Thorpe Bay Yacht Club - Newsbuoy 11 - Autumn 2014

www.tbyc.org • Edition 11 • Autumn 2014

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Mike Thomason Commodore What a fantastic summer! Endless days of sunshine and fair winds since April, providing plenty of activity and opportunities for our dinghy and cruiser sailors.

TT events with the top away prize going to Alex Warrington for winning the Belgian Cadet Nationals.

Firstly, a huge welcome to our new members who have joined us this year. It is always good to see new members on, in and off the water as well as those smiling faces from our new cadets (and parents) after their first capsize.

At home our packed programme of Series and Trophy races has progressed well throughout the season with the Sprints and Lasers being the most supported classes this year due to constant badgering from their class captains. The foiling Moths are always a good head turner whizzing around at breakneck speeds.

The timing for our annual Cadet Week under the leadership of Mark Petty-Mayor was spot on with gentle breezes providing some great opportunities for our novice Stingray sailors to spend a lot of time at the helm. The middle and senior groups had a great week developing their skill sets.

For my part, I took a back seat this year after twelve years in different groups, although I could not resist having a go at road crossing and ferrying the camping gear to the Island Yacht Club on Canvey. Who would have thought a one night camp would require three packed car loads of tents, bags and make-up - all to be brought back the following morning after some pleasant compliments from the Island YC Flag Officers as to how our Cadets were impeccably behaved and are a credit to our club. Just after Cadet Week the weather turned pear- shaped, with bags of wind for the windsurf boys lasting to the August bank holiday.

At the time of writing, September is looking pretty good and long may it continue.

On the away side, many of our sailors have been touring this year and representing TBYC at different venues around the UK and overseas – from Weymouth to Australia in classes of Hurricanes, Formula 18s, A Class, Sprints, Finns, Phantoms, Lasers, International Cadets, Contenders, Fevas and International Foiling Moths. Of our 40-plus away sailors, several have won

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In June, we hosted the Sandhopper Nationals and in July a very successful Sprint 15 Nationals organised by Paul Morgan for a three day event with 85 entrants. As always a huge thank you to Southend Borough Council for supporting our home events and to our neighbours for their patience and understanding when our visitors set up camp and take over the car park and gardens.

The Cruiser Section revival under Derek Wellings is progressing with new younger members joining the fleet. Hopefully this will be the start of an upward cycle in cruiser activity. There is an interesting article from John and Julie Gillies later in this Newsbuoy covering their exploits cruising on the French canals.

Tim Allard has been at the helm of the Pico fleet and numbers are now starting to pick up under Tim’s leadership and enthusiasm. I look forward to seeing more Picos back on the water next year enjoying the short course inshore racing which has always been a massive membership promotion for our club. The Pico is the main pathway to the more technical classes of dinghies such as the International Cadet and Feva.

Looking back it is surprising the numbers of our Cadets and Adults who have started off in Picos and have progressed into other classes with some winning their respective National and World championships.

Nick Cotgrove has had a successful first year running the Sail Training courses and has recruited additional adult and senior Cadets to his team of instructors. It is good to see the demand for places on the RYA Powerboat courses is exceeding supply. For those wishing to take advantage of this facility under our principal Ken Clarke I would suggest regular volunteering as crew on a displacement and rib (contact Toby Speller or Graham Dare) will put you on the waiting list.

Going forward, the End of Season Trophy and Prize Giving Supper takes place on Saturday 11th October. Cruisers are lifting out on Saturday 18th and Sandhoppers on the 19th October.

The winter series starts on the Saturday 25th October. Most winter series are normally ice- and snow-free, and I would recommend having a go if the weather remains mild. The Icicle series in the New Year can be a different matter altogether. Last winter we had a record entry for the winter and Icicle series and we are looking for a similar turnout this year. Winter sailing is only every other week to ensure we cross the finish line in daylight. Breezes tend to be more consistent - and yes, it is possible to pick up a suntan!

Moving on to the Club House, Rob Bailey has had a busy year with the clubhouse projects. The rewiring is now fully complete which has enabled the dehumidifiers to be installed in the Mens and Ladies changing room. Could the last person out of the changing rooms please ensure all windows are closed to ensure the dehumidifiers function correctly.

I am delighted to report that we have a brand new hot air heating system which is much more efficient than the original heating system. All ductwork lagging has also been replaced. This system can also be used in the summer to circulate out excess hot air if required.

The balcony is a massive improvement. The decking and wall joins on both balconies are now watertight and the new balustrade and glass is totally compliant with building regulations. A local firm, SWF, in Star Lane, manufactured and fitted the balustrades and their workmanship is superb.

Several times I have seen members fruitlessly trying to find the joins which were welded, ground and polished. There is still some rendering to be carried out to finish off the project which will be completed by the winter.

Our next major project will be the ceilings in the Main and Commodore’s Bar. These were patched up after the rewire and a complete replacement is long overdue. Since the balcony replacement, the interior walls of the clubhouse are now drying out which will enable the clubhouse to be redecorated inside and out.

The future looks very promising for our club. I have the privilege to work with a dedicated group of volunteers in the General, Sailing, Cadet and Social Committees which allows our club to run efficiently on behalf of the members.

We all have the same aim, which is to encourage members to sail, race and socialise with the occasional drink and a bite to eat. There are of course countless volunteers involved with crewing and maintaining the support boats, race officering, publishing results, compiling the annual programme, organising the duties, sail training, work parties, promoting the club and so on.

The success of our club depends on the support of the members and volunteers.

Finally, I finish this roundup with a note of thanks to Janet, Margaret and Tony up on the bridge in the General Office for their valued input in administrating the daily activities.

