The UK Dart 15 Association

Queen Mary Winter Traveller 16 February 2008

Dart 15 Chat
Post Reply
George Stephen
Captain
Captain
Posts: 240
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 8:36 pm
Location: Queen Mary SC

Queen Mary Winter Traveller 16 February 2008

Post by George Stephen »

Martin has pointed out in the Chat pages that the GoogleMap facility provides coordinates for Queen Mary SC that are short on usefulness!!

The ONLY entrance to Queen Mary SC is in Ashford Road 75 metres south of the Traffic Lights at the junction with A308 Kingston Road/Staines Road West. This junction is at the NorthEast corner of the grounds of the Queen Mary Reservoir.

If you use coordinates 51.42242,-0.44830 it will be close enough to the entrance to Queen Mary SC in Ashford Road for directions using a SatNav (or using GoogleMap, or whatever you favour, if you can use coordinates for destinations on that system).

If you come West along A308 Staines Road West from Sunbury (eg from the M3) then there is a sign for Queen Mary SC shortly before the junction, where you turn left into Ashford Road using a short slip turn at the lights.

If you come East along A308 Kingston Road (eg from the north via M25 and A30) I THINK there is also a sign for Queen Mary SC. However, you can see the bank of the Queen Mary Reservoir on your right for over half a mile before the junction, and then the masts in the dinghy park above it to the East of the Clubhouse. So spotting the junction at which you turn right is easy - there is a separate right turn phase on the lights and a slip lane built into the central reservation of the dual carriageway.

For those coming via the A30/A308, the Crooked Billet junction is worth a little detail - it is a roundabout through which the A30 dual carriageway passes, controlled by lots of traffic lights. As you approach the junction, take the right hand lane of the slip road on the left. Aim for the second lane from the outside at the 2 next sets of lights on the roundabout. At the 2nd set of lights, a lane out from the Pub, you pull straight across the A30 and then bear left onto the A308 - the lane next to the Pub is supposedly only for traffic turning left onto the A30.

ALL visitors to Queen Mary have to stop at the controlled entrance. Once inside the entry gates pull over to the right so that you can press the "Call for Attention" button on the post beside the hut without having to get out of the car. Do NOT assume that anyone you are following will have advised the Club staff that you are following - after the preceding vehicle has passed over the barrier the traffic signal WILL go red and the barrier WILL rotate up with sufficient power to raise anything over it at the time. Assuming you have not just come to spectate, tell whoever answers that you have come for the Sprint 15 Open Meeting and need to drop off and make-up/rig your boat. You should be told to go up the slope ahead and find a place in the boat park to set up your boat - there should be a large clear area on your left at the start of the boatpark. I can't see why car-toppers shouldn't drive round between the keelboats near the Clubhouse and turn left on the concrete roadway before the temporary cabins/containers, so that they can unload onto and make up their boats on the grassy aisles - but they MUST leave the concrete roadway free for other traffic.

NOTE that the QM lease with Thames Water allows only temporary parking on the upper level (except for disabled); when you have set up your boat you will have to drive back down the slope, turn left and park your car in the lower car park - drive along and park as close as available to the end, where there are steps up. ALL QM Sailing Instructions provide for automatic disqualification, without a hearing, of sailors who ignore this requirement.

I am sure there will be a number of QM Sprinters around to provide any further on-the-spot assistance needed - such as advice on launching.
George 1594
Steve Sawford
Warrant Officer (Class Two)
Warrant Officer (Class Two)
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:04 pm
Location: Kettering,Northamptonshire
Contact:

Post by Steve Sawford »

QM winter TT I wil be going to this one, I wonder if Richard will be there. :o
The launching is fun and the sailing is superb, with good food and friendly faces :shock: See you there 8)

Steve
Sailing and racing Dart 15`s for 23 years ,
What a fantastic boat . 1733 Tigershark owned her for 22yrs What a gal
Kevin Dutch
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:08 am
Location: Seasalter sailing club

Post by Kevin Dutch »

Hopefully if all goes well i shall be attending, should be good.
Gordon
Sub Lieutenant
Sub Lieutenant
Posts: 112
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:40 pm

Post by Gordon »

The QM event is on in 2 weeks, so just an update on proceedings.
The NOR should be on the website any minute now (courtesy of Martin), but I can tell you that the schedule is for an 11-00am start for the first race and the 2nd race will be back to back. That should mean that we'll be off the water well before 2pm, leaving plenty of time for lunch and an early journey home.
To all those who have been to QM before, you'll be pleased to know that we've gained a bit more space in the boat park following some re-organisation to make life a bit more comfortable.

Before the event at Draycote it looked like Steve Sawford didn't even have to turn up and he'd win the series, but then Richard Philpott came along with 2 wins and now we have the potential for a real competition, so I hope we see Richard at QM along with everyone else, let's make it a real event.

Thanks...See you there
Gordon
User avatar
Martin Searle
Admiral
Admiral
Posts: 437
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:22 am
Location: Somewhere in Kent!
Contact:

Post by Martin Searle »

Gordon wrote:The QM event is on in 2 weeks, so just an update on proceedings.
The NOR should be on the website any minute now (courtesy of Martin), <snip>
The NOR has been posted onto the site.

http://www.sprint15.com/events/EMS/event.php?id=24

Martin S.
Ex Sprint 15 Webmaster
Ex Seasalter SC Webmaster
RYA Regional Race Officer (South East Region) (Expired)
RYA Club Race Coach (Expired)
RYA Dinghy Sailing Instructor (Expired)
DARTPOTT
Leading Rate
Leading Rate
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:08 pm
Location: Cambridge
Contact:

No Show

Post by DARTPOTT »

Really sorry team but I cannot make it on Saturday. Nothing to do with not having a clue how I did it at Draycote but it's my son's 11th birthday and I will be swinging from the trees at Go Ape near Thetford.

You can of course blame Ray for this because he promised to write a note to Mrs P asking that I be made a free man.......he's obviously met my mother-in-law!

Have a great time and may good winds blow.

Richard

PS. Thanks Steve for the tins of beer..... :oops:
Richard Philpott (Sp15 1982); Shadow (015) and Bruce Roberts 434
Grafham Water & Ipswich Yacht Haven
Post Reply