(latest items appear first)
Club
Reopens, 21st April 2019
The club will be reopening on 21st April. The opening day race will be sailed for the President's Plate. As usual there will be a bring-your-own buffet.
New
Sailing Programme, 28th January 2019
As a result of the club survey, AGM comments and committee discussions, this year sees a significant change to the structure of the sailing/events programme and trophies. For example, pursuit races will be replaced by a general race series. Rules for other trophies have also been modified to allow them to be awarded fairly. Personal handicaps will be applied on an ongoing basis to various race series.
Two races will continue to be held at 13.30 and 15.30 on Sundays. Racing during the summer months has been interspersed with activity days to allow wider member participation. Members can see the changes in their new membership cards.
The new sailing programme can be found on the Activities page.
Loch Ard
Winter Lunch, 19th January 2019
The first winter lunch on 19th January was well-attended, with both current and previous members turning up. More winter lunches will follow in February and March.
Loch Ard
on YouTube, 31st December 2018
A time-lapse video of the Loch in 2018 is now available on YouTube. This combines photographs taken by the Loch Ard web camera at 12.00 each day.
Web
Cam Photographs, 31st December 2018
Some of the nicer photos taken by the webcam in 2018 are as follows. (Click to see a larger version of the photographs.)
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| Afternoon 13/05/18 | Sunrise 20/10/18 |
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| Midday 04/12/18 | Sunrise 16/12/18 |
50th AGM
and Annual Prize-Giving, 9th December 2018
The club's 50th AGM and annual prize-giving took place on 9th December. Congratulations to Calum Robertson who won the lion's share of these.
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| Some of The Trophies at The Annual Prize-Giving |
50th
Anniversary Lunch and Reunion, 28th October 2018
The club's 50th anniversary lunch and reunion took place at the Crannog Restaurant on 28th October. There was a good turnout of current and previous members. Brian Morris received a special plaque for having been a member continuously for 50 years.
Some photographs of the event are shown below. (Click to see a larger version of the photograph.)
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| 50th Anniversary Lunch | Former Commodores |
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| Brian Morris receiving 50-Year Plaque from Nigel Orr | |
Drennan
Trophy and Marathon Race, 14th October 2018
The final races of the season were sailed on 14th October with a good wind and sunshine. There was an encouraging turnout of participants, including some junior members putting up a credible challenge to the more experienced. Congratulations to Colin and Ann Boyd who successfully defended the Drennan Trophy, and to Robert Signer who won the Marathon Cup.
Solo
Travellers Event, 6th October 2018
The club was pleased to welcome a number of visitors for the Solo Travellers Event on 6th October. Three races were sailed in pleasant sunshine but light and fluky winds. The overall results were as follows:
| Place | Sail No | Helm | Club | Points | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 |
| 1 | 4870 | Ross Watson | Loch Tummel SC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 5602 | Keith Milroy | St Mary's Loch SC | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | 4502 | Malcolm Worsley | Royal Tay SC | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | 5801 | Willie Todd | Largs SC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | 4766 | David Whyte | CCC Bardowie SC | 9 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| 6 | 5627 | David Parkin | Aberdeen &Stonehaven YC | 10 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 7 | 4856 | Robert Signer | Loch Ard SC | 13 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| 8 | 5802 | Patrick Burns | RYA | 13 | 10 | 6 | 7 |
| 9 | 5447 | Nigel Ford | St Andrew's SC | 17 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| 10 | 14517 | Rob Cordingley | Loch Ard SC | 17 | 8 | 9 | 11 |
Some photographs of the event are shown below. (Click to see a larger version of the photograph.)
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| Solo Race 1 | Solo Race 2 |
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| Solo Race 3 | Solo Prizegiving |
Member
Survey, 4th October 2018
The committee requested opinions from members as to how the club could be developed and improved. The survey was distributed by email and could be found online.
Annual
Regatta, 25th/26th August 2018
The club's 50th annual regatta was held on 25th and 26th August. The Saturday saw sunny and reasonably windy conditions, while the Sunday was somewhat wet and less windy. The top placings were as follows:
| Place | Sail No | Class | Helm | Crew | Club | Points | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 |
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| 1 | 1732 | Streaker | Calum Robertson | LASC | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 3237 | Flying Fifteen | Rob Cordingley | Oscar Wingate | LASC | 10 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 1820 | Q'ba | Robert Signer | LASC | 15 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 4 | 3668 | Flying Fifteen | Colin Boyd | Ann Boyd | LASC | 15 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 10328 | Heron | Nigel Orr | LASC | 24 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
Separate races were run for juniors and cadets. The main placings in this were 1st Jonah Bracciali, 2nd Archie Gordon, and 3rd Siena Vladimirov.
Some photographs of the event are shown below. (Click to see a larger version of the photograph.)
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| Regatta Final Race | Calum Robertson receiving Trophy from John Cooper |
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| Optimists getting ready to sail | Optimist Prizewinners |
Training
Day, 11th August 2018
Another training day was allocated for the morning of Saturday 11th August. Training was offered on a first-come first-served basis. Optimist dinghy training was offered for junior/cadet members, and Wayfarer/Stratos dinghy training for adults.
Get in touch with the training officer via the Contacts page.
Solstice
Sortie, 23rd June 2018
The club organised a well-attended Solstice Sortie on 23rd June that allowed members to explore the loch in a variety of craft. A few of the participants are shown below. (Click to see a larger version of the photograph.)
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| Some Solstice Sortie Participants |
Push The
Boat Out, 27th May 2018
The club Participated in the RYA Push The Boat Out event on 27th May that encouraged people to get on the water. Visitors were able to try out sailing and were also entertained by on-shore activities.
The club was delighted with the success of the event. Nearly 80 visitors took advantage of the fantastic weather to come and enjoy taster sailing sessions, with a lot of young people taking out canoes and swimming in the loch. Among the enthusiastic responses from visitors were remarks like "Everyone was so friendly", "Made me realise what an accessible sport sailing is" and "After sailing here today we would love to join the sailing club".
Some pictures of the event are as follows. (Click to see a larger version of the photographs.)
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| Visitors on Shore | Visitors on Water |
Schools
Taster Session, 4th May 2018
The club has been running taster events for the past two years with the assistance of Active Stirling. Those taking part have had a great day out as well as learning a little about sailing. The club aims to encourage sailing as a sport, and to show that it is both safe and exciting.
Pupils from a local primary school had the opportunity to try out dinghy sailing at Loch Ard Sailing Club on 4th May thanks to Active Stirling and to club volunteers. Primary 7 pupils from Killearn were given experience of sailing as well as basic instruction in rigging boats and tying knots. A picture of the event is below. (Click to see a larger version of the photograph.)
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| Schools Taster Session |