Your Committee Commodore Mike Thomason Vice Commodore Paul Morgan Rear Commodore Racing Jeremy Sandford Rear Commodore Cruising Derek Wellings Treasurer Ian Murdoch Cadet Rep • Mark Petty-Mayor House Rep • Rob Bailey Sail Training Officer • Nick Cotgrove Social Rep • Sara Speller Sailing Secretary • TBA Membership Officer • Will Daly Honorary Secretary • Margaret Kennedy Secretary • Janet Willsmer Dinghy Park Rep • John Laliberte Support Boats – Ribs • Tony Clark Support Boats – Displacement • Toby Speller Foiling Moths • Kyle Stoneham Fast Cats • Struan Wallace Lasers • Rick Paxman & Wes Absolom Slow Cats • Steve Healy & Chris Tillyer Sandhoppers • Mark Robinson Picos • Tim Allard

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Happy sailing.

Mike Thomason, Commodore

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It is now the second season since the changes to the Cruiser lift-out format occurred.

The changing pattern of Thorpe Bay’s cruising resulting from the changes has continued on into this season. The idea of a Rally consisting of a number of boats sailing as a group with mutual intention has been gradually disappearing. The reason is not that members have lost interest in sailing, because there have probably been more nautical miles sailed by TBYC Cruisers in the last couple of years than at any similar period of time in the past.

This year alone the TBYC Burgee has been flown many times on the near-continent, the Channel Islands, and not to forget Colin Keeling’s continuing Baltic journeys that have taken him St. Peter Port, Guernsey from Sweden to Finland and now into Russia, as well as the many journeys in and around the South and East coast of Britain, not to mention the local haunts.

There is no problem with the desire to cruise, but for rallying the problem ssia paz in Ru o T d n is just that, simply, the members’ moorings are spread far and wide. The a g elin Colin Ke logistics of a number of boats coming together for local cruising has just become too great. When a size restriction became a necessary condition to a cruiser lifting out at Thorpe Bay, those members with cruisers greater than 22ft needed to find other venues with the facilities for winter liftout and storage. This resulted with many members rationalising their needs and commitments. In many cases this has meant that members relinquished their TBYC moorings, having found berths at their new lift-out venues, and now sail from there.

Often these sites are either far away enough to prevent them attending a rally from TBYC or the mooring has tidal restrictions that prevents them joining in on such activities. The result is rallies have been much smaller, usually with maybe two or three boats attending and sometimes just one (does that count as a rally?) On the up side, this season has seen the arrival of a number of new cruisers taking up moorings here at Thorpe Bay, who will hopefully enjoy the rallies of the future.

Autumn is upon us, and the darker nights are gradually creeping up on us. Thoughts start turning to lift-outs and winter lay-ups. The darker nights also bring along the social activities that start with the lift-out supper, which this year is booked for November 1st. Hope to see you there.

Derek Wellings

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Tamaki moored in Sark

The bar team has changed and settled down over the summer. Donna, with Natalie and Lorraine have maintained and improved the operation of the bar, allowing us to enjoy the club socially. We also said goodbye to some of our older cadets that had helped us for several years, as they disappeared to new experiences at university and full-time jobs. We have now introduced some more older cadets and like to take the opportunity to have them working behind the bar, probably in their first job as they develop through the club, often having been members for many years.

Scott has plans to continue to cater for all of us. His excellent Sunday Roast Carvery has now returned. Catering for an everchanging amount of people, often depending on weather and if sailing has taken place, can be difficult to plan. To avoid disappointment, please give Scott a call by phone prior to coming. We will continue to work with him to develop his offerings.

History, and our memories, can mean a lot to us all and small things can bring them back. When I took the post of Vice Commodore last year, not only was I handed a large bunch of keys (some I still haven’t found a use for) but also a burgee and an enamel lapel badge marked with two spots. This has been passed from VC to VC over the years and when I returned it home, it brought a tear to Claire’s eyes, as her father had once also carried the badge whilst Vice Commodore over 20 years ago.

On the subject of history, I had mentioned in my last notes that I am in the process of putting some of our paper archives online so everybody will be able to see them through the years. Some pictures are already available, charting the history of the building and although they’re already online I thought I would also share them here.

The first Kit Hobday club house for many years was what we now know as the Bosun’s hut, which has aged, but with regular maintenance is still standing. We hope that our Treasurer can soon get a Sports England grant to do appropriate works for that area to continue to support our racing.

In 1958, the club was awarded the Hornet World Championships on the promise they would have suitable facilities. In under 12 months the first club house in our current location was raised (which only included our main bar area) and was a fantastic success. Within five years the club had started to host the “Little Americas Cup” and this led to the extension leaving the club house as we now know it.

At the beginning of this year we replaced the ceiling in the Gents changing rooms due to the electrical rewiring work, and were able to see that the building was extremely well-built.

Mike was able to do some preventative maintenance before it was closed up again.

As I now look out from the club, I can see the Thames Estuary through the new glass balcony, enhancing the view from the bar and restaurant areas. During the winter you will now be heated (and, I hope cosy) by our new heating boilers and ducting. From the photos I can see that in the 1960s the members were heated just by electric bar fires hanging from the ceiling!

Up until mid-August, I had been performing a joint role as Sprint 15 captain and have now stood down after organising a successful Nationals this year and last year’s Open. These sort of events require a lot of work, however not just by me but also by many other members. My thanks go out to everybody involved. I am glad to say we also saw the rewards in happy sailors, an active bar and contributions being given to the club from entries. The class captaincy is now being continued with Steve Healy joined by Chris Tillyer. I am confident they will work well together and wish them every success. For those people with access to our website, this is something I also spend time managing, hopefully keeping people informed in the best way.

If you feel you have any suggestions in any of the areas I am involved in then please email me or just come and have a chat.

Paul Morgan paul@moreair.co.uk

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The youngsters in the RS Feva fleet have all performed well this year, achieving some very good positions in club races as well as ‘away’ against other youngsters at Oxford and Eton. The squad has participated in a series of shore-based training sessions, where they have considered both Team and Fleet Racing tactics. This has been complemented with on-the-water training and mini-competitions.

