The Race Committee had announced that the BODs will not race today (Tues) but instead there will be a BOD Race on Wednesday morning. Details will be posted ion the Pyefleet Week Official Notice Board.
Sorry folks. Bertha is on her way, but not fast enough to allow us to race the Monday morning race of Pyefleet Week.
The Race Officers have confirmed that they will aim to run the missed race on Wednesday morning and further information about this will be published shortly.
Good news – now we have all day to get our dirndls and lederhosen ready for tonight’s big BOD Bavarian Extravaganza which kicks off at 6.3opm at the club.
Bertha has got the better of us and there will be no racing on the opening day of Pyefleet Week for any classes. Race Officers David Chivers (overseeing our half of the day) and Craig Bond (overseeing the “other” half) met at 08.30 this morning to review the situation. Initially it looked as if it might be possible to run a short race this morning before the wind got up, but during the deliberations it started to build until they were regularly seeing gusts of Force 6. Wisely the boys made the sad, but necessary, decision to host N over A and cancel all racing for today. Fingers crossed that the situation improves for tomorrow when the BODs are on the morning shift starting at 10.36.
The good news about the cancellation of today’s racing is that it gives everyone an extra day to sort out the German beer festival fancy dress ready for Monday night’s big BOD Bavarian Extravaganza. Don’t forget that you can buy a German hat with your first pint for just £5 so look out those check shirts and leather shorts and come on down!
Don’t forget that tonight we have the BOD Fleet’s Pyefleet Week First Friday Sundowners at Fi’s place from 8pm at 13 The Colne, Waterside Marina (the block nearest to the club, Fi’s flat is ground floor at the end nearest to Fieldgate Dock, looking over the BSC launching ramp).
All BOD sailors, friends, family and groupies are welcome. Kick off is 8pm. Its going to be drinks a nibbles. Please don’t worry about bringing any nibbles or wine as we have masses!
And also don’t forget that its the BOD Bavarian Extravaganza on Monday night at the club so have your dirndls and lederhosen at the ready and don’t forget you can buy a German hat with your first beer for just £5. There will be Bratwurst, German Beer, Saurkraut and of course an Oompah Band!
David and Celia Charlton’s purchase of Sarah Louise means that they no longer need to borrow Blue Peter for Pyefleet Week, however, Adrian and Judith Gibbons have most generously offered her to Chris and Gill Jordan who will be racing her instead.
Chris and Gill will be well known to those of you who race regularly at the Sailing Club as they have raced various boats there for many years. We are thrilled that they are joining the BOD Fleet for Pyefleet Week and look forward to welcoming them when they get back from the Laser 2000 Nationals on Saturday.
Their entry with Blue Peter confirms us at 24 boats for Pyefleet Week! Can’t wait to get started now.
The Online Entry System for Pyefleet Week will close at midnight on Thursday night so if you want to take advantage of the system and save yourself some time on Saturday please Click Here and complete your form. You will still need to pay and pick up your info pack from the race office on Saturday.
Join us to get Pyefleet Week started in style with the BOD Fleet’s First Friday Sundowners this Friday 8 August from 8pm at Fi Brown’s flat, 13 The Colne, Waterside Marina, Brightlingsea (ground floor, facing the sailing club at the Fieldgate Dock end, just press 13 on the entry phone to gain entrance or call 07711 718470 if you have any problems finding us).
Enjoy drinks, nibbles and good company as the sun goes down. All BOD sailors, friends, family and groupies are welcome.
Fi says she has a wine lake that needs drinking so please don’t bring any wine with you, but a few beers would be helpful if you really do want to bring something.
The races for the upriver regattas are always something quite special and this year’s Wivenhoe Regatta truly lived up to that reputation. A dozen BODs came to the line at Bateman’s Tower in 12-14 knots from the south for what proved to be an excellent race. The course took the fleet on a beat out to number 9 followed by a reach to number 8 and then a long run up river to 18 via 12. From there it was back on the wind to 12 again before the final turn for Wivenhoe and a long run which tightened into a tricky and very shifty reach past Fingringhoe ballast quay and into the finish line at Wivenhoe.
