PRE-SEASON UPDATE Sept 11th 2009
 
It was great to see boats back out on the water sailing from Wakatere on the weekend and great to see some sunshine. I hope you all enjoyed it. I was even tempted to have a look over our boats to check out what needs fixing for the coming season as Opening Day is fast approaching - 11th October 2009.  This year the opening day will include the heritage races so start thinking about your starting techniques from the tower. Just a reminder that a beach caution is still in place and these sea slugs do actually exist - Donn Roberts reported a sighting around the rocks a couple of weeks ago so do take care.
 
The pre-season working bee is set for Sunday the 27th September - please mark this in your diaries and just a gentle reminder that many hands make light work and also that this is your club.  This is also a good opportunity for teenagers to drag themselves away from their books and get some physical activity happening. Recently I attended the annual Commodores Conference which was a good eye opener to both successful ideas and problems happening in clubs. We are quite unique in Auckland as we are one of the few clubs that caters for both adults and children.  Overall we are in pretty good shape which is a credit to all club members.  It however did highlight some areas that we need to work on but more about that another day.
 
On a high note: Kate Ellingham finished 11th in the Women's fleet of the RSX World Championship (and just missed out on making the medal race) held in Weymouth, England (in a fleet of 60); and Paul Snow-Hanson with Jason Saunders finished 14th at the 470 World Championship held in Copenhagen in Denmark. (fleet of 95!)
 
We have some great events coming up this season at the club.  Kicking off with the OK Dinghy North Shore Champs at Wakatere at Labour Weekend.  Good luck to all you sailors. This event is one of the lead up regattas to the Worlds being held in Wellington in February. I hope all the training is going well.
 
Ralph Robert's Rule night was well attended.  I hope you all learnt something - I did and I especially noted the emphasis on "Rule 42".  There will be a small prize for any Opti sailor who can tell me what this rule is and what it means after the Opening Day races.  This will give you time to study it.
 
If anybody is interested in getting together a social group to kick off some social activities at the club please contact Cathy Coleman on 445-3343 or email dean.coleman@xtra.co.nz.  It may be that you wish to be involved in organising one or more social events to help promote Wakatere as the place to be.
 
Cheers - Dean (NS)
 

WORKING BEE: Sept 27th 10am   OPENING DAY: Sunday Oct 11th   11am                       

ICEBREAKER REGATTA: This Sat 12th Sept at Lake Pupuke. Registration from 8am with a briefing at 9.15 and on the water by 10am. This is open to all Optis, P class, Starling, Laser radial, Laser, Sunburst and all other youth classes. Entries will be accepted on the day. Contact your class rep to see what support is available.                                                                       

TEENAGE HELPERS: We are looking for a group of teenagers to help out with patrol boat prep and general jobs around the club on Sunday mornings. Unlike previous years this is now land-based. You’ll be required for about 4 hrs and earn $25 per morning!!! Plenty of instruction given and plenty of opportunity to earn that cash! Email Steve Oliver theolivers@orcon.net.nz
·          Help prepare patrol boats for morning coaching, including loading any buoys etc
·          Get the boats down on the beach ready for coaches to use
·          Help launch the boats and then retrieve them at the end of morning coaching
·          Clean and store the patrol boats in the garage
·          Help tidy equipment away (e.g. buoys) and generally keep the garage area tidy
·          Be available to assist with any ad-hoc needs around the clubhouse while the coaches and kids are on the water whilst smiling at the same time.
BOAT NAME & NUMBER: In advance of the season and to get ready for Opening Day racing can you please forward your boat details to Paul Turner. This helps clear up the questionable signatures on sign-on sheets and helps log the results more efficiently.  FULL NAME / CLASS OF BOAT / SAIL NUMBER email Paul anne.paulturner@vodafone.co.nz  If you sail an opti please indicate ‘Open’ or ‘Green’ fleet. If you buy a new boat during the season always let Paul Turner know so your results are carried on through the season.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL: Email Jennifer today if you have changes to your subscription details. Changed postal address? Changed your email? Changed from junior to family membership? jjmermac@xtra.co.nz Thanks.

CLUB FLOOR RE-SEALING: The hall will be off limits the last week of Sept. The floor is being re-sealed from Monday 28th Sept and there will be no access for radios, flags, beers. Anything! All hall hire activities have been cancelled for the week so please stay away and give it every chance to be a great job.

FOR SALE: To advertise the sale of your boat or look for a new one, don’t forget to use the SALE page on the Wakatere website. These are frequently viewed by other clubs. You can email Derek Snow if you want something posted snow.eng@internet.co.nz   JPEG images (less than 50kb) can be displayed. Please no Word Doc. Presentable ads can also be put on the club notice board in the hall.

PATROL BOAT ALLOCATION: A roster has been posted on the website for patrol boat use between now and Christmas. Contact Steve Oliver if you have any further requests theolivers@orcon.net.nz 027 2431491 and of course follow the ‘conditions of use’ guidelines.