News & Stories
| June 27, 2010 |
Dear all,
The OLYMPIC DAY will take place on SUNDAY 27th JUNE 2010 organized by he Saint Lucia Olympic Committee. The St Lucia Yacht Club will be the venue for this event!
The annual OLYMPIC DAY RUN is part of the Olympic Day and will start this year from Pigeon Island at 9 am to end at the St Lucia Yacht Club.
Everybody can participate, young and not so young! Walk, jog or run, your choice !
HOW TO SIGN UP :
- Olympic House
- email slycsocialsecretary@gmail.com
- call 718.5010
- at the St Lucia Yacht Club (notice board registration form)
Free T-shirt for all participants: please give your name and T-shirt size (XXL-XL-L-M or kids sizes 16-14-12 or 10)
At arrival at the club, all kind of sport activities will be shown so stay and enjoy!
Schedule:
9:00 am – 9:45 am > Olympic Day Run > Pigeon Point – St Lucia Yacht Club
10:00 am – 10:20 am > Judo > Squash Court
10:00 am – 11:00 am > Basketball > Ramp next to Spinnakers
10:30 am – 11:00 am >Taekwondo > Squash court
11:00 am – 12:00 noon > Life-Saving > Beach
11:00 am – 12:00 noon > Table Tennis > Club Yard
12:00 noon – 1:00 pm > Football > Club Yard
1:00 pm – 1:40 pm >Swimming > Beach
1:00 pm – 1:40 pm >Tennis > Ramp
1:40 pm – 2:40 pm >Athletics > Club Yard
1:50 pm – 2:50 pm > Sailing > Open sea
1:50 pm – 2:45 pm >Netball > Ramp next to Spinnakers
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm >Squash > Squash court
3:30 pm – 4:00pm > Triathlon > Beach-Rodney Bay
Yacht Club Bar & Restaurant open as usual!
Hope to see you all!
Kind regards.
Danielle
Pictures : http://picasaweb.google.com/SaintLuciaYachtClub
IGY Marinas, St Lucia Yacht Club & Gros Islet High School working together to build a better community
Restoration project gives Rodney Bay Marina even more class!
The restoration of an International 505 Class fiber glass racing dinghy might appear a small project but it has huge potential. The project is based in Island Global Yachting’s (IGY) Rodney Bay Marina and is being undertaken by eight pupils, three from form four and five from form five, from Gros Islet’s Secondary School . . . under some professional supervision of course!
“This is the first step in giving young people an insight into sailing and the skills required to succeed in the marine industry,” said IGY’s General Manager Adam Foster. “We’re always happy to be involved in local projects, especially ones of a marine nature.” Once the 505 is restored, it should take around two to six months, the dinghy will be used as a training boat for St Lucia Yacht Club (SLYC) in their popular Junior Training Program. IGY is providing tools, supervision, timber, location and almost anything else that’s needed for the project as part of their sponsorship.
Minister for Social Transformation, Public Service, Human Resource Development and Youth and Sports, Lenard ‘Spider’ Montoute was also on board for the project. He said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn both sailing and boat maintenance. We have wonderful facilities and we need to service the growing yachting service market, this is a great opportunity for all involved.” How true.
The 505, along with a Laser Dinghy, were donated to SLYC by Mrs. Nancy Marez, the wife of former Rodney Bay Marina owner Archie Marez who died in 2005. The sponsorship project was four months in the planning and SLYC’s Sailing Captain Edgar Roe, whose passion for sailing and organization is well documented, said: “SLYC has over 60 youngsters in the junior sailing program and it’s more successful than ever, anyone’s welcome and cost is dependent on enthusiasm . . . the more the merrier.”
So an extra couple of dinghys should come in handy for the Reduit Beach based SLYC and, under the watchful eye of IGY’s professionals, some budding tradesman could emerge and that has to be good news. Mrs. Delia Charles, the headmistress of Gros Islet Secondary School, certainly thought so. “I’m so pleased we’re forming ties with IGY and the yachting industry,” she said. “Our students can learn new skills both on and off the water, it’s a brand new classroom and a whole different lesson.”
“St Lucia could become self-sufficient in marine professionals,” said Adam, “we might need to tailor some training but I’m convinced we have the home-grown talent and the 505 project could be the beginning of a whole new era. After all why would I fly-in professionals from outside of St Lucia if we have them here?”
