by Tom Whittingham

 The weather turned on us with the ground becoming waterlogged and temperatures dropping at the weekend.  This did not deter the Otters and Youth Sprint participants, bolstered in number by a few adults joining in.  Other than the youth supporters it was surprisingly quiet for what was a sunny afternoon.     It was even cooler on Sunday with low numbers participating in the Big Swim and dinghy racing.  We closed out the day with on-water coaching during the third race. 

The weed has made it presence a nuisance to both sailors and swimmers.  The lingering summer temperatures and sunny days has enabled the weed to continue growing and there are definite patches where it will bring a dinghy to a stop.  Watch out for notifications of when we will try to trawl out as much weed as we can before it becomes colder and unpleasant to work in the wet.  Please also note below the works that will go on to clean showers and floors in the changing rooms.  

Please avoid driving on grassed areas with immediate effect.  We normally impost the winter ban at the end of October but recent rainfall has made the grassed areas waterlogged.  

 Thanks to all those who have already renewed their memberships. For those who havn’t got round to it yet may I remind you that you only have 2 weeks left to renew your subscriptions at the discounted price.   If you intend not to renew, a quick email would be appreciated, and if you have not received your email then please contact membership@bowmoor.com.

Yes it’s this Saturday folks.  There will be another session leading into the Halloween party on 28th October (see Facebook)

 Otters - Free family Saturday Social – Sail, SUP, Kayak. Times: 10:30 : 12;00.  Bring your own boat, your friend’s boat, your sup or kayak!  We will organise games for the family to get you out on the water and having fun.

Sprint - Autumn Sprint for sailors with RYA levels 1&2 and above.  Times 13:30 briefing – end roughly 4pm.   Be Dressed and boats ready by 1:30pm for pre sail brief at the race hut. Our Youth Team Officer of the Day will engage our young sailors in the friendliest of sailing chases around the lake.

On Saturday 4th November we are hosting the Supernova Season Finale.  The Lake will be closed from 10:00am to 16:30pm. The Notice to Race and Sailing Instructions will be posted on the website shortly.  In the mean time please enter for the event using the link Entry.

The Club has two electric strimmers, a petrol mower and assorted hand tools that can be used for maintaining boat berths and around pods.   Husqvarna and John Deere mowers can only be used by those trained to do so.

There will be instructions posted by the units and make sure you read the Club Operating Manual Chapter 8 and you must wear the safety equipment provided. 

Member's with Teras or Bytes are invited to join our once a month winter training  squads.  This training is race focused to enable sailors to retain and improve their sailing skills throughout the winter and keep in shape for next year's national events. More details are here. https://bowmoor.com/winter-training/

If you have any questions regarding training you can email training@bowmoor.com

Please respect the CLOSED FOR CLEANING signs and let our cleaners crack on with their work, a maximum of 20 mins.  Damian and Sam cannot continue if anyone tries to get changed or use the facilities while they are cleaning, and this means it just takes longer.   If the ladies or gents is signed off, the disabled toilet/shower is a good alternative. 

The Gents showers are going to be deep cleaned this coming Saturday; don’t expect to get a shower between 10:00 and 14:00. 

There will also be a deep clean of the Galley on 18th November and we'd appreiat4e some volunteers to help.  

Our cleaners are going to start chemical etching of the floors in both changing rooms.  This will take a whole day and both changing rooms will be completely out of bounds. You are able to use the disabled toilets during this time. We will give you plenty of notice on Bowsprit and Facebook.

Rentokil have installed rat and mouse traps throughout the clubhouse.  Please do not move any of the boxes as they are connected to a monitoring device and will alert Rentokil. You may notice fluorescent tracker patches near the fire doors and other locations.  Please do not interfere with these items. They are not toxic but will enable us to find where the rodents are getting into the building.

 If you spot a rodent or see where they are getting inside please email clubhouse@bowmoor.com  with the time and place.

 The Cotswold Lakes Trust staff, trustees and volunteers completed a sponsored team challenge across the Cotswold Water Park from Riverside Park, across to the Western side as far as Neigh Bridge and back to finish at the Visitor Centre. We supported the effort with a short sailing session as part of the relay early today. 

The purpose of the day was to raise match funding through sponsorship (one joint JustGiving page) to unlock pots of Entrust funding that is becoming available to us.

Click here to DONATE

The final race was held at South Cerney on Saturday with a very pleasant breeze until a Nasty Squall came in. There were 3 from Bowmoor out of 14 competitors Doug Roberts was 5^th Geoff Brown 8^th and Graham Royle 12^th. Mike Dyer would have been there if his road trailer had not disassembled itself the previous week.

The final Wessex Series results for 2023 were:  1^st John Ling, 2^nd Mike Dyer, 3^rd Geoff Brown, 4^th Graham Royle.  Well done the Bowmoor travellers!

Saturday 14th October

09:30 - Youth Byte Training
13:30 - Youth & Family: Autumn Sprint

Sunday 22nd October

11:30 - Commodore's and Coln Cups  

13:30 - Commodore's and Coln Cups

15:15 - Commodore's and Coln Cups

Saturday 28th October

10:00 - Youth & Family: Otters
13:30 - Youth & Family: Autumn Sprint

18:00 - Halloween Party

Sunday 29th October

11:30 - Handicap Races 

13:30 - Handicap Races

Saturday 4th November

10:00 to 16:30 - Supernova Travellers Open (Lake Closed)

Sunday 5th November

11:30 - Handicap Races 

13:30 - Handicap Races

The full annual calendar is published on bowmoor.com