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GHYC July Newsletter
From the Commodore
 What a busy month as the Club gets into the summer holidays! The ISA Sailing School started on July 1st with some 80 juniors on the water capably managed by our team of instructors. The Squib and Dragon fleets enjoyed close racing in their respective Derbys.
The Club BBQ at Casey’s fed some 100 members and friends and the sold-out Ladies Lunch at Liss Ard was a great success. Thanks to the hard work of our social teams and generosity of participants, we have raised around €4,000 for our Club Development Fund.
 We had 28 boats racing/cruising in champagne-style sailing conditions to Castletownshend for the usual wonderful lunch at Mary Anne’s Bar on Saturday, July 13th. There was also a great turn out for the Club Race Officer Course with 17 participants learning the protocols and flags. Women on the Water (WOW) got started on Monday, July 22nd and we wait with bated breath for the results of the Marconi Cup team racing postponed to Sunday, July 28th.
August will be just as hectic with the Sailing School at full stretch. Sailing kicks off with the Gordon Cup on Sunday, August 4th, followed by the Rabbit Island Family Cruise on Monday, August 5th. Our Annual Summer Party will be in the Courtyard on the evening of August 4th and the Gentlemen’s Jolly will be on August 8th followed by the Clanathlon on August 10th.
Then there is lots more sailing through the month with dinghy racing every Tuesday and Thursday and Dragon and Squib racing every Wednesday and Saturday. In addition, the Squib Summer Cup is scheduled for August 6th to August 8th followed by three regattas, back-to-back from August 17th to September 1st. Check the Save the Date section below for full details.
Thank you to all our volunteers and Sailing School Instructors for making our little sailing club so vibrant.
John Wyles
Commodore
Save the Date
August 4: Gordon Cup for Dinghies
August 4: GHYC Annual Club Dinner and Party
August 5: Family Day out to Rabbit Island
August 6-8: Squib Summer Cup
August 8: Gentleman's Jolly to Clonakilty
August 10: Clanathlon
August 17-18: Glandore Regatta
August 24-25: Glandore Inn Rose Bowl
Aug 30-Sept 1: Irish Dragon South Coast Championships
GHYC Annual Summer Party
 It's all systems go for the fabulous fun night of the year in the Courtyard on Sunday, August 4th at 7PM. Guest chef Michelle McCormack has prepared a great menu, DJ Paul has his 70/80s disco raring to go and the pop-up bar is ready to serve!!
Ticket sales have just gone live on the Club website. Click here to find out how to buy tickets. Note that because spaces are strictly limited to 100, (50 were sold yesterday alone!), they are available to members only, so get booking fast for what should be a fantastic night.
 The first three weeks of June saw over 100 local children participate in the Schools' programme, culminating in the annual Primary School’s Regatta on June 19th. Race Officer, Tim Forde and his team were faced with winds gusting into the 20's but all races were successfully run in the challenging conditions, with the main question being “would Union Hall maintain the death grip they’ve had on the Trophies for years now?” The answer looked like “Yes” as Union Hall aces, Ben Perez and Lucy Deasy romped home to win the Fleet Race and the Fehily Timoney Weston Cup.
Perez and Deasy again featured strongly in the Team Race but great boat handling and slick crew changeover by the Abbeystrewery N.S. team of Max and Jess Tubb, Scott Fuller and Aoife O Donnell did the trick and saw the Abbstrewery team raise the Team Race Cup and also go on to victory in the Bring The Parent Home race. Leap and Glandore battled the conditions well but they were no match for the Union Hall and Abbeystrewery crews who had all been sailing weekly at the GHYC Sunday Dinghy Leagues in 2018/2019 and were well battle hardened.
These great days, and the weeks of sailing leading up to the event are only possible due to the generosity of the instructors, helpers and adult volunteers plus the boat crew who give so generously of their time to ensure we can run a programme of this size. Thanks to all of you for your skills and generosity and thanks also to Bernard, Finbarr and all their staff at the Glandore Inn for taking such good care of the team for three weeks.
BBQ at Casey's Bar
Once again we had a great BBQ at Casey’s on July 6th. The weather was with us and the turnout was enthusiastic. By the end of the evening, 96 happy diners had been well fed, thanks to the BBQing skills of Kieran, Diarmuid, Fergal and Tadgh, and the delicious salads that so many of you kindly brought.
Big thanks to Mary, Lar and Patrick who organised the venue so effectively and to Aoife for ‘selling the plates’ so nicely.
