Brightlingsea One Design

It’s all go in the restoration shed in Wivenhoe right now with Rob Maloney hard at work on some refit work on C75 The Mike for Phil Holding and Mark Wilby and Malcolm putting in over 1000 hours restoring C4 Cormorant.

Malcolm confirms that he is on track for an official re-launching ceremony for Cormorant on Saturday 19 July at 18.00 at BSC and the entire fleet is invited to join him for the celebrations so put the date in your diary.

The Mike will also be back on the water shortly and we look forward to welcoming her back to the fleet.

Check out the photos of the two boats below:

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The new Pyefleet Week website is now live and includes all the information you will need to plan your regatta including an Online Entry Form.

Its going to be a fantastic week’s racing with at least 22 BODs already confirming their entries.  To help the organisers plan ahead please would you be kind enough to go to the website and complete your Online Entry asap.  You will not need to pay the entry fee until final registration on Saturday 9 August at the BSC Race Office and if you don’t yet know full details of your crew these can also be added later, but please complete the main parts of the form and submit them to the BSC.

If anyone needs any help in planning their attendance at Pyefleet Week please don’t hesitate to contact David Charlton, BSC Vice Commodore Sailing on E-mail vcsailing@sailbrightlingsea.com or Tel +44 (0)7710 046 865.

Sunday 8 June saw 6 BODs come to the line in glorious warm sunshine and a lovely sea breeze for the start of the CYC’s Andy Silk Salver.  It was nip and tuck from the first gun with the boats starting on the Mersea side of the Bateman’s line and heading out to sea on a beat that took them past the sunbathers on Mersea Stone and gave the spectators on Splash Point plenty to watch too.

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In the final approach to the line C54 Storm Petrel, being helmed this week by usual middleman Craig Bond, standing in for Alan Hicks who had a back problem so couldn’t race, with Jayne Bond and Nicky Henderson crewing, and C27 Endeavour, helmed by Chris Matthews with Nicky’s partner Murray and her son Thomas crewing, got so caught up in the fun family rivalry that they both accidentally shut themselves out at the committee boat end and had to turn and make a second approach.  Although Storm Petrel found themselves on the tail of the pack, their positions as most windward boat turned out to be an advantage and within a few tacks they were right back in the fray.

Off the line C53 White Spirit, sailing two up with Mark White on the helm and Dick Stephens crewing, made a stunning start and led the fleet away in impressive style.  Close tacking down the Mersea shore gave everyone’s boat handling a good work out and the fleet was still closely packed as they made their way out to sea.

John Payne sailing his boat C11 Grayling with Lucy Hayden and Paddy Carr had been finding their feet on their first few sails but this weekend the team was on great form and got a fantastic start just to weather of White Spirit, before going on to show some impressive speed at times.

Phil Rust was back in C16 Dulcet with Mike Hare and Paul Mines and also made the front row of the start before going on to sail a very consistent race.  They are not yet showing the blistering pace they had last season but its early days and I am sure we will see them back in their usual form very soon.

Despite their problems at the start Storm Petrel took full advantage of being furthest right and showed impressive upwind boat speed and tactical smarts so were soon locked in a duel with White Spirit.  Whilst Storm Petrel had the advantage upwind, White Spirit, sailing one man down, were lighter and faster downwind and the two boats were vying for the lead right around the course.

Endeavour was also up in the chocolates for most of the race until they went for the wrong mark due to a course card mix up and ended up sailing to Stone and putting in much greater distance than the other boats, loosing out big time in the process.

Out for their first sail of the season were BDAOA Chairman Bob Richardson aboard C29 Panic with Alistair Burt crewing.  They had only just launched the boat and were also missing a course card, plus they spent a bit of time aground and had a main halyard clutch failure so had more then a bit to contend with.  But the boat looks wonderful and its clear that once they find their feet again they will be well back in the fray.

As the boats came to the line Storm Petrel snatched victory from White Spirit by just 17 seconds with Dulcet third and Grayling fourth.

Full Results

1.  c54 Storm Petrel – Craig Bond
2. C53 White Spirit – Mark White
3. C16 Dulcet – Phil Rust
4. C11 Grayling – John Payne
5. C27 Endeavour – Chris Matthews
6. C29 Panic – Bob Richardson

Sunday’s racing revealed that a number of people (including our race officers) were using old editions of the BOD CYC Course Card.  There are two BOD specific course cards – a buff coloured card for the BSC run races and a blue card for the CYC run races.  To check you have the most up to date versions please look on the side that has the list of the courses and at the bottom right corner you should see MG 5/13 (both cards were last updated by Malcolm Goodwin in May 2013).  If your card has anything else on it you need to obtain an updated copy.