Why indeed?
Independence Day Round St Lucia Race
(2 stages)
INDEPENDENCE DAY ROUND ST LUCIA RACE 2010 (2 STAGE RACE)
On the St Lucia Independence weekend of 20/21st February, the Round St Lucia 2 stage race was held for the first time since 2003. The race, sailing clockwise around St Lucia over a distance of approximately 60 miles consisted of two almost equal distance legs with day one starting at Rodney Bay and finishing at Vieux Fort and day two back up the west coast of the island back to Rodney Bay.
11 boats lined up for the 09.30 start with winds blowing at 10 to 14 knots from east north east. First across the line was local yacht ‘Breeze Away’, a Morgan 50. Predictably the boats all bunched up in the lee of Pigeon Island then all launched onto a beat towards the northern tip of St Lucia. ‘Argentaria’, an Italian owned sleek 14m alloy yacht powered into the lead and headed well into the St Lucia/Martinique channel before finally tacking onto port. ‘Hot Chocolate’ and ‘Kaiso’ tacked close into Pointe du Cap and gained some advantage, but not enough against the powerful ‘Argentaria’ which rounded the northern tip first followed by ‘Breeze Away’. The boats eased off onto a beam reach down the east coast of St Lucia.
The swell was running at about 5-7 feet and the wind about 12 knots. In the early afternoon, the wind eased to around 8-10 knots giving advantage to the bigger, faster yachts. The first boat to cross the finish line on the west side of Moule Chique point was ‘Argentaria’ at 2.35 pm. followed by ‘Breeze Away’ and ‘Scippione’ of Marigot Bay. The boats all anchored in the south western corner of Vieux Fort Bay. Crews were taken ashore thanks to water taxi / fisherman Ishtar and in the evening an excellent Creole style buffet was laid on by the Old Plantation Yard restaurant in Vieux Fort.
On Sunday 21st February, the participants woke to fine weather with clear skies and 12-14 knots of easterly breeze. The start was again at 09.30 with ‘Sequel’, a local motorboat kindly acting as outer end of starting line and all boats heading off on a downwind run towards the Pitons. Most boats decided to head close inshore on the shortest course while a couple winged out jibs or flew spinnakers. ‘Argentaria’, again took the lead followed closely by ‘Red Fox’, a Ranger 31. Those yachts closest to the Pitons slowed more while those outside gained some advantage. Some boats were able to fly spinnakers up to Anse Chastanet just past Soufriere when the angle forced them to change to genoas. The leg up the west coast of the island towards Pigeon Point was a close fetch in near perfect calm seas.
The last part of the race into Rodney Bay was a beat with the finish line between the St Lucia Yacht club and outer mark 300 yards off the beach. ‘Argentaria’ crossed the line first followed by the impressively sailed ‘Red Fox’ which won on handicap. ‘Breeze Away’ came third. ‘Scippione’ and ‘Avocet’ went the wrong way over the finish line and were disqualified from race 2.
‘Guiding Light’, a 73 year old wooden boat of 36 feet length came in a remarkable 4th place on handicap. The owner had recently crossed the Atlantic singlehanded. The final two places went to ‘Nomad’, a ketch of 32ft also single handed across the Atlantic and ‘Sephina’, another ketch of 35ft recently arrived with the ARC 2009.
The prize giving was held at the St Lucia Yacht Club on the Independence holiday Monday with overall first prize going to ‘Argentaria’, second prize to ‘Breeze Away’ and third to ‘Red Fox’. All entrants received two magnums of Heineken beer courtesy of Windward and Leeward Brewery. Thanks also go to the other sponsors of the event …. IGY Marinas for providing berthing, Café Ole/Boardwalk, Firegrill, The Edge & Delirius all provided vouchers, Peter & Company and finally Rum Distilleries
This fun Round the Island race was much enjoyed by participants and it is hoped to repeat the event next February 2011.
Submitted by Sean Fuller, skipper Kaiso
CAROLS AFLOAT 2009
“It is Christmas in the Heart that puts Christmas in the air” (W.T. Ellis)
What a way to some up the inaugural Carols Afloat. I don’t think any one of the people who participated would be able to argue with that.
