Brightlingsea One Design

As you already know, we have an incredible 23 boats confirmed as racing for the whole of Pyefleet Week which is fantastic.  However, on the opening day, Sunday 10 August, we have the special President’s Cup race which is a one off race in which we aim to get as many boats on the water as we possibly can (it does also count towards the week’s points).

With 23 boats already confirmed as racing Pyefleet Week our aim this year is to have 25 boats out for the President’s Race – which will be a BOD World Record!

So even if you can’t do the whole of Pyefleet Week do please come and join us for this very special race.  The start will be just after 14.30 (currently programmed for 14.36 but subject to confirmation once the classes are confirmed by the BSC – please check the Pyefleet Week official notice board on the day).

If you need any help to get your boat out and ready for the race just give Fi a shout on fiona.brown@fionabrown.com or 07711 718470 and she will do what she can to find you helpers or crew.

It is incredibly exciting to see our wonderful class so active and vibrant.  There’s a great mix of camaraderie and competition, the boats look absolutely stunning and we’re bucking the trend of falling class numbers.  So come on down and be part of the fun!

And don’t forget you can enter The President’s Race (or the whole of Pyefleet Week) online at www.pyefleetweek.com

The Pyefleet Week programme has been confirmed and the BODs will be sailing as follows:

Friday 8 August – BOD Pyefleet Week Welcome Drinks – 19.30 at Fi’s Flat (13 The Colne, Waterside Marina)

Saturday 9 August – Carole Cruickshank Trophy (Warm up pursuit race) – 14.00

Sunday 10 August – The President’s Cup (calling all BODs to take part) – Afternoon

Monday 11 August – Morning (The BOD German Night Party is on Monday evening)

Tuesday 12 August – Afternoon

Wednesday 13 August – Big Wednesday (not part of the points series) – 14.30

Thursday 14 August – Morning

Friday 15 August – Afternoon

Saturday 16 August – Morning

Currently the programme shows that we will be the third class to start after the Cat Handicap and the Fireballs and that we will be followed by the Slow Handicap and Mirrors, however, class changes can be made right up until the end of registration on Saturday 9 August so please check with the notice board to confirm the final timings prior to sailing.  Assuming we are the third class to go we will starting at 10.36 in the mornings and 14.36 in the afternoons.

For more information and to make your entry in advance (no need to pay but you can get the paperwork done online to save time) please visit the Pyefleet Week website.

Don’t forget that the only place to be from 7pm this Saturday night will be Mark and Marianne White’s garden for the It’ll Be All White On The Night BOD Party!  And on Sunday we have racing from the BSC line starting from 14.00.  With so many boats now launching and preparing for Pyefleet Week we’re expecting a good turnout.

On the subject of good turnouts, with so many boats now needing to launch from Park and Ride each race its important that we get our act together and try to be ready to leave promptly to avoid last minute rushes with the tractors.  Please would everyone do their best to get there a little bit earlier and go afloat as soon as you are ready to help ease congestion for the next few weeks.  Thanks!

Seven BODs including Malcolm Goodwin sailing C1 Jean in her first appearance of the seaon, came to the Bateman’s start line for the Colne Salver on Sunday 6 July.  It was champagne sailing all the way for what proved to be an exciting and challenging race.  Malcolm got Jean off to a flying start but then didn’t quite have the pace to maintain his lead (possibly because it was his first sail of the season or perhaps because Jean has been in the water for a couple of weeks and the warm weather means the baby barnacles are spreading like wildfire).  On the other hand Danny Fox and the boys in C8 Egret, who also got a good start, were fully arced up and soon had control of the fleet.

Behind Egret, Alan Hicks in C54 Storm Petrel initially looked good but a combination of a poor tactical decision followed by a spinnaker pole fumble allowed first C9 Bidi, helmed by Colin Willett, and then C53 White Spirit, helmed by Mark White, to overtake him.

Having been disqualified from the last couple of CYC races for failing to correctly pass through the start line between laps, this week Egret made sure they complied with the sailing instructions and didn’t put a foot wrong.  At the finish line they had a confident lead from Bidi with White Spirit third.

Its clear that the standard of sailing is really hotting up in the fleet this year.  And its also clear that although the new fibreglass boats are on the pace, the well prepared wooden boats are still more than capable of beating them.  As we get closer to Pyefleet Week we can look forward to growing fleets and ever more exciting racing.  Bring it on we say!

Thanks as always go to Nick Readings and Marilyn Hempstead for their sterling work on the committee boat.

