Brightlingsea One Design

It truly was champagne sailing conditions for the first BOD Mini Series of the season on Sunday 11 May with a lovely warm southerly 10-15 knots in sparkling sunshine.  Six BODs came to the line for the two races which were run by Jeremy and Barry Newman from the BSC start line.

The first race took the fleet through Gate and out to Number Eight for a really good long beat, followed by a run back to Gate and a nice tight reach up the Creek to finish.  On the start line the fleet was nicely packed with the exception of Storm Petrel who had mistimed their approach and started 30 metres behind the others.  Endeavour led out of the Creek and as they rounded Gate and came on the wind Storm Petrel was the first to tack inshore out of the tide, a move that enabled them to catch back up with the fleet and enjoy the excitement of close tacking down the St Osyth shore with Blue Peter, White Spirit and Bidi. Endeavour and Egret chose the Mersea shore and at Number Eight Endeavour led White Spirit by a boat length and a half, followed in by Bidi, then Egret, Storm Petrel and Blue Peter. On the run White Spirit had better speed and passed Endeavour, who had chosen a more inshore route which took them out of the stronger tide.  At the line the finish order was White Spirit first, Endeavour second, Bidi third, Egret fourth, Storm Petrel fifth, Blue Peter sixth.

Race two was another windward leeward from Gate, but this time the turning mark was Big Buoy.  An individual recall was signalled at the start and Blue Peter and White Spirit both recrossed the line. Endeavour once again led the fleet out of the creek, followed by Egret, Bidi, Storm Petrel, Blue Peter and White Spirit.  This time the entire fleet close tacked up the St Osyth shore with Egret rounding Big Buoy first followed by Bidi. Storm Petrel then tacked in and rounded just in front of Endeavour, but White Spirit, who had tacked in just below Storm Petrel, could not quite lay the mark because of the strong tide and was forced to swing round and make a second approach, coming back in just ahead of Blue Peter. The fleet then held it’s positions on the final run and reach to the finish putting Egret first, Bidi second, Storm Petrel third, Endeavour fourth, White Spirit fifth and Blue Peter sixth.

In the overall standings victory went to Danny Fox and the Egret team, Colin Willet and the crew of Bidi were second, David Conlon in Endeavour was third, Mark White in White Spirit fourth, Alan Hicks and Storm Petrel fifth and Graham Bridle sixth.

Coming up we have the second Thursday night series when John Paxman will be guest helming Grethe. Next weekend will see the start of the CYC BOD racing programme with the Eric Dent Cup which starts from Bateman’s Tower at 14.15 on Sunday 17 May and in which Chris and Gill Jordan will guest star in Grethe.  Welcome to the fleet John, Chris and Gill and good luck in your races.

Good luck to Mike Hempstead and Gelesma for their awfully big adventure to France for La Semain du Golfe du Morbihan, one of the biggest and most spectacular traditional boat festivals in the world.

Our picture shows Mike getting ready to apply a special Brightlingsea One Design sticker to Gelesma’s transom to ensure that everyone knows exactly what she is.

It’s fantastic that people are getting their BODs on the road and spreading the word to new audiences.  If you have plans to take your BOD for an adventure do please let us know as we’re always keen to receive reports and photos of all BOD activities.

Good luck Mike and team and we look forward to hearing all about the trip when you get back.

Congratulations to David Conlon, Sarah Bines and Mitchell Bond on their BOD victory in Monday’s opening race of the season.  This was the team’s first sail in Endeavour, which is on loan from Nick Readings for the season, and they clearly demonstrated that they will be a forced to be reckoned with this season.

Despite only having rigged the boat just before going afloat and the fact that they are using borrowed sails from Alan Hicks, they got off to a flying start in the Deputie’s Cup Handicap, which was run from the BSC Committee Boat on bank holiday Monday afternoon.  Off the line they got by far the best start of the small three boat BOD fleet with James Anderson in Wind Sprite trailing them away from the line, while Mike Hempstead in Gelesma was forced to turn back and recross having been a little over eager.

Endeavour immediately began to capitalise on her good start and gradually eked out a generous lead which they were able to defend until the finish.  Behind, Wind Sprite initially held off the advances of Gelesma, who was steadily clawing back her start line loss, but eventually Gelesma caught up and the two boats enjoyed a fantastic tousle which was only decided on the final leg with Gelesma coming out on top.

In the overall standings Endeavour finished 7th with Gelesma 12th and Wind Sprite 14th in a tough 33 strong fleet.

Full Results

Unfortunately due to a technical hitch with the committee boat it will not be possible for us to run this Sunday’s Multi Race Series from the Committee Boat.

Fortunately Barry and Jeremy Newman are now scheduled to be Race Officers at BSC that day and so we will be able to run racing from the BSC line instead.

The first start will be at approx 14.15 (after the main BSC racing has started) and we will be using the 5, 4, 1 sequence using traditional BOD Class flag and P from the flag poles (not the new light system).

Jeremy will be setting special courses which will be advised by VHF Channel M2/P4 (please would those with VHFs help to communicate to anyone who doesn’t have a radio).

The intention is to run relatively short courses starting and finishing from BSC line. Subsequent starts will be as soon as possible after all boats finish.

Once again Nick Readings has waved his BOD fairy godmother wand and made the dreams of prospective BOD sailors come true.