The season started well with Sam Liliberte and Jacob Allard gaining first place in the Winter and Icicle Series, continuing their success by winning our RS Feva Mini-Series ‘Cake’ competition and also the Slow Monohull Spring Sunday series. The TBYC 2014 Regatta was another event that the RS Feva youngsters did particularly well, with Harry Boygle and Olivia Petty-Mayor gaining second place with Teddy Elmore and Henry Petty-Mayor a close third. We also

total of 106 races on Saturday 7th June sailing Fireflies. Our young TBYC team communicated and sailed well, and considering their overall age, their sailing was most impressive against much older sailors. They performed a number of Passbacks, Mark traps and Pinning manoeuvres and were determined right to the end. It may have been a most daunting experience at times, but they achieved a pleasing joint 12th place out of 21 teams and were awarded the Best Newcomers’ Cup! I am keen to welcome and support any newcomers to the RS Feva Squad. The boat is fast and exciting and ideally suited to 12-to-16 year olds, who can participate in our shore-based and on-the-water training sessions, school events and club racing.

Nick Alston

acknowledge the best ‘sailors of the day’ during our training sessions, which was won by Vicky and Millie Little for their precise technical ability.

The squad has also worked hard to learn the tactics and manoeuvres needed to participate in the highly exciting and demanding sport of Team Racing this year. The highlight of this was to participate in the British School’s (BSDRA) Thames Valley Team Racing Championships at Bray Lake. 21 teams competed, all aged between 12 and 18 in a

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I am very proud to report, as of September 2014 that the following Thorpe Bay Yacht Club members have successfully completed Stages 1 and 2 Sail Training: Stage 2 April: Ben and Felix Johnson, Jacob and Noah Prince, Andrew William John and Louise Webster, Louise Woodley, Henry and David Tierney, Alexander Volohov, Dora and Andras Gal, Felicity Isaac, Tom Ferris.

Stage 1 April: Katherine Laurence and Hugh Prince, Louise, Tom and Emma Sullivan, Judith Lily and Rose Collis, Megan Driscoll, Samantha Ingram, Elizabeth Blower, Sarah Emily Archie Henry and Maisie Bagnall, Kate Williams, Darren Taylor and Abigael Jones, Alan Wright, Felicity Isaac, Hanna Taylor and Steve Churchyard.

Stage 1 August: Debbie and Ewan Thomas, Gabriel Tierney, Jenny Epps, Zoe Jewell, Donna Gibbs, Arran and Isla Higginson, Jim Pearson, Mike Scanes, Fred Petty-Mayor.

With members’ ages ranging from six to 52, it makes for entertaining and sometimes challenging days on the water! The weather during the season proved to be testing again, with days of 16-20 mile an hour winds and choppy seas, but the members were not put off. Survival swim ashore, first solo sail and being under a capsized boat are just a few of the skills to be completed.

The feedback that we get is always enthusiastic, and this is down to our band of patient and committed instructors, who give up their time to assist new members, to make sure the skills required are completed, and that the members are able to sail with control and confidence.

I am very grateful to the following Cadet and Adult sailing instructors - Sophie Boygle, Peter Snow, Garry and Oliver Ellis, Mike and Alex Thomason, Olivier Petty Mayor, Teddy Elmore, Laura Cotgrove, Matt Lloyd, Scott Weller and Penny and Tim Allard - for their continued support and instruction.

Please now put those new sailing skills to use and get out on the water and race! That’s when you really start to learn - and have fun, which is what it’s all about! If anyone is interested in learning to instruct, I am always available and be very pleased to discuss this very rewarding aspect of membership at our club. My details are on the club website.

Sail training dates for 2015 are being compiled now and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Nick Cotgrove Sail Training Officer

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OK, so I may have got the long range weather forecast slightly off in the last Newsbuoy but overall it can’t have been that bad at the start of the season because, compared with 2013 we had nearly double the number of Sandhoppers out for the Spring Saturday series, with 54 entries and one less race. The Spring Sunday Series also saw an improved entry with two less races!

The Sandhopper Nationals were held earlier this year and 21 boats signed on to battle it out over four races on the last weekend in June. Conditions were good for the first race on Saturday with David Hopper and Izzy Duce taking an early lead but with Sandstorm and Spider close behind. Then the wind dropped and the second race had to be abandoned to be re-sailed as the first of three races on Sunday.

The Nationals dinner, organised by Janet and served by Scott on Saturday night was enjoyed by all, and the first day’s results and pairings were revealed with usual banter and heckling followed by a reasonably early night to ensure top form for the following day’s racing.

Sunday dawned with light winds and a few disappointed faces but by the time the committee boat was on station, it was clear the winds were picking up and great racing was in prospect. Race 2 was completed in perfect conditions and this time Sandstorm took the honours with Spider, Apollo & Satisfaction keeping them honest.

For races 3 and 4 the wind picked up a few more notches and some of the disappointed faces from the start of the day were now smiling - or maybe grimacing. Thanks to broken bits or thinking about breakages, four boats dropped out, leaving 17 to fight it out in very testing conditions. With Satisfaction and Apollo taking the third and fourth race wins and the usual suspects being close behind them, we ended with four different winners over the four races but finally Chris Clarke and Dan Henderson in Sandstorm finished on top and were crowned Sandhopper Nationals Champions 2014.

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Three Nationals and an Open It was good to see a couple of new Sandhopper owners Martin Swindon and Brian Farenden joining in this year, and we should also congratulate Cat sailors Julian and Jeremy who borrowed Sandstar for the event, finishing third in the last race and eighth overall. Finally I would like to thank again all the team who helped run the event, particularly Sprint guys who supported us on the committee boat again this year along with our sponsors Hyde Sails, One Sails and Heineken.

The Sandhopper Sunday Trophy has made a resurgence this year and there have been a number of different worthy winners including Sandstar, Satisfaction, Blue Jacket and Zeus among others. Remember, you need to be in the bar after sailing on Sunday to receive this magnificent trophy which is a replica of the Americas Cup very kindly donated by Peter Thompson at the Wetsuit Outlet.

For those who don’t sail a Sandhopper who may have heard the bell in the bar and seen the Sunday Trophy presented to cheers and applause whilst looking on enviously, the good news is that there are some Sandhoppers currently available at prices to suit all pockets! Just let me know if you are interested in joining us!