Colne Salver Final Results

1.  C8 Egret – Danny Fox – 15:15:57 (1hour 30mins 57secs)
2. C9 Bidi – Colin Willett – 15:16:47 (1hour 31mins 47secs)
3. C53 White Spirit – Mark White – 15:17:39 (1hour 32mins 39secs)
4. C54 Storm Petrel – Alan Hicks – 15:18:06 (1hour 33mins 06secs)
5. C1 Jean – Malcolm Goodwin – 15:19:44 (1hour 34mins 44secs)
6. C6 Jumbo – Tom Sargent – 15:24:42 (1hour 39mins 42secs)
7. C29 Panic – Bob Richardson – 15:28:59 (1hour 43mins 59secs)

We have two fabulous BOD parties coming up in July and we’re also preparing for BOD night at Pyefleet Week so mark your diaries and come and join the celebrations:

First up is the “It’ll Be All White On The Night” party on Saturday 12th July from 7pm hosted by Mark and Marianne White at their lovely home, 30 Nelson Street, Brightlingsea.  Mark will be firing up the BBQ, the bar will be flowing and with luck the good weather will hold so we can enjoy Marianne’s fabulous garden to the full.

Parking is very limited in Nelson Street so we’d be most grateful if those who can walk there please do so.  If you need to drive and can’t park in Nelson Street try Duke Street which runs behind the house.  There is a brown wooden pedestrian back gate to the garden located next to 25 Duke Street (Geoff Gritton’s house) which you can use if approaching from that direction.

Contributions to the bar will be much appreciated.  Mark will be slamin’ the sausages and burgers on the barbie, but if anyone has any special dietary needs please feel free to bring along something appropriate for yourself.

And just a week later, on Saturday 19th July we will celebrate the arrival in the fleet of two new BODs at 6.30pm at Brightlingsea Sailing Club .  The first is Malcolm Goodwin’s newly restored C4 Cormorant, one of the most successful BODs ever built, originally owned by the legendary Ralph Sutton and on which Malcolm has spent well in excess of 1,000 hours restoration time.  The other boat to be christened that night will be James Anderson’s new fibreglass boat C55 which is just being completed at Simon Hipkin’s yard. The entire fleet is invited to join in the celebrations and welcome both boats to the family.

Finally don’t forget that the BODs will be hosting a German Night on the Monday of Pyefleet Week, 11 August.  Mark Wilby has been leading the organisational charge for this one and has a German Oompah band, German beer and German food all lined up.  It will be a fancy dress night so look out those lederhosen and dirndls and be prepared!  More information will follow shortly.

Your BOD Fleet Needs You!  Please would as many people as possible come over to Malcolm Goodwin’s workshop in St John St, Wivenhoe at 7.00pm on Tuesday 15th July to help lift Cormorant out of the upper workshop and down onto her trolly?  If you are available please call Malcolm on 01206 823223 to let him know you can be there.

Also don’t forget that Malcolm will be relaunching Cormorant at Brightlingsea Sailing Club on Saturday 19th July at 6pm and the entire fleet is invited to join him to celebrate her restoration and watch the lunch.

Storm Petrel, helmed by Alan Hicks and Jayne and Craig Bond, this weekend continued their drive towards BOD World domination by winning the Carstairs Cup from Mark White, Dick Stephens and Mark Wilby in White Spirit by just 42 seconds. Five boats came to the line on a blustery and overcast day which saw the wind constantly shifting 40 degrees plus as shower fronts rolled through.

The fleet started from the Bateman’s line on a beat upriver to No 15.  Within a few moments of the start Tom Sargent’s Jumbo II had technical issues, the main was dropped and Tom was headed back to the mooring.

On the first lap, which then took the boats to Point Clear, Inner Fishery and back through the gate, White Spirit had the upper hand and led Danny Fox’s Egret and Storm Petrel into the second lap.  Unfortunately Egret once again got in a muddle about how to pass through the gate between laps and when Craig Bond hailed them to advise them of their mistake, they decided to also head home leaving race leader White Spirit and Storm Petrel to fight it out with Mike Rees, Trevor Stone and Jim Bray’s Ruff in third place .

Ruff, who were sailing two up, manfully struggled on in the heavy airs but finally decided to call it quits and make for the bar.

The race then came down to a dog fight between White Spirit and Storm Petrel with White Spirit leading round Mersea Point and heading to the finish they decided to hang on on port into the ebb tide while Storm Petrel tacked to the shelter of the shore.  White Spirit tacked back but Storm Petrel, being to leeward and with the advantage of a lee bow effect, came up to White Magic forcing her to tack back into the tide.  It was to be the decisive move of the race and Storm Petrel came home to a narrow win and to claim the Carstairs Cup.

Full Results

1.  Storm Petrel – Alan Hicks
2.  White Spirit  – Mark White

Retired
Jumbo II – Tom Sargent
Ruff – Mike Rees/Trevor Stone/Jim Bray
Egret – Danny Fox

The second of the Cormorant Cup two race series took place on Sunday 22 June and turned into a match race between Mark White in White Spirit and Chris Matthews in Rebel.  It was to be a sunny light airs race and including Bob Richardson in Panic three boats came to the line.

