Due to the song wind forecast the Final Fling Race had dad to be postponed. A new date will be advised shortly. The lunch at CYC will go ahead at 1pm. See you in the bar for a pre lunch drink.
If you would like to join a BOD Table for the Brightlingsea SC Laying Up Supper on Saturday 29 October please book your tickets with Marianne as below and confirm to her that you would like to join a BOD Table.
With apologies – In the first edition of this story we made a mistake in the placings for fifth to seventh. Please see corrected text below.
It may have been the penultimate race of the season, but that didn’t stop Sunday’s inaugural running of the Reg White Trophy race from being an absolute hum dinger. After a few rather lean weeks while everyone recovered from Pyefleet Week and disappeared on holidays, it was great to see seven boats coming to the line for what proved to be a very challenging light airs race.
From the off Jeremy Newman, crewed in Avocet by special guests the Mersea Boys, got a jump on the fleet. Behind him though the rest of the pack chased out of the Creek together and there were plenty of place changes as the boats contended with the fickly and patchy breeze.
Guest staring at the helm of Fi Brown’s Grethe, Jarvis Simpson initially looked to have made the worst of the start, being both furthest out in the tide and last across the line. However, as they came down the creek there was better breeze to the middle of the channel and this combined with a smart approach to the run down to Cocum allowed him to sail around the opposition and into second place just behind Jeremy, with the rest of the pack hard on their heels.
From this point onwards Jeremy took full advantage of the clear air and gradually extended his lead on each leg to claim the inaugural Reg White Trophy race by a very comfortable margin. Despite a late charge from Alan Hicks and Craig and Jayne Bond in Storm Petrel, Jarvis, crewed by Fi and Becky Ashworth, defended his second place successfully leaving Storm Petrel third.
Mark and Georgina White and Dick Stephens sailed White Spirit to fourth, while the battle for the remaining places came down to a dog fight in the final 200 yards with Mike Hempstead and Eddie and Anne Howson in Gelasma sliding home for fifth, just ahead of sixth place Trevor Stone and the Ruff boys who sailed a blinder to beat Geoff Gritton, sailing Never Say Never with Chris Walker and Ian Hastings, into a very close seventh.
Huge thanks must go to Barry Newman who stepped in at the last minute as Race Officer so that Jeremy could take part in the race. And huge thanks to Mark and the White Family for donating this lovely new trophy in memory of Reg, which will be presented for the first time at the BSC Laying Up Supper.
There are just three official BOD races left in the 2016 Calendar so help us see out the season in style as we build up to the Final Fling on Sunday 16 October.
This coming Sunday 2nd October it’s the Robbie Stone Chalice starting at 14.00 from the CYC Committee Boat off Bateman’s.
Sunday 9th October is the new Reg White Trophy race starting from BSC from 14.00. BSC are running their Autumn Points all in handicap that day, but we will have our own start for this special new trophy which has been presented to the class by Mark White in memory of his father. We will be using BSC BOD courses for the race so please watch for a possible change of course number once the all in handicap race has started.
And finally we have the Final Fling on Sunday 16 October. The start for this is at 11.00 from the CYC Committee Boat at Bateman’s and the race will be followed by the traditional Final Fling Sunday lunch in the Colne Yacht Club. Once again the meal will be a traditional roast carvery with main course costing £9.50 and the optional pudding being £4.25. Those wishing to join us for lunch and the end of season fun and games including the prize giving should reserve their places with CYC either at the bar or by calling the office on 01206 302594. Please make sure when booking that you clearly book in for the Final Fling and not just the usual Sunday lunch.
After a few weeks absence supporting Hannah at the Paralympics Sue Bouckley has confirmed that Eider will be back out with us for the last few races of the season. Alan Hicks in Storm Petrel and Fi Brown and the Grethe Girls will also be back from their travels in time for the Reg White Trophy and the Final Fling. Jeremy Newman has confirmed that Avocet will be racing the Final Fling and of course White Spirit, Never Say Never, Blue Peter, The Mike, Ruff and co have all been racing through the autumn anyway and we look forward to seeing them out again for these final races. Who else is up for joining us to see out the season in true style?
After the post Pyefleet Week malaise and a couple of weekends when wind stopped play it was terrific to see a fleet of five BODs back out on the water on Sunday 18 September for a three race windward leeward mini series that provided fantastically close racing and some great spectating.
Conditions were near perfect with lovely sunshine and a nice northerly of around 8 knots so Jeremy and Barry Newman set windward leeward courses which took the fleet from the Bateman’s starting line on a beat up river, before turning back to run past Brightlingsea Creek to the leeward mark. Not only did this give a perfect course, but it allowed those at BSC and along the prom to keep a close eye on proceedings.
From the off Mark White in White Spirit had the bit between his teeth and with a 1, 2, 1 scoreline he won the series by a two point margin. Mark and Debby Wilby and Phil Holding proved that The Mike has what it takes to win races too though and with a 2, 1, 3 scoreline they claimed second overall, their best result of the year and their first ever race victory. Geoff Gritton placed third and naturally took the endless ribbing from The Mike’s crew in his stride!
Rounding out the results were Graham and Claire Bridle in Blue Peter with the Ruff Boys in fifth.
| Sail No | Boat | Helm | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Points | Place |
| C53 | White Spirit | Mark White | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| C75 | The Mike | Mark Wilby | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| C56 | Never Say Never | Geoff Gritton | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| C31 | Blue Peter | Graham Bridle | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| C20 | Ruff | Trevor Stone | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 5 |
A glitch in the programme means that BSC cannot run our racing this coming Sunday 18 September as planned. But fear not, Jeremy Newman has kindly agreed to step in and act as Race Officer using their launch Dug. The start will be at Noon and they will be using the CYC BOD Course Card starting in the vicinity of the Bateman’s line. Listen out on VHF Chanel M1 for further instructions.