We are thrilled to confirm that for the 2015 season David Conlon and Sarah Bines will be racing C40 Endeavour (our photo shows Endeavour being sailed last Pyefleet Week by Graham, Claire and Will Bridle who are now proud owners of Blue Peter).

David and Sarah are two of the best young sailors of their generation and their addition to the fleet takes the standard of racing up yet another notch. Welcome David & Sarah and good luck in Endeavour! And a huge thank you to Nick for his generosity in making Endeavour and his other BODs available.

Stop Press – Latest Update – Mitchell Bond will be sailing with Sarah and David this season so this really will be a team to watch out for!

Following on from last year’s very successful BOD adventure to Bosham Classic Boat Revival the BOD fleet is once again planning an awfully big adventure to Chichester Harbour in 2015.  This year’s Revival event takes place on the weekend of 5-6 September and already several BODs have confirmed their intention to take part.

Bosham is stunningly beautiful, the racing and partying are fab and its a fab opportunity to show of our beautiful BODs to a new audience. If you would like to take part now is the time to organise accommodation and start thinking about logistical plans.  If you need any help with these please don’t hesitate to contact Fi Brown on fiona.brown@fionabrown.com or 07711 718470 who has good local contacts and knowledge and will be happy to help.

We had a great turnout and lots of fun at the 2015 BOD Dinner, which this year was hosted by the Colne Yacht Club and organised by Mark Wilby.  Mark did a fantastic job of putting the event together and the evening was the perfect kick off to what promises to be another full-on season of BOD Racing.

During the pre-dinner drinks and again after dinner, local singer songwriter Adam Cowlin did a fantastic job of entertaining the guests. Kristy and her team in the galley produced a fabulous four course meal which everyone agreed was superb while Matt and the bar staff kept everyone well refreshed.

On arrival CYC Commodore Graham Chasney welcomed the fleet to the club, highlighting how proud the club is to be associated with the fleet and how much they are looking forward to being part of another great season of BOD racing, after which Graham’s wife Frances said Grace.

After dinner it was the turn of BOD Chairman Bob Richardson to speak and he paid tribute to the incredible commitment and support of Malcolm Goodwin, whose hard work laid the foundations for the revival of the BOD Class we see today.  He also thanked the volunteer committee members and all of the owners and sailors of the fleet for their dedication to making the class what it is today.

He particularly thanked Nick, Pam and Richard Readings for again volunteering to act as Race Officers for the CYC BOD racing this season and Marilyn Hempstead, who is stepping down from her role as regular race officer but who will still be supporting the race team from time to time.  Without their dedication and commitment we would not be able to enjoy such regular racing and we are hugely in their debt.

New members were welcomed to the fleet including Adrian and Sue Bouckley with the new C50 Eider, Richard Austin whose C44 Janice will soon be back afloat after full restoration, and Graham and Claire Bridle who now own C31 Blue Peter. We also look forward to the relaunching of Mark Wilby and Phil Holding’s C75 The Mike, which is already at Park and Ride and looking fabulous.

Richard concluded by reminding us all that the first official BOD race is the Deputies Cup Handicap from BSC at 14.00 on Bank Holiday Monday 4 May and that Thursday night racing starts on 7 May.

Mark Wilby rounded out the evening’s formal speeches with a quick reminder that coming up this year we have Mark & Marianne White’s annual BBQ, a Pimms Garden Party to be hosted by Alan Hicks and Fi Brown, the return of the legendary BOD German Night on the Monday of Pyefleet Week, the Final Fling lunch after the last race of the season on 11 October and finally the BOD Halloween Party at CYC on Saturday 31 October to close the season in style.

C26 Krystina is up for sale.  Refitted and epoxied but little used in recent years Krystina offers an excellent entry opportunity into the BOD fleet.  She can be inspected ashore at Stones Green (about 20 minutes from Brightlingsea on the way to Harwich).  For more information please contact Richard White on  07896 518216 or rjwhite58@outlook.com

Colin Willett’s C9 Bidi, crewed by his son James and Ray Newman, was the first BOD to hit the race course this season and did an impressive job of winning Easter Sunday’s BSC Easter Eggs Pursuit Race by a comfortable margin. In a light to moderate south westerly Bidi got off to a slightly tentative start, but soon found her rhythm, creating a very nice lead by the mid point in the race. Despite the best efforts of the faster boats to catch her up, she maintained her supremacy and at the traditional post race Easter Lunch Colin, James and Ray all received congratulatory Easter Eggs.

Easter Weekend saw two BODs being turned over as work on their restoration and preparation for the 2015 progresses at full speed. On Saturday in Wivenhoe Rob Maloney called the BOD gang together to turn Richard Austin’s C44 Janice up the right way having completed planking and epoxy work on her bottom.  With the additional help of several members of the WOD (Wivenhoe One Design) fleet Janice made an elegant revolution ready for Rob to progress to the next stage of her restoration. For a text book example of how to turn a BOD see our video below. Richard tells us that he plans to paint the boat an icy blue white with a dark blue waterline and an off white deck so she will look absolutely lovely.

On Sunday it was the turn of C31 Blue Peter, now owned by Graham, Claire, Will and Eddie Bridle.  The boat had been turned upside down at Brightlingsea Park & Ride to allow Rob Maloney to do some repairs to her leaky centreboard case.  With the work complete it was all hands on deck before the BSC Easter Lunch to right her and put her back on her launching trailer.

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Once again thanks to everyone who turned out to help with manoeuvres.