Squib Derby and Fleet Leagues
 A compact fleet of three came to the start line for the annual blitz that is the 14-race Squib Derby.
Day one provided easy sailing conditions that were well exploited by Kingfisher who finished with five wins under their belt. A livelier second day saw Too Dee turn the tables – taking five firsts of their own and with more second places in the bag, they claimed this year's Squib Derby honours.
At the halfway point of the season, three of the fleet leagues have been completed. The Dragon Golden Sail was claimed by Phyloong – congrats to Rui and crew. The Squibs have completed two series with Kingfisher topping the Early League and Golden Eagle claiming the Early Summer Evening trophy. The fleets continue their league competition on Saturdays and Wednesdays through to the end of August.
Dragon Derby
 Eight Dragons took part in this year's Derby sailed in the inner harbour on Saturday and the outer harbour on Sunday. Racing was very close with six boats recording at least one race win in the 14 races - all capably managed by John and Ann on the wall plus Hal and Rory in the Aquastar. With five wins to their credit, the team on Pongo took the coveted prize of the Derby Decanter filled with Mount Gay Rum.
Castletownshend Race
 On the fine morning of July 13th, a fleet of 10 Dragons, 14 Squibs and assorted cruisers, ribs and other craft departed Glandore for the annual Castletownsend race.
Conditions were favourable with spinnakers hoisted from the start in a gentle north-easterly. Despite a calm period that involved a bit of bobbing around at High Island, all participants made it to Mary Ann’s in good time for the well-deserved lunch.
Prize-giving followed where Trojan took the honours for the Squibs and Pongo claimed the Dragon prize following some deft work on the finish line. The wind gods were watching and obliged with a full reversal in direction by the time we were back on the water. So it was spinnakers up again for a swift run home. Lobsters courtesy of Glenmar went to Trojan and Aphrodite for the return race.
Ladies Lunch
 The GHYC Ladies Lunch returned to the beautiful Liss Ard Country Estate on Thursday, July 18th.A great day of fun and chatter was had by all of the 99 ladies present, making €3,400 for a new safety boat for GHYC in the process.
A big well done and sincere thanks to the following:
 GHYC Dream Team for organising such an enjoyable event- Liss Ard for a delicious gourmet three-course lunch
- All the generous prize sponsors and especially to artist, Deirdre Brennan for donating one of her magnificent nautical paintings as the star prize of the day
- Richard Bradburn (also our Club Treasurer) for the beautiful piano playing on entry
- And most especially to the 99 ladies present who dug deep for GHYC and made the day so much fun
Marconi Cup
 Following the wise decision to cancel the event last Sunday on safety grounds, two GHYC teams are set to travel to Baltimore Sailing Club this Sunday to try and win this event. The teams have been training hard under the stewardship of Senior Instructor, Ruari Brown.
Dinghy League and Gordon Cup
There has been great racing taking place every Tuesday and Thursday evening with some fantastic competitors taking the reins and moving up the ranks in the growing fleet. Why not get involved in the August League which starts on July 30th (a little early to make up the shorter league of races).
The Gordon Cup will be held on the morning of August 4th. Registration will take place from 9AM to 9.45AM with a briefing and the first gun will be at 11AM. Everyone is welcome but the trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring helm/crew who must be 18 or under on the day. It will be followed by prize-giving shortly and some finger food and also the results from the July Mixed Dinghy League. More details can be found on the Club Noticeboard or on the racing NORS on the GHYC website. We hope to see you all there!
ISA Sailing Courses
We have places left on a Taste of Sailing course beginning the week of August 12th. Full details and booking can be made on the GHYC website.
If you have been on one of our courses already, why not take advantage of the safety cover provided during our open sailing during the week of August 12th to hone your skills?
Members should also take advantage of our resident power boat instructor and get qualified to drive the Club powerboats. We can arrange courses for groups of three people. If you are interested, contact training@glandoreyc.com.
We are running a Dinghy Instructor course at Halloween. Places are limited. Prerequisites:
- Safeguarding - August 6th
- Instructor Pre-entry - August 10th - places are limited and we are running a Pre-entry series of training evenings during the week of August 5th
- Powerboat Certificate
Contact training@glandoreyc.com for information on any of the above.
Safety Boat Course
The start of the journey to becoming a competent powerboat driver are the Level 1 and 2 courses which we run on site with Eoin Quinn. A good next step is the ISA Safety Boat Course.
So far this year we have run three of these courses. For instructors wishing to move up the instructing ladder or people looking to help out with the dinghy leagues, we recommend this as a good course to do.