So far Never Say Never, The Mike, White Spirit, Ruff and Blue Peter have said the plan to race so come on out and join them as the forecast looks good.
Thank you to Aldeburgh Yacht Club for putting on such a great Classic Boat Festival over the weekend of 3 and 4 September 2016. Three BODs and two WODs made the trip from the River Colne to take part and were warmly welcomed by the Aldeburgh team who could not have been more helpful. Launching the boats was easy with options to self launch from their ramp or use their crane and launching cradle to save dipping your trailers. Once afloat the boats were kept on moorings and the club launch 
service ran you to and from the jetty. The local team also took the time to chat to the visitors to help familiarise us with the local geography and location of the marks, tide, etc.
The plan had been for two races on Saturday and one on Sunday but the tail end of a tropical storm made for some spectacular and very challenging conditions. All of the Colne boats race in the opening race which was run in a blustery 18 to 25 knots. The entrants were 
divided up into four fleets this year, the local Loch Long fleet (a lovely old two man keelboat), the keel and dayboat handicap (including the BODs and WODs) and a fast and slow dinghy fleet.
The club is located on a right hand bend in the river so careful course planning allows for a combination of windward, leeward and reaching legs in almost any wind direction with the majority of the courses being fully visible from 
the club – perfect for spectating.
Race 1 called for a nice beat off the line heading south down river against the flooding tide. The first mark turned us back downwind, past the club and around the corner for a reach up and then back down the river with the first lap being completed by passing the club again where you came back onto a beat for the second lap. For those who haven’t been there its a bit like racing around Bateman’s, Pyefleet and Alresford 
Creeks but with the added excitement of lots of moored yachts to avoid and lots of fellow competitors to play cat and mouse with. The tide is strong too which makes judging lay lines on marks and moored obstacles even more crucial and with marshy mudbanks either side there’s lots of guess work and lifting and lowering of centre plates as you try to decide how close to push it when going against the tide.
Alan Hicks, Craig and Jayne Bond in Storm Petrel got race 1 off to a flying start and sailed an absolute blinder to finish more than four minutes ahead of Fiona Brown, Julie Cuthbert and Martin Rhodes-Schofield in Grethe with Mike Hempstead, Max Hickman and Peter Adkins in Gelasma third BOD. The fleet also included two classic Dragons, two classic Flying Fifteens, the two WODs and a lovely one off classic keelboat. Unfortunately back ashore we discovered that Storm Petrel had misunderstood the location of the start line (marked by black and white poles on the far bank and the 
start box on the club side) and was OCS. Mike reported that Gelasma was actually just over too but was aground at the time and drifted back behind the line as they freed themselves so ended up making a reasonable start. On handicap one of the Dragons took first place, Grethe was second, a Flying Fifteen was third and Gelasma was fourth. Moral victory lay with Storm Petrel though as their corrected time would have put them more than two minutes ahead of the winner.
As race one concluded the breeze began to build even further with some really nasty gusts of around 30 knots under the dark scudding clouds. The BODs picked up moorings and dropped their sails to see if it would blow through, but by the time the race committee called the fleet under starter’s order for race two it was clear the wind was not going to drop so we all decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Back in the bar each of us had stories to tell of near capsize with all three boats coming close to 
rolling it in on the scary dead run (at least half of which seemed to require sailing by the lee) and Grethe also scooping up more water than was strictly necessary in a particularly gusty emergency tack when she had to take last minute avoiding action for a Loch Long calling water.
After an evening sampling the many delights of Aldeburgh, some well deserved sleep and a hearty breakfast, it was back down to the club for what should have been the third and final race of the series. Sadly the tropical storm was still making its presence felt and although three of the keelboats did race, all the centreboard boats wisely made the decision not to risk it 
as conditions were still fresh to frightening. We spent the morning drinking coffee and watching the few who did brave it careering around the river at max speed. Despite the weather it was an outstanding weekend and lovely to see so many classic dinghies and day boats in one place and to have the opportunity to chat to like minded sailors.
One of the nicest things was how many of the “BOD Fan Club” came up to cheer us on with Derick and Jenny Gentry, Barry and Jill Newman, Billy and Kate Button, Trevor & Ros Stone, Sue & Steve Merrill and Colin & Pam Willett all swinging by to say hello and Phil and Sarah Holding and Mark and Debbie Wilby bringing their RIB up to act as BOD support and official photo boat too. Thanks all of you – it made the event feel really special and we’re just sorry we couldn’t manage more racing to entertain you.
Our thanks to Derick Gentry and Mark Wilby for the photos in this report and to the Aldeburgh Yacht Club team for a lovely weekend.
In the face of tomorrow’s weather forecast which indicates we can expect a force five gusting six at the time we should be running the Ladies Race and with little chance of it moderating before mid to late evening the decision has been made in consultation with the CYC Race Committee that sadly this year’s Ladies Race will be cancelled.
Our thanks to Nick, Graham and the race team for their support in attempting to run the race, but at least the early decision will allow everyone to replan their day.
This Sunday 21 August its the BOD Ladies Race starting from the CYC Bateman’s Tower line at 14.15. Please would everyone intending to take part let Fi know on fiona.brown@fionabrown.com so she can advise Race Officer Nick Readings how many boats to expect. After her impressive performance in the last race before Pyefleet Week we hope that Georgina White will be out to defend her title and we’ll see plenty of ladies challenging her.
Brightlingsea One Design 
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