PERTH SAILING CLUB NEWSLETTER, SPRING 2013
Commodore’s Report February 2013.
A Happy New Year to you. Let us hope we have a decent season and the
winter does not have too many nasty shocks left before we see some Daffodils!
Our members again represented
the Club in the Royal Tay’s Winter series and we are grateful that they are
there to remind other clubs of our presence on the Tay.
Andrew Porteous gained a 6th place and Bob Watson a 9th
in a large class2 dinghy fleet.
The winter season has been a busy one for the committee now we have
agreed to allow St Andrew’s rowing club to go ahead with their plans to build a
new boat house behind the Clubhouse.
Hardies, property consultants, were approached to inspect the site and
give us an indication of the ground rent we might expect and the terms of the
lease, which, of necessity, will be a long one. Condies, the solicitors, are
being instructed to act on our behalf on this matter.
We met representatives of St Andrew’s recently and have agreed to meet
‘formally’ twice a year, rather than the ad-hoc meetings we have had up to now.
I am anxious to keep apart any agreement about the use of the Clubhouse
and the lease for the boathouse, and Condies will take this on board when
drawing up the leases.
If all goes ahead it will probably mean that any building will take
place next summer, and we have emphasised that the contractors must limit the
amount of ground they will need during the construction of this building.
A committee meeting after the AGM agreed that we must put more emphasis
on training courses and already three members, Keith Fergie, Eric Taylor and
Euan MacDonald have gained their safety boat and rescue certificates.
Three informal meetings have been arranged in the evenings in January,
February and March, to give an opportunity to improve your skills and come down
to the club. The first, a gallop through First Aid attracted 15 members and
ended with a discussion on how we might improve our facilities. It may be
possible to have a ‘first responder’ to come down and see us with a view to
seeing how we might improve access for outside help.
The next is on February 15th when radio communication skills
and OOD duties will be talked about. So if you have any anxieties about your
abilities on these things now is the time to brush them up. The final talk is
on March14th when Bill Inches will give a talk on the racing rules.
It was also decided to try to attract more youngsters and family
members by approaching local schools and clubs whose activities are winter
based, and moves are in hand to do this. Keith Fergie has been invaluable in
promoting the Club’s image via the website.
Perth Sailing Club has managed to attract some new race sponsorship
from the following local Perth companies:
Lovat Hotel
PC Solutions
Perth Dental Care
Odesi Fusion Restaurant.
Our grateful thanks to them for their kind generousity.
We have also been accepted as a ‘Foundation member’ for the Perth and
Kinross sports development forum. This will help us to get any grants and show
that we are an accredited organisation with P&K.
Following the success last year, we are intending to have two open days
next season and are hoping to have a ‘static’ display at the Leisure pool to
promote this, rather than a sail into the town with limited information on the
bank. Please consider if you can give some time to help man the exhibit.
We have also been able to get Rick Raeburn and the RNLI to come to the
club with a RIB to see if we can find a more suitable rescue craft to cover our
races, after finding the drawbacks with the ‘Lady Ann’ to get casualties out of
the water. It was felt we should consider getting such a craft, which will be
expensive and we are considering some fund raising activities as well as
applying for grants to cover the cost.
It only remains to wish you fair winds and safe sailing for the season
Malcolm
Moore
Commodore.
GENERAL NEWS
There is not a great deal to report after Malcolm's blurb. If you have
not seen it already, the Clubhouse has seen a fair bit of work since sailing
ended. The new kitchen is in and the paintwork in the main area has been
refreshed. Therapy is helping me recover from the trauma of handing a certain club
member a sharp chisel to use in the kitchen. They proceeded to wave it about in
a somewhat animated manner to punctuate the conversation. It was quite
mesmerising....
The old Enterprise that has lain in the shed is under refurbishment.
Bob Watson retrieved it from someone in Dundee a good few years ago. Surveying
it before starting work shows it to be very sound. It even has a new centreboard
case plus 2 sets of good sails. John Ferguson gave me a hand to launch the hull
and there were only a couple of wee leaks that a bit of epoxy filler will sort
out. The intention is to have it available for use during this year’s training
course. Suggestions for a name for it will be gratefully received.
We are also fortunate in being made a gift of an Albacore from Duncan
Smith. Goes by the name of Chi-Chi, (after the Panda Duncan?). With a bit of
luck, we will get that going in time for the training course too.
Bob Watson seems to be single-handedly supporting British sail-making.
He's got a new one for his Laser, and apparently new ones on the way for his
Enterprise Aeolian. Bad news is, he will likely be quicker round the marks.
Good news is, he'll have fewer excuses if he isn't...... Had a play in his
laser, (with new sail), one Sunday at Dundee in the Winter Series. My 1st
time that far from shore in a single seater. Felt a bit lonely at times! Much
fun was had, although I blotted my copy-book by managing to lock Andrews keys
in his car. Thanks to Sandy Rodger for rescuing us with the spare key.
It's been pretty wet and squidgy in the boat park of late. Surprised
I've not grown webbed feet!
One high tide, the water was pouring up from the drain and created a
lake in the boat park. That's the
closest Gary Tait's Laser has been to sailing all winter as he's been busy
sailing big boats on the forth. He sent me a link to some footage of him out in
a race. Nice to see it's not just wee boats that are chaos.
