Brightlingsea One Design

Wivenhoe Regatta is just around the corner on Saturday 6 June and as usual we hope to see a really good turnout from the BOD fleet.  The Wivenhoe organisers are all set to welcome us, and in addition to the traditional upriver race, this year we will definitely have a downriver race for the new Bill Ellis Trophy (photo to follow shortly).  The downriver race will start at 16.15 (just after high water) from either the WSC Old Hut line (same as upriver finish) or the new WSC Clubhouse line (just below the barrier).  Which line is to be used will be announced on the day according to wind strength and direction.

Click here to find the Sailing Instructions and Entry Form, which also include details of where to moor, etc.  Please do make your entry either in advance using the tear off strip on the form or in person at the committee boat Viking on the day.  The entry fee is only £5 and all profits go to local charities, plus in return for entering you get vouchers for your crew to claim free beer and BBQ which are well worth the five pounds alone!

The first leg of the two race Cormorant Cup series took place on Sunday 24 May and saw seven BODs come to the start line in a light west north westerly with occasional rain showers.  The start proved to be a somewhat confused affair as the fleet struggled to get to grips with the new BSC lights/numbers starting system (note – we have asked for clarification on this and will be posting more info shortly).

With no one really knowing when the start was it truly was the luck of the draw that saw Chris Matthews, helming Fi Brown’s Grethe, get the best start of the fleet.  Danny Fox in Egret and Malcolm Goodwin in Jean were next best placed to get over the line in reasonable order, but for Mark White in White Spirit, Alan Hicks in Storm Petrel, Mike Hempstead in Gelesma and Trevor Stone in Ruff it was a case of scrabbling to get back to the line to start once everyone realised what was happening.

It was close hauled out of the Creek hardening up into a reach and then latterly a close spinnaker reach out to Beach, but with the flood at half tide judging the best course around Point Clear was tricky.  Most of the boat’s touched at least once getting out of the Creek, but Storm Petrel hit hardest and took a couple of minutes to extricate themselves as they were so close inshore.  By this stage they were at the back of the fleet and forced to play catch up.

At the front of the pack Grethe was working hard to hold off the constant advances of both Egret and Jean.  They hung on round Hills and back to Beach but on the second beat to Hills Grethe and Jean tacked off early onto port and Egret stood on.  At Hills Egret rounded just head with Grethe second and Jean third.

Behind the leading group Gelesma was in fourth with White Spirit fifth, Storm Petrel sixth and Ruff seventh. On the first beat across to Hills, Storm Petrel had passed White Spirit, but on the run back to Beach White Spirit overtook Storm Petrel again. The second beat back to Hills saw Storm Petrel pass both White Spirit and Gelesma.

Coming up the Creek and into the turning mark Grethe had to vigorously defend her second place from the attacking Jean, giving the spectators onshore plenty to watch.  Their antics allowed Egret to extend her lead a little and she took full advantage of her clear air on the final short lap out to No 12 and back to win comfortably.

Whilst Egret might have been quite relaxed on the reach home, the same could not be said of the crews in Grethe and Jean who virtually match raced around the final lap.  Behind them Storm Petrel was gaining ground and they must have been hoping for another lap to give them extra time to catch up and perhaps even overtake.

It was not to be though and as the fleet came up the creek Grethe and Jean were nose to tail with Malcolm Goodwin using all his decades of hard earned experience to try to edge Jean past the young whippersnapper Chris Matthews in Grethe.  Malcolm did everything he possibly could and as they came to the line the boats were overlapped with Jean starting to pull forward on Grethe.  Everyone held their breaths and Grethe’s crew were hugely relieved that the line arrived just before Jean could slide past them.  Definitely the best BOD finish of the year so far.

After her disastrous start Storm Petrel had sailed incredibly well to pull up into fourth place with Gelesma fifth White Spirit sixth and Ruff seventh.

Our thanks to Ed Gibbons and his helpers in the BSC Race Box and to all the rescue boat crews for their support in providing the racing.

As those of you who tried to sail last night will be aware, BSC is experiencing some technical difficulties with the new automated start system.  It may therefore be necessary for them to go back to using the old manual/flags system for the Cormorant Cups 1 race this Sunday 24 May.  They may also need to combine all the fleets in a single start rather than giving us our own individual start (obviously Cormorant Cup results will be extracted). Please make sure you check in at the club prior to going afloat to find out if there are any changes to the sailing instructions.

The Eric Dent Cup on Sunday 17 May saw a six strong BOD fleet come to the line for what was to be an eventful race in 12-15 knots.  The wind was forecast to be westerly although at the time of the start it was more north westerly making course selection more tricky.  The race committee erred on the side of the forecast, which proved to be the right choice later in the race, but it did make for a difficult reaching start line in the blustery conditions and a fair bit of jostling for position.

Alan Hicks in Storm Petrel found himself forced out at the committee boat end and in attempting to spin round caught the buoy/committee boat on his bow, while Chris Jordan, sailing Grethe on loan from Fi Brown, decided that discretion was the better part of valour when two boats gybed onto port in front of them and the opted to circle round rather than risk driving through a rapidly closing gap.

As the fleet streamed away Storm Petrel played and Grethe played catch up on the long close reach out to Beach, while up ahead Danny Fox in Egret, Dan Willett in Bidi and David Conlon in Endeavour were leading the pack.

What should have been a beat to Cocum was actually a close fetch making place changes tricky and it was followed by a dead run back to Beach.  The next beat had a couple of big shifts allowing Grethe to get past Mark White in White Spirit and make ground on Storm Petrel.

On the long close reach in from Cocum to No 15 Grethe got past Storm Petrel and caught right up to David Conlon in Endeavour by the approach to No 15.  Unfortunately on that final approach Endeavour was on starboard and port tack Grethe failed to give way so had to do their turns.

The boats then turned seaward again, sailing through the gate and reaching out to Big Buoy followed by a good beat to Inner Fisheries, and a reach back to 15 before they made the final turn for the finish line.

Unfortunately Bidi had failed to sail through the start line at the end of the first lap and was forced to retire, leaving Egret to take first place with Endeavour second and a delighted Chris and Gill Jordan, crewed by Geoff Gritton, in Grethe third. They were followed home by Storm Petrel, White Spirit and Trevor Stone in Ruff.

Thanks as always must go to Nick and Pam Readings for manning the committee and safety boat.

Finishing Times/Places
1st Egret –  Finish Time15:41:37
2nd Endeavour – Finish Time15:42:59
3rd Grethe – Finish Time15:43:47
4th Storm Petrel – Finish Time15:45:43
5th White Spirit – Finish Time15:45:49
6th Ruff – Finish Time 15:49:14
Bidi – RTD

Please would anyone who is available come to the St John’s Road, Wivenhoe workshop of Malcolm Goodwin and Rob Maloney to help turn Janice over one final time this Saturday 16 May at 10am.

They need a dozen people to turn her safely and the job only takes about 15 minutes so its not an onerous task.  If you can help please contact Rob Maloney on email Robmaloney9@aol.com to let him know you will be there.

Thanks!

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!