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Man of Kent Update (24/09/10) by Andy Gibson

The annual 'Man of Kent' dinghy sailing regatta was held this weekend at Hythe and Saltwood Sailing Club and provided a showcase for local sailors in superb sailing conditions. 44 Boats from 10 sailing clubs around East Kent participated in the 3 races, with race officer Ted Temple, Broadstairs Sailing Club setting courses off Hythe beach .

Racing was dominated by Hythe and Saltwood SC's Dan Holland & Andrew Thompson in their Laser 3000 who won all three races and took the Man of Kent trophy. Dan and Andrew revel in the strong wind conditions that saw many competitors struggling to stay upright as the day progressed. Second went to the Laser 2000 of Dave Adams and Deb Thomas from Broadstairs SC, third to Neal Gibson & Keith Macey in a Miracle from Hythe Redoubt Sailing club and fourth to Adrian Smith in a singlehanded Contender dinghy from Hythe & Saltwood SC

First Lady Helm prize (Maid of Kent) went to Anna Wire from Hythe and Saltwood SC and to wrap up a good day for the home club, Hythe and Saltwood SC also won the prestigious team prize.

'Man of Kent' regatta is organized by the East Kent Sailing association at a different venue each year - the high level of preparation and organization was a tribute to all involved including the many volunteers - the crew of the 6 rescue boats and the numerous shore-based helpers who assisted with launching & recovery, administration and catering.

Hythe and Saltwood SC has been organising dinghy racing since 1964 and has recently seen a resurgence of interest from new members who have participated in the clubs sail training programme and from windsurfing members who have taken to dinghy racing. Club members participated in National and European events in the last few years as far afield as Italy, Brittany & Poland. The windsurfing section at Hythe and Saltwood SC boasts the largest windurf racing fleet in the country and has developed many junior champions through their junior training programme.

Photos click here courtesy of www.championmarinephotography.co.uk 

Wimereux to Calais windsurfing race 26 Sept 2010 (01/09/10) by Arran Farnes

This year's French long distance windsurfing race from Wimereux to Calais will take place on 26th September, with a start time of approx 10.00 am French time.

Summer Party 24th and Ship Race 25th July (21/07/10) by Jeremy Speakman

Pre Ship Race Summer Party Saturday from 7pm until late. Tickets will be on sale on the night at £5.00 per adult and £2.50 per child which includes a barbeque and a great disco. As always, if you could bring a salad it would be much appreciated.

Sunday Ship Race - Start at 2pm (no racing Sunday Morning) - Race to the Ship and a great barbecue from Stewart.

HSSC Live weather data on your iPhone (21/07/10) 

iPhone users can now access an app to view our own live weather data. Just copy the URL below into Safari. When the app appears, tap + then 'Add to Home Screen'. (This app also seems to work on Android-based phones as well.)

www.s119568945.websitehome.co.uk/iwdl/

Safety Boat Improver Session 30th June (22/06/10) by Ana Wire

On Wednesday 30th June 6pm Stuart Bishop will be running a refresher/improver session on rescue boat safety. In this session we will be looking at the methods which can be used to right different types of dinghy boats, towing craft (including windsurfers), entrapment, mark laying and boat set up and storage. In addition to this, weather permitting, part of this session may be run on the water, giving you the opportunity to really get to grips with the skills being taught. So, if you feel you could do with refreshing your safety boat skills or developing them further, then this session is for you! All are welcome- please come along regardless of your past experiences, there are always new ways of doing thing or new techniques to be learned. See you there- Wednesday 30th June @ 6pm. Get ready to be enthralled! Ana. (PS Bar will also be open!)

Hythe Hotshots win their first event (20/05/10) by Andy Gibson

This news article is available as a PDF for viewing or download.

Dinghy Sailing Training (FULL) (20/05/10) by Duncan Robb

Beginners

We will be running a RYA Level 1 and 2 Dinghy Sailing (juniors and adults) at Dover Sea Sports Centre over the weekend 26/27 June. The times will be from 9:30am to approx 4-4:30pm on the Saturday and Sunday. The course will be run by HSSC instructors and will be available at the significantly discounted rate of £20 for new members. If space allows it will also be open to existing members.

Queries and booking are being handled by the Training Officer, Duncan Robb at dinghytraining@hssc.net

Following the course we will be running general follow up/improver sessions on Sunday afternoons after Sunday Racing as from 11 July (open to any members who want to improve their basic skills as well as course participants).

Dinghy Sailing Training - Clinics

If there is sufficient interest there will be some training sessions on Wednesday evenings from 6pm on 27^th May, at a basic-intermediate level covering:

• Spinnakers (asymmetric)

• Spinnakers (symmetric)

• Launching/landing

• Race rules

• Race starts

• Race tactics

• Rig tuning/boat setup

Email dinghytraining@hssc.net to indicate interest so that we can arrange the sessions. We will send out an email to confirm closer to the date.

