Category Archives: social

Long service award from the RYA

I am delighted to share with you that our very own Tony Walker has been conferred a Long Service Award by the RYA.

Tony joined Forfar Sailing Club in 1974/5 and has been a continuous member ever since. During this time he has always taken an active part in the running and development of the club, including holding various positions as committee member, Secretary and twice Commodore. Even now, he continues his strong work and community ethic as the current co-ordinator for ground and building maintenance: organising work parties and making sure that the steps and pontoons are safe, as well as cutting the grass every week!

Over the years Tony has worked with various local groups and organisations to attract new members to the club. He was key to the return of Aberdeen University Sailing Club to Forfar and continues to encourage and develop our relationship with them. He keeps in regular contact with other affiliated groups, such as the Radio Sailors and local Angling club to maintain and develop good relationships.

Tony has an incredible amount of drive and once he has set his sights on a goal, no obstacle is too great. He makes excellent use of his local contacts to ensure that the club is well supported by local companies and other clubs.

In 2021, he was instrumental in getting the “skiff project” off the ground and through to completion. Bringing together the Rotary to help with finding funding, Men’s Shed to build the skiff and Strathmore Cricket Club to provide a shed to build it in.  He also organised for students at the local secondary school to be involved. Forfar Sailing club now looks after two skiffs and encourages member of the public of all ages to take part at the various sessions that are run each week.

Recently he has worked with a local architect, local rangers, local industry and Historic Scotland to develop a storage area for the Club on St Margaret’s Inch, which is a Scheduled Monument so development is very sensitive. As always, his drive to reach a suitable solution keeps things moving forward.

Tony continues to be an active member on the water and regularly takes part in the series racing each week. Even when conditions are challenging, he is the first to say ‘come on, let’s get sailing!’.  He is also very generous with his time on the water and will pretty much go out on any boat if it helps to get someone else out on the water. A lapsed dinghy instructor, he is always available to take new sailors out and often supports young and inexperienced sailors to take the helm. He regularly engages a cadet member as his crew for club regattas and encourages everyone to get involved to the best of their ability.

We are a very small club and over the 12 years that I have been a member we have faced continual challenges with attracting new members. Tony’s unwavering support is without doubt a significant factor in securing the club’s future.

Please join me in congratulating Tony on his achievement and dedication to Forfar Sailing & Watersports Club.

Note that he is currently reluctant to receive his award at the RYA Awards Presentation & reception at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports show in Farnborough in February, due to its potential clash with the FWSC prize giving! 

All the best,

Helen Brown

Skiff regatta

On Saturday the 24th there is a skiff regatta on Forfar Loch on the birthday of the ‘Mary Campbell’. The day will start with boats arriving from 8:30 with breakfast rolls. Tea and coffee during the day as well as some excellent cakes to keep going. There will be sandwiches for lunch time.

Racing will begin at 10:30 on the loch, where we have a 1km straight to create a 2km long race.

Our race categories are:

  • 280 mix
  • 50+women
  • open mixed
  • 60+women
  • 60+men
  • open women
  • 50+women
  • 60+mixed

Please pop in if you have time and support the skiff team.

A word from the commodore

Did someone say it was August? What, already? Well by date it is, if not by weather. This means we are at the rough mid-point of the summer season. Although we have had sessions not run due to too little wind we have also had some unseasonably blowy days impact on sailing.

Training for the remainder of the season is by one-to-one arrangements due to the availability of our experienced training team. So if people do have the training they would like to do please contact the club and we will try to pair you up with a trainer and date.

We have taken the decision to cancel the Endurance Race we had scheduled in September so the committee can focus their efforts on the main club social on the 23rd Sept. Further details will be sent out as they are finalised but please ask any of the committee how the Reggatta/Ceilidh works – it is a really good night with a fabulous band and fun dancing. Even if you don’t sail I can highly recommend the Ceilidh – as with all socials the more folks come along the better it is so please do try to come. (Says he who will very reluctantly miss it this year due to work).

We have revised the sailing program and this revised copy should have dropped into members inboxes. Boats away have been set as 4 Nov (meet at the club at 10 am). We are yet to set the date for the general meeting in October but will advise of this once a date has been established – this is an important meeting as it is when you, the members, decide who will lead your club for the next year. We will have a particular need for a Secretary and Commodore/Vice commodore (sailing) but if you are interested in any position in the committee or simply getting more involved in guiding the club, this is the meeting to attend. If you have any questions – please ask any of the committee members and they can guide you further.

All for now

Yours – Mark

Tyr sailing and training weekend

During last weekend we had 2 boats out for a ‘try sailing’ where both enjoyed their time on the water. One was so keen that he came back the next day as a member to take part in the training.

On Sunday we had some members out for a second training day, 2 took to the water in a wanderer under instructions from Malcolm, while the other 2 braved it out solo and used the club laser. With the safety boat between them and giving instructions or support they managed to stay upright, sail up, down and from side to side on the loch. Some slight mishaps and connecting with the boom did not stop them going back out after a tea break.

Gus enjoyed it so much that he decided to join in the race, making it a firefly, a wanderer and 2 lasers. Course set to X (Z), K, C and F to port before coming back to A to starboard. 3 laps, where we had Jack in a topper joining in to get some experience sailing a course.

All in all a good weekend, Saturday the skiff was out in Montrose. Maybe we can get a few words on that with the large amount of photos that are taken on that day and place them online and in the news letter.

Opening regatta and invite from the skiffies

Hi all,

The skiffies would like to invite you to a social on Sunday 30th April from 4pm until around 7pm. It’s an opportunity for the whole club to get together. The plan is for the club to order in pizza and you can BYOB.

If you’d like to come along please message Sarah with your name(s) or reply by email. We hope to see you there 😀🚣‍♀️

Opening Regatta (Sunday 23 April):

The briefing for the opening regatta is at 10:45 with the first gun at 11:00 with a target of 3 races (minimum). Anyone welcome, if there are (new) members that would like to offer themselves as crew please let us know and we will try to get you into a boat.

We will be looking for some bakes to be available, please let us now if you can provide some (with a note of the main ingredients for any allergies)

The commodore
Mark Kimber

Training day

This Sunday (16 April) we have a training day for beginners and anyone that would like a refresher. The syllabus for this first session will be focusing around the initial introduction to sailing with teaching focused on rigging and sailing (with a competent helm/crew) double-hander boats. The plan will be to use the club Wanderer, Feva’s or members’ own double-hander boats.