We have already had two more new owners this year with Mike Threadgold now sailing SH153 Thetis with Fliss Isaac and SH156 Apollo (now re-named “The Dogs 5”) being handed over to Mark Jewel just after the Nationals.

So although the summer weather has been a little hit and miss this year and with lift-out on October 19th fast approaching, let’s hope for some great sailing until the end of the season and more blue sails on the water.

This year has been another great year at our club, packed full of opportunities.

Every very one of us has experienced a different year at TBYC, there has been something for everyone. When I am asked to sit down to write these articles I reflect on the season and am always amazed at how much has gone on.

This year was the first since Julian and I bought the Hurricane that the Hurricane Nationals were in the school holidays meaning we could enter. With that in mind we made the decision at Christmas to order a new square top main and it’s there that the year started, all our settings different, new controls and back to the drawing board. It was a different boat to sail and that theme was to continue throughout the season.

This year the club were privileged to host two Nationals, the annual Sandhopper Nationals and the Sprint Nationals. The appeal of the Sandhopper Nationals to us was all about close racing with great sailors and we were lucky enough to have borrowed a Sand Star from Sue and Wil, but first we had the opportunity to race other Hurricanes at Canvey Fast Cat open. We had spent the season tweaking the Hurricane and were pleased to be on the pace at Canvey - although not so happy once we had pitched in had to go to A&E. Hobbling around the Sandhopper was good fun, with a different winner of each race on the first light day it meant every boat had to go all out in blustery conditions for the second day, great completion throughout the fleet. The thought of 80 boats on the start line was enough to entice a great number form TBYC to join one of the most welcoming and popular fleets at TBYC and participate in the Sprint 15 Nationals. The lure and love of racing everyone at the club once again produced some fantastic memories.

Mark Robinson SH26

Fantastic memories are what we are left with after every great opportunity we say yes to at TBYC, whether it’s moments you remember like looking back in the Regatta to see four other Hurricanes and Dave and Peter in the 49er flying downwind with their kites or sitting on the beach up watching your kids sail, paddleboard then dragging them in off the mud as the sun goes down.

What have you been part of this year?

Jeremy Sandford

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It has been an excellent year for sailing with the best summer I can remember since 1976 – yes I am that old really.... no, really!

The beginning of the year saw an excellent turnout for the Sprint fleet with the addition of David and Jenny Ball raising the bar dramatically for the rest of us, leading into the spring series and some excellent sailing weather and fantastic competitive racing at all levels. I think that as a fleet we were all aware of the Nationals being here this year and were all trying to get in as much practice as our lives would allow.

I know I was, anyway.

We also had some new additions to the fleet in Andy Wood, John Glynn – albeit very briefly – Dan Webb, John Laliberte, John Williams with a new boat and later on Matt Waters in John Glynn’s new/old boat.

I am not sure on the actual statistics but I believe we now have one of the biggest Sprint 15 fleets in England and we certainly made a huge difference to this year’s national championships, with 29 local boats entering the competition, meaning that we were only 3 boats short of the most ever entrants (86) with 83 boats on the water. Racing in this amount of boats brings with it a whole different set of challenges, the most obvious being crowd control!

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How to get away from the rest? It’s quite simple really as Stuart Snell showed us, just go faster! Trying to get in and stay in clear air was, I believe, the single most important and hardest thing to achieve , however those that achieved it did well.

It seemed to me that the other major stumbling block for almost everyone was getting round the windward mark, especially when the tide was going out, I remember thinking that even really experienced local sailors were either coming in on Port right on the mark or understanding the mark and underestimating the strength of the tide and finding themselves parked on the mark – no names though - you know who you were!

This event for me was a real highlight in my life and the best competition I have ever taken part in as well as the best result I have ever achieved. I would like to thank all those who took part and helped out, including the Sandhopper fleet who pitched in with gusto and enthusiasm, all the cadets who helped us old boys up the beach, the bar staff, the kitchen staff and most importantly Paul Morgan whose organisational skills are second to none and without whom this event never would have taken place, so thank you Paul!

Steve Healy

result together, and Steve H was up there again. Race 2 was notable for the outgoing tide and windward mark, rounding where this caught many top sailors out.

Day 3: Wind at last but no water, well not until much later, when the sea breeze started to take effect and we were almost back to the previous days’ conditions.

Steve H put in a very solid fifth and eighth to cement his position as top TBYC boat. Andy faltered a little bit but just managed to keep in the top 10, Chris T also put in a solid eighth and ninth to take the last of the top 10 positions. Jim Bowie missed out on a top 10 finish by one point despite 2 fourth places. Gerald Sverdloff was finally over his sickness bug but without Nathan he dropped down the rankings a bit.

A fantastic turnout for the Sprint 15 class with virtually all the Thorpe Bay sprinters on the water and some non sprinters on borrowed boats.

Day 1: virtually no wind, which made it hard for the seasoned sailors, let alone those in our fleet that are either still learning or not very familiar to big fleet competitions. Our own race officer had his work cut out and to be honest the beats were about as true as you could get, bearing in mind the conditions. Thorpe Bay boats were featuring in the top 10 with Steve Healy, Peter Thompson, Jim Bowie and Andy Wood all putting in at least one top ten result. Not forgetting of course Paul Morgan, fourth to the windward mark but didn’t quite master getting round it. Well done Paul.

Day 2: no wind again. More TBYC boats in the top ten, Andy Wood scored a 2nd (Andy, how good could you be if you sailed the boat regularly!), Chris Tillyer finally got a good

Overall TBYC won the team trophy and had many of the top 20 positions overall. Hopefully the TBYC Sprinters will find their road trailers and rock up at Netley for the 2015 Nationals.

Chris Tillyer

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the French inland waterways. This was quite an interesting exercise and introduced me to the rather strange Gallic administration practices of officialdom but eventually all was sorted out and we were able to continue on our way.

We entered our first lock at Poses where we moored for the night to await our shore support team. My crew changed, leaving Julie and me, together with our two dogs, to continue alone.