On Tuesday the 22nd December a total of 13 uniquely decorated boats and 2 IGY RBM boats participated in what was hopefully the 1st of many Carols Afloat Christmas events. Certainly from this writers view point the event was a tremendous success! The boats that participated brought the joy that is Christmas spirit from their hearts and souls to many boats around the Rodney Bay Area.
On Tuesday afternoon, if you happened to be passing the IGY Rodney Bay Marina around 4.30pm a great many preparations could be seen, be it large inflatable Santa’s (palm tree included)(thanks to Hullabaloo) or as many large decorative flags as could possibly be acquired from various sources!
At precisely 5.30 (Caribbean time) all of the 15 boats participating met outside the entrance to the Rodney Bay Marina, craft participating ranged in size and shape from the lead boat “Hullabaloo” through various sizes of yachts (some of which had only just arrived on island through the ARC event last month) down to the St Lucia Yacht Clubs crew on board “Lucia” an Impulse 21 keelboat.
Come 6pm the whole graceful procession set of with our in house DJ pipeing an eclectic mix of traditional carols with a few carib vibes mixed in for good measure.
No sooner had we set off than disaster struck! One of the many Christmas torches on “Lucia” died so we had to improvise; with our extensive instructor background prepared for every event a spare mag-light was brought forth and held up the show for us. Oh and a few more unfortunate of us hit bottom near pigeon island.
After these few teething problems the rest of the tour went extremely well with most getting into the Christmas spirit by singing joyous melody’s, at least this was the case on “Lucia” as we couldn’t hear much over the noise of our outboard motor!
With a cool beer in sight the flotilla headed back from the terrors of the open seas into the “Well Lit” inlet for a fly by on the Edge restaurant and the end of the parade.
After tying up all crews converged on H20 restaurant and bar for the Prize giving and free beer courtesy of Heineken brewery. Prizes were given to the best decorated, most improvised, best crew uniform as well as a whole host of others! All prizes were donated by local companies, amongst which featured “Fire Grill”, “Delirious”, “The Edge” , “Columbian Emeralds”, “Café Ole”, “Rain Forest Sky Rides” , “Steel Pan Band Harmonites”, “Spinnakers”, etc.
In all an extremely enjoyable evening was had by all and if you are to talk to anybody who participated I’m sure you’d receive many a tall tale of the high seas, possibly even a few about the joy brought to all through the wonder of Christmas and all who participated. Click on the picture below for the web album
Special thanks goes to :
IGY Rodney Bay Marina (free berth for the night for the participating boats & DJ Mickey), St Lucia Yacht Club, All sponsors and the boats – “Hullabaloo”, “Lucia”, “Catar”, “Kaiso”, “Gizmo”, “Nomad”, “One Time”, “Boldly Go”, “Reel Extreme”, “Twice Eleven”, “Guiding Light”, “Fair Encounter”, “Endless Summer” and both IGY boats that participated. I’m sure that next year the fun will continue and for many years to come.
Submitted by Callum (Sailing Instructor SLYC)
“Journey to the World ARC Flotilla 2010″ story by Duncan Gray
“Shall we do the ARC ?”
Pete, my neighbor and dinghy race skipper for the winter series in our local sailing club at Hythe thought about my question for a few seconds and then said “I’d have to check with Lyn”” (his partner).
To set the scene, it was a cold February day in 2005, we were surfing in his Merlin Rocket at 12 knots with the spinnaker set and leading the race fleet by 100 yards. Southampton water at that time of the year is a pretty inhospitable place, wet suits are mandatory, when it rains it feels like a shower of ice crystals hitting your face, and getting knocked down or capsized (a not uncommon occurrence in a Merlin Rocket) means getting very cold in places you really don’t want to get that cold (even in a wet suit). My yacht at that time was a Hanse 301 named ‘Dancing Demon’, a very seaworthy design but a little small to live aboard in comfort, so my thoughts had already moved on to a boat with a long keel, heavy displacement, standing headroom and a good galley, in short a ‘proper blue-water cruiser’.
Three years later, I’d sold ‘Dancing Demon’, searched for and found ‘Sephina’, Pete was now the pround father of Daniel (3) and Lyn was expecting Daniel’s sibling (soon to enter the world as Jamie), Lyn had agreed that Pete could join the boat for the Atlantic crossing with the ARC, so the entry forms were filled in, the fees paid, and our ARC 2009 had begun.
