Guildford Coastal Cruising Clu
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News

Club news & other items of general boating interest


Members wishing to comment on any news item should use the Club's Discussion Forum

  • 25 Feb 2019 11:05 | Anonymous member

    Tony Atkins, GCCC Past Commodore, has produced an itinerary for the club's two-week West Country Cruise in June together with a list of interested boats and potential 'stowaways'.    A passage plan is shortly to be posted on the website and a WhatsApp group established for those wishing to keep in touch.

    Several options are indicated for arriving at Dartmouth and skippers will be asked to submit their intended route nearer the time.  Those skippers and stowaways already expressing interest have been asked to keep Tony informed as their plans firm up so that advanced marina and dinner reservations can be made.

    Boat and crew lists will be finalised in early May by which time skipper, crew and potential stowaway arrangements should have been made between themselves.

    Please contact Tony directly, using the club’s membership directory, if you would like to be added to the cruise circulation list or for any further comments or enquiries you might wish to make.

  • 19 Feb 2019 12:00 | Anonymous member

    The Round-Isle-of-Wight Race, organised by the Island Sailing Club since 1931, will this year start and finish outside Cowes on Saturday 29th June.  Early bird discounts for online entry are currently available until 28th February.

    Around 1,500 boats take part each year including monohulls, multihulls, gaffers, classics and dayboats.   The current monohull record stands at 3hr 43m 50s set in 2013 and the multihull record at 2hr 22m 23s set in 2017.

    A public entertainment programme starts on the Parade at 12:00 on Friday 28th June.

    Visit www.roundtheisland.org.uk for more information.

  • 10 Feb 2019 12:49 | Anonymous member

    Lobbying by both the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and the Cruising Association (CA) has pursuaded the Maritime & Coastguard Agency to convene a ‘Lobster Pots & Small Craft Safety Working Group’.   The Group is composed of members from the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO), RYA and CA tasked with seeking better ways for avoiding small craft entanglement and also improved methods of law enforcement.


    Group Members: (left to right) Ian Wilson (CA), Gwilym Stone (MCA), Robert Greenwood (NFFO), Michael Coyle (MMO) and Stuart Carruthers (RYA).

    The first meeting took place at CA House on 16 January 2019 to prioritise their tasks and set up a review of existing regulatory powers across the UK.

    www.theca.org.uk

  • 29 Jan 2019 15:25 | Anonymous member

    GGR 2018-19

    73-year old Frenchman Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, in his Rustler 36 ‘Matmut’, has completed the Golden Globe Race non-stop circumnavigation back to Les Sables d’Olonne in France.  He crossed the finishing line early this morning after 212 days at sea.   He is the first to finish since the race started last July and was greeted alongside by a huge welcoming crowd and a large bottle of champagne presented by Robin Knox-Johnson (winner of the original 1968-69 race).

    Dutchman Mark Slats, in second place, has diverted to La Caruna following advice to avoid being dangerously trapped on a lee-shore in the Bay of Biscay by an approaching storm.   His Rustler 36 ‘Ophen Maverick’ was trailing by just 320 miles after narrowing Van Den Heede's lead by 91 miles over the weekend.

    Third placed Uku Randmaa of Estonia lies 3,600 miles astern in his Rustler 36 ‘One and All’ (previously owned by GCCC Past Commodore Tony Atkins and sold specifically for use in the race).

    With just four boats yet to finish out of the original eighteen, more news can be followed at https://goldengloberace.com/  or  https://youtu.be/u3NM1Ox7Nt0

  • 23 Jan 2019 09:35 | Anonymous member

    Fact or Fiction?

    A 'freak wave' has been recreated for the first time!  The Oxford and Edinburgh University research workers also noted a similarity to the famous Japanese woodblock print 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa' by artist Katsushika Hokusai (c1829).  

    The laboratory-induced wave was formed by varying two smaller wave groups until their crossing angle reached 120 degrees.   These freak or rogue waves, officially known as 'Draupner' waves, appear without warning and may cause the catastrophic sinking of large ships (not to mention small sailing boats!)

    Compare the researcher's video shot with Hokusai's woodblock print:

       

    The Draupner (or 'New Year') wave measured 25m and was the first rogue wave ever detected by a measuring instrument.   It crashed into the Draupner Oil Rig platform off the Norwegian Coast on 1 January 1995, fortunately without injury to personnel or damage to the rig.  No longer can such waves be considered a mythological figment of the sailor's imagination!

