Brightlingsea One Design

Egret at full pace – Photo courtesy of Nigel Edmunds

Three boats came to the line for the first of the Cormorant Cup races on Sunday 25 May.  After some confusion over the start time Adrian and Judith Gibbons and Tom Quilligan aboard Blue Peter led off the line closely followed by Egret, crewed by Danny Fox, Tim Hearn and Bob Hedger.  Mark White, sailing with Dick Stephens and Jemima Olly in White Spirit, were caught out by the start signal confusion and found themselves having to play catch up.

In a stiff 17-22 knot southerly the boats headed out of the creek on a scalding two sail reach before hardening up for No 8. Egret went left, Blue Peter went right and White Spirit went straight down the middle into the building and favourable ebb tide.  It was a winning move and at No 8 the three boats rounded within a boat length of each other with Egret leading from Blue Peter and White Spirit third.

On the run down to Point Clear the boats had to contend with big swells and made the most of it surfing down the waves and pushing for positions.  At the mark they held their order and set off back up to No 9.

White Spirit took the right side of the beat and about three quarters of the way up the leg they passed a capsized catamaran with a frantic helm, Maddie Anderson, aboard who was clearly in need of assistance.  Further investigation revealed that her crew had become separated from the boat and was being swept out to sea. White Spirit followed the helm’s directions and after about five minutes sailing they were able to find him.  A bit of very nice seamanship saw them retrieve the extremely grateful crew, who was still clutching the cat’s broken tiller in his hand.  Having hauled him on board and checked he was OK the White Spirit boys quickly established that their new crew mate was none other than Finn Anderson who will shortly be one of the regular crew in BOD C55, currently under construction for Finn and Maddie’s father James.  Clearly Finn was taking desperate measures to get a closer look at the opposition’s deck layout!

While White Spirit was in international rescue mode the other BODs were enjoying what could best be described as a lively race! From the deck of Blue Peter we are reliably informed by Tom that Danny revealed his thankfully clean bottom to the fleet.  The incident occurred on the Gybe at Mersea Wreck when things didn’t go entirely to plan aboard Egret and Tim found himself having to throw a leg over the upper gunwhale to bring the boat back onto an even keel!  No one was more surprised than Danny that boat actually came back upright!

Despite the near swim Egret managed to stay ahead of Blue Peter and crossed the line just a few seconds ahead.  White Spirit meanwhile had put Finn back aboard his cat but was so far behind that they retired to put in a claim for redress.

In our earlier post we announced that this Sunday’s Cormorant Cup 1 race is to start from the BSC line at 14.10 as stated on the BOD Programme.  On checking the BSC Calendar we have established that this is incorrect.  THE CORRECT TIME FOR THE CORMORANT CUP 1 IS 11.12am ON SUNDAY 25 MAY.

Our apologies for any confusion this may have caused.  We will ask for the rest of the BOD programme to be cross checked to ensure that there are no further conflicts coming up.

Fi just did a very quick informal add up and it looks like we will definitely be over 20 boats for Pyefleet Week and the President’s Race this year. Here are the 20 boats we are already pretty sure will be racing with us:

C55 – James Anderson
C54 – Storm Petrel – Alan Hicks
C53 – White Spirit – Mark White
C51 – Grethe – Fi Brown
C32 – Avocet – Jeremy Newman
C31 – Blue Peter – David & Celia Charlton (on loan from Adrian & Judith)
C29 – Panic – Bob Richardson + Alistair Burt
C27 – Rebel – Chris Matthews
C26 – Krystina – Richard and Mary White
C25 – White Magic – Brian Walker
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
C6 – Jumbo Too – Tom Sergeant
C4 – Cormorant – Malcolm Goodwin
C1 – Jean – Barry Newman (on loan from Malcolm)
C?? – Dan King (boat TBC on loan from Nick Readings)

Simon Hipkin has been in touch to let us know that the construction of C55 is moving ahead on schedule and he anticipates delivering the boat to James Anderson before the end of June.

Simon tells us that he has been able to incorporate some of the lessons learned during the building of C54 and this has helped him to simplify and speed up some elements of the process.

As you can see from his photo gallery below the deck beams are in and the deck is now in place and it won’t be long before he starts the painting and varnishing process.  Once that is complete it will be all go on the fittings and she will be on her way to James.

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The Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend is upon us and with it comes the first of the Cormorant Cup races which starts from the BSC line at 11.00 (not 14.10 as previously stated) on Sunday 25 May. The forecast for Sunday is looking quite promising with plenty of sunshine and a nice southerly breeze in the mid to upper teens.

With luck we will have approaching 10 boats on the water so get out there and join in the fun.  If anyone needs any help getting themselves afloat for this weekend just give Fi a shout on 07711 718470 and she’ll do her best to assist.