Mark White and C53 White Spirit got the best start at the Mersea Wreck end of the line and led the fleet initially with Malcolm Goodwin racing C4 Cormorant hard on his heels. Behind them Danny Fox sailing C8 Egret, Jeremy Newman in C34 Avocet, Chris Rust sailing C16 Dulcet and John Payne in C11 Grayling were fighting for position on the first beat as the fleet began to sort itself out. Fiona Brown and the girls in Grethe had been the only boat to opt for the Bateman’s Tower end of the line and lost out, as a result they rejoined the fleet off point clear near the back of the pack, but they went for clear air while the others short tacked up the beach and made up ground to round the first mark mid fleet and neck and neck with Grayling.
Up ahead White Spirit led Cormorant away on the run and the two boats gradually began to extend their lead over the fleet whilst at the same time enjoying a fantastic duel. Behind them Egret was catching up fast while Avocet and Dulcet battled each other and Grethe and Grayling traded places just behind them.
As they approached the drop at number 18 and prepared for the second beat a snafu on White Spirit allowed Cormorant past. On the second beat the fleet was of two minds as to which shore would pay to keep out of the tide. As it turned out those who picked the Brightlingsea shore gained on those who came up on the Fingringhoe side. This allowed Egret to make a huge gain and move up into 
second, leaving White Spirit third, Dulcet fourth and Avocet fifth. Grethe had made a big gain on the second beat rounding a few boat lengths behind Avocet, while Grayling had chosen the Fingringhoe shore and dropped back.
As the boats turned for the final long run to Wivenhoe the wind began to pipe up further making for an exciting run. Cormorant, Egret and White Spirit led away for the line, but Dulcet and Avocet were still locked in a spectacular fight to the finish which Avocet finally won to take fourth in the closing moments of the race. Grayling was fast on the final run and made up ground on Grethe, but there just wasn’t quite enough time to overhaul her so Grethe took 
sixth and Grayling seventh with the rest of the fleet powering across the line just behind them.
Ashore Wivenhoe had laid on a great welcome party with the quay thronged with spectators and the usual free beer and food for all the competitors. As well as the BODs there were also 8 WODS racing who finished just ahead of us, and we were followed home by the ever spectacular smacks who swept through the narrow barrier under full sail and crossed the line with pace and attitude, before making a final hand break turn and dropping sails just below Rowhedge.
The organisers had kindly offered a down river race, 
but by this time the wind was up to over 20 knots and with a very tricky beat off the line and through the barrier the fleet decided that, with Pyefleet Week only days away, discretion was the better part of valour and a cruise home in company would be the safer option.
Many thanks to the organisers at Wivenhoe for a spectacular day. We’ll look forward to being back again next year.
No formal results have been published yet, but we believe the final finish order was (please let Fi know on fiona.brown@fionabrown.com if we have any errors):
Our thanks to Colin Spikesley (downriver) and Kate Button (in Wivenhoe) for the photos.
Our growing fleet is great news, but it’s putting a lot of pressure on the Park and Ride team to get all the boats in and out of the water in a timely fashion. To help ensure things run as smoothly as possible we need your help to avoid unnecessary delays or inconveniencing other regular park and ride customers.
Malcolm has put together some Instructions for the BODs which you can view here. Please read them carefully and do as they ask so that the system runs smoothly and we can avoid anyone missing the start of racing.
Please note that on the Pyefleet days when we race in the morning C54 Storm Petrel will be given priority to haul out as soon as she is ready regardless of her place on the haul out list. This is because her crew of Alan Hicks, Craig and Jayne Bond are the Race Officers for the other half of the racing day and must get ashore ASAP to start their duties.
Don’t forget that we will be 14 boats launching and recovering from Park and Ride during Pyefleet Week and even with both tractors running at maximum capacity it is going to take over an hour to launch or recover us all. Please do everything you can to arrive early and launch right away. If need be you can always tie up to the CYC or Public Pontoons for a little while to complete your preparations.
Thanks everyone for your help to make this happen.
Just four days after we first posted the advertisement, Sarah Louise has been sold to Celia and David Charlton who hope to have her ready to race in Pyefleet Week. Celia and Dave got the BOD bug earlier this year after a few sails in Grethe and when Sarah Louise came on the market they couldn’t resist the opportunity. David and Celia are already well known to many of us in the fleet as they are long time members of the Sailing Club and Dave is currently the Vice Commodore Sailing at BSC. They have been long time and very successful members of the Merlin Rocket fleet so we are thrilled that they have joined the BOD fleet and look forward to welcoming them to the family and to racing against them. Welcome Celia and David!
Brightlingsea One Design 
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