CLUBS & SOCIETIES
ALLEYNIAN SAILING SOCIETY
PAGE 17
Hon Secretary’s Notes After another successful year on and off the water, the Sailing Society is looking forward to celebrating its 40th year in 2023. Our rally takes place at the end of May. You are most welcome to come and join us - the only sailing requirement is that you do not spill your beer! This year we are proposing that the Boys Sail Training Week is over two weeks, with a different group of boys joining us for the second week. We will also be participating in the Belvidere Cup and the Arrow Trophy against other schools. Chris Holmes, father of Will Holmes, was part of the Arrow crew this year and so I hope there are other parents who are keen to join us in the future. Our 40th Gala Dinner will be held at the Royal Thames Yacht Club on Thursday 28 September. As already mentioned, it would be great to see as many new potential sailors at all our sailing and on-shore outings. Do join us… If you would like information regarding joining the Society, please contact Anthony Frankford (Hon Sec). Email: anthonytfrankford@gmail.com Phone: 07511 381843
Once again, the boundless energy and enthusiasm of the ASSes manifested itself on the water in 2022. We started in February with the AGM chaired by a (temporary) Rear-Admiral as our Admiral (Dr Spence) was on sabbatical. Sadly, despite his best efforts, he was unable to better the Admiral’s record time of 25 minutes. We then repaired to the Salle for lunch and prizes. The Pendry Cup had been awarded to current pupil James Lock on the Boys Sail Training Week. The Archie Shaw Cup went to Charlie Lowe (94-01) and the David Emms Plate to Matt Gorvett (06-13). In May we entered the Belvidere Cup competition. This is held on Queen Mary reservoir near Heathrow and teams use the fleet of J-80s in a match racing format. This is definitely work in progress, but the team began to gel as the day went on and some good races were held. The final result did not reflect on the team’s efforts. The schools that did well in this event are those who race this sort of boat on a regular basis, and a practice session would be of great benefit. The team this year was Reg Kheraj (02-07), Ben Taffs (09-16) as Skipper, Peter Fosdike (92-01) at the Helm, Will Holmes (12-19) and Tommaso Quaglia (15-20). Our May rally one week later took us to Yarmouth then Weymouth, where we had a cracking sail, before a return to Lymington and then Buckler’s Hard and Cowes. Matt Gorvett (06-13) brought his brother and their drone, and demonstrated the difficulties of retrieving it from the back of a moving yacht! The main trip was, as usual, the Boys Sail Training Week which took place in July. Five boats took part, we had more boys wanting to come but were constrained by the number of available skippers, and I thank the skippers and crew that give of their time each year to make this a success. They were the Commodore Richard Sainsbury (63-72), the Hon Sec Anthony Frankford (62-69), the Vice Commodore Alastair Capon (73-80), Reg Kheraj and Peter Fosdike. Richard Byford (67-76), Alex Langley (93-03), Ben Taffs, Michelle Littleboy and recent leavers Monty Slater (15-20) and Tommaso Quaglia returned to assist. The College was represented by Harry Willets and Victoria Goldsack. As an experiment, we introduced two nights in Yarmouth with a more formal ‘teaching’ component, well organised by Alastair Capon and Reg Kheraj. The boys learnt how to row a dinghy, throw and coil a line properly, as well as plot a course. I would like to see us take boys up to the level of Royal Yachting Association Competent Crew and some of the older ones starting preparation for Day Skipper qualifications. The week featured a fun evening in Buckler’s Hard, where Alex Langley ran the barbeque and rounders featured for the first time. We were joined for a few days by Ian Wyllie (90-97) who is sailing single-handed round Great Britain and Ireland to raise funds for the Andrew Cassell Foundation who support disabled sailors. Ian suffered a spinal injury and sails a Vancouver 27. It was interesting to hear of his plans and see how he has adapted his boat to his needs. The Commodore’s quiz caused some head scratching but seemed to be well received, and all in all another successful week was held. Thanks to Harry Willets and Victoria Goldsack for their help in coordinating the Alleynians and the Old Alleynians. The event remains one of the exemplars of how the OA community support the College. More available skippers would allow us to take more boats, if you are interested please get in touch. The final ‘on water’ event of the year was the Arrow Trophy. With a young inexperienced crew, we maintained 8th position. Improvement is the name of our game! The other ASS-related event this year was the Hon Sec’s 70th birthday held in Port d'Andratx in Majorca. This was attended by many from the Society and a good time was had by all. The Hon Sec is the glue that holds the Society together and I thank both him and our wizard Treasurer, Simon Brown (69-76), for their ongoing commitment. Richard Sainsbury Commodore ASS
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