Brightlingsea One Design

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.

Rob Maloney has now finished working on the bottom of Janice and needs help to turn her back up the right way at the St John’s Rd, Wivenhoe workshop at 10.30am this Saturday 4 April. He has some helpers confirmed already, but we need another half dozen to make it safe to do the job. If you can come over please could you email Rob on robmaloney9@aol.com. As usual it will be fun gathering and will only take about half an hour of your morning so we hope to see plenty of you there.
Thanks

If you are looking for a fun spring adventure with your BOD why not join Mike Hempstead and Gelasma in attending the Semain du Golfe du Morbihan classic boat festival on the beautiful south coast of Brittany from 11 to 17 May.

This biennial event is quite simply one of the most spectacular and fun classic and working boat events in the world.  Based in the Golfe du Morbihan (a huge natural harbour in southern Brittany) the event is an extravaganza of stunning scenery, great sailing, fantastic food (particularly sea food), amazing wines, ciders, beers and calvados, traditional seafaring arts, crafts and entertainment and general all round fun.

And this year at least one BOD will be joining the fray for the very first time!

If you would like to find out more visit http://www.semainedugolfe.com/Home-1074-0-0-0.html and contact Mike Hempstead (also copied on this message) who can assist with logistics, etc.