Sailors in a storm-tossed sea know there is danger in relying solely on battening down the hatches. There should be at least one lookout ensuring that the craft won't be driven on to the rocks.

No danger of that for the 12 members of RICH - the Ryedale investment Club Holdings - who maintain a firm hand on the tiller 'midst the tempest. They are still making decisions to invest when all about them are trusting to the fates.

How other investors and you interpret their fallible decisions is entirely your call. Back your luck or judgement in the light of that much-intoned truism that the market can go down as well as up.

NOWADAYS only a few succeed and when they do, it's a case of a loss-cutting "Phew!"

No surprises that members of RICH - which stands for Ridings Investment Club Holdings - found their unit price sliding 14p this month to £2.55.

That, say the dozen members - managers and retired managers from Nestle of York - simply reflects a badly-performing stock market over the period.

But while there's less money to be counted, there is still a good tally of blessings.

Jim Porteous, club chairman - a former trade communications manager and sales promotions manager at Nestl - now head of Notions, a marketing, public relations and property management company is philosophic.

He says: "We comfort ourselves with the fact that the original members of the club are still enjoying a 120 per cent increase in value with an annualised return of 26.2 per cent which is much better than you would get in a deposit account or with other forms of readily-available homes for regular savings."

Where the policy for the RICH portfolio was always to maintain proportions of half and half "higher risk" and "safer" stocks.

Now the proportions are 68 per cent safe and 32 per cent speculative, reflecting continuing concern about market volatility.

Once again this month, RICH members proved the value of their strong stop-loss policy - that is, drawing a line in the sand below which they would sell.

As a result it was a case of "sell, sell, sell" on Arthur Shaw as it dipped below its 15 pence cut-off at 14.25p. It meant that the members maintained a profit on the stock of 88 per cent.. It continued falling, at one point sinking to ten pence.

It's hardly surprising, therefore, that members gritted their teeth against the market volatility by setting new stop losses. They also set stop gains - that is a ceiling at which they will sell and profit-take on stock to take advantage of the volatility.. Namely -

Offload GreatWestern Radio (GWR) should it fall to a £7 limit. Or if it reaches an £11 high. This reflects the volatility of the Bristol radio company which has performed well recently.

Flog Royal Sun Alliance shares should they drop to £8 but set no stop-gain limit because the insurance sector appears to be solid.

Should curtain-fitting company French rise to £1 then sell. A stop gain was set in the belief that the potential of the company given its involvement with ex-Asda chairman Archie Norman is not as great as anticipated and any recovery should be taken advantage of.

At this month's club meeting the daring dozen also carefully considered five options for investment. They were -

Psion, the profitable tech business which was now available at a reduced price

Matalan, the retail chain, not just because its figures were impressive but also because members had seen no change in increasing business at the Clifton Moor branch.

Slough Estates, the building sector group which in spite of good performance was under-valued.

Bemrose Promotional, the printing group with a new, aggressive management.

Medysis, the medical equipment company in which RICH already has shares in anticipation of US approval for a new, cheaper disposable injection system

Decision: Buy more stocks in Medysis at 86p and new shares in Slough Estates.