The upper Seine is very busy with commerce and the lock keepers are rather impatient. We experienced some quite nerve-wracking passages through the area, eventually stopping in a disused lock for our first night and discovering how difficult it is to get two dogs up steep lock side ladders for their necessary exercise.

The Run To The

In 2010 Julie and I decided that the time had come for an extended cruise, writes JOHN GILLIES. It became rather a ‘now or never’ event so a loose itinerary was developed with a target of a gentle cruise through the French canals to the Mediterranean.

Having thrashed our various sailing vessels up and down the North Sea and round and round triangles over the Southend mud in everything from Cadets to Flying Dutchman and Tornadoes we fancied some more variety, and guaranteed sun. One particularly wet spring day in 2004 saw us visit Dartmouth where we became the fourth custodians of Sabi Star, our Rampart 48TSDY. This is a semi displacement twin engine motor yacht of iroko on oak with teak and mahogany brightwork. She was designed in 1928 by John Thorneycroft and about 100 were built from then until the last rolled down the slipway in 1981.

We departed the next morning in brilliant sunshine which was to stay with us for most of our trip. Our second stop was at the Île de Lion draft, which had never just before the junction with the River Oise. This is a very featured in my navigation useful stopping off point as it is a quiet marina and had the assessments, became very huge benefit of a fuel pontoon. There is a big issue on important. the supply of fuel for pleasure craft and the availability of white diesel varies enormously. Red diesel is of We then returned to take a berth in course completely banned for pleasure vessels. the River Hamble on the south coast to over winter in 2011 and 2012 and We decided not to go through Paris but turned took the opportunity to have some north onto the Oise, which is a delightfully quiet minor engineering work carried out by waterway as we started to get used to lack of specialists available in that area. tide and current. We proceeded happily up to the junction with the River Aisne where After an early May shake down cruise in 2012, at we started to move east again. This canal the beginning of June we headed out of the was extremely quiet and fitted with Hamble, past the eastern tip of the Isle of Wight automatic locks. We had our own and the Nab light tower, and straight across the 90 VNF chaperone following us and miles to enter Honfleur 12 hours later. It was an appearing at various locations to interesting passage with visibility down to a couple of make sure that we were miles and force 6 breeze testing our hydraulic stabilisers. proceeding in a satisfactory manner. It was all very easy For those who haven’t been there, Honfleur is a delightful and we were discovering town protected by an outer lock. We spent a day there and how to wedge into the early the next morning caught the tide up to the first stopping smaller locks without point at Rouen where we purchased our VNC carnet for entering bouncing off of the

As we had done no cruising in the south west we decided to base our sailing activities in Devon for a number of years and had wonderful sailing for six years, extending between the Isle of Wight and The Lizard.

In 2011 we had intended to head straight for the French canals but family illness meant that we could not be away from home so decided to cruise from Dartmouth along the south coast and up the Thames to Henley. This was a wonderful coast-hopping experience, crewed at various times by club members and friends and dodging gales and high winds.

One of the highlights was following the tide up the Thames and through the heart of London to spend a night on Cadogan Pier before progressing into the non-tidal reaches. This gave us some experience in inland waterways and passing through locks. In particular, air

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Sabi Star

sides too badly. The speed limit in many of these locations is 4km/hour, and with a twin engine twin screw vessel like ours it was difficult to travel so slowly. The scenery is lush and there are many places to stop but, alas, many of the towns are suffering severe deprivation and most shops and provision stores have now closed. There is however, always a ladies’ hairdresser to keep up standards.

At this stage we did not feel as though we Honfleur were moving towards our intended goal and upper structure and creating a very pleasant open steering position. We stayed at Charmes having been travelling for three weeks, started for a week and were visited by our good friends Richard and Sharon who had attended a to have some slight concerns over the distances motoring meeting in Italy in their magnificent sports car. They gave a great boost to our involved. However, we eventually started to spirits and on 19th July we headed off yet again. head south and reached Reims and onto the lower canals. One of the disadvantages of a seagoing vessel is the air draught. As we Without the protection of the roof on the steering position the hot sun was quite a progressed south we found that our raised steering problem so we acquired a parasol. Naturally, as soon as we were settled with this the position, which has a full structural roof, was getting weather started to change and we had two days of torrential rain. While we were able closer and closer to the maximum height. After a to protect our steering position adequately there were some unfortunate leaks which scrape on one bridge we filled the water ballast bags required prompt resolution and the sewing machine was in considerable use as we made which we had bought for the purpose, both taking a impromptu waterproof covers. ton of water, and dropped our waterline by 2 inches.

