The Victoria Shadow Association

Annual Luncheon and General Meeting 2007

Sunday, 18th November was not forecast to be a fine day weather-wise and so it eventually turned out to be. Fortunately the morning was not too bad and it was dry, at least, at the London Corinthian Sailing Club. Members coming in from the south and west reported rain en-route though.

Early arrivals, planning to take a stroll along the embankment, only had to take the first few steps before thinking better of it, for the wind was keen and it was very cold.

In the bar of the London Corinthian things looked a little bleak as well. The trophy cabinets were off the wall and the carpet was missing from the floor. Refurbishment, about which we knew nothing, had run over schedule and the carpet would be arriving tomorrow!

As our members and their guests started to assemble so the weather outside and the decor within were quickly forgotten.

Wendy Hughes, the Manager, and her team of helpers were quick to make us feel at home.

There were fears that several of us might not actually make it for personal reasons or ill health but in the end our numbers stood at twenty-seven, out of a possible twenty-eight, a most respectable attendance.

We moved into the Commodore's Room for our luncheon, where two long tables had been nicely laid for the occasion. No attempt will be made to mention everyone by name but the pictures show us about to tuck into the first course.

This year the Committee had chosen the set menu. The Country Paté with warm toast was a fine way to start but it was the Seared Salmon with crushed new potatoes, green beans and a tomato and caper salsa that really got us interested. The salmon was lightly done, to perfection and enjoyed by all.

By the time we moved onto the Chocolate Meringue Roulade with stem ginger, we all felt the dinner to have been absolutely splendid and were well satisfied.

All too soon it was time to make our way downstairs to the Ballroom where tea and coffee were being served prior to our General Meeting.

Just time for one more picture though, while the stage is readied.

There was so much to get through on the agenda; no time for idle chatter this year! And much of it was to be really important to the Association and its future.

There would be a motion to bid farewell to our Rules of many years standing and introduce a new Constitution in their place.

Two of the Committee had declined to stand for a further term, even if asked. No replacements had been identified. Would we find some volunteers at the eleventh hour?

Who would win the Cruising Log competition? There had been two fine entries and a third log had arrived but was not to be an entry after all.

After much shuffling of papers, we were ready to begin.

Our Chairman (Yachting), Brian Smith, opened the meeting and thanked everyone gathered there for coming. His mood quickly became more sombre as he used his opening address to explain that the Association was in something of a crisis because no volunteers were coming forward to be nominated for any of the positions on the Committee.

When the time came, John Cade was able to announce that the finances were in good shape and that no increase in the annual subscription was necessary.

Peter Cosker was able to announce our highest membership ever; 120 members with new members joining from all sorts of unlikely places. He continued with the Secretary's report and the Association had hosted many varied and interesting events during 2007.

Roy Dawkins was thanked for four years of service as the South Coast Regional Organiser after reporting on the South Coast Social and Rallies.

The ground work for the new Constitution had been thoroughly prepared but, even so, some last minute adjustments were required. The news is that this Extraordinary Resolution was passed unanimously but that a small change to one paragraph means you will be receiving a fresh copy shortly and the one you hold can be discarded!

Election of Officers did not proceed well. We do not have an Honorary Secretary nor a South Coast Regional Organiser, although the Website Editor post has been filled. Whether or not the Association can continue to exist without a secretary remains to be seen but there was no last minute offer to save the day.

Tim Gearing presents the Victoria II Cup to Dawn Smith, who was pleased to receive it on behalf of Mowbray Whiffin, who was not able to be present.

Mowbray wrote a fascinating account of sailing his Victoria 34, 'Samphire' up the eastern seaboard of the United States of America from Virginia to Maine. Dawn is holding a copy of his log in her left hand.

Jon and Lynda Spencer, past winners of the trophy, were the runners-up this time. Jon and Lynda told the story of the return of 'Albertine' from South Brittany to home. This was done quite quickly with some very fast passages.

Both logs will be featured in the next edition of 'Waterlines' and will also be available for viewing on this website soon.

The third log, that was mentioned earlier, belonged to Sue Doyle who had sailed her Victoria 30, 'Que Sera' to South Brittany and back in some fairly appalling weather conditions. This is already available on the website.

The final part of our meeting was devoted to a presentation given by Simon Fraser. I am really sorry that we have no pictures to show you of this presentation. Simon was an excellent speaker and gave us a somewhat abbreviated version of the presentation given recently to the Cruising Association.

Entitled 'Falmouth to the Canaries', we were shown and had explained some of the navigational equipment including equipment for receiving synoptic charts on HF with weather forecasts and e-mails being received on the SSB. We were then off, on passage, with a direct routing across Biscay and landfall in northern Spain.

Simon and Janet visited so many anchorages, marinas and harbours in Spain and Portugal that it would probably be easier to list those that were not visited. Apart from considerable detail of each, it was interesting to learn of the lack of tides and the ferocity of the afternoon winds that continued into the night. Suffix to say here that places such as Coruña, Cabo Finisterre, Vigo, Oporto and Lisbon were included before reaching Lagos, where 'Simoon III' over-wintered.

The following season the voyage continued with further long passages down to the Canaries. We learnt of the acceleration zones around the islands and not to put too much trust in the official figures. It seems that the winds can be stronger than the guides suggest.

'Simoon III' is presently in Puerto de Mogán. Simon and Janet expect to depart on the 14th December with a third crew member bound for Barbados and will try to send periodic reports of their progress, which will be displayed on this website whenever received.

Simon Fraser was thanked for his excellent talk and the Joint Chairmen closed the meeting rather later than scheduled. Outside the weather had deteriorated with wind, rain and the first snow of the season for some of us!