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QWWe9PMuVng

  • 12 Jan 2019 12:47 | Anonymous member

    Eastern Channel Dredge

    A new Eastern Channel will be dredged to 2.25m below chart datum and provide a more direct route to the Main Fairway than the existing Small Craft Channel.  The dredge will start early in January 2019 and be completed within eight weeks.  The existing Small Craft Channel will stay open most of the time but there may be occasions when only the Main Fairway can be used.  See LNTM No. 33(T) 2018 for more details.

    Sign up for LNTMs to be kept informed.

  • 16 Nov 2018 10:36 | Anonymous member

    Following a transit of the North West Passage, Steve Brown will cover two expeditions to South Georgia & Antarctica in 2017-18.

    Wed 20 March 2019 1900 hrs at CA House, London.

    Amid amazing scenery, Steve & his team on a 60’ schooner encounter storms, blizzards, dense sea ice and recover from a potentially catastrophic grounding.  Steve will give an impression of what sailing in these challenging cruising grounds is really like.

    To attend this talk, click Book Events and pay on the door.   Any problems with booking please call or email Jeremy on 020 7537 2828/reception@theca.org.uk.

    Tickets priced at £4 for CA members & £7 for non-members.


  • 05 Nov 2018 23:08 | Anonymous member

    A Leap Forward?

    Accidental drowning after slipping through the guard rail and being towed face-down at the end of a two-metre tether has been the subject of considerable debate.

    In response to this problem TeamO Marine developed a ‘BackTow’ lifejacket that towed face-up, receiving widespread acclaim in 2013 for innovation.

    An ‘A-frame’ clips as standard to a front loop on the harness and runs up the lifejacket to a point behind the neck.   It releases manually under load, similar to that of a parachute ripcord.

    Working with Crewsaver and Artemis AC, TeamO Marine have developed an improved ‘MkII BackTow’ including a personal AIS pocket and optional AutoLock Tether (“a seatbelt for the sea”).    AutoLock’s lightweight reel self-adjusts tether length when moving around the deck.   Any fall is immediately arrested, after which the pressure is eased and the reel starts working again.    

    BackTow MkII lifejackets with optional AutoLock are due out by autumn 2018.
    See TeamO.

  • 29 Oct 2018 12:17 | Anonymous member

    New 24 Hour Distance Record

    Alex Thomson (one of our top British Skippers) and his crew have now officially broken the 24hr distance world record, set earlier this year, in a 60ft monohull.  

    Sailing ‘HUGO BOSS’, an IMOCA 60 race boat based in Haslar Marina-Gosport, Alex travelled 539.71 nM over 24 hours at an average speed of 22.49 knots, ratified last week by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

    www.alexthomsonracing.com


  • 21 Oct 2018 13:43 | Anonymous member

    It’s slow demise?

    Red diesel is taxed at a lower VAT rate (5%) for domestic purposes (heating, charging batteries, hot water, refrigeration etc) but at the full rate (20%) for propulsion - fuel duty already being included in the pump price (- got it?!).

    To best comply with the full rate for propulsion, UK leisure boats have been declaring a voluntary 60/40 split between the different tax rates (i.e. 60% used for propulsion & 40% for domestics) - agreed across the board with HMRC.   However, a 20/80 (e.g. ‘live-aboards’) or any other split is possible if it can be justified.

    EU rules say a "fiscal marker" (red dye in the UK, green dye in Ireland etc.) must be present in diesel not taxed at the full rate.  In May 2013 the EU Commission formally requested the UK to amend its legislation and ensure that “private pleasure boats, such as luxury yachts, can no longer buy lower taxed fuel intended for fishing boats".   HMRC challenged this request as being ‘impractical’ and so the Commission referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

    The ECJ has now concluded (17th Oct, Case 503/17) that diesel taxed at the full rate (i.e. for propulsion) should not be marked because it undermines the purpose of the marker and it has dismissed HMRC’s view that this is impractical.

    No deadline has been set for when the necessary adjustments to accommodate this ruling must be made.  

    But what about the effects of Brexit?

    Watch this space!

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