This was initially successful and we proceeded After this the process became one of the most delightful experiences I have experienced. successfully towards Strasbourg and our chosen route Although our fame as the mad anglais who had cut their roof off seemed to be along the Voges canal. However, we were then preceding us through the barging towns, we met nothing but pleasant and helpful advised that a lock-side collapse meant that the canal people and after a further few days, emerged from the canal system onto the upper was closed so we proceeded towards Nancy with the Saone River. To be able to go from 4km an hour to 15km an hour was a delight which intention of going to Strasbourg and down the the engines thoroughly enjoyed and quickly got rid of the smoke which was starting to Rhine to make a wide detour. However, fortunately build up as a result of the slow running. the repairs were carried out very quickly and we We headed south and the weather was getting hotter and hotter with temperatures in were able to proceed southwards. the 30s every day. We stopped for a day at the new marina at Auxonne and decided that By this time we were in the Champagne region, we liked it sufficiently to book for the winter. We continued south and were joined firstly by our daughter Jessica for a few days and then our youngest son Jack and his girlfriend. and the pleasure of French food and wine was We headed south past wonderful towns, such as Macon where the wine region led to starting to have its effect. We had also wound several very happy nights, eventually stopping at Lyon where Jack and his girlfriend left us down our own activities and were quite content to and Johnathon, Natalie and our two grandsons joined. cover no more than 15-20km a day. We skirted Toul in eastern France, onto the Moselle River and Lyon is the confluence of the rivers Saone and Rhône and the current increases appreciably. then back into the canals. The Vosges is a It is also the start of the magnificent French hydroelectric plants. The locks are extremely charming canal route, although overburdened deep, up to 26 metres drop, and we proceeded comfortably towards the south past with 98 locks. Each lock has a road bridge and magnificent castles and wonderful countryside with vineyards interspersed with rocky these are in rather poor condition. In addition, the wet summer that was occurring to the north of us outcrops, stopping in comfortable locations including under the walls of the magnificent Palace of the Popes at Avignon. We spent a few days there and on the morning that we was causing the levels in the canal to rise. Although were leaving had to chase intruders off the boat early in the morning as they were trying we were in very warm and sunny weather, the effect to steal our bicycles from the foredeck. This was the only occurrence of this type that of the height of the canal and the poor condition of we suffered, and there were no lasting effects. By now the weather was constantly the bridges meant that the air draught was severely very hot and although there is some current on the Rhône, it was relatively slow at reduced. At lock 21we were simply unable to get under about 2 knots and was running with us. the bridge despite flooding the bilges and loading up as much as we could with fuel and water. There was nothing After Avignon we had a comfortable ride down the lower portion of the for it but to contact a friendly boatbuilder and arrange for Rhône and, rather than go straight into the Mediterranean, decided to him to come over and cut the roof off to make the dog house turn right onto the Rhône-à-Sete canal and made our first stop in the demountable. wonderful medieval town of Aigues-Mortes. This is a wonderful town close to the coast and we then passed through the bridges Fortunately this was at the time of the Bastille Day celebrations and so and out into the Mediterranean for a brief foray. we moored at the small town of Charmes and took part in the commemorations which at least added some pleasure to the rather worrying After a couple of days of enjoyment at process of taking saws to our lovely boat. Our shipwright, Will Stirling from Stirling Aigues-Mortes Johnathon and his and Son at Plymouth managed an absolute miracle over two days, dismantling the

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family had to return home for cadet week at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club, in which Johnathon was heavily involved. Julie and I carried on west, stopping at the many available moorings although the area is busy with hire craft. We eventually moored at Frontignan and used the train for easy access to Sete. This is in the middle of the water jousting area, which culminates in a big festival at the end of August. As far as we can understand, married men try to kill unmarried men by rowing at them with steel tipped lances. Introduce wine and a general French mayhem, recipe for riotous behaviour!

Throughout August the weather was exceptionally hot and at the middle of August we were joined by our daughter Jessica and, a few days later, her partner Pete. We had a very pleasant week in warm and comfortable weather leading up to the end of August. The only remarkable occurrence was the appearance of the occasional heavily-laden shipping travelling along the canal. This canal is quite shallow and narrow. The result is that boats moored along the bank suffer from an extreme suction from the passing ship. As the moorings are generally on our own ground anchors and pegs, it was common for the moorings to be pulled out of the ground, leaving boats spinning in the middle of the canal. This happened to us twice. Fortunately we were on board on both occasions and there were no ill effects.

Another interesting location is at the central VNF wharf. Many boats make it to the Mediterranean and the majority by far are glass fibre. The number of boats which are abandoned or do not have their fees paid seems to be considerable and there is a boat graveyard at this wharf with hundreds of hulls piled on top of one another rather like an oldstyle car breakers’ yard.

At the end of August the weather started to change. A mistral wind started to blow and many boats from the Mediterranean sought shelter at the inland ports. After three days at the beginning of September there seemed to be a lull in the wind and the forecast had improved so we decided to start to head north. We had an easy ride back up the canal and decided to visit Beaucair which is a dead end since it was shut off at its junction with the Rhône. We arrived there late in the afternoon with very strong wind blowing. We found it difficult to find a mooring so moored to an available spot in one of the hire boat yards.

This turned out to be a very good plan as there were secure bollards and during the night the wind rose to about 60 knots, continuing for the next day.

During the morning, in the high winds, one of our dogs was blown off the foredeck and into the water.

Fortunately she was a strong swimmer and found

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Last Lock of the Canal de Vosges – Half way to the Med

her own way to a launching ramp to regain dry land, but this gives an idea of the strength of the wind when it is channelled down the canal.

This proved to be the worst of the weather and early the following morning, in bright sunshine and calm conditions, we left the Sete-à-Rhône canal and returned to the River Rhône. The current was against us at this point and our progress was significantly slower than when we came down. We were however still able to average about 8 knots over the ground.

Being a sea boat, head winds and head current didn’t affect us too badly but a number of the smaller inland boats had to give up and await an improvement in the weather.

We motored for some fairly long days, about four of which were for 8 or 9 hours to make some significant distance north.

At this point we started to suffer some engine problems with our port engine. I thought that the filters were blocked as we had had some problem with the fuel, changed these and managed to get it restarted. However, after a little while the engine stopped again and continued to give us considerable problems. I employed two engineers at different ports to look at the engine but surprisingly neither of them seemed to have much idea. I eventually tracked the problem down to a defective valve in the lift pump and as soon as this was identified and repaired, the engine ran perfectly. It annoys me that I paid in the region of 200 Euros to these engineers who were woefully incompetent. It seems essential to have a good level of engineering knowledge oneself, as is ever the case with boating.

We missed out Avignon on the way back, instead calling at the small sand barge area known as Port Deux. This was a charming little area with about 100 moorings in the middle of nowhere with sand extraction

taking place all round. We stayed there one night and then moved on to Cruas where we arrived in time to see a final stage of a women’s cycle race through the Rhône valley which seems to have major significance. As far as I could gather the British team won and there were considerable celebrations.

We stayed for two days at Cruas and noted that the current against us was increasing considerably. As one approaches each of the hydroelectric plants the current is significant but it was building up noticeably and the closer we got to Lyon the stronger the current was. As we were only running on one effective engine at this stage we had a very slow ride on the last stages until we were able to get beyond the confluence of the two rivers and join the Saone. The weather, by this stage in mid-September, was still very pleasant but starting to cool slightly and the evenings were beginning to draw in.

