Brightlingsea One Design

We are delighted to announce that the late Mike Hempstead’s boat C18 Gelasma has now been purchased by Adrian Gibbons and Mike Hare.  Adrian previously owned C31 Blue Peter and Mike has been sailing BODs most of his life, most recently borrowing one of Nick’s boats for Learning & Skills Solutions Pyefleet Week 2017. It is wonderful to have Gelasma back on the water and to have Adrian and Mike back in the fleet. Adrian and his wife Judith will be joining us for tonight’s BOD Dinner so we look forward to formally welcoming them then.

The sailing season is on the horizon and after a frankly tough old 2017 its time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start planning for the 2018 BOD Season.  The BOD Dinner this year takes place on Saturday 28 April at CYC – 7pm for 7.30pm dinner.

CYC have come up with a terrific menu for us at a very reasonable £25 per head, so let’s get the season off to a great start by coming together on mass for this always wonderful event.  To reserve your tickets you need to

1. Go to https://goo.gl/forms/G3G02YqAmhlleEAc2 and fill in your booking form giving us your details, confirming what you and your guests want to eat and who you want to sit near if possible.
2. Pay CYC directly the £25 per person – either at the bar or by calling Emma in the Office on 01206 302594

Please note we will be seated at the long tables this year and that CYC can cater for an absolute maximum of 80 guests so it will be important to book early to avoid disappointment.

The Menu options for this year are as follows (if you have a special requirement please just call Emma at CYC on 01206 302594):

Starters
Tomato and basil soup with freshly baked bread
Baked camembert and crudites with salad
Prawn cocktail

Mains
Roast beef with Yorkshire puddings
Salmon fillet with pesto, basil and lime crust
Chicken fillet in a white wine and mushroom sauce
Spinach and goat’s cheese parcel
(All served with seasonal veg and new or roast potatoes)

Puddings
Sticky toffee pudding with custard
Baileys and chocolate cheesecake
Cheddar and Stilton cheeseboard

Tea and coffee to finish.

At the BODOA AGM on Sunday we elected our new Chairman Mark White, who takes over from outgoing Chairman Alan Hicks.  Phil Rust continues as Vice Chairman and also takes over the role of Treasurer from Dick Stephens who has retired after five years sterling work on behalf of the class.

In his opening address as Chairman, Mark paid tribute to both Alan and Dick for all their tremendous efforts on behalf of the class. He also looked forward to an exciting 2018 season as several of our teams who were missing in 2017 are expected to be back on the water with us this year!

Steve Heppell assures us that after a season out, Aina will once again be making her traditional timed run for Pyefleet Week. Having welcomed the newest member of the BOD Family Master Finn Payne, proud parents John and Lucy Payne will be back racing Grayling. Ellie and Anthony Kingston hope to join us for Pyefleet Week and possibly also some other events sailing one of Nick’s boats. And the legend that is Mr Malcolm Goodwin will be back in the father and son battle of all time as he goes head to head with son Clive at Learning & Skills Solution Pyefleet Week 2018 (the big question is who will sail Cormorant and who will sail Jean?).

If you wish to contact Mark or any of the class officers click here for their details.

Thanks to everyone who attended Sunday’s BODOA AGM at CYC.  It was great to see so many people there and we’re looking forward to a great season ahead.  Although we didn’t have any new rule changes to consider for this year we do have a new set of BOD Class Rules coming into force this year as the decision made at last year’s AGM to ban inflatable buoyancy bags now comes into force.

As those at the meeting will already know, Measurer David Chivers will be doing checks on buoyancy this year to ensure we are complying and he will also be doing random checks on general safety gear too.  Take a look at Section C in the rules to be sure you have all the mandatory equipment on board. These include but are not limited to:

• A hand bailer or bucket
• An anchor of minimum 5kg (which may include not more than 2kg of chain) with not less than 20m of line
• Oars or paddles capable of propelling the boat (note the plural here)
• A (functional) VHF Radio

Click here to view/download your 2018 Class Rules.

Please put the following dates in your diary:

BOD AGM Sunday 25 February at 10am at CYC

BOD Annual Dinner Saturday 28 April from 7pm at CYC

Further details to follow shortly!

Very sadly Mike Hempstead has lost his battle with a brain tumour.  His funeral will take place at Weeley Crematorium on Tuesday 16th January at 11am.

A long standing, hugely committed and much loved member of the Brightlingsea One Design fleet, Mike will be much missed by us all of us.  Our thoughts go to Marilyn and his family at this difficult time.

You are invited to attend the annual Laying Up Service at St James’ Church in the High Street this coming Sunday 19 November from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.  This wonderful service is a long standing end of season tradition when the sailors of the town come together to give thanks for a wonderful year of sailing.

Oonie and Fi will both be giving readings and the entire congregation will be joining Oonie in singing We Are Sailing so do please come along and join us and bring your best singing voices.

Oonie tells me that there are a few dinner tickets left for this Saturday’s CYC Laying Up Supper (18 November) if anyone else would like to attend. Tickets are £29.95 a head and can be reserved by calling Emma in the office on 01206 302594. They have a delicious three course menu planned and as always it will be a fun evening.

Also we are still trying to track down the following CYC BOD Trophies which need to be returned urgently:

Andy Silk Salver
RV Crook Trophy (Ladies Race)
J Glanfield Trophy/Vice Commodore’s Trophy (points)
Colne Racing Salver

Some of these have been missing for a while so take a look in your cupboards and see if you can track them down for us and get them back to the club before Saturday.

On Sunday morning 17th September, the fleet of B.O.D.’s were greeted with a high tide, autumn sunshine and 5 to 8 knots of breeze, providing perfect conditions for sailing the R. Stone Challis.

All boats were closely packed to the line with Geoff Gritton and team in ‘Never say Never’ getting away first, however after a shifty first beat against the tide it was ‘Dulcet’ helmed by Jessica Rust that rounded the weather mark in first position.  A long dead run with the tide to number 8 was followed by another long beat against the tide up along the St Osyth shore to Point Clear.  ‘Avocet’ with Jeremy Newman, Stuart and Tom Philips managed to slip by ‘Dulcet’ with Danny Fox and team in ‘Egret’ closing the gap.  Positions held on the dead run to number 8, however another long beat against the tide this time up the Mersea shore, saw a short tacking dual around East Mersea Stone with Celia and David Charlton in ‘Sarah Louise’ picking a good shift and overtaking ‘Dulcet’.  With all boats heading up the East Mersea shore out of the tide it was difficult to judge the lay line to the Batemans mark and it was ‘Dulcet’ tacking slightly before ‘Sarah Louise’ regained their position at the mark to finish second, ‘Sarah Louise’ third with ‘Avocet’ first.  A good race was had by all, which was rounded off nicely with lunch at the CYC.

Many thanks to Mat Crittenden and his team for setting an excellent course.

Next Sunday’s race is at 2.00 pm from Batemans for the Andy Silk Salver.

A Service of Thanks Giving will be held for Graham Adams on Tuesday 26th September at 2pm at All Saints’ Church Brightlingsea, and afterwards at Brightlingsea Sailing Club.

Graham crossed his final finish line on the night of 31st August/1st September, following a long and bravely fought battle with ill health, and will be much missed as one of the fleet’s greatest raconteurs, characters, competitors and supporters. His last trip afloat was only a few weeks ago when he came out in Steve Heppel’s launch to watch the start of our final race – a BOD fan to the last!

Graham’s widow Jane and his son Ben have asked that we share the details of the service with his many friends and ask you to join them on the 26th to celebrate a life very well lived.