Junior Windsurfing Training Courses  (25/04/10) by Phil Hards

Junior/Youth up to 18 years only. We will be running RYA approved beginner and intermediate courses at the Redoubt lake for eight consecutive Thursday evenings from May 20th 2010 to July 08/07/10. The cost for club members for these sessions will be £15.00 per session. Each session will be strictly limited to 6 children. The 8 weeks will be split into intermediate and beginner courses dependant on the numbers and experience level of the applicants. Actual dates will be advised for each level when we have some idea of  the numbers interested. We are expecting a high level of uptake for these courses, so if you are interested please sign up now!  Application Form (PDF)   Booking Form (PDF)   Email Phil Hards

We have an agreement with Nickolls leisure who allow us to utilise their facilities at very competitive rates. This allows us to keep the cost of the training down. However, the following rules must be strictly adhered to when at the venue. The two sets of gates will be open between 18:00hrs and 18:20hrs, so please be sure to arrive between these times. All visitors ( children and adults) must sign in on arrival at the clubhouse, where a day sailing badge will be given to you. Accompanying adults must stay at the venue during the course of the training, usually two and a half hours. The gates will be locked shut at 18:30.  There is a strict speed limit of 10mph on site. Please respect this at all times.

Folkestone & Hythe Windsurfing Regatta 29-31 May  (16/04/10) by Marc Carney
Click here to open or download PDF flyer.

Commodore's Report March 2010 (03/03/10) by Jeremy Speakman
Club Maintenance
Maintenance got off to an great start on 20 February with an excellent turn out. Main work focused on redecorating the changing rooms, deep clean of the galley area, de littering the boat park and rescuing the ramps off the beach (in readiness for the beach replenishment work). Another maintenance day is scheduled for 6 March to complete decorating and review boat park. Email went to members informing them that the windsurfers on top of the safety boat shed were a hazard and would be disposed of by w/e 6/7 March if not claimed. We plan also to do some exterior painting and probably re do the exterior stained wood work. We are also considering racking some of the single handed boats and DSSC have donated a purpose built rack for 8 boats - to be collected. Mary Harris has now started cleaning the club and is doing a very thorough job.

Rib Maintenance
Tony Wyatt is liaising with Turf and Surf to finish work on the large rib (prop guard, road trailer) and also carry out maintenance of the safety boats.

Club Boat
We have a new (or rather second hand) club boat - an RS Vision as discussed at the last meeting. Appears to be in good condition and good value at £3k - looking to add on trapeze kit (£99 from RS but can probably do it for less).

EKYA and Man of Kent
Meeting went well with Peter Brooker and Owen Croft attending. Steve Hunt did a great job behind the bar. A lot of support from local clubs regarding provision of rescue and committee boats for the Man of Kent/Race Officers etc. Andy Hooper gave a good talk on ways to develop club and improve member participation. Much of this I think we have in hand

Laser 3000 Class Development
It has been pointed out that we now have 6 Laser 3000s and in fact have the largest fleet in the country. The class association is very active and I would recommend that we consider developing racing and tuition in this class. I have arranged to meet with the class association on Sunday at the Dinghy show and Dan Hollands (who is on the class association committee) has agreed to be fleet captain

Club Hire Agreement
The club hire agreement has been amended as agreed at the last meeting

Beach Replenishment
Shepway DC biannual beach replenishment is underway. I have liaised with SDC engineers and arranged that the shingle be level with the promenade with a reasonable slope to the water.

Next actions
Complete RYA Training and Develoment plan to include training and development programme focusing on increasing access and sustainability of intermediate level racing and cruising for adult sailors, powerboat, Dinghy and Winsurfing instructor courses. Confirm start date for rubbish collection by Veolia Enviromental Sevices

Elliot and Claudia Carney Update (01/02/10) by Marc Carney
Elliot starts his 2010 season this week 24th -30th Jan in Miami at the 2nd of the Olympic Class International World Cup Events where he will be competing against the worlds best in the Men's Rsx Class. This is just the start to a very busy season and a very determined campaign towards 2012. He now lives full time in Weymouth and has spent the winter working hard on his fitness and training on the water with the RYA squad.

Claudia has also now been selected for the RYA Olympic Development Squad for 2010 and will be attending some of these International Olympic Class events along with her big brother as well as their RSX Europeans and Worlds later this season. Claudia is now at Bath University studying 'Performance Sport' and travels to Weymouth most weekends to train with Eliot and the rest of the squad.

Elliot and Claudia are both ranked in the top five GBR male and female windsurfers in their 8.5mts /9.5mts RSX Class and are both within striking distance of a place at the 2012 Games. Its not going to be easy for either of them , but It is going to be an interesting couple of seasons, the clock is ticking and the gap is closing, keep an eye on their progress here on the HSSC web site. Follow the links below to follow Elliots progress and that of all the other GBR sailors at this event. I will try to keep you updated this season and provide you with the other links to the all the events as they happen.

US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Miami OCR   International (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2009-2010 

Windsurfing Senior Instructor Wanted (16/10/09) by Jeremy Speakman
WANTED - URGENT. The club has a vacancy for an RYA qualified Senior Instructor (S.I.) windsurfing for the coming year. Ideally, this post needs to be filled by May 2010. HSSC has obtained some grant money to enable anyone interested to upgrade their qualification to S.I. level if required. This is a great opportunity for anyone who would like to upgrade, and is of paramount importance to the future and success of our junior/youth windsurfing programme.

Anyone with a current Start windsurfing, or Level 1 windsurfing instructors qualification is eligible for this course, subject to the required proof of training hours.
It is also worth noting that existing dinghy qualified S.I`s are also eligible if they hold a Start windsurfing qualification. This may be of interest to our dinghy S.I`s. Either S.I courses or Start windsurfing courses are available regularly at South East venues. For further information please contact Phil Hards  philip.hards@btinternet.com