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ASSC NEWS

Issue 22        July 2010   www.assc-cyprus.org.uk

Editorial

Question: how short can a year be? Answer: ask Simon Goldby as he has already packed his bags in readiness for his return to Marchwood this week! But what a huge amount he has packed into a very short 12 months! It all started when a heavily pregnant Joanne arrived on island a short time after Simon, and within the blink of an eye daughter number 2 had arrived, a sister for Lowry. Following Hermione’s safe arrival, Simon set about wrapping up 417 Maritime Troop, its fate decided long before Simon’s arrival here. Simon then came to my rescue and relieved me of my duty as Rear Commodore: after three and a half years, I never realised how much I needed the break! Thank you Simon! A month before he was due to leave the island, Simon sat the commissioned officers entrance board and we all wish him, Joanne, Lowry and Hermione every bit of success as they head home hopefully, to start a new adventure for the remainder of his years in the Army. Rob Griffiths of the Vessel Repair Section has clearly succumbed to some severe arm-twisting by Simon and has agreed to assume the duties as Rear Commodore to ASSC. We wish you Good Luck Rob!

As one chapter closes, so another one opens. Yes, it’s ‘all change’ at ASSC: not only has Simon reached the end of his very short tour, but so too has our esteemed Commodore, Group Captain John Gaffney. John and Fiona slipped quietly away, but not before introducing his successor as OC TPMH/Cmd Med, Group Captain Alastair Reid, to the club and committee, and we are delighted to welcome Group Captain Read, a seasoned sailor, as our new Commodore. Group Captain Reid is accompanied by Sylvia and their children, Douglas and Shona who are currently on island, holidaying from boarding school in the UK: this is their second tour at RAF Akrotiri, the first saw Alastair as the SMO in the late 90’s.

But it doesn’t end there. Ben Greenwood has now handed over the role as OIC to Flt Lt Dave Crawley – and just in time for our annual Regatta too! Timing is everything, Ben! Many thanks for your extremely valued inputs over recent months and we are reassured that the club remains in safe hands.

ASSC Regatta

So, on to the annual ASSC Regatta which took place down at the club from 9th-11th July. Having done most of the organising of previous recent regattas, this year I handed over the baton to Dave and Tris. And what a fantastic event it was! Record entries and record visitors (for recent years) came from a record number of the islands sailing clubs to the ASSC, this, despite notable absentees from Dhekelia in the form of the Cherries and Rod Kershaw, both being previous race winners in the Laser 2000 class. Once again the Paphos International Sailing Club (PISC) were very strongly represented and again they brought along some beautifully restored craft from a bygone era. The party atmosphere, with lots of good hearted banter continued throughout though the racing was closely fought and extremely challenging at times. This was particularly so during the first race, the General Handicap event: this is a single race for all dinghy types held on the Friday afternoon when the winds were gusting to close on 30 knots. Our fantastic safety boat crews have never worked so hard to keep over 40 wayward dinghy crews in order! The overall winner when all the dust had settled was Marcus Georgiou of Limassol Nautical Club sailing a Laser Radial: Marcus actually sailed across from Limassol to take part only minutes before the start of the race! A BBQ and supporting disco saw the inter-club banter continue well into the small hours of the morning, with a number of sailors nursing sore heads as daylight broke.

Saturday saw, as usual, light and variable winds late in the morning for the start of the weekends series racing leading to difficult sailing conditions, with some crews enjoying a reasonable breeze whilst others, perhaps just metres away drifting almost aimlessly. As the day wore on, so the winds set in and became stronger and more consistent with a distinct pattern of results emerging as crews established their positions in the batting order. That evening, the ever reliable Shalimar provided an excellent curry for the 90 plus diners and this was followed with an evening of entertainment thanks to the versatile group ‘Three’s Company’.

Sunday’s sailing conditions were very similar to Saturday’s with first of all, the sailors in the single-handed race (in double handed dinghies) attempting to overcome the fickle conditions. By the time the ladies race started just 5 minutes later, wind shifts soon had some of the stronger female crews in amongst the tail-enders of the single-handed event, leading to much dispute about abilities and fickle winds. The single-handed event was won by our very own Chris Wright in a laser 2000 with Fiona Gordon of ESSC picking up the winning ladies race trophy in her laser Radial. We then saw the final two races of the series events which again saw some very closely contested racing with that man Marcus Georgiou emerging as the overall winner of the handicap series in his Laser Radial. Christos Karakoulakis cleaned up in the Laser 1 series whilst Keith McQuillin and crew, Costas of ESSC showed everyone a clean pair of heels in the Laser 2000 series. Young Raphael Theadorus of Limassol was equally dominant in the Junior event in his Optimist over our own Jason and Lauren Turner, both in Laser Pico’s. But hats off to the Turner children who learnt to sail with ASSC only a couple of months earlier!         The next event on the calendar is the Dhekelia Regatta scheduled to take place over the weekend of 10-12 September. This is always a cracking event too and if you’d like to take part, it’s time to get that tow hitch fitted in readiness as we never have enough towing vehicles…