You can download the course cards from the Course Cards page on the website and print and laminate them yourselves, or alternatively obtain a ready laminated copy of the cards from Fi Brown (tell 07711 718470 to arrange to collect).

We’re an interesting bunch in the BOD fleet and its always fun to find out what members of the fleet get up to when they aren’t out racing their BODs.  Last week Anne Howson, who crews for Mike Hempstead, undertook a very special task during the regatta weekend.  Anne is actually the Revd Anne Howson, Chaplain to the Cinque Port Liberty, and in this role she found herself in charge of the blessing element of the  Blessing & Reclaiming of the Waters ceremony.

The ceremony dates back more than 650 years and originated to settle a dispute with Colchester over the boundaries of fishing rights on the river – a matter of vital commercial importance to the fishermen of the day.  The modern version is rather  more symbolic, but was none the less a spectacular sight as the assembled dignitaries made their way onto the water aboard the Brightlingsea smack fleet and completed the ceremony in front of the assembled regatta crowds.

Rowhedge Regatta is fast approaching on Saturday 14 June and the organisers have now sent us the Sailing Instructions which include details of both the traditional upriver race and the new downriver race which will be sailed for the Ian Brown Trophy.

As you can see from the Instructions the start time for the downriver race will be announced over the PA in Rowhedge so listen out for that when you are there.  If the wind holds up the plan is to finish on the BSC line, but if it is dying there is the option to finish at Bateman’s instead so look out for a shorten flag and sound signals as you come to the Bateman’s line.  If we are using this line the full width of the river will form the line.

The new downriver Ian Brown Trophy is currently in production and is to be a lovely specially commissioned watercolour painting of the BODs preparing to start from Rowhedge painted by local artist Paula Webb.  Below is the initial sketch of the painting so you can see what you will be racing for!

Would all BOD sailors please note that the start time for the Andy Silk Salver, starting from the Bateman’s Tower Line under the CYC on Sunday 8 June 2014, will be 13.45 (not 14.30 as published in the sailing programme).

This change was agreed by an informal meeting of the currently active BOD fleet held on Sunday 1 June at the CYC and is an experiment to see how the fleet find using this earlier start time.  A proposal has been put forward by several members to bring all CYC start times forward to 13.45 so the outcome of this weekend’s experiment will be evaluated and a possible permanent change will be considered.  More information will be published on this in due course.

Please save the date in your diaries for “It Will Be All White On The Night” on Saturday 12 July.  Mark and Marianne White have invited the entire BOD Fleet to join them for an informal summer gathering at their home that evening and further details will be published soon!

Last year’s inaugural BSC Anniversary Summer Ball was such a raging success that the event is back again for 2014 in the guise of a Midsummer’s Ball on Saturday 21 June.

Tickets are now available and with a great evening of Pimms on arrival, pre dinner entertainment by Soloist Taffy Archer, a delicious three course meal and post dinner dancing to live band Ready, Steady Go! its going to be the perfect opportunity for some midsummer madness.  The pre-dinner reception opens at 6.30pm and dinner will be served shortly after 7.00pm.  Dress is lounge suits/blazers for the boys and fabulous frocks for the girls!

Tables are available for groups of 8, 10 and 12 and Fi Brown is coordinating BOD tables for those booking individual tickets.

Tickets cost £30 per head and can be booked online by Clicking Here or by printing out the paper reservation form which you will find by Clicking Here (if you complete a paper form and return it to the club please ensure you clearly mark it for the BOD group to assist the organisers in seating your party).  Payments should be made by cheque (payable to Brightlingsea Sailing Club) or cash and details of who to pay can be found on each form.

What a great weekend of BOD racing!  Two days of glorious sunshine and warm breezes plus the backdrop of the newly reinvigorated Brightlingsea Town Regatta made for a perfect BOD sailing opportunity.

Three Creeks Crawl

On Saturday it was the turn of Brightlingsea Sailing Club to host the racing and the BODs took part in the annual Three Creeks Crawl all in handicap, sailing from the BSC start line, out and into Ray Creek (behind Second Beach) and then back past Brightlingsea and up both Flag and St Osyth Creeks (competitors choose which to round first).  With five BODs on the line is was a spectacularly close start and the boats were neck and neck all the way round the turning mark in Ray Creek and back into Brightlingsea Creek.  As they sailed past Brightlingsea Hard Chris Matthews, temporarily sailing C43 Endeavour on loan from Nick Readings while he waits for the new rig for C27 Rebel to arrive, had slipped into the lead with Dan Willett in C9 Bidi second, Alan Hicks in C54 Storm Petrel third, Mark White in C53 White Spirit fourth and Fi Brown in C51 Grethe fifth.  At the break point where the crews had to decide whether to tackle Flag or St Osyth Creek first Endeavour and Bidi went left up Flag and the other three headed right for St Osyth.

