Sherpa Desmond has fired up the troops for another assault on the Wicklow hills shortly - Saturday 25th Nov, meeting point is Lynams of Laragh 10.30, for a walk up Paddock Hill. This will be a relatively short walk to get people back in the swing.

  e-mail him at kevindesmond@eircom.net - walkers should always bring suitable clothing and footwear, letting someone know their plans.

Danny Cleary Clubperson of the Year

  Every year we honour one of our members for dedication above and beyond the call of duty in memory of Danny Cleary, who almost lived in the club. This year the fitting recipient is Angela Nolan who has worked diligently to help keep the wheels turning, especially with our catering needs. She starred with a small team during the Round Ireland and has been a very visible presence over the years in many facets of our club. Well done Angela - you put us younger folk to shame.

Universities Team Racing in Wicklow

  The O Sullivan clan have left their mark on Wicklow Sailing Club in more ways than one, but this correspondent believes that the weekend 21st/22nd of October will take some beating.

  27 teams of students (including 1 consisting of WSC Juniors) with c.160 sailors took part in the Inter Universities Eastern Championships in Wicklow, organised by Rory O Sullivan of DIT. They created a wonderful spectacle of Firefly dinghies competing in mini fleets of 6 boats just outside the harbour over Saturday and Sunday, resulting in a gold final contested by 2 Cork flytes - CIT and UCC, finishing 1, 2 in that order. 

  Off the water, the clubhouse hosted 2 very well attended social evenings with most of the students participating. Despite the large numbers of energetic youngsters, damage was minimal and a good time was had by all, as well as our bar turning a tidy profit.

  Congratulations to Rory and Barry O Sullivan with their respective teams of helpers, boat and gear providers and to all the students who acquitted themselves well both on and off the water. Wicklow Sailing Club has shown itself capable of rising to the challenge yet again.

  Wicklow Sailing Club might be small in size but it has a big heart and regularly punches well above its weight - more active volunteers would help spread the workload.

New look boat park takes shape

  After years of stones in their shoes/wheels, members now have a brand new concreted surface for their dinghies and cruisers, thanks in the main to Gerry Haughton and Anthony O Rourke and their dedicated helpers/advisers. Club spirit and manpower personified. Well done to all.

  We also have to thank a very generous sponsor (through the good offices of Judge Gerry) who donated €2,000 towards the cost of surfacing the boat park.

Congratulations to Fiona Butterworth and Sean Flood and our Junior Training Committee on a very well attended and run event over 3 weeks in August this year. The future of sailing is bright for Wicklow with this enthusiastic bunch of young folk, who are learning new sailing and people skills in this well supervised environment. The ISA Training Scheme has been running for nearly 30 years and its great to see it continuing to prosper on our own doorstep. John Headley was one of the early driving forces and is still active in Club affairs in his 80's, an example to us all - young and older.

  Anyone with an interest in the future development of Water Leisure activities (ie Sailing in our case) in Wicklow should click on the link below and see what the far sighted planners have in mind for upgrading our Harbour - in short, little or nothing. Unless we make submissions now, it will be too late in 7 years time when the next process will be taking place. Submissions can be made to the Town Council offices up til November 30th. We have no where to go with our sport unless a major rethink happens - your call. (copy and paste this link into your browser)

Social Events Meeting - all welcome Nov 3rd 8.30pm

Rugby - Ire v S Africa Nov 11th 17.00

v Australia Nov 19th 16.00

Committee Meeting 17th Nov 8.30pm

Annual Club Dinner Sat 18th Nov 8pm (please book early) - Cruiser Prizegiving has been deferred - possibly to 6th Jan 2007

Annual General Meeting Fri 24th Nov 8pm

WSC Walkers meet Lynams Laragh Sat 25th Nov 10.30am

Rugby - Ire v Pacific Is. Nov 26th 14.45

Christmas Decorations Thur 7th Dec 9pm

Round Ireland Thank You Party Fri 8th Dec 8pm

Childrens Party 3pm / Adults Party & Carols Sun 17th Dec 7pm

Junior Disco Fri 30th Dec 9pm

New Years Eve Party (Turkish?/Murder Mystery?) Sat 31st Dec 9pm

Cruiser Racing Prizegiving Fri 6th Jan 9pm

Please play your part and be involved.

Your Social Committee are working hard to keep the Club open over the winter months, we need your support. Every member should try to attend at least one function a month – you will benefit your club and yourself by making the effort.

In the New Year, we hope to encourage all boatowners (and crews) to get involved in running events – quizzes, fashion shows, cheese and wine, meals, talk shows, debates etc etc. Other non-sailing members are also encouraged to assist/get involved.

With the cruisers in their winter beds, the wee bit of space left of our newly concreted boat park is already full with dinghies, and most will hopefully be racing in our popular freezer series. The 1st race was held Sun 29th Oct with a respectable fleet of 10 dinghies - lasers, wayfarers and a tardy 420. The airs were light and Peter Shearer/Charlie Kavanagh in Midnight took line honours and had 10 seconds to spare on handicap to pip Jason Moran in his full rig Laser, after a nip and tuck race between the 2 boats. Races will be held on every alternate Sunday, 1st gun at 12.55pm.

With Gerry Haughton now taking charge of the boatpark, it is hoped all non-racers will vacate it to make room for other Freezer series racers. Please be so good as to remove your boat if it is not being entered for the series. Remember, this is not a free storage facility - no boats may be in the boat park without paying the requisite fee.

   Following on the very successful Race and Festival, our entertainments supremo, Sadie Phelan put her organisational talents to work in putting together a superb Round Ireland Prizegiving Dinner Dance in the Grand Hotel, on Saturday 21st October, with c.250 guests.

  BMW were present to see the fruits of their sponsorship and the various prizewinners received their coveted trophies, with Eric Lisson following in the late great Denis Doyles footsteps having won for a 2nd time (1st 2002) on Cavatina. The irrepressible Sharon Crosbie and her band supplied the music and had the crowds rocking into the early hours. Needless to say, Sadies efforts also paid handsome dividends for our club coffers - well done Sadie.

  Dennis Noonan announced that the race will revert to its normal Midsummer slot on June 21st for the 2008 event and we would hope to have our excellent sponsors BMW still on board.

2006 Round Ireland Race and Festival

  Well, they said it couldn't be done - but WSC Committee, Race organisation and members in 2006 pulled out all the stops and with the help of our excellent sponsors and supporters, this years BMW Round Ireland Race and Festival was a huge success both on and off the water. We provided 4 days of pre-race

 entertainment and our 39  competitor boats enjoyed our famous post race hospitality, with numerous complimentary comments received by the Race Office as well as very positive press comments. Despite the light winds, the 2006 race was considered very challenging and the smaller and older boats held their own against the best that money can buy. A photo montage and report on events will follow shortly.