Club News

Club News. 

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Portishead Yacht & Sailing Club

Members are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting at:

The Ship
310 Down Road
Portishead
BS20 8JT

Monday 19th October 2026

Start time: 7:30pm

All members are encouraged to attend.

Further details and the AGM agenda will be circulated separately.

Commodore notice:

The PYSC General Committee is looking for volunteers to join our ranks. Our female and younger members are particularly underrepresented!

If you feel that you could commit just a little of your time to help run the club and perhaps influence its future direction, then you would be most welcome. General Committee meetings are held once a month and usually last no longer than 90 minutes. If you are interested,  please talk to any of the club committee members or the Commodore.

Race Descriptions and more website improvements

I've been adding a few more things to the website, partly to make up for the lack of a yearbook this year.

The official Rules of Racing can be found on the Sailing Programme, under the link titled "Sailing Instructions".

Race types are now included in the programme, and for those of you wondering what a pursuit race is, just click the race type in the programme—you’ll find a short description of how it works.

We can now include much more information about individual races, so click on the date in the sailing programme and, hopefully, you’ll find extra details about that day's event.

Need to email or call another member? Just log in and click on "Members Only" to access the members directory.

There have also been a few other changes—you can now add a boat space to your membership yourself. Hopefully, people will be sensible with this, and I’ll be able to leave the feature in place.
Note: At the moment, when you add a boat space, it doesn’t tell you how much you need to pay. I’ll fix that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you want to know the charges, just ask the treasurer.

I know some of the pages don’t display properly on narrow phone screens. Usually, switching to landscape helps. I’ll try to fix this over the next few weeks. If you know what CSS and the @media selector are, maybe you could lend a hand!

If you have any requests for features or content you'd like to see on the website, please let me know!

New Web Cam!

Hi all,

We've got a new webcam, which has a much wider view, now you can see all of the bay! There isn't a link on the weather page yet, but it will be there soon. Here is a picture for you to enjoy.

There is also a timelapse of the days activities. This is created out of a fisheye view so it is a bit distorted near the edges. There are a couple of other view which you can see on this page.

Severn Bridge Race tips

The Severn Bridge race is a staggered start so plan your start time to be at the turning mark as the tide changes. Except it is not that easy!

 Event preparation

This race is the most exposed race we have in our calendar, so plan your sail before you leave the shore. Check the weather in the coming days as well as on the day itself. If the weather is good it is a great sail in waters we don’t usually sail in. Rain and wind can make the sail more difficult for all sailors. Ensure you are prepared regarding equipment and clothing. Protect yourself if the weather changes.

 It is advisable to take flares/VHF/mobile radio with you in case you need to make contact or issue a signal.

 Always be aware of other boats around you for safety, and so you can note the conditions they are sailing in. They might be better or worse in terms of wind and tide.

 It is often advisable to stick close to other boats, whilst keeping an eye out for others.

 The approach

To make the best of the incoming tide, position your boat in the fastest tidal flow with the best wind, approximately on a transit from Avonmouth Docks to the centre of the Severn Bridge. This is the deep water channel and where you want to be when sailing in the same direction of the tidal flow.

Keep an eye on the wind. Is it increasing, decreasing or remaining the same?

Be aware that you may not be able to sail a straight line to the mark and what may start off as one sailing angle may change considerably the closer you get to the mark.

Keep an eye on the time; a Fireball will take at least 50 minutes to reach the bridge in a Force 3.

 The ‘what if’s’ - Too late

If the tide changes before you reach the turning mark, you’re late but all is not lost – you will not be the only one! Position yourself towards the east (English) shore, working your way up this side and past where you would head out for the mark to gain relief from the tide. Don’t be too eager, stay in the slack tide for as much as possible.

 The ‘what if’s’ - Too early

If you get to the turning mark more than 20 minutes early then head for tide relief on the west (Welsh) shore – the relief area is larger, you will need it as you will be in it for longer.

If you get to the turning mark within 20 minutes head for tide relief on the east (English) shore as when the tide turns it will be easier to position yourself for the return leg.

 The return

When the tide floods then position your boat on the same transit from the bridge centre and Avonmouth Docks again staying in the deeper water channel.

When close to Avonmouth and Portbury Docks, be aware of shipping movements out of the Port.

 The Finish

Make sure the tide does not sweep you past the finish mark! There’s no easy way back if you do! Sail into the bay before mark 4 to give you the best chance of avoiding this calamity.

(From Jon Gill)

Club committee and support roles

Dear Members

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the AGM at The Ship Inn on Monday 16th October at 7.30pm.

As usual at our AGM we will be looking for people to support with the many roles that are essential to the ongoing running of the club. Some of these require attendance at regular meetings, but many can help with one off tasks. 

In particular we are looking for volunteers for;

Commodore, Vice Commodore, Maintenance support, Arranging the Dinner Dance (urgent support needed!!), Instructors and General Committee members. 

If you are interested in finding out about any of these roles or are willing to help or want to join the committee, please get in touch with gc@pysc.org.uk, and one of us will respond asap. 

Merch!

The Galley is open...

Hi all,

Just to be really clear, if you want to help on the Galley and just serve tea, coffee and cakes, the there is no restriction on who can do that. Just follow the normal hygene rules, wash your hands and make sure things are clean, before you start.

