sailing, Racing on Saturday29 - 30 * Bala Lake, N Wales Social Sailing, Racing on Saturday

Aug 5 * Carsington Racing, joint with Midland Region WA19 * Grafham Racing, Dee Caldwell Cup20 - 24 Mersea Island Social Sailing. Wed 23rd Round Island

Sept 4 - 7 Calshot Social Sailing, HT Mon 11.33 Thu 13.2723 * Stone SC Racing26 – 29 Weymouth Social Sailing

Oct 7 * Burghfield Seavets Championship, social sailing