As the French holiday season was now well passed we had the pick of the moorings with a very pleasant ride in clear rivers back to our pre-booked winter mooring at Port Royal at Auxonne.

Overall we had been away for four and a half months, travelled nearly 2,000 nautical miles and enjoyed the most wonderful experience. It has taught us that there is no such thing as the perfect boat. All have their advantages and disadvantages being either too long, too short, too high, too low, too deep or too shallow. Our chosen material of timber was most forgiving but equally we took some scrapes which will need repair. The steel boats seem to suffer badly from rust and the glassfibre boats are too fragile and need a lot of protection.

On the whole we had a fantastic time, and are now based in Auxonne for the next few seasons.

John Gillies

Tide Out

MARGARET KENNEDY brings us another beautiful etching inspired by the Thorpe Bay coastline

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through the year with our very good friends from Holland and Belgium. Alex and Anna had a tougher time here and were 14th and Ben and Katie struggled a bit with the sharp chop in the harbour and were 46th.

Well, we’ve had a fantastic year sailing in 2014. We started with the Squad training late last year. Ben and Katie were selected for the Intermediate Development Squad and Alex and Anna were in the National Squad. Most of the training was based in Weymouth at the sailing academy due to the fact that we were to host the Nationals and World Championships there later in the summer.

After five weekends of training we got down to the selector events. The first was at Datchet Water for the Alf Simmonds Trophy. We had a decent breeze for the weekend and some nice inland sailing. 45 boats entered the main fleet. Alex and Anna were 3rd overall and Ben and Katie 43rd with a couple of OCS’s counting.

We were then off to more local waters at Stone SC on the Blackwater for the Peter Scott Trophy and the selection of the World Team! After the last 2 events Alex and Anna were lying 4th overall in the series. 10 boats are to be selected but the top 4 places go to the highest placed under 15’s to keep in check with the RYA transition policy. Again a nice 3 -4 breeze and some good tidal conditions to play with. Alex and Anna were leading overnight with 2 bullets and a 9th. Sunday started well with a 2nd and another win, but Alex Page from Brightlingsea was hot on his heels and now discarding a 14th.

Alex and Anna just needed to stay ahead to win the event. He started well and pushed out left on the 1st beat and hit a bad wind shift and let Alex Page past who went on to win. Alex and Anna sailed superbly and pulled back from the depths of the 20’s up to 11th and sadly missed out by 3 points on winning the weekend. Ben and Katie had a consistent weekend in the early 30’s in most races so improving all the time.

varied in strength from almost nothing to the great force 5s you see off that coast.

Alex and Anna - now known as the “Masters of Cadet Planning” - made the most of these conditions with some blasting reaches and some clever work upwind. Katie couldn’t do the event so Ben crewed for a friend from Stone SC Lainey Terkelsen, whose sisters were also in the World Team. In fact, Lucy and Cally Terkelsen and Alex and Anna were pushing each other hard from the start.

Alex took the lead after day 1 with a 2nd and a 3rd, then day 2 had two wins. This went on all week. On the penultimate day he saw a bias in the line and decided to port tack start - oops - not on a big fleet with this level of ability and subsequently black flagged. They managed this in both races! So now suddenly the big lead was reduced and the Terkelsens were in with a shout! Luckily, the final day blew a force 7 so racing was abandoned and Alex and Anna were crowned the Belgian National Champions! They collected a beautiful pewter plate dating back from 1954 with names as Jacques Rogges - the now Olympic Committee President engraved on it. This was also the first time the trophy had left the Belgian shores!

Next came the selection of the World Team. Alex and Anna made the 10 coveted places finishing the series in 4th place! The team would now be coached

So off back down to Weymouth for 2 weeks to compete in the National Championships and the World Championships. If you were able to write the weather for a fortnight’s sailing, you would have written the conditions we had! The event management at WPNSA is superb and we were able to offer some of the best facilities in the UK. Next we went to Weymouth for the Clemenson Nautilus Trophy. All were hoping for strong breeze but it was be on the lighter side. Sailing inside the harbour but running on the trapezoid course that would be used at the Worlds. Still a great weekend on these fantastic waters. We were also joined

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by the 420 National coach Jonny McGovern and helped by Tom Malandine - both hugely successful sailors. One of these training events would be at the Flanders Youth Regatta in Nieuwpoort, Belgium. Here the Cadet Class sailed for the Belgian National Championships. As always at Nieuwpoort, the huge rolling seas played their part but the wind was

The Nationals started well with 71 boats in the main fleet and 17 new helms in the Bronze fleet. We had our friends from Belgium and Holland join us again but this time we were also join by the lone Argentinean entry and a few of the Aussie team. The sailing was kept inside the harbour, mainly because it was so windy. 33 knots were recorded on one

race and it rarely fell below 23 knots all week. Alex and Anna were in the top 5 for the most part until they clipped a finish mark after the gun had gone and thought they had finished. They were subsequently protested and scored a DSQ - another lesson learned! Ben and Katie were revelling in the breeze and did very well finishing 42nd and 8th in the Silver fleet. Alex and Anna did a great job and came 5th and 3rd in the British Nationals.

The Open event was won by Belgian Cesar Smet with the Argentinean 2nd.

spectacular sailing. Race Officer John Burgoine (2012 Olympic Match Racing RO) did a great job. We lost one race due to the wind failing but made that up on the last day. It was great for us that thanks to the support of TBYC members and friends who came to the fundraising party, that we were able to sponsor a day. The biggest burgee ever was flown proudly from the mast at WPNSA. Not only that, but ITV and BBC cameras were there for a day and Alex was on local TV the next day.

Yours truly was live on BBC Radio Solent’s H2O Programme. Alex and Anna had a great start and were in 6th place for most of the event. A very unfortunate and unnecessary protest by a teammate led to an arbitration penalty, which was a great shame. A bad couple of races on the last day saw them drop to 10th overall - all the same a very well achieved placing. Stone SC sisters; Lucy and Cally Terkelsen sailed a fabulous regatta and were on the podium in 3rd place. The World Champions were Thomas and Sophie Alexander from Australia and last year’s Champion Igor Lvov from Ukraine was 2nd.