The BOD’s dominance of the Thursday night series continues with Mark White’s White Spirit, crewed by Dick Stephens and Mark Wilby, claiming victory in the fourth race in the series.  Second place went to Alan Hick’s Storm Petrel with Craig and Jayne Bond crewing and fourth place overall and third BOD when to Fiona Brown, Sally Hare and Georgina White sailing Grethe.  Mike Hempstead was also out in Gelasma with Ann and Ed Howson and rounded out the BOD fleet in fourth place.

As the crews arrived in the boat park a big squall was blowing through and the boats initially delayed launching for a few minutes while Race Officer Barry Newman evaluated the situation.  Fortunately the forecast was for the wind to drop through the evening and in a short while the squall had gone through and the decision was made to sail.  Although the wind never came up as strongly again and indeed went very light at times, it was none the less a tricky evening’s sailing as various storm cells and lines of rain rolled around the Thames Estuary making for extremely variable and shifty conditions.

Off the line White Spirit got the best start with Storm Petrel right next to her.  As the gun went a second sound signal indicated a boat was OCS and since they were leading boat by a few feet White Spirit turned back to recross.  What they hadn’t at that point realised was that Gelasma had had some issues and was not on the line at all, but half way down the creek and sailing back towards the start so was the boat the RC were identifying as OCS.  White Spirit executed a smart return and restart but it put them back into the second row with Grethe who had been late to launch as was making a last minute dash to the line a few seconds late.

Unsurprisingly Storm Petrel was first to Gate with White Spirit and Grethe trading tacks behind as Gelasma made her way back to the line to start.  The first leg was a mainly starboard tack beat out to Hills and with the ebb tide just starting to run there was a noticeable chop in the main channel.  Theoretically sticking in the main channel with strongest tide should have paid, but with the breeze now well down it was hard going working through the chop and White Spirit made the smart move of going further over to the Mersea shore before flopping over for the long tack out.  They might not have had as much tidal advantage but they certainly had less chop and it was to prove a major benefit as they stormed past first Grethe and then Storm Petrel.

As White Spirit and Storm Petrel fought it out for supremacy Grethe initially managed to hang onto their coat tails, but a fumbled rounding on the gybe at Big Buoy (Fi dropped the tiller and only missed hitting the buoy thanks to the quick thinking of her crew!) allowed the other two boats to race away and from that point forward they were on their own with Grethe never able to make up the lost ground.

As the final gun approached White Spirit and Storm Petrel were just rounding Hills on the second lap with a comfortable margin on the rest of the fleet, but Grethe was battling it out with various other boats for the overall placings.  Fortunately conditions were absolutely perfect for the BOD and Grethe managed to grind in a couple of boats just before the final gun to take fourth overall and third BOD.  After their late start Gelasma was never able to catch up with the main BOD group, but they had a wonderful sail and managed to finish in front of a number of the fleet.

One of the most wonderful things about the Thursday night series is sailing into the dusk on the Colne River which is home to some of the most stunning sunsets on the planet.  Even on a squally evening they can be spectacular as you can see from Sally Hare’s fantastic photo above.  Thanks also go to Sally for this lovely pic of young Georgina White celebrating Grethe’s third place in the BODs with a small glass of lemonade (nod nod wink wink)!

With a second place to add to a pair of firsts and a third, Storm Petrel currently has a nice overall lead in the Thursday night series.  White Spirit is second BOD with Grethe third.

Conditions could not have been more perfect for the opening race of the BOD season.  Eight teams came to the line in glorious warm sunshine and a great, if slightly puffy, sea breeze.

As the boats came under starters orders off Bateman’s Tower is was clear it was going to be a closely fought race.  Off the line Storm Petrel, helmed by Alan Hicks with Jayne and Craig Bond crewing, just lead Egret, helmed by Danny Fox with Tim Hearn and Bob Hedger crewing) with White Spirit (Mark White, Dick Stephens and Georgian White) and Bidi (Colin Willett, Ray Newman and James Willett) in close contentions quickly breaking off into a leading group as they set off on the mainly port tack beat to Beach.  Meanwhile Jumbo II (Tom Sergeant and Tracy Tierney), Gelasma (Mike and Ann and Ed Howson), Blue Peter (Judith and Adrian Gibbons and Tom Quilligan) and Grethe (Celia Charlton, Fiona Brown and David Charlton) were forming a second battle group just astern of the leading bunch.

As they came past the entrance to Brightlingsea Creek Egret got ahead of Storm Petrel in what was to be the first move in a spectacular dog fight between the two boats.  White Spirit and Bidi hung in there but could not quite match the pace of the leading pair not matter how hard they tried.