Bill Inches kindly offered the following article for publication.
POWER BOAT STEERING
Two principles of boat movement need to be understood. First, unlike a
car, a boat is not operating on a solid surface; it can move sideways or in any
direction of its own accord under the influence of current and wind, even if
you are applying no power. Thus, you cannot stop and take stock of a situation
once you have cast off. At the same time, the thrust from propeller and rudder
is not a positive and fixed one. It tends to propel you in a general direction
rather than taking you from point to point - rather like driving on ice.
Secondly, a boat steers in a different fashion to a car. Instead of the
steering acting on the wheels at the front and pulling that end of the vehicle
left or right, the rudder is located at the stern; it pushes the rear of the
boat one way or the other. The effect is similar to reversing in your car,
except that, to add to the confusion, the bow also moves but in the opposite
direction.
These effects govern all your movements in a boat. We should explain the terminology we use when
describing steering. If we say 'the helm to port', we mean the rudder is to
port. To achieve this with a wheel-steered boat you turn the wheel
anti-clockwise. With a tiller-steered boat you push the tiller to starboard.
Steering
When any boat turns, it rotates about a point halfway along its length,
so as the stern moves to starboard, the bow moves to port. You must understand
this effect, to avoid the stern or bow clipping boats alongside you in tight
situations, but you can also use it to your advantage.
When the engine is put in neutral, even though you have forward way on,
there will be very little steering effect, something that you have to bear in
mind when you come alongside. Secondly, in reverse, you also have a directional
thrust from the propeller, which you can control with the tiller or wheel. This
enables you to steer the boat in reverse, or pull it out of tight moorings
with ease. Also,any paddle-wheel effect can be immediately countered by a small
adjustment of the helm.
With a single-engined craft, you should also be aware of another
factor, known as the paddle-wheel effect, (or Prop-walk), which will affect
your steering. When the boat is going ahead, the propeller rotates in one
direction, which can be either clockwise or anti-clockwise, depending on the
particular engine and gearbox fitted. In reverse, the direction of rotation of
the propeller itself reverses. The principle is the same as that of a screw
going into wood. Turn it one way and it goes in, turn it the other and it comes
out, hence propellers are sometimes known as screws. As the propeller rotates,
it not only thrusts the boat forwards, but also to one side, depending on the
direction of rotation. This sideways thrust is much less than the forward one,
but it can have an effect on your steering at low speeds. It is also
particularly significant in reverse. A right-handed propeller, i.e. one that
rotates clockwise in ahead, will thrust the stern of your boat also to the
right in ahead. In astern it will thrust the stern of the boat to the left. A
left-handed propeller will have the opposite effects, i.e. pushing the stern to
port in ahead, and to starboard in astern.
If the
helm is amidships, the boat stationary, and the engine put into ahead, a
right-hand prop will give the stern a kick to starboard before the boat gathers
way. A left-hand prop will kick it to port. If the boat is stationary and the
engine put into 'astern', the boat will initially kick in the opposite
direction.
If the boat is stationary, and the engine is put into ahead, this time,
with the helm to port. The thrust of water from the propeller will push the
stern of the boat to starboard, and the bow will follow to port. At the same
time, there will be a contribution from the paddle-wheel effect. This will
either increase or reduce the turning effect, depending on the rotation of the
propeller. A right-hand prop will increase the rate of turn to port. A
left-hand prop will reduce it. If the helm is put over to starboard, the boat
will turn that way, with the rate of turn being reduced with a right-hand prop,
and increased with a left-hand prop.
A similar situation occurs when you engage astern while the boat is
travelling forward. Again, you will get a braking effect from the prop, but at
the same time the stern will kick one way or the other.
By Editor, if you have been close to shore and have unlocked the engine
tilt in case you bump a rock, remember to lock the engine down again. Selecting
reverse fair fills your back pockets with gallons of foamy water!
You can check the handing of your prop by looking down at the
prop-shaft with the engine in gear. This will enable you to work out the
direction of the paddle-wheel effect, though you should also check this in
practice.
RECRUITMENT
Bob Watson recently had a meeting with the Headmaster at Craigclowan
School. They seem interested in having their pupils and staff learning to sail
and making use of our facilities. Be interesting having a load of sprogs about
the place.
NEW SAFETY BOAT
We are actively pursuing options for a new safety boat. I've spent many
an hour trawling the internet looking at all sorts of interesting things. Even
found one with what can only be described as aircraft style undercarriage. Look
for SEA LEGS on you-tube if you are interested. Pity they start at about
£60,000!
We have had a play in an RNLI RIB, which was very nice indeed but too
big for our needs. The life size, (and weight!), rescue dummy the brought was
interesting too. Taking it out of the box it “lives in” was very strange.
The Perth branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club brought one of their RIBs
down to see if it was suitable. Unfortunately, it was too big and heavy for us
to launch, or more importantly, recover.
Bob kindly took time out of a trip up north to look at a roto-molded
RIB style boat by a company called Whaly Boats. Seem to be indestructible and
relatively inexpensive.
The search continues....
Well, that seems a lot for me having said there's not much doing. Hope
to see you all at some point in the season.
ETB
Only 38 sleeps till it all starts again............
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