‘Sephina’ is one of those boats that people in the know stand back and say “she’s a proper yacht”. Designed by Holman & Pye in the late sixties, she’s a Super Sovereign, built in 1972, 35ft on deck, nearly 9 tons displacement, 3/4 length keel, ketch rigged, in short a ‘go anywhere yacht’. (more info ….. www.sovereign35.com) . All I had to do was turn her from a coastal cruiser into an ocean passage maker. The next year was spent in a whirlwind of refitting the boat, offshore training courses, closing my business and preparing myself for my first ocean crossing.
The passage south from Southampton to Las Palmas to join the ARC was not without problems and I learnt some valuable lessons …..
Lesson number one …. check the things you can see before setting sail !
Crossing from St Peter Port (Guernsey) to L’Aberwrach (France), the spinnaker halyard freed itself from the deck, streamed out astern and wrapped itself around the wind generator at the top of the mizzen mast. Fortunately the refit had included fitting mast steps, so climbing the mast & recovering the halyard proved an easy ten minute job.
Lesson number two …. check the things you can’t see before setting sail !
We were running south at night from La Coruna (Spain) in 30 knot winds and 12 – 15 foot seas when I noticed a faint clonk from the steering whenever the rudder took up the weather helm. The next day, having made it to Bayona, inspection of the rudder stock provided a shock. The nut on the link rod universal joint was loose and hanging on by a couple of threads, if we’d sailed much further it would probably have let go completely.
Lesson number three …. beware the weather forecast !
Having reached Lagos (Portugal), we waited, ‘calm-bound’ for ten days. We’d motor sailed most of the way from La Rochelle (France) with little or no wind, but for the next passage to Las Palmas motoring wasn’t an option as our range of 300 miles would get us less than half way, so a good sailing wind was essential. Finally the wind forecast looked promising so we checked out and set sail. The predicted NE 15 knot wind quickly veered south, so we had the choice of sailing SE toward Gibraltar or SW toward Madeira, not a difficult decision as Madeira was only 450 miles away and would only add around 150 miles to the trip. Then the wind died, so on with the engine again hoping to find some wind further south …. would we ever start sailing !
Lesson number four …. listen to the boat, if she isn’t happy, she’ll let you know !
During that first night out from Lagos, having succumbed to a bout of seasickness, I woke for my watch feeling pretty rough, and noticed the exhaust note of the engine had changed a little. The noise slowly worsened to the point that I decided to stop the engine. We took stock …. the sky was overcast so no power from the solar panels, there wasn’t much wind so no power from the wind generator and without the engine no power from the alternator, the nearest island was Porto Santo still 350 miles away, we had plenty of food and water and the batteries were fully charged … not much choice but to make the best course and sail very slowly. Now Porto Santo is a delightful island, but the options to repair a 37 year old diesel engine are zero, but at least we could plug in to shore power and recharge the batteries. My diagnosis was a blown head gasket. Ok, not a good idea to run the engine for long but it would get us out of one harbour, and into the next. My third crew member was flying to join us in a week, so with emails & phone calls, spares were ordered and tools from home organised. At last the promised trade winds started to blow, so with fully charged batteries we left the marina and set sail for Gran Canaria. With NE winds of 15 – 20 knots it took just 58 hours to sail 300 miles, we motored into Las Palmas at midnight, with the engine popping and banging and sounding very sick indeed.
The next two weeks flew by in a whirlwind of ARC seminars & events, engine repairs, entertaining friends & family visiting from home, shopping for stores for the Atlantic crossing and making final preparations to the boat. Departure day finally arrived, the atmosphere in Las Palmas was partytime … a wonderful send-off for a big adventure. Twenty two days one hour twenty three minutes and thirty six seconds later we crossed the finish line in Rodney Bay, lowered the sails and motored into the Marina, were met with greetings from friends as we moored, and rum punch and fresh fruit waiting for us …. wind down time at last.