We then had 3 days off to recover and start the measurement and entries for the Worlds. The event is split into 2. The World Championships are for the teams qualified for the event in their own country and then we have a “open” Promotional Regatta for anyone to compete. In the main fleet we had 48 entries with teams from all over the globe.

The Promo fleet had 55 entries again, with many international competitors. We had a fantastic Opening Ceremony with each team marching in their team kit. Pippa Wilson, ex-Cadet and Olympic Gold medallist 0pened the event and was subsequently swamped signing shirts and boats and selfies galore!

The climax to the event was the closing ceremony, probably the best one in Cadet history - we had our own personal flypast by the Red Arrows, timed to perfection just after announcing the World Champion! (Great to have an ex-RAF dad in the team!)

Sailing was switched between Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour depending on conditions. Again, we had some awesome wind and huge courses making for some

In between our main events we did a few Open Meetings. Our favourite is always the Waldringfield Open on the river Deben in Suffolk, home to Alex’s crew Anna, although she was unavailable this year. So in stepped Thorpe Bay cadet Lara Noden. Lara had been out with Alex a few times learning to sail the Cadet and how to fly a “proper” spinnaker. They had a fantastic weekend and saw what the Cadet family is really all about - hope to see Lara sailing a Cadet full time very soon!

To end our Year round up, Alex has competed in his final year in Cadets. From his first year he competed in the World Team with Ollie Herve. Ollie gave him the grounding and foundation to build on a successful time with the Cadets. He has now competed at World Team level five times, three as a crew and two as a helm.

Some of his best friends are from Belgium, Australia and Argentina, let alone all the pals he has made from all over the UK. Ben and Katie will continue as a team for the next year. By the time this is released we will have completed the Inland Championships at Grafham and the RYA Zone Champs at Dabchicks.

If any of this strikes a chord with you or your youngsters and fancy a go, please get in touch. We know we have the best boat to offer for junior sailing. It is the “only” true three-sail junior fleet for junior sailors under 17. Parents cannot jump in a boat and win the Nationals or Worlds - this is just for youngsters. It will give them the expertise to go on to either follow the RYA pathway or just enjoy their club sailing but at a good competitive level and aside from that get to meet lots of likeminded kids from all over the world!

Mike Lloyd and Howard Warrington

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This year’s Cadet Week saw 147 cadets taking part, split into 4 groups: Stingrays, Piranhas, Barracudas and Sharks.

I took the youngest group again, Stingrays, comprising 49 cadets in 5 groups aged between 4 and 11 years old. We concentrated on the basics of learning about weather, tide, hazards, confidence, rigging, sailing and lots of competitive games, including cork races, paddle races, model boat building and racing.

We were also extremely lucky to have five paddleboards, supplied as ever by Pete Thompson from the Wetsuit Outlet.

These enabled up close, calm and personal coaching out on the water by team helpers, without the need for shouting from the beach and above the noise of a rib engine. They were a real asset to the group and lots of fun too, especially when used end to end, the cadets then had to run along without falling off great to watch!

Skills and confidence were gradually built up throughout the week, culminating in lots of solo sailing by the Friday. The week started off rather bleak with wind, cloud and rain on the Monday. That evening brought further drizzle, making for a damp barbecue. It also brought a fire engine and even damper kids once we turned the fire hoses on. The kids loved it, but I had a few light-hearted comments from the parents!

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Tuesday brought the California sun, which stayed with us from then on. The wind direction could have been a little kinder, either an offshore northerly or a southerly, meaning problems getting underway off the beach and coming ashore.

But we persevered and mastered the wind, a credit to the excellent coaching by all the volunteers from the beach and the paddle boards.

On Tuesday evening, all the cadets descended on Adventure Island and enjoyed the rides and rollercoasters.

On Wednesday we had our Le Mans Trophy race.

This involves three cadets running down the beach and jumping into an oppie, sailing out and rounding a buoy, returning to the beach, jumping out, then running up the beach to tag teammates who have to repeat for five laps.

This year’s winners were Jeremy Sandford’s Green Team, who were the only team to finish due to the wind direction changing and dropping throughout the race.

Wednesday evening is a popular night off, which allows the kids and parents to recharge their batteries, chill out at the club or relax at home.

We had our Pirate Treasure Hunt on Thursday, which involved lots of cadets and adults running up and down the beach looking for clues to where the treasure is buried. Of course, lots of custard pies were placed in the faces of team leaders and some nasty fish eyes (jellied eels and whelks of course) had to be eaten before clues were revealed! Very nasty! Most of the Stingrays had a great time at the Fun Factory in the evening climbing, ice skating, playing football and basketball, and demolishing a huge buffet.

Friday was our fun day, with the Green team cleaning up all the prizes. The weight of competition over, the chance to relax and enjoy the sunshine lay ahead. This was complemented by a visit by the Cliffs Pavilion’s events team, who brought David Hasselhoff (well, a cardboard cutout), the girls from Heart Radio and lots of games including another treasure hunt, which turned into a bit of an epic to find the treasure as half the beach disappeared under frantic hands, shovels or anything they could get their hands on. A NASA astronaut later reported seeing the hole from space with the naked eye. The Southend lifeboat and a D-Class lifeboat visited the beach in the afternoon and the cadets got to meet the crews, including our own Alex Gibson and had a good old look around the boats. Time to pack up for another year, and as ever it was great to see all those smiley faces from adults and children alike. Prize giving was the inevitable bunfight, with adults and children completing for floor space. No injuries were reported on the night!

In the Stingray group, the Le Mans trophy and Overall Winning Team Award went to the Green team led by Jeremy, well done.

Alex Waters, Luke Evans, James Rowland and Sophie Sandford were all nominated as the most improved in their respective groups and received a prize. The most improved Stingray this year went to Eleanor Johnson from Red Group, who received a TBYC baseball cