BlueSkyNick
Active member
In general terms it was a successful weekend (although at the time of writing I do not know if everybody has made it home, safe and sound). The hospitality in the 'yacht club' ie Equippage, was very good and certainly lively.
We had a cracking sail back - Petit Rade to Hythe in exactly 12 hours, on the same tack all the way - and I hope others had a similarly good trip.
It was great to meet a number of new faces, such as Talbot, DeeGee, Fergus, to name just a few.
The disappointing aspect for me was the attrition rate leading up to the event. In fairness there were some genuinely understandable and unavoidable reasons for some people failing to make it - there were others which were pretty weak, and even one boat who has still yet to tell me they won't be there !
For the record, when we asked for initial interest, the number exceeded 130. On the 9th September when we had asked everybody for a commitment, we had 110 people on the list so we booked the restaurant for 90. Last Tuesday, we were down to 90, so we sent a fax to the restaurant changing the number to 80. The day I set off, Thursday, we still had 78. How many actually turned up? 62
With the help of others, I conscripted the crew of 3 boats who happened to be in the marina, and persuaded them to join us to make up the numbers.
When we arrived at the restaurant, they claimed not to have received the second fax, had prepared for 90, and intended to charge us accordingly. Ken negotiated this down to 80 on the basis that we keep the full allocation of wine but not the food ! The consequence was that those of who turned up, including the conscripts on the day, had to pay a 5euro surcharge.
So what's this rant all about I hear you ask?
Well to those who turned up and paid without any argument, a very big apology and many thanks for your support. For those who didn't, it would be totally impractical to recover any money from yourselves, but can I invite you to make a donation to the charity for the night, 5girls in a boat - per EtapOwners thread on Scuttlebutt. PM Etap_Owner for more information.
The second serious point is that after 3 consecutive and relatively successful years, with the amount of effort required to manage the numbers, the forum, etc., I do not wish to be involved with the organisation again next year. I believe Twister_Ken - as the patriarch and originator of the idea - feels the same way, and of course he will add his own comments as appropriate.
If anybody else would like to take the helm, we would be pleased to provide them with a few tips, and would very much like to attend as a 'punter'.
To finish on a lighter note, you might be interested in the following:
10 people have attended all 3 years, namely
tome *
cutter*
lady in bed*
bedouin*
Twister_Ken**
parahandy
janeK
Jeremy_W
Sybarite
bignick
* These 4 fine fellows have brought their own boat every year
** This person has failed to bring his own boat on any occasion and in doing so, used 6 other vessels !
Apologies for any errors or omissions!
That's all folks!
bignick standing by on this channel. Out!
We had a cracking sail back - Petit Rade to Hythe in exactly 12 hours, on the same tack all the way - and I hope others had a similarly good trip.
It was great to meet a number of new faces, such as Talbot, DeeGee, Fergus, to name just a few.
The disappointing aspect for me was the attrition rate leading up to the event. In fairness there were some genuinely understandable and unavoidable reasons for some people failing to make it - there were others which were pretty weak, and even one boat who has still yet to tell me they won't be there !
For the record, when we asked for initial interest, the number exceeded 130. On the 9th September when we had asked everybody for a commitment, we had 110 people on the list so we booked the restaurant for 90. Last Tuesday, we were down to 90, so we sent a fax to the restaurant changing the number to 80. The day I set off, Thursday, we still had 78. How many actually turned up? 62
With the help of others, I conscripted the crew of 3 boats who happened to be in the marina, and persuaded them to join us to make up the numbers.
When we arrived at the restaurant, they claimed not to have received the second fax, had prepared for 90, and intended to charge us accordingly. Ken negotiated this down to 80 on the basis that we keep the full allocation of wine but not the food ! The consequence was that those of who turned up, including the conscripts on the day, had to pay a 5euro surcharge.
So what's this rant all about I hear you ask?
Well to those who turned up and paid without any argument, a very big apology and many thanks for your support. For those who didn't, it would be totally impractical to recover any money from yourselves, but can I invite you to make a donation to the charity for the night, 5girls in a boat - per EtapOwners thread on Scuttlebutt. PM Etap_Owner for more information.
The second serious point is that after 3 consecutive and relatively successful years, with the amount of effort required to manage the numbers, the forum, etc., I do not wish to be involved with the organisation again next year. I believe Twister_Ken - as the patriarch and originator of the idea - feels the same way, and of course he will add his own comments as appropriate.
If anybody else would like to take the helm, we would be pleased to provide them with a few tips, and would very much like to attend as a 'punter'.
To finish on a lighter note, you might be interested in the following:
10 people have attended all 3 years, namely
tome *
cutter*
lady in bed*
bedouin*
Twister_Ken**
parahandy
janeK
Jeremy_W
Sybarite
bignick
* These 4 fine fellows have brought their own boat every year
** This person has failed to bring his own boat on any occasion and in doing so, used 6 other vessels !
Apologies for any errors or omissions!
That's all folks!
bignick standing by on this channel. Out!