A Review of 2024

As the year is coming to an end I think it is worth taking a look back and see what we got up to…………….

The socials got off to a amazing start with the ever popular Burns night. Haggis, neeps and tatties along with the famous Balmoral sauce. This year we were treated to a fabulous rendition of the “address to a Haggis” expertly performed by our very own Jack Marsden. Who dressed in kilt, sporran and all for the occasion.

Also what an amazing impromptu auction of the haggis posters supplied by Colin Keogh which raised some valuable funds for the club.

We had our first Family Fortune night (team quiz with a difference) in March thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

We started the sailing season with a new Race Control Box with some very loud horns that ensure no one missed the start signal. We also had a new system of flags to make the race officer duty that much easier.

The sailing season was supposed to have started in March but was blown off by unfavourable winds until late April.

Then we had quite a bit of fog in May but that did not stop us holding our traditional Open Day which was enjoyed by many of the Llandudno public. It did however put a stop to the Constable race which was changed to a race held in the confines of Llandudno Bay and was won by Pete Fisk and Les Thomas sailing their Merlin.

The GP 14 fleet came to our club for a weekend of training on the sea in April and the Falcons visited us in early June for a 1 day open event and then joined the club for a cruise to Rhos on Sea on the Sunday which was shortened to Penrhyn Bay due to the heavy sea conditions.

There were quite a number of firsts in the sailing in 2024. First was Rich Kemp winning his first ever race in his Laser. Likewise for Evan who won his first race in a Topper and then went on to win the Youth Champion Trophy.

The Club Champion was won for the first time by Rob Davies.

This wasn’t the only award that Rob received in 2024. He was also presented an RYA Cymru Wales Impact Award in recognition of his commitment to sport over four decades!

Newly rejoined club member Rich Jones and current Championship secretary sailing with his friend Andy Mckee in the Flying Fifteen fleet won the Scottish National Championships and qualified for the world Championships in 2025.

The RNLI trophy was run as a sprint race series which was a first for the club. We managed to fit 5 races into an hours sailing and get off the water before yet another storm hit. This was enjoyed by all and will become a regular feature of the club. Another feature enjoyed by the sailors is the team racing which was run on the last Wednesday night of the year and this has been voted to be moved to more mid-summer to give more time on the water.

At the end of July we held an evening of capsize recovery training. This was very informative to everyone and it was quite a surprise to me how light it was under a turtled boat, shown by this photo of Rich Kemp. Thanks go to Rosie Hearn for organising.

The Christmas Dinner Dance and Presentation evening was held at the club for the first time. It was hugely successful. The catering done by 2 The Square from Conwy was amazing and following the presentation of awards everyone danced away late into the evening or was it morning?

The socials were closed out with a visit from Santa Clause at the family Christmas Morning. Do the elves look familiar to you?

The sailing year finished with a very gentle picturesque sail on Boxing Day which the images show Llandudno looking very Mediterranean. As can be seen Santa Clause also joined us for a well deserved restful sail after his busy day.

Finally a great big THANK YOU to everyone who made 2024 such a good year.

Wishing everyone a successful and prosperous new year.