HLSC welcomes complete beginners to experienced sailors. Dinghy sailing takes place on a 117 acre reservoir set in the foothills of the Pennines in Littleborough near Rochdale and is easily accessible; just 10 minutes from the M62, junction 21.

HLSC is run by its members for its members with a great family atmosphere, has good fleet racing, is committed to training & developing sailing skills and is an accredited RYA Training Centre.

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19th May 2013
by Graham Knox

The best turnout of boats on the Lake so far this year on Sunday and it looked as if the wind was not going to appear, but it started to fill in for the first race. It proved fickle race, with flat spots. As usual, some boats were slow to get to the start. Nick Brook, with Jane Clayton, won the first race in the Merlin Rockets to show improving form. However, David Winder and Pippa Taylor were the ones who did best in the other races. John Mellor and Katie Doherty narrowly missed winning the first race in the GP 14s, overtaken in the later stages by Martin Brennan with Nicola Thomason. Oliver Whitehead was on top form in the Solos, except that he, and Nigel Davey, thought they had completed the second race and failed to finish properly, so were deemed to have retired.

Results:
Merlin Rocket-
Race 1: 1.N Brook/J Clayton 2.D Winder/P Taylor 3.S Bates/A Hilton
Races 2 & 3: 1.D Winder/P Taylor 2.S Bates/A Hilton 3.N Brook/J Clayton

GP 14-
Race 1: 1.M Brennan/N Thomason 2.J Mellor/K Doherty 3.S McDougall/S Miles
Race 2: 1. M Brennan/N Thomason 2.J Mellor/K Doherty 3.G Knox/M Whitehead
Race 3: 1.A & E Carter 2.G Knox/M Whitehead 3.R Mason/J Dobbs

Solo-
Race 1: 1.O Whitehead 2.N Davey 3.D Hughes
Race 2: 1.G Booth 2.R Simpson 3.D Hughes
Race 3: 1.O Whitehead 2.D Hughes 3.G Booth

Laser-
Race 1: 1.M Rush

Mirror etc.
Race 1: 1.W Smith/E Parry
Race 2: 1.W Smith/E Parry 2.A Din (Pico) 3.T & M Winder
Race 3: 1.W Smith/E Parry 2.A Din (Pico) 3.M & G Winder

Wednesday 22nd May
by Graham Knox

A gusty breeze off the Lake Bank shore gave ‘full-on’ racing particularly enjoyed by the Merlins.

Results:
Merlin Rocket- 1.S Crook/S Townend 2.N Heginbotham/R Simmonds 3.D Winder/E Heginbotham
GP 14- 1.M & C Brennan 2.R Mason/K Flook
Solo- 1.O Whitehead
Mirror- 1.N & A Hornsby

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Lucky thirteen at our GP14 Open Meeting

Posted 16 May 2013

Thirteen proved a lucky number for Lee and Greg Thomas at Hollingworth Lake’s Northern Bell Series Open Meeting. The entry list included three boats from the Midlands to enjoy racing on the open welcoming waters, with a good westerly breeze.

The first race soon showed who the front runners were to be.   David and Seonaid Young, Peter Jacques and Peter Tate plus Matt Thursfield and Sarah Allen all from the Midlands were contenders, with Lee and Greg and Gary Deighan crewed by Dale Knowles upholding the North West.  The strong gusts gave opportunities for place changing on the upwind legs and it was the Youngs who won from the Thomas’s early lead.

After lunch, the Race Officer, Bruce Mager, had forecast a possible back-to-back two races. A change of course and the start found two boats too keen and so Matt Thursfield and Peter Jacques decided upon some race tuning on their own.  Meanwhile, Lee and Greg, the Youngs and Gary Deighan got on with the real race, finishing in that order.  The tuning session proved most helpful to Matt Thursfield as his boat set off in fine style for the third race. A figure-of-eight course was set for the race and it was again dominated by 5 boats.  Matt Thursfield led all the way to the finish, followed by Lee and Greg Thomas. The tuning session had also helped Peter Jacques who took third, putting the Youngs into fourth place.

The final scores saw tie break pairs to confirm the closeness of the racing.

Overall Results:

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Commodore’s Jottings

2 May 2013

Spring has finally arrived and hopefully with better weather we should see improvements in turnouts.  As I have said before please don’t base your decision to sail or not on a forecast but come up and see.  Earlier in the season we had a cracking sail on a day that was forecast for snow and gales!

Last Sunday we had our Open Day. The turnout by members was fantastic on the day and the people who came through the gates got a brilliant welcome.  We signed up 14 new people for potential training and are keeping our fingers crossed that most of them show up on Sunday.  When you turn up for sailing please make these potential new members as welcome as possible.

Friday evening sailing starts this week from 6.30pm.  This will be a mixture of training for those signed up for this, casual sailing for those who would like a sail with HLSC safety boat cover, practice for those who fancy this and drinking in the bar for the less energetic!

Many of you will be wondering what is happening with the club improvements.  The situation is that we have dropped the proposal to extend the garage due to cost constraints and will be concentrating on making the best of the original proposal.  We are at the tender stage at the moment and until we receive these we will be unable to say what the precise final costs are.  I will keep you posted.

You will have noticed some changes to the dinghy park configuration. Some debate took place at Management on Monday as to whether some available space could be used for parking.  It went to a vote but it was decided to carry on with the existing rule that there is no parking anywhere in the dinghy park when sailing (which includes training) is on.  Thanks for your cooperation with this.

Again on a serious note can I remind members who intend to sail out of our normal hours that they either do so at their own risk or need to purchase a day ticket from HOLWAC to get safety cover.

I have been asked several times if we are targeting new members who have no intention of sailing in club racing.  The situation is that we welcome anybody who wants to sail dinghies as a hobby or sport.  These people may not want to race but we would expect them to integrate into the club by taking their turn on duties such as rescue, bar and tea duties.  We do not intend being a boat park for non-active members.

A couple of weeks ago we had a pretty serious incident when a capsized boat flipped over the RIB in a gust of wind.  Fortunately nobody was hurt but this highlighted the need for RIB drivers to be confident for the conditions. Many members hold the Powerboat Level 2 certificate and a third of them have gone on to the Safety Boat certificate (Level 3) which concentrates on rescuing skills.  I would just like to make members aware of this course.  If they would like to avail themselves of it please see a member of the Training Committee.

Next Wednesday (8th May) we have a Pie and Peas Supper after sailing, please let Pat Brook know if you are coming.  We will be having meals after sailing on Wednesdays about once a month during the summer so keep your eyes open for these.  Also, the list is up for the Dinner Dance and Prizegiving, this was fully subscribed last year so sign up early to avoid disappointment.

I hope to see you soon

Stephen Crook
Commodore HLSC

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