When you are done tidy away and leave the galley as you found it. Lots of people will appreciate your efforts.

If you want help with the card machine or any other aspect of the galley drop me a line webmaster@pysc.org.uk.

Electronic version of the sailing programme

If you would like version of the sailing programme on your phone or tablet, it is published in ical format. This should be understandable by most devices.

You will need this URL.

https://www.pysc.org.uk/ical

If you have an Android device the instructions for adding to your phone are here. N.B. you need to do this on a computer as you can't do it on your phone.

Galley stock suggestions

If you have any suggestions for things you would like to see in the galley we would be pleased to hear them. We can't promise to stock obscure things but if there is a general consensus we'll try our best.

email webmaster@pysc.org.uk

Galley News, we need your help!

Hi all,

Last year we received an inspection from North Somerset Environmental Health about our arrangements for cooking food at the club. This was the first food safety inspection I had ever been involved with, and had no idea what to expect. The result of the inspection was a "Food Hygiene Rating" of  1 (major improvement required). This was basically down to the lack of a documented food safety system and no staff trained in food safety. Thus our food could have been safe and we could have been serving it correctly, we just didn't have the right paperwork.

I have been working with a friend of mine who is a chef and has helped me with a few pointers and now we have got a lovely food safety system courtesy of www.food.gov.uk. Unfortunately there is little distinction in the rules between a restaurant serving a lavish menu and us making a few bacon sandwiches. This means we have got a 100 page food safety system to follow to cook bacon sandwiches. Lots of it is very sensible advice to try to ensure we aren't making people ill. The food inspector put it rather starkly “something to show the judge if it goes to court”.

We are due an inspection in a few weeks and hopefully we will get a significantly higher rating.

If we are serving hot drinks and cakes, there is little change, and following the normal hygiene rules (wash hands etc) will suffice.

If we are serving reheated/cooked food (i.e. you put in the oven, grill or microwave), then this will mean a few changes to the way the galley is run.

1. A  person in the galley will need a Food and Hygiene Level 2 certificate.

2. We will need to follow our food safety system (This isn't that scary, only two or three pages will affect people day to day)

3. We will need to fill in the food diary to prove we are following the system.

4. We will need to test the food temperature before we serve it.

5. We will need to document the cleaning regime, and record what we do.

This will obviously be more work for anyone cooking food in the galley.

How can you help?

We need a few volunteers to take the food hygiene course (it is online and I managed to read all of the material and pass the exam in one night), the club will pay the cost of the course which is around £12. If you are interested drop me an email webmaster@pysc.org.uk.

Are you involved in the catering trade and could you help us prepare for the inspections? This would be most welcome.

We need to make sure the kitchen is super clean (and kept that way) there will be a working party soon to tidy up and ensure that we are ship shape and Bristol fashion! Please come along and help.

Please be patient and appreciative of the galley staff as they hand you a bacon roll, they will have worked extra hard to create it safely for you and it will have a nicely documented history.

Any feedback is most welcome.

--

Stephen Brooks

Winter working parties start 10am Sunday 15th Jan

Our annual winter working party sessions will be starting from 10a.m. on Sunday 15^th Jan.

For those new to the club, these sessions are when we make the biggest effort to spruce up the clubhouse, clear the compounds of weeds, lift and revitalise the racing marks, do maintenance work on the club boats, etc, etc.  The Sunday sessions will carry on through to the start of the season, as required.

• Please come down to assist, dressed appropriately and with suitable garden clearing equipment if you have useful tools.
• Can’t do every Sunday?  No problem, please come and help when you can.
• Want to do your bit to keep the club running, but can’t do Sundays?  Take ownership of an item off the “Things to do” list and come down when you can (Stay safe if you are working on your own).
• Noticed a job that needs doing?  Please write it on the list at the club or notify via gc@pysc.org.uk

Photos from 2022

Each year at the Prizegiving and Dinner Dance we have a slideshow of photos showing people sailing, club events etc. for the past year.

If you have any photos from last year that I can include in the slideshow can you send them to me at:

ssc-chair@pysc.org.uk

Regards

Chris Romans

Gallery

We do have a photo gallery, if you have any photos you would like to contribute please forward them to me

RYA Chasing Tokyo

Discover the hidden story of the most succesful Olympic sailing team as they head to one of the most uncertain Olympic Games in history.

For the first time, the British Sailing Team is baring all in a 90-minute feature documentary, Chasing Tokyo. Available now to watch for free on the Olympic Channel or RYA website.

More details here

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

Hi all,

A local photographer has made some pictures available to us and I've put them in the gallery. He is more than happy for people to take copies of them for their own personal use.

Just to give you a taste of what is available here are few of my favorites.

The whole gallery is available here

Weather Station Update

Hi all,

The Denny Island weather station is producing data. It is currently undergoing tests on my balcony.

The initial version of the website is here.

I know the graphs etc aren't great at the moment, reliability and accuracy of the instruments is what I am concentrating on at the moment.

If you would like the data provided is a particular way, draw me a picture of what you would like and I'll add it to the todo list. Better still if you can code and you know what PHP, Javascript and git are come and have a chat, maybe you can create a page that displays the data in your perfect format!

Any feedback is welcome.

--

Stephen Brooks