Bolton Sailing Club

The forecast for Sunday is for snow from around 12 noon onwards.

As it would mean postponing the AGM for at least another 2 weeks, it is our intention for the AGM to go ahead on Sunday and we will do our best to ensure that the drive into the club will be cleared of snow to permit safe access to and from the car park. I’ve bought 75kg of salt to help!

Please check back before you head off to the club as we will try to keep you up-to-date. If there is nothing posted here to say otherwise, the AGM will go ahead at 2pm as advertised.

Richard

Update: 13:05 on Sunday – current;y very fine snow. Volunteers working to make the road better but it is passable and Belmont Road is open.

Hi……….Info re:

Spillway/Berm
New initiatives for 2010
Newbie’s boat setup day
Working Parties

A quick update following last Wednesday’s meeting with United Utilities:

Geoff Benson and I met with the United Utilities / Eric Wright’s representatives having been promised an update from the United Utilities Project manager so that a comprehensive report could be provided at the AGM. Having had a meeting with United Utilities yesterday 17th February 2010, I can confirm that both projects ie the Spillway rebuild and the removal of the Berm are on programme. The reduction in the outflow has been reduced from 11 megalitres a day to 9 megalitres a day which means that when we are back to normal the lake will remain at the maximum level for the more of the season with water going over the spillway for an extended period. Geoff Benson accompanied the United Utilities representatives and myself onto the berm and reviewed the progress so far. Several problems have had to be overcome with the nature of peaty ground (bog) via the use of Bog mats and huge numbers of wood sleepers to create supports for the heavy excavation machinery. The channel is being excavated between the areas at the top of Farm mark through to Naze. The revised plan indicates that the channel will be approximately 32 metres wide at the top, 12 metres wide at the base and 3 metres deep ensuring that there will be enough water in the channel to create an island during the continuing works on the spillway. United Utilities advised that the work should be completed late February/Early March 2010 in time for when the gulls return to start breeding in the spring. As this is at no cost to the sailing club, whilst not as wide as we had originally hoped, it will mean that we will have a navigable channel under normal seasons water levels and enable us to utilise the passage between the road and the island for racing.

New initiatives for 2010

Following comments from some of the new and not so new members it has been decided to provide details of when racing series commence/finish and also which fleets have trophy days and when. This info will be displayed prominently in the club entrance. Additionally we are asking record keepers to keep on top of the results so members can see if they are near to qualification, have qualified and when the discards start to take effect.

Newbie’s boat setup day

Having had a number of requests to help members prepare boats for racing, it is intended to have a dedicated session on the 1st day of racing ie 28th March 2010 with the GP 14 captain coming along to set up GP14’s and I will be there in my Race coach guide (armed with a tape measure and tension gauge) to help out and assist any other members.

Working Parties

Lastly the working parties will commence at the club on the 28th February 2010 and I am assured by the Bosun that he has a long list of outstanding jobs to be completed before the commencement of the season.

Cheers

Keith Roberts
Vice Commodore

I’ve put up a few pictures from Saturday of the work removing the berm and the current state of the spillway…

pictures here

I’ve also done a timelapse video from the webcam: timelapse here

Update by Andrew: We also had a closer look at the dam work during this weekends Powerboat course and my photos are here

This morning the contractors from Clive Hurt began setting out the channel markers on the berm and the heavy plant which includes 4 long arm diggers and 2 tracked dumper trucks have been unloaded ready to commence the removal of the soil. This will create a channel 26 metres wide and 3 metres deep between the road and the island and will be navigable for most of the season when the water level is back to normal. The work is estimated to last 3-4 weeks so you should be able to see how the work is progressing when you come up to the AGM.

Also the United Utilities Forestry team have taken down the old fence and started the replacement by putting in the new posts and a gate with the rails to be fitted in the next couple of weeks.

See you all at the AGM on the 21st February

Keith

I’ve finally got a feed from the weather station!

