Chairman: Sam Barnes
Secretary: Emma Martin
Treasurer: Saul Parkinson
Social Secretary: Olivia McCarthy
Web Officer: Andrew Jack
Bosun: Sam Barnes
Training Officer: Dominic Smith
Yachting Officer: James Hickman
Badger Events Manager: Richard Scotthorne
Team Captain: Andrew Jack

We had a great year this year, thanks to our fantastic committee and club members and I would like to say thank you for all your hard work, I can’t tell you how proud I am to be part of it!
Next year we are going to do everything we can to do you proud and continue to improve the club even more.

As the new commodore I have a great sense of pride towards the club and have big ideas to help develop the club further and really push our club the recognition we deserve…. To win Club of the Year!!

Last week was the Sports Federation Ball, which took place on Friday (27th April) was yet again a huge success with some of our members of the club being awarded Club Colours and Half Colours and then winning the overall award for Best Website out of all the sports clubs! A massive thank you to Andrew Jack for all his work on our clubs: website, minisite and club communications.

We have a great F.A.C.E week planned so far too, attending the Annual Snow Club Boat Party, our charity inflatable bungee run out on Bishops Green (Come and along and settle an argument with a friend or just come along for a laugh!) and possibly a good old trip to Thorpe Park!! These are only a few of the things planned so keep an eye on our Facebook page for more info on the up and coming events.

Next year we are really going to push the boat out (so to speak!) and really expand the club, with more Fundraising/RAG work, Socials, Racing, Trips and new to the club…. Yachting!! We are now in the process of setting up the yachting element as a permanent part of the club so if you are interested in doing courses, racing and possibly even a holiday, don’t hesitate to contact our yachting officer; James Hickman (yachting@brunelsailing.com), for more info!!

Good luck to everyone with your exams, Hope to see you all soon during F.A.C.E week and next year too!!

Sam Barnes

Spending the whole day on Friday setting up we were set to go for the weekend. Friday’s social in our union seemed to be enjoyed by everyone.

Saturday was an almost perfect day for Team Racing, the Sun was out and there was just enough wind (though it was a bit shifty). Thanks for all the Brunel lot for getting down to Datchet so much earlier that the racers. Brunel did a great job in getting everything ready for racing, and come 10 o’clock the racing started.

After completing 50 something races and the whole round robin we finished racing for the day and shifted over to the socials. After all piling into The Crown pub dressed as superheros we we’re treated to a generous buffet dinner and free cocktails! Once everyone was stuffed the fun began, and a valiant boat race was held. The winners getting a free round of shots.

Then the read social began. Everyone was split up into teams and the London Bus Pub Crawl was on. From all the photos on Facebook it looked like everyone had a good night out, and so far we have yet to lose someone.

With a big hangover everyone came down for Sundays racing unfortunately to find absolutely no wind. After waiting for a few hours it was decided to stop any racing, the winner being decided from the first day of racing. We’d like to say well done to Magdalen College School for winning the event and all their races!

Pictures from the Badger – Big thanks to Dianna for these.

Edit: I have noticed that there has been a lot of Google searches for Badger Results 2012 so here they are. Results (.pdf)

Credit to Saul Parkinson for this epic first video.

Expect a lot more after the Brunel Badger.

In the evening we were lucky enough to be hosted by Bournemouth sailing club, they showed how they also could party into the night with the only small down side that we had to leave for an early start for the next morning’s racing. This was made less painful by Bournemouth’s Fi Edwards good morning bacon butties.

The second day started with some very fast paced racing; often the warning signal was sounded before leaving the shore. Again Brunel managed consistent performance and we ended the day on a high with a 1, 2, and 6 with Andrew Jack demonstrating an impressive performance at slowing down the Bournemouth team on mark 3.

Overall the weekend was enjoyed by all and still demonstrates the close friendships that we have in the club. It is sad to say that unfortunately this was one of our racers last BUSA event; James Thomas will be graduating at the end of this year and moving onto pastures new.

“It can be taken from the weekends racing that despite the lack of wind, freezing temperatures, Icebergs, enough alcohol to defrost a lake, and some close racing, Brunel are a force to be reckoned with. It is with great misery that that will be my last BUSA sailing event with Brunel, what a great 5 years! Thank you team!” Good luck in the future TJ!

By Daniella Barnett & James Thomas

View the pictures!
BUSA Report

Brunel’s next events:
Reading Wet Dream
Brunel Badger (Home)

Unfortunately the wind was not on our side on Sunday and the races had to be cancelled. Both racers and reserves however had plenty of bevving gammas and hit the dance floors hard, ensuring it was a thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile weekend.