Coming into the line Storm Petrel and Egret were still separated by just a matter of inches with Storm Petrel claiming victory by just 3 seconds.  White Spirit crossed the line in third with Bidi fourth.

For Celia Charlton at the helm of Grethe this was not only her first time helming a BOD, but also her first race on the helm for almost 30 years.  Although cautious at the start, Celia quickly settled in on the first beat and by staying right of the main fleet and taking a nice big lift she was able to sail around Jumbo II, Gelasma and Blue Peter to round in fifth place.  There were quite a few firsts happening in Grethe as Fiona was crewing her own boat as middle man for the first time and Dave, who has previously helmed Grethe a couple of times, found himself in the very unfamiliar territory of point man.  Despite her crew’s occasional mark rounding fumbles Celia sailed a great race to finish in fifth and she certainly gave Colin and the Bidi team something to worry about at times.  Dave and Celia have been lent Blue Peter for Pyefleet Week so we can expect good things from them.

Still a little cautious after their swimming exploits last season, Tom and Tracy elected not to hoist the spinnaker on Jumbo II but none the less managed to stay in contention with the rest of the fleet.  On the line Blue Peter was sixth, Gelasma seventh and Jumbo II eighth.

We were also thrilled to see Richard White and Mary White out in the start area sailing C26 Krystina.  Richard tells us they hope to be out racing for Pyefleet Week and some of the other major events this season.

Big thanks must go to Nick Readings and Marilyn Hempstead for their sterling work as Race Officers!

Next up on the BOD Programme is Cormorant Cup 1 next Sunday 25 May with a 14.10 start from the BSC line, and as always we can expect a good showing from the BODs on Thursday night too.

Photos courtesy of Marilyn Hempstead.

FULL RESULTS

The third Thursday night pursuit race saw the BOD fleet triumphing again in a light and tricky low water race.  This week the race committee had wisely decided to start the fleet from the line but then set them a course out in the main river so that they did not have to fight their way up and down the creek to the turning mark.

The fleet got underway in glorious sunshine and a slowly dying easterly of around 8 knots and the boats had to feel their way out of the creek with one hand on their centreboard lines as dead low water springs approached.  Alan Hicks in C54 Storm Petrel led of the line with Phil Rust in C16 Dulcet and David Charlton in C51 Grethe almost neck and neck right on his transom.  Just behind them were John Payne, making his first appearance in his newly acquired C11 Grayling which is looking lovely in her new white and turquoise paint job, and John Saker helming C18 Gelasma with Mike Hempstead.

Alan had eked out a small lead by Creekmouth but they were still closely bunched as they headed out to sea.  By the end of the first lap Alan had gained a nice lead over the rest of the fleet who were still battling it out for positions.  With the wind dropping and the ebb tide starting to built, plus the need to watch out for the depth and fend off boats from other classes it was challenging sailing and the entire fleet enjoyed a great race.

As they approached the finish time the sun set in a spectacular display of red and orange which made it even harder for the crews to concentrate on their sailing and not be distracted by the incredible beauty of our beloved Colne Estuary.

In the closing stages of the race Alan had extended his lead impressively and he won both the BOD fleet and the race overall in spectacular style – his second victory of the series which puts him in the overall lead too.  Behind him Phil was second BOD, closely followed by Dave, John P and John S.

As always the race committee did an excellent job and their decision to set a special course and keep the fleet out of the creek at low water was inspired.  Huge thanks to Race Office Barry Newman and his team for their terrific work.

And finally thanks to Laura Whitfield for this lovely photo gallery taken from the rescue boat.

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We are delighted to announce that thanks to the kind generosity of Nick Readings a brand new 8,000 gallon per hour salvage pump has been purchased for use by the BOD fleet in the event of a capsize.  As we all know, although its rare for the BODs to capsize it does happen from time to time and when it does the worst part is the time and effort it takes to bail out the boats with buckets and hand pumps.  On a recent trip to the USA Nick picked up this fantastic new battery operated salvage pump and it will be kept ready for use by the safety boats in the event that one of us goes in for the early bath.  Huge thanks to Nick for sourcing and purchasing this pump for the fleet.

Woohoo!  The start of the formal BOD racing season is finally here this weekend with the Eric Dent Cup, which gets underway from the CYC line at 14.30 on Sunday 18 May.  High tide is at 15.34 and the forecast promises warm sunshine and light to moderate south easterlies so conditions will be near to perfect!

If anyone needs crew or any other help or support to get themselves to the start line let Fi (07711 718470 or fiona.brown@fionabrown.com) know and she will do her best to assist as we want to see as many boats on the line as possible for this first race.

See you all out there!