Present: Gill, Denise, Gary M, Andy and Jackson Harness, the Wills family and the Gaites family. Although there were only a few juniors there, the team worked really well getting out all the Opti's and the Sunburst in the shed to clean, rig and check over all the gear. The following is a list of essential jobs to do before next Friday. No 1 “Wipeout” Fit a saddle on the mast; new main sheet; mend slow leak in starboard buoyancy bag. No 2 “Floating Toy” Mend broken end and spike on sprit; renew bolt on rudder stock. No 3 “Snowflake” Replace bunny cord on centreboard case; replace cord for bailer; hull needs some attention as paintwork is rough and needs redoing. No 4 “Red Hot Chilli” Mend spike on sprit. No 5 “Orca” Replace mainsheet; fit new spikes on both ends of sprit; move saddle higher up mast to make space to tie mast onto hull; longer outhaul on foot of main (1m of 4mm braid). No 6 “Limetime” New bunny cord for centreboard; needs a vang fitted; new saddle on mast; fitting on boom and a block to run the mainsheet through. Sunburst “Cube” Fix port shroud fitting onto hull with new stainless steel bolts; fix and upgrade the trolley wheels to make the dinghy safer to manoeuvre on the hard standing and particularly the slipway. Fit tiller extensions to all the tillers on the Optimist fleet, so we can teach the children to sit correctly whilst helming. Service the trolleys and ensure tyres are inflated and the metal cradles are protected with soft foam well secured down. Non essential jobs Fit “woolies” onto the sails so the children can learn to trim to the wind direction. Eventually get a windex for all the dinghies. After all the gear was back in the shed we had a brief discussion about what we want to see happen on Fridays with the Junior Sailing. Erica Wills offered to run the BBQ, and set up a rota system with the other families. Stuart is happy to run the Safety Boat with Nick to help on alternate Fridays. We will set up a rota system for helping him. And Andy will continue with the Instructor role, and we will look to recruit more help in this area. My thanks go to Gary and Cristin Swain, who've done a great job printing out the 2016-17 Sailing Programme in a small booklet, with loads of useful information too. Thanks. Gill Moore Dinghy Sailing Cordinator |