Lesson number five …. Beware the innocent squash bottle (extract from our ARC log)
The Mystery of the exploding apple juice, Thursday afternoon (day 11)
There was I just before lunch, innocently typing an email when a loud ‘BANG’ came from the galley (ok it’s only three feet from the chart table), suddenly followed by a cold shower of something wet & sticky. Our cook, Robin, had saved half of the contents of a carton of apple juice (at least that’s what he told us it was) in a squash bottle and hadn’t noticed it had started to ferment (we assume). Everything in the galley, companionway and nav-station was dripping and smelling of rough cider, and I’d only just changed into a new snowy white tee-shirt !
Lesson number six ….
Fatigue can fuddle the brain (extract from our ARC log)
0330UTC Wednesday 9th December 2009. “Skipper, there’s a ship coming up astern, very fast”.
I was off watch, sound asleep for a change when Pete shook me awake wanting to call the ship on VHF to establish it’s intentions. Now to set the scene, since the fleet separated south of Gran Canaria, we’d seen two ships within the first few days, and then two yachts (neither in the ARC) and the top of another mast at some distance (so other vessels had been a bit of a rarity). It was a clear starlit morning dark enough to see the Milky Way (no not the kind you can eat between meals without ruining your appetite).
“It looks like a cruise liner, lots of lights along the side, but I can’t make out the nav lights yet” says Pete. I climbed out of my bunk, carefully negotiating over Robin’s bunk so as to try and not wake him unnecessarily, and made my way to the companionway, thinking, ‘if it’s coming fast enough to worry Pete, then it must be the Queen Mary 2′. “If you can see all along the side, how is it coming toward us then” asked I. On closer inspection, it appeared (to my sleep fuddled brain) to be becoming airborne. Just then, the cloud bank shifted, and lo and behold, there’s a pale white crescent slowly ascending into the heavens. “Which VHF channel do you think we should use then Pete, 16 or 77 ?”
My crew were due to fly home after Christmas, which for a few days looked unlikely with the threatened British Airways strike, but that was quickly resolved and we finally relaxed and started to enjoy life in St Lucia. The first few days were filled with ARC parties, a sightseeing trip around the island, lots of rum and getting used to a world that had stopped rocking and rolling. Having read about it, on Christmas Eve we finally visited the St Lucia Yacht Club, and a warmer welcome would be difficult to find. Sadly, we’d missed the ‘Christmas Carols Afloat’ event as we’d been south to explore the coast for a few days, but would we like to join in with the Christmas Day on the beach barbecue ? I’d been told that St Lucia was a paradise island, and a paradise it’s proved to be. Within a few days I’d made some new friends, enjoyed my first New Year on the beach, joined the Yacht Club, and been talked into joining the World ARC Flotilla.
click for the story
Lesson number seven …. Sieze the Day !
For ten years I’d been dreaming of escape from the rat-race & blue water sailing, but always finding reasons to not take the plunge. Remember …. Life isn’t a rehearsal and sometimes opportunity only knocks once.
What an adventure it’s been. Since leaving Southampton, I’d seen stunning sunsets and sunrises, glorious star filled night skies, dolphins, whales, flying fish, squalls, thunderstorms, flat calms, big waves. At times I’d felt elation, frustration, depression, boredom, trepidation but never once was I frightened. I’d learnt to trust my boat and know that if I looked after her, she’d look after me and my crew. The weather gods had been kind, and through good fortune and careful preparation my first ocean passage was now part of ARC history, our handicapped finish position was 118th from 158 starters in our cruising class, very creditable for the 2nd oldest yacht in the fleet (& 3rd slowest rated). I’d started the journey as a relatively inexperienced coastal sailor, taken on old boat, refitted it myself and nursed it through all of the problems, crossed an ocean to fulfill a dream, and proved that you don’t need megabucks to sail successfully on blue water.
Submitted by Duncan Gray, skipper of ‘SEPHINA’, ARC-2009 entry number 230
Let’s Go Sailing, But
“Please Don’t Stop The Carnival”
True story by Edgar Roe
It’s 2.22am Tuesday, August 18 & I have to relate my adventure’s of the last few days before they become too distant in my rather ’short memory’ to recall !
A gentle cruise! A true story by Ian Gordon!
On Monday the 21st July 2009 we decided to have a gentle sail from Rodney Bay to Castries to watch Carnival from the bay.
The morning was good when we set off, then came a little rain which did not dampen our spirits. The rain soon stopped and the journey south was great fun.