Unfortunately Panic suffered technical issues and was forced to retire leaving White Spirit and the newly rerigged Rebel to fight it out in a fantastically close race.  The Race Officer decided to shorten course after one lap and on the line Rebel claimed victory by just two boat lengths.

Although the official race was now over the wind was actually just perfect for sailing so Rebel and White Spirit agreed to sail a second lap just for fun. Having split tacks White Spirit headed in towards the creek and Rebel thought they had reneged on the extra lap deal and were going home, so instead of continuing their beat to 13 bore away and headed for the creek too.  At which point White Spirit tacked for No 13 with a nice lead forcing Rebel to scramble back onto the wind.  Having gained a tiny advantage White Spirit hung on to the finish line to claim an informal victory.

In the overall standing for the two races combined that meant that White Spirit claimed overall victory by three points.  Rebel and Danny Fox’s Egret both counted seven points with Rebel claiming second place overall on count back.

Cormorant Cup Results

Sorry for the lack of race reports over the last 10 days, our webmaster had to go off and earn a living for a few days, but fortunately she’s back to loafing around this week so here is a catch up on the latest racing news starting with Thursday nights.

The BODs continue to dominate Thursday night racing.  On the 19th of June is was Christ Matthews’ turn to dominate, at that point still sailing in Endeavour whilst his new mast was being finished, and he took first place from Alan Hicks in Storm Petrel with Fi Brown sailing Grethe third, John Payne in Grayling fourth, Phil Rust sailing Dulcet fifth and Mike Hempstead’s Gelasma sixth.  Andy Bines in the RS200 was the first non-BOD to finish.

The 26th June wasn’t quite such a BOD fest, but BODs none the less filled the top three places with Storm Petrel first, Chris Matthews, now back in Rebel, second and Mark White in White Magic third.

With eight races now completed Alan Hicks is leading both the BOD fleet and the overall standings with a 17 point margin from Chris Matthews while Grethe (helmed by a combination of Fi Brown and David Charlton) is third BOD and fourth overall and White Spirit is fifth BOD and sixth overall.

Click here for full Thursday Night Results

We have a secret we’ve been dying to share with you, and today we can finally reveal that….. drum roll…… two time Cherub National Champion and all round B’sea legend Graham Bridle is joining the BOD Fleet for Pyefleet Week 2014!

Thanks to the generosity of Nick Readings, Graham is going to be borrowing C43 Endeavour for Pyefleet Week and will be sailing with his lovely wife Claire and his equally lovely son Will.  Claire did a bit of sailing with Fi and the girls in Nan last year and Graham did a day crewing for Mark White at the end of last season (although insists he was too hung over to remember anything about it) so the family have clearly caught the bug.

Some of you will already be aware that Claire has limited mobility due to MS.  A keen sailor, Claire tested the practicality of sailing the BOD with the Nan girls last year and with the addition of a strategically placed beanbag to help keep her supported she discovered that a BOD can easily be adapted for her.  This year Graham and Will plan to add a trapeze harness with some additional handles to Claire’s sailing gear so they can more easily help her around the boat when tacking, etc.

We’re thrilled to welcome Team Bridle to the BOD fleet and this has the added excitement of taking us to 23 boats for Pyefleet Week!  It’s going to be a record breaking epic people!

Here is the current anticipated Pyefleet Week Entry List (you can make your actual entry at www.pyefleetweek.com)

C55 – James Anderson
C54 – Storm Petrel – Alan Hicks
C53 – White Spirit – Mark White
C51 – Grethe – Fi Brown
C43 – Endeavour – Graham Bridle (on loan from Nick Readings)
C32 – Avocet – Jeremy Newman
C31 – Blue Peter – David & Celia Charlton (on loan from Adrian & Judith Gibbons)
C30 – Sarah Louise – Rob White (on loan from Jack Wills)
C29 – Panic – Bob Richardson + Alistair Burt
C27 – Rebel – Chris Matthews
C26 – Krystina – Richard and Mary White
C25 – White Magic – Brian Walker
C24 – Nan – Dan King  (on loan from Nick Readings)
C20 – Ruff – Mike Rees/Trevor Stone/Jim Bray
C18 – Gelasma – Mike Hempstead
C16 – Dulcet – Phil Rust
C14 – Aina – Steve Heppell
C11 – Grayling – John Payne
C9 – Bidi – Colin and Dan Willett
C8 – Egret – Danny Fox
C6 – Jumbo Too – Tom Sergeant
C4 – Cormorant – Malcolm Goodwin
C1 – Jean – Barry Newman (on loan from Malcolm Goodwin)