Contact training@glandoreyc.com to register an interest
Call for Volunteers
If you can help at any time during the important upcoming Club events listed below, please contact John Williams at websupport@glandoreyc.com.
Glandore Inn Rose Bowl: August 24/25
Saturday, August 24th
- Starting at 09:00 in Union Hall, volunteer helms for two ferries to transfer Dragons from Union Hall to Glandore, then transfer to ferry duty in Glandore
- Starting at 11:00, one more helm to provide additional ferry service in Glandore
- Starting at 11:00, three volunteers to help crew the Support and Mark boats
- Between 13:00 and 16:00, one helm volunteer in Glandore to ferry crew from any retiring boat from the event
- From approx. 16:00, volunteer helm to run three ferries to bring crew ashore
Sunday, August 25th
- Starting at 10:00, three volunteer helms to operate three ferries to transfer crews to craft
- Starting at 11:00, three volunteers to help crew the support and mark boats
- Between 12:00 and 16:00, one helm volunteer in Glandore to ferry crew from any retiring boat from the event
- From approximately 16:00, volunteer helm to run three ferries to bring crew ashore
Dragon Southern Championships - August 30th to September 1st
Friday 30th August
- Starting at 08:00 in Union Hall, two volunteer helms for two ferries to transfer Dragons from Union Hall to Glandore
- At 10:30, ferry to transport crew to Dragons in
- Glandore Harbour
- Starting at 10:30, one additional helm volunteer to assist in ferrying activity in Glandore
- Starting at 11:00, three volunteers to help crew two Mark boats and a Support boat
- Between 13:00 and 16:00, one helm volunteer to ferry crew from any retiring boat from the event
- Starting at 16:00, three volunteer helms to ferry crew back ashore
Saturday 31st August
- Starting at 09:00, volunteer helms to operate three ferries to ferry crew to craft
- Starting at 09:30, three volunteers to help crew the Support and Mark boats
- Between 11:00 and 15:00, one helm volunteer to ferry crew from any retiring boat from the event
- From approximately 16:00, volunteer helm to run three ferries to bring crew ashore
Sunday 1st September
- Starting at 09:00, volunteer helms to operate three ferries to ferry crew to craft
- Starting at 09:30, three volunteers to help crew the Support and Mark boats
- Between 11:00 and 14:00, one helm volunteer to ferry crew from any retiring boat from the event
- From approximately 16:00, volunteer helm to run three ferries to bring crew ashore. Some ferrying may be required from Union Hall back to Glandore.
Union Hall Pier
Members are requested to contact the Harbour Master, Garrett O’Mahony, (085) 870 5996, before leaving a boat and/or trailer on the pier. The Harbour Master will advise where it can be parked and for how long.
New Restaurant in Glandore
Lola's Café & Restaurant (our neighbour and formerly the Glandore Bistro) has now re-opened for coffee (10am+), lunch (12-3PM) and dinner (6-9.30PM, Wed-Sat). Reservations: (028) 33718
Get to know your Committee Members
Rui Ferreira - Dragon Class Captain
 Where were you born?
I was born in Portugal in April 1964 in Barreiro. My father is from Barreiro and my mother is from Lisboa.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I studied Art & Design in Barreiro and left Portugal in 1985. I worked as a draughtsman and designer for an architect company in South Africa. I left South Africa in 1993 and then studied boat-building in England in 1995. I came to Ireland in 1997 were I have my boat-building business and furniture making of my own designs in Ballydehob.
When did you first sail?
My first experience of sailing happened when I was nine years old. I will never forget it - they towed us five Optimists to the middle of the River Tejo and told us to sail back to shore. Some of the kids never went back sailing again. I never told my mother just in case she wouldn't let me go sailing again!
What’s your fondest sailing memory?
My fondest sailing moment was when I took charge of a Beneteau 31.7 in Schull. With seven races to go and at 11th place in the league, we ended up winning every single race and also the league.
When did you become a member of GHYC?
I became a member of GHYC last year 2018.
What’s your favourite aspect of the Club?
I joined the Club with the aim of doing one-design racing of which both fleets, Dragon and Squibs, are very attractive. I had great help from the other Club members. I was touched by their warm welcome. The Club has a good core and a friendly atmosphere on water and on land.
Thoughts on your present Committee role?
In my present role as Dragon Class Captain, I would like to carry on the good work of past Captains by promoting the Class and also to help any Dragon in need.
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