By Daniella Barnett

We have quite a lot going on in the next two months so make sure you don’t miss out:

• Obviously Wednesday is sailing as usual so get down to the bridge at 1pm
• This Saturday we have the London Boat show meeting by the Pond (Please let us know if you are planning on attending via the FB event
• Our brand new kit should be available soon™ on an online store. Brunel Sailing polo shirts, wind proof jackets, hoddies, and sweat pants will be available, in both male and female versions.
• Wednesday 18^th January  5:30pm is our club photo in the IAC
• If you haven’t completed your Level 1 or 2 please get in contact with Simon to complete this ASAP. Email him @ training@brunelsailing.com or comment on the Facebook group.
• We have team racing coach Bruce Hebbert booked on the 25^th January and the 1^st February so make sure you are not late for these two Wednesday sessions.
• We also have a few team racing events we are completing in:
  • The Warwick Turtle on the 28^th – 29^th Jan
  • BUCS team racing qualifiers at Spinnaker sailing club on the 4^th and 5^th of Feb
  • The Reading Wet Dream on the 11^th and 12^th of Feb
  • The Brunel Badger on the 24^th, 25^th and 26^th Feb (More Details below)
• Buy your Sports federation Ball tickets now (or when they fix their site). Sports fed is where Brunel’s Clubs come together to celebrate the success they have had in the past year. Usually involves a meal, some drink, a DJ and then a trip to Academy after.
• It’ll soon be time to elect our new committee so start having a think of which position you want to apply for. Have a look at our current positions here.

The Brunel Badger is nearly here! It is a chance for all of the Brunel Sailing to get into team racing, so I expect to see all of you there – It’s right on your doorstep. Have look at the badger site for more information.

To keep up to date with all our future events subscribe to our calendar.

We had 2 great socials one at the Loughborough Student Union (Friday) and Saturday night in various pubs and clubs dressed as snowmen.

Pictures by Diana can be found here.

We look forward to it again next year Loughborough.
lsswc.co.uk/the-lemming/

Plymouth

The time has come for us to once again take our membership down to Plymouth for what has always been an amazing weekend away.

Racers

The following people have been selected to race:

• Sarah Hills + James Thomas
• Simon McNamee + Oscar Daws
• Pete Tollington + James Hickman
• Andrew Jack + Diana Meraz
• Oliver Provan + Daniella Barnett

If for whatever reason you are unable to attend please let Daniella know straight away.

Please print this form off and fill it in, not forgetting to bring it with you to Plymouth.

Socials

Along with the 10 racers we will have a number of spare seats for social members to come and uh, support, the racers.

Friday – Evening in Dartmouth town enjoying the local pubs and their fine ales.
Saturday – Spending the day recovering either on the beach with a fire or a pub with a hangover cure. In the evening everyone shall be marching into the Plymouth union for a great night out.
Sunday – Socials will be joining the racers for the trip to Plymouth in the morning, spending the day in town and helping the racers pack in the evening. Food in a harvesters on the way home and bed.

Cost

£45 per person. This pays for transport, accommodation and getting the boats ready. Rich will come out with a list of where exactly the money is going.

Food,drink and the saturday social ticket is not included (because sailors and an open bar get along too well). I’ll get the price for Saturday soon.

Signup and get your money to Richard asap.

Unfortunately that is the end of the free taster sessions, so if you want to keep sailing with us, or if you missed the tasters but still want to learn, you must now join the club for only £35 through brunelstudents.com/membership/ Please sign up ASAP, as we can’t allow you out on the water (for insurance and budget reasons) until you join!

For those of you who are beginners, we have a number of RYA courses coming up:

RYA LEVEL 1 (Wednesday Afternoons) - Teaches you the basics of sailing for complete beginners in Topaz dinghies. It will start this Wednesday, 5th October, and run for 5 weeks, finishing on the 2nd November. The cost is £40, payable direct to DWSC on the first session to cover boat hire, powerboats, kit hire, logbook and certificate. Transport to and from Datchet in the Minibus will be £3 per session, meeting at the sports centre bridge at 1pm, returning around 6pm. Bring swimwear, a towel and some old trainers. There are 6 spaces available, so please email me ASAP to book!

RYA LEVEL 1 (Weekend) - Same course as above but run over the weekend of 22nd-23rd October for those unable to come on Wednesday. Also £40 with 6 spaces available.

RYA LEVEL 2 (Wednesday Afternoons) - Basic skills course for people that have completed Level 1 (or have equivalent prior experience) and want  to improve their sailing understanding and techniques in double handed boats. Runs for 5 Wednesday afternoons from 16th November – 14th December. Again, there are 6 spaces available. Cost TBC, but should be ~£35 as you already have a logbook from level 1.

RYA LEVEL 2 (Weekend) - Same course as above but run over the weekend of 19th-20th November for those unable to come on Wednesday. Also ~£35 with 6 spaces available.

If you want to book on any courses please email me ASAP with your name and contact phone number. Please remember you must join up through brunelstudents.com/membership to do any courses. RYA certs like these normally cost £150-£200 to do, with Brunel Sailing Club you get HUGE discounts… make use of it while you can!

For all the experienced sailors out there, I’d love to get you guys involved in the training as well. If you volunteer as an instructor, we have a development scheme where we will pay for RYA qualifications like Dinghy Instructor, Race Coach, Safety Boat etc once you log enough hours. If you’ve got your DI cert, or would like to become an instructor, please also drop me an email.

Look forward to hearing from you all, and see you on the water soon!
Simon McNamee, Senior Training Officer
training@brunelsailing.com

You can view more of our videos here