Iniscealtra Sailing Club Newsletter
August 2000

Dear Members

I hope you all enjoyed good sailing over the summer.  The racing crews spring into action on Sunday next with the first race of the September EIS series.  The Gortmore Bell is scheduled for Saturday Sept 9^th, more on this later. (See page 3)

There have been one or two very significant events over the summer which are worth a mention.

Aistear

On June 21^st, some club members attended the official opening of Aistear, which if you don’t already know, is situated in the grounds located across the road from our harbour.

As you probably have already seen, Aistear has many attractive features. The project took an enormous amount of effort from the local community and deserves our appreciation and support. Special thanks to those ISC members who attended this event.

Millennium Barbecue

Where were you on Saturday August 12^th?  If you happened to be in the club harbour, you would certainly not have forgotten.

The barbecue was lit at about 6pm and members and friends from ISC and Gary SC assembled for some great food, wine and crack. Afterwards, we relaxed on a beautiful summer’s evening and when the light faded, we were able to switch on our specially constructed harbour lights. Many thanks to Hugh McG. for having the harbour in such excellent shape.  The singing started and continued into the early hours though it was noticed that one or two of our crew went short on cans and couldn’t resist the high road to Keane’s at the end.

Of course, none of this would have happened without the guidance and supervision of our master of ceremonies, Pat Mortell. Well done Pat for making it happen.

Moorings

After some excellent work by Paudie Humphries and Pat Keville, we have managed to assign moorings to many of our newly elected members who have been on the waiting list.

If you have subscribed for a mooring and you want to know your status, please

contact Paudie at 061 378088.

Club Harbour

The club harbour continues to look in excellent shape. This week, lights are being added around the pier as well as some other safety features.  This is especially welcomed at this time of year as we head into the Autumn evenings.

As previously mentioned, we would like to ask boat owners to please refrain from leaving their boats in the club harbour if unattended. Please co-operate with our Harbour Master in keeping berths clear.

Navigation Course

 The West Coast Cruising School, headed up by one of our long-term members, Brendan Travers, will be running another Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased Course starting on Nov 6^th, 2000.  The course will run for 16 Monday evenings until March.

From a safety and practical point of view, the course comes well recommended and is ISA approved.  If interested, contact Brendan @ (065) 6822440 or @ 087-235 1976.

Other

Saturday Nov 18^th is a date to note as this will be the date of our annual Dinner Dance which will be held again at the Kincora Hall in Killaloe.

Best regards

 Mike Connolly

Autumn Racing Series

We hope that by now, all racing folk are tuning their yachts for the Autumn series starting on Sept 2^nd and particularly for the Gortmore Bell on Saturday Sept 9^th.

E.I.S.  September Series

A series of 4 races for the September Series Trophy, one discard.

R. H. Condell October Series

A series of 4 races for the October Series Trophy, one discard.

The ISC perpetual cup is an open race and is the final race in 2000.

Entry:  £ 5 per race.  £10 Gortmore Bell.  £10 Gary Visitors Cup (for RNLI)

Gortmore Bell – 2000

 The arrangements for the Gortmore Bell are similar to previous years.  The briefing for the day will be at 10.30am in the club harbour. Tickets for the Gortmore dinner (to be held in Mountshannon Hotel) will be sold during the morning at £8.50 each. It is essential to purchase your meal tickets in the morning as the hotel need to know the numbers.

 Regards,

Sean Collins