On board of Lucia, the Impulse 21 was Captain Mike, Danielle, Social Secretary from St. Lucia Yacht Club and myself a complete novice in the sailing world. In fact it was only the second time I had been on a yacht.
The cruise to Castries was very good; the water was a little choppy but caused us no problems apart from the slidy thing for the mainsail was jarred from its track, which we never noticed until we had tied up next to our friends on their boat, a 40 foot yacht. Another yacht, Loose Cannon, a J24 belonging to Edgar Roe also tied up to our Starboard side. Edgar lashed the slidy thing to the rail to stop it from causing further damage. (Apparently it is called a cleat and it broke free from the main sail traveler)
We had a great time watching Carnival, dancing and having the odd Piton. The weather at this point was poor with a lot of rain but little wind.
Captain Mike decided not to stay too long as the trip back to Rodney Bay was going to be a little rougher than the trip to Castries. At that point Mike decided that it may be a good idea if Danielle returned on the bigger yacht. So we left the party and headed home.
As soon as we left Castries Harbour it was obvious the weather had deteriorated considerably. We headed north against a side wind of about 30 knot’s. Captain Mike held her on course against failing light and driving rain.
Our first taste of sea water was when we where passing Windjammer resort. A strong gust of wind pulled the cart for the mainsail off the track. The next big gust snapped the front slidy thing and our jib was flapping in the wind with no chance of lowering it. The boat capsized in the gust. We scrambled up the hull to right her and carry on sailing. And I thought this was going to be a pleasure cruise. The closer we got to Rodney Bay the stronger the wind blew. By this time Edgar and Jacob De Camps had caught us up in their J24. Edgar, a very experienced sailor noticed we were in difficulty and he was trying to shout us instructions to get to port.
As we passed the headland into the harbor the wind was a lot stronger, gusting at 45 knots with driving rain coming horizontal over the water. We capsized again, this time loosing the outboard motor as she broke free from the transom, with no outboard and a jib that was useless we were in great peril. Edgar on the J24 was shouting at us, telling us to follow him to safety but we had no way to steer the vessel and lost sight of him. He maneuvered his boat like it was on rails and came back numerous times to try and help. He knew at this time we were not going to make it back and was expecting us to beach her by Landings.
Jonathan Hall and Les Hewitt joined in the hunt for us on ‘Hytime” a 46 foot yacht. They were searching the bay along with Edgar and Jacob.
Les decided to search for us by coming with the wind as the rain was so fierce he could not see more than a few feet.
We capsized yet again. This was number 5. How Captain Mike managed to right her time after time was remarkable. But I must admit we were a great team. However, this time when we righted her, Les who was at the helm of Hytime was a matter of yards away from ramming us as she could not see us being on our side. Les with the wind behind him must have been travelling at 20 knots at that point. All we could see was an anchor coming at us amidships. Les must have spotted us at the last second and threw Hytime into reverse. I could have hung my cap on the anchor as she just missed us. The weather at this point was zero visibility with the darkness and very heavy rain.
In the meantime Edgar on the J24 knew we were heading for the rocks off Pigeon Point. His boat was too small to throw us a line so he shouted to the crew of “Endless Summer” a catamaran belonging to Mike Green. The crew had just dropped its passengers off at the Landings. They also started their search for us. The Skipper Andy and his crew, Jason and Totone found us very close to the rocks and very bravely came down our port side and threw us a “life line” Luckily the throw was good and I caught the rope first time. I can tell you if we had not caught the rope that first time, there would have been no time for her to come about and throw again as we were dangerously close to the rocks. Capt. Mike lashed the rope to the mast and Endless Summer became our saviors. They towed us into the harbor with much relief from me and Mike.
It was at this point we know we had cheated death.
The funny thing was that when Endless Summer eventually tied us to the jetty my life vest finally decided to inflate. After 5 times in the water and all that rain it then did what it was designed to do and inflate. Mike and I could not stop laughing. Both with relief and the fact that I could not move in the straight jacket I was now wearing.
From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank Captain Mike Cooperthwaite for saving my life along with Edgar and Jacob on the J24. Not forgetting the crew on Endless Summer who, after they had tied us safely to the jetty, vanished as quickly as they arrived as though they did the life saving bit every day. Also a big thank you to Jonathan and Les for helping in the search.
You are ALL a great bunch of guys with tremendous sailing skills.
Ian Gordon
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