This is Your Captain Speaking

Hi everyone and welcome to another issue of the Captain's newsletter. It's been a huge couple of months for the club (so much so that this supposedly monthly newsletter is only 3 weeks late), and the next two months are going to be even busier with 9 days' worth of regattas from now til mid September.

So, onwards and upwards!

Cheers,
Mike Jones
WARC Captain

Under 23 World Championships

Congratulations to Hannah Vermeersch who was racing in the Australian U23 Womens 4- in Amsterdam yesterday. Having raced well to make the A Final, Hannah's crew fell just short of the medals in 4th place, an impressive result in her first year in the U23 age category.

Matt Cochran unfortunately had to come home early due to injury (it turns out Matt's legs are so powerful they can literally tear themselves apart), but like Hannah has done exceptionally well to be selected in an U23 crew in only his first year in the age category. Congratulations to you both, you've done us proud!

Winter Season 2011 So Far...

If you were at Champion Lakes yesterday, you got to see something special. I don't know if there was something in the water or if our athletes have been visiting Alberto Contador's butcher, but it was a sea of red out on the course. WARC entered 29 of the 45 events during the day, and we won 20 of them, with a total of 23 race wins for the day. It was simply crazy - 23 wins eclipses the previous club record (at least in recent memory) of 16 wins by a significant margin.

Congratulations also go to Meg Downes, Darci Miller and Sarah Steger, who recently travelled over to Sydney to represent WA in the Youth Cup, an U21 interstate regatta between all of the Australian states, New Zealand and (as of this year) Vanuatu. Well done ladies!

The latest pennant table standings will be released later this week, but even before we see them I can tell you we've surpassed all expectations - 87 athletes have represented the club in races so far this year, which is phenomenal. To all members of the Westies family: athletes, coaches, volunteers, family and friends - thank you and well done on a great season thus far.

...And More To Come

We're coming up to the pointy end of the season and have something on more or less every weekend from now til mid-September (see the Dates for your Diary on the right).

This usually coincides with a rise in wear'n'tear on our fleet, and this year has been no exception. To get us over the line (both literally and figuratively), can I ask all members to take your time and be careful with all club equipment. Before you move anything take a look around and be aware of your environment.

The damage board has been filling up, although a lot of it is minor stuff - tightening screws etc. - so it you have a spare 5 minutes, please take the time to fix up your equipment and make sure it's shipshape for the next person to use it. If you're not sure how to fix something, feel free to ask!

Regatta Hosting - Volunteers Needed

WARC is hosting two regattas in the coming weeks - a morning-only Masters regatta on Sunday September 4th, and then the big one - the first day of the State Championships on Saturday September 17th.

What does hosting involve, I hear you ask? Essentially it means we're responsible for running a lot of the regatta - we have to provide catering, race commentators, dinghy drivers for umpires, a medical officer, trailer/car parking attendants, and pontoon holders for the races starting at the 2000m mark. Whether you're racing at those regattas or not they're considered to be "all hands on deck" situations, and all club members are asked to come down and help out. Since most of the club's athletes will be busy racing for much of the day, can you please also encourage any family and friends to help out, we need as much assistance as possible!

The Womens Vice Captain Emma Harding is busily putting together a list of the jobs to be done and the volunteers available - if you can lend a hand please get in touch with her at womensvc@warowingclub.org.

Take Me To My Island!

The club's annual social weekend away is only a few days away - we're off to Rottnest from the evening of Friday July 29 to Sunday July 31 for a couple of days of well-earned rest. There are still one or two spots available (though they may be gone by the time you read this!), and partners are welcome. To register your interest, you can get in touch with Peta at petabreerule@gmail.com.

Pennant Table

(as at 22/7/11)

FRC 162.8
WARC 113.3
SRRC 111.4
UWABC 109.3
ANARC 61.1
BRC 34.9
CUBC 31.3
CLBC 16.1
PRC 5.9
MURC 4.0

Next regatta:
Masters Regatta,
August 7,
CHAMPION LAKES

For the Diary...

29-31 Jul - Rotto Weekend
Sun 7 Aug - Masters Regatta
Sat 13 Aug - Pennant Regatta
Sat 27 Aug - Bunbury Pennant Regatta
Sun 28 Aug - Eaton Head Race
Sun 4 Sep - WARC Masters Regatta
Sat 10 Sep - Sprint Regatta
Sun 11 Sep - Masters State Champs
17-18 Sep - STATE CHAMPS & AFTER PARTY
Fri 30 Sep - Annual Dinner

BunVegas

The club's other big roadtrip for the year is also fast approaching - the second Bunbury regatta for the year is a two-day affair on Saturday 27 - Sunday 28 August. We're busily planning the club's accommodation and details will be announced soon. For now keep the dates free in your calendar!