Calendar subject to change at short notice.
Please click on an event in the calendar for full details.
Weekly meetings take place on Thursday evenings and are normally held in the ‘MBA Lounge’, formerly known as the ‘Times Square Hall’, at the VBS Community Stadium, Gander Green Lane, Sutton, Surrey unless stated otherwise under Venue in the programme.
If no specific event is listed it will usually be a social evening.
Meetings start at 20.00. – Talks start at 20.15 unless stated otherwise in the event.
Cape Horn illustrated talk and Sea Shanties
MBA Lounge VBS Community Stadium, Gander Green Lane, Sutton, SurreyGuest speaker Chris Roche (in the yellow jacket) has shantied across the seven seas for much of the last 40 years just like his mentor the late Stan Hugill and was inspired by Stan to go to sea in traditional square rigged ships to find out how the shanty might have been used at sea in a modern age this was not as easy as one might think. Chris hopes to encourage others with his tale of adventure. Way back in 1991 Chris joined the square rigger Søren Larsen known to any who have seen the Onedin Line, currently being rerun on Talking Pictures TV, for her voyage across the great Southern Ocean Sydney to Montevideo being driven engineless by the wind alone. This then is the story in an illustrated talk of that voyage across the vast 7000 mile expanse Auckland to the Falkland Islands. A shanty here and there and the odd salty story add the flavour of the sea.
Avocet update
MBA Lounge VBS Community Stadium, Gander Green Lane, Sutton, SurreyClub member Carl Harker will be giving us an update on the restoration of his boat 'Avocet'. All visitors welcome
Chat Night/Open Mike
Sailing Confessions and anecdotes from Bramble Bank and beyond…. This week sees us have an “Open Mike” opportunity for members to share stories and experiences of sailing etc in a very informal and easy way. The brains behind this idea - Carl Harker, has agreed to kick it off, and its aim is to be a great way to share stories for those who may not want to do a full blown laptop presentation. Some of best nuggets of information have come from chance conversations, often from the most unexpected places, so don't be shy and give it a try.
First Aid Night
This will be a great overview on basic First Aid and hope to have as many attendees as possible. Not only will it be an informative evening, you could save someone's life with this new knowledge.
Classic & Vintage Yacht Racing
This will be an amazing talk by Simon Weir on Classic & Vintage Yacht Racing. As always as many attendees as possible to make our guest speaker welcome. Lectures | Photography by Simon Weir "An outstanding presentation with stunning photography" is just one of the many positive comments on his website, this is sure to be an evening to remember.
RYA Cruising Manager Q&A
Stuart Carruthers from the RYA will be here to answer any questions you may have. We hope to cover topics such as Calor dropping the 4.5kg bottles, what documentation do we need when sailing to Europe plus many more. Please have a think about any questions you may wish to ask beforehand. This will be a very useful and informative evening, driven by the audience.
Open Mic/Chat night
Subject to change but hope to have further stories and confessions. As before it will be a great evening and someone is bound to have us in stitches of laughter!
Sayings from the Sea
MBA Lounge VBS Community Stadium, Gander Green Lane, Sutton, SurreyClub member Len Perkins will be explaining the origins of some expressions used at sea, some of which have come to be used in everyday speech.
Visitors are welcome on any Thursday club night held at the VBS Community Stadium