Brightlingsea One Design

The Deputies Cup saw three BODs join a handicap fleet of almost thirty boats for a lovely sunny bank holiday Monday afternoon sail in a moderate breeze on a flooding tide. It was clear that conditions were not in the BODs favour, but the three boats enjoyed fantastically close racing, crossing the finish line only a few boat lengths apart.

First BOD finisher was Mark White’s White Spirit, crewed by Steve Merrell and Georgina White, Alan Hicks’ Storm Petrel, with crew Craig and Jayne Bond, took second, and hard on their heels was Colin Willett in Bidi.  Although conditions were far from ideal for BOD handicap success they nevertheless put in a creditable performance with White Spirit 9th overall, Storm Petrel 12th and Bidi 14th.

Also out for a test sail but not racing was John Payne aboard C11 Grayling which he purchased from Alan Hicks at the end of last season.  She is now sporting a new white hull with turquoise boot top and cove line and is looking very smart indeed.  We’ll look forward to seeing John and his team out racing soon.

FULL RESULTS

Huge congratulations to Alan Hicks, Craig and Jayne Bond on their victory in the first Thursday night race, for which they also win the John Barry Cup.  It was an extremely tricky race with an exceptionally low tide and very light airs.  The tide was so low that the boats were grounding at many of the marks and some of the fleet spent almost as much time aground as afloat.  The race was so long that it was almost dark by the time they finished so well done to everyone for sticking it out.

Four BODs were out and off the line they were so closely packed that it was almost impossible to tell them apart as they headed out of the creek.  Alan’s 20+ years experience in the BOD came to the fore and with his new boat C54 Storm Petrel showing impressive speed in the light airs he managed to sneak ahead of the opposition after the first mark.

Also out were Mike Hempstead’s C18 Gelasma which was helmed for the evening by John Saker with Mike crewing, Mark White’s C53 White Magic, which was also two up with Dick Stephens in the front of the boat, and Fi Brown’s C51 Grethe with guest helm Dave Charlton and crew Georgina White and Sally Hare.

On the finish line Storm Petrel had a nice lead over Mike Bees and Martin Worth in a Scorpion with Gelesma third and White Spirit fourth.  Grethe had a couple of unlucky groundings but still finished the race 8th overall and 4th BOD.

Several more boats are expecting to be out next week when we will have the benefit of a higher tide!

Artist and BOD sailor Kate Button has created a wonderful BOD lino cut which can be printed in your choice of colour and with your own sail number (our example photo shows it printed in navy blue to match C51 Grethe and some of you will have seen the version in green which she created to welcome Storm Petrel to the fleet when she launched at Easter).

Each print is individually made to order with your choice of colour and sail number.  Unframed prints cost £40 each and Kate can also arrange framing at additional cost (price depends on your choice of frame style).  To find out more please contact Kate on kate.button@btinternet.com

Mike Hempsted has been in touch to let us know that he is all set to race this Thursday night 1 May but his regular crew Eddie is away on holiday so he needs a stand in.  If anyone could sail with Mike please call him on 07851475590.

This week sees the start of Thursday night racing (1st May) and it looks like we can expect a bumper crop of entries.

Already Grayling (John Payne), Blue Peter (Adrian Gibbons), White Spirit (Mark White), Grethe (Fi Brown), Storm Petrel (Alan Hicks) and Bidi (Colin and Dan Willett) are ready to roll from park and ride.  Gelasma (Mike Hempstead) is on her mooring, and Dulcet (Phil Rust) will be launching shortly and joining Gelasma on the trots.

With just over two weeks to go until the first official BOD race – the Eric Dent Cup on Sunday 18 May at 14.30 from the CYC line – there’s plenty of time to see those numbers grow and we are expecting to see double figure entries for the majority of this year’s events.

Don’t forget the BOD Dinner is coming up fast on Saturday 10 May at the BSC.  There are just a few tickets left so if you aren’t yet booked in but want to attend please contact Alan Hicks on email alan.hicks@btinternet.com urgently.

Its going to be a great season so get your boat ready to race as soon as possible and we’ll see you on the water and in the bar!

Scuttlebutt Europe is Europe’s leading daily sailing e-news update and we are thrilled and delighted to tell you that the BOD was featured as their number four story in the 25 April edition!  Click here (and scroll down) to read for yourself!

We also made Yachts and Yachting and a number of other online outlets too.  Stand by for print coverage in Classic Boat and Anglia Afloat soon and can you keep an eye out for a piece in the Gazzette and Standard too (if you see it can you take a photo and email it to Fi on fiona.brown@fionabrown.com).

The eagerly anticipated launch party for Alan Hicks’ new Brightlingsea One Design C54 Storm Petrel more than met expectations, with more than 100 friends, family and BOD supporters present at The Hard in Brightlingsea on a blustery but sunny Easter Saturday afternoon to observe Storm Petrel’s launching and maiden voyage.

Alan kicked off proceedings by thanking those who had been involved in building and preparing the new boat.  In particular he highlighted the contributions of Rob White of White Formula, who moulded and assembled the fibreglass hull and tanks, Simon Hipkin, who fitted the wooden decks and all the joinery elements, and Malcolm Goodwin – the man largely responsible for the current revival of the BOD Class – for all his sage advice and technical input.

Alan then handed over to Alice Davies, Commodore of Brightlingsea Sailing Club, and Graham Chasney, Commodore of the Colne Yacht Club, whose entertaining double act highlighted the ongoing importance of the BODs to both of the clubs and to the community as a whole.

Alan then introduced his daughters Laura and Sarah who were to name the boat, and his son Rob who would help with her inaugural launching before inviting everyone to help push the boat down onto the hard.  With the boat duly in position and hooked up to the tractor Laura and Sarah performed the traditional naming and blessing before spraying Storm Petrel in champagne as the crowd raised their glasses to toast her. Rob then helped the Brightlingsea Park and Ride team to launch her.

Once afloat Alan and his regular crew of Craig and Jayne Bond rapidly made sail and executed an elegant departure from the dock to three rousing cheers from the crowed.  With the sun gleaming off the varnish and the spray flying in the brisk breeze she made a lovely sight as she sailed away down Brightlingsea Creek.

Joining Storm Petrel for her first sail were two further BODs, C53 White Magic and C52 Grethe, whose crews were made up of people keen to try sailing a BOD for the first time. The three boats looked spectacular as they sailed up and down the creek, calling into the Colne Yacht Club pontoon periodically to change crews.  By the end of the afternoon Alan had sailed not only with his regular race crew, but with all three of his children too and the grin on his face said it all.

Whilst the boats were careening up and down the creek the non-sailing guests enjoyed a wonderfully relaxed afternoon sitting ashore in the spring sunshine from where they had a birds eye view of the sailing and could enjoy a celebratory glass of fizz or two.  There were BOD balloons for the kids and plenty of opportunities for visitors to speak to the builders, suppliers and other members of the BOD fleet about the boats and their activities.  All in all the day was declared a resounding success for Alan and everyone else involved.

The onboard photographs accompanying this piece were taken by Craig Bond and the other photos are by official photographer Tim Bees, whose full gallery of images can be viewed at his online gallery.  Thanks to both Tim and Craig for such wonderful shots.

We have two more big launchings coming up this year of which more news shortly.  Malcolm Goodwin has confirmed that he will be relauching C4 Cormorant after her full restoration on Saturday 19 July at Brightlingsea Sailing Club at 18.00 when all fleet members and anyone interested in the BODs will once again be welcome.  We are also looking forward to the launching of this year’s second brand new fibreglass boat, James Anderson’s C55, which will be afloat in time for Pyefleet Week (launch date will be published here as soon as we have it).

Don’t forget that Alan Hicks’ beautiful new BOD C54 Storm Petrel is launching from The Hard this Easter Saturday 19 April. Come and help Alan celebrate and don’t forget that if the weather is good there will be opportunities to test sail a BOD too aboard Bidi, White Spirit and Grethe.

The BOD Dinner will be held on Saturday 10th May 2014 at Brightlingsea Sailing Club. With so many exciting developments and new boats in the class for the coming season, this year’s dinner is going to be really special as we look forward to a great season ahead. The organising team is already hard at work and there will be both pre and post dinner entertainment as well as great food and great company to ensure a truly enjoyable evening for all.

The evening will start with pre-dinner drinks from 7pm with dinner served at 7.30pm. Dress is smart casual. Tickets are excellent value at £20 a head and can be reserved individually or in tables of 8 (a small number of larger tables will be available on a first come first served basis – please contact Alan Hicks as below if you want to book a table for more than 8 people).

The menu is:

• Prawn Cocktail or Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Tart
• Mediterranean Beef Ragu or Mediterranean Bean Casserole with jacket potatoes and seasonal vegetables
• Strawberry Pavlova or Caramel Apple Cake
• Cheese and biscuits
• Coffee

Tickets/tables can be booked by emailing Alan Hicks on alan.hicks@btinternet.com. Please confirm the number of tickets you require, the guest names for each ticket, and if anyone has special dietary needs or has any mobility/access issues which need to be taken into consideration on the seating plan.

Cheques (£20 per ticket) should be made payable to Brightlingsea Sailing Club and sent to Alan Hicks, 77 Hurst Green, Brightlingsea, CO7 0EH – please ensure you include a note confirming the names associated with the tickets you are paying for to avoid confusion.

Only approximately 80 tickets will be available and they will be allocated on a first come, first served basis so do please book now and secure your places.

If you have any questions or need more details please contact Alan on 07719 899880 or alan.hicks@btinternet.com

Our roving reporter had a quick chat with Malcolm Goodwin this week who advises that good progress is being made on the full restoration of Cormorant.  Following the big lift to get her into the upstairs workshop (thanks to everyone who helped with that), Malcolm has been working almost full time on her and is delighted with progress.  He confirms that he expects to relaunch the boat in July from Brightlingsea Sailing Club and further details of the launch event will be posted here in due course.