As the fleet came together again in the Cindery channel it was clear that those who went for St Osyth had done better with Storm Petrel and White Spirit ahead as they swopped channels.  But it was close stuff as as the boats came together foar the final run down to the club line.  Alan Hicks showed the youngsters in Endeavour that there are times when experience really counts and romped home to victory by 3 minutes.  Endeavour, Bidi and White Spirit crossed the line in that order with just 22 seconds between them as the girls in Grethe trailed in behind them for fifth place.  The five BODs also filled the first five places on handicap too so a good day’s work all round.

Three Creeks Crawl Full Results

Hickley Tiller

Sunday’s Hickley Tiller from the CYC’s Batemans Tower line saw the fleet back on a more conventional round the cans course with Nick Readings and Marilyn Hempstead officiating as Race Officers.  With nine boats out the line was quite busy and for White Spirit at least not quite long enough as they found themselves making as one with the sea wall in front of the Tower just as the gun went. Fortunately they extricated themselves pretty smartly and were soon off after the pack.

Blue Peter

Adrian and Judith Gibbons’ C31 Blue Peter was called OCS but failed to realise their error and did not return.  Grethe made the best start and a couple of tacks later was heading the fleet and making the most of the clear air to slowly gain distance.

Off the line Storm Petrel was a long way off her usually blistering pace.  Alan had been complaining about difficulty steering the boat before the start and they had looked at the rudder but couldn’t identify the problem.  Matters weren’t helped when bowman Craig Bond thumped his kneed very badly in a tack just after the start putting him out of action for a few minutes.  Alan initially suggested they pull out and go home, but having recovered a little Craig said he’d go take another look at the rudder.  This time the rudder had swung up a little and lo and behold Craig discovered that Alan had forgotten to remove the protective sleeve they put on the rudder ashore and they had been sailing around with what is effectively a sleeping bag on their foil.  Sadly for them the entire Newman family were out spectating in Dug and perfectly placed to observe this highly entertaining discovery ensuring that no cover up was possible! Having removed the offending cover the boat miraculously regained her performance and set off after the fleet.

Egret

As they came round the first mark the Grethe girls had opened up a nice lead and looked well set up for the run.  Unfortunately the unexpected sight of the entire fleet behind them left Fi so over excited that she managed to trip herself up on her own toe straps and badly sprain her ankle.  It took a few minutes before her crew managed to pick her up off the cockpit floor and sort themselves out which allowed  Danny Fox in C8 Egret and Endeavour to sail around them.  Having decided the ankle wasn’t broken the girls hoisted their kite and managed to hold third place on the next two legs to Batemans.  But as they came onto the second lap Mike Hempstead’s C18 Gelesma slid through them to leeward and then their problems in getting Fi across the boat on one leg caused them to forget the need to go back through the gate and so they decided it was time to head in and get Miss Hop-Along some ice for her ankle.

L-R Ed Gibbons, David Conlon and helm Chris Matthews with the Hickley Tiller

That left Egret, Endeavour and Gelasma in a final dog fight for the trophy.  Egret was looking good as they came around Batemans and set off on the second lap.  They would have looked even better if they had rounded the mark to port, as called for by the course card, and not to starboard. Having been advised of their mistake later in the race the boys tried to exonerate themselves by doing a penalty turn, but this was not adequate and so they had to retire post racing.

Meanwhile White Spirit had be quietly creeping up on the leaders after a somewhat lack lustre start.  They had played the tidal advantages to the hilt and on the second lap showed both smart tack ticks and blistering speed to sniggle their way through the pack.

Ultimately the Hickley Tiller went to Chris Matthews, Ed Gibbon and David Conlon sailing Endeavour with Mark White, Dick Stephens and Mark Wilby second in White Spirit and Mike Hempstead and Ed Howson sailing Gelesma third.

Fi icing her ankle and enjoying a purely medicinal post Hickley Tiller refreshment on the Colne Yacht Club balcony.

After racing the teams gathered for a well deserved post race refreshment on the Yacht Club’s sun drenched balcony and the prizes, including the historic Hickley Tiller were presented by Colne Yacht Club Commodore Graham Chasney.

Overall the Regatta Weekend was declared a resounding success by all!

Hickley Tiller Full Results

1. Endeavour – Chris Matthews
2. White Spirit – Mark White
3. Gelasma – Mike Hempstead
4. Storm Petrel – Allan Hicks
5. Jumbo II – Tom Sargeant
6. Ruff – Trevor Stone
7. Grethe – Fi Brown – Rtd
8. Egret – Danny Fox – Rtd
9. Blue Peter – Adrian and Judith Gibbons – OCS