There’s different ways to look at it:

• The pretty way is at http://weather.sail.org.uk
• More detailed info is at http://weather.sail.org.uk/station.htm
• Or you can get bi-hourly updates from Twitter by following http://twitter.com/boltonweather

Remember though that it’s still a work in progress!

Hi

Just a quick note to advise on the latest development at the sailing club so far this year.

Despite the snow, Warren and I went up to the club over the Christmas period to let the Tiler gain access to the club to prepare the entrance for the new floor tiles. I can confirm that he has made a fantastic job as you can see from the before and after photos.

 
Before and after shots of entrance floor

Also, despite the snow, the contractors were working on the dam wall and the removal of the bridge over the spillway.

And the last item of information is that I managed to contact the United Utilities forestry officer who confirmed that the area to the left of the driveway will be replanted in native broad leaf oak which will grow very slowly and should not bother our sailing for at least 3 generations and this will fully comply with the felling licence that was issued to undertake the original felling work. All being well this activity should be completed (together with the repair to the fencing) by April 2010.

+ a couple of photos taken this morning of the club and yes the drive is still extremely tricky to get back onto the main road and the snow is about 10 inches deep on the car park.:

See you all at the annual dinner

Keith Roberts
Vice Commodore

Due to a burst in the gents changing room (shower area) the water is turned off until a repair can be completed.

Also if anyone visits the club, the doors to the changing room, entrance and galley should be closed on exit.

Additionally the drive has had to have a couple of wheel tracks dug in the ice/snow to get cars off the driveway and back on to the road.

A new sail for the Supernova

There is going to be a new sail. This is the grey sail that some of you will have seen (and indeed tried). It is currently with Cotswolds SC for their Supernova fleet to try and possibly provide some feedback as the sail is not yet in production.

The sail is made by Jeckells but will carry the Hartley Racing logo. The Hyde sail is to be dropped. There is more on this in the statement from Hartleys – including some very attractive introductory offers.

A new deck layout for the Supernova

As well as getting a new sail, the Supernova is to have a new deck layout. This re-design work is being done by Phil Morrison. The hull shape remains the same only the deck layout changes.

The main change is that the stern will be open and the cockpit self draining. Gone will be the Anaglypta like deck. The side decks will be stronger and there will be deck mouldings to assist with the fitting out (i.e, the mast ramp will be moulded in).

The intention is that one of these boats will be ready for the Dinghy Show in March. These changes are explained further on the Supernova website and once again there are some very attractive introductory offers.

Read more at http://www.supernovadinghy.org

Having had a meeting with United Utilities yesterday 4th December 2009, I can confirm that their original plans to remove 10,000 – 12,000 tonnes of material to create a passage between the road and the island are to proceed. Dennis Shevelan accompanied the United Utilities representatives and myself onto the berm and reviewed the proposed plans. From the sketch provided by United Utilities a channel will be excavated between the areas at the top of Farm mark through to Naze. The plan indicates that it will be approximately 26 metres wide and 3 metres deep ensuring that there will be enough water in the channel to create an island during the continuing works on the spillway. United Utilities advised that the work should commence in January and be completed in time for when the gulls return to start breeding in late February. Most of the material will be redistributed in a depression adjacent to the wall near the inlet from the ponds on the other side of the road. Whilst not as wide as we had originally hoped, it will mean that we will have a navigable channel under normal seasons water levels and enable us to utilise the passage between the road and the island for racing.

Having taken advice from both Dennis and Geoff it was been decided to postpone the removal of the sand/mud from the ramp on the main jetty until next season as if it is done now it will most likely require removing again next season.

Cheers
Keith Roberts
Vice Commodore

Update:
The work is in progress on the Spillway and outflow and the application to reduce the outflow of water during the period of the work has been sent to the Environment Agency and is awaiting approval. I am having a meeting on Friday this week with United Utilities to discuss the removal of the mud/sand of the main jetty (if the water goes down again) and also about the work to create a channel between the road and the island. (Don’t hold your breath regarding our proposal to create a navigable channel 40 metres wide) as the first quote has identified that some 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of material will require excavation and will produce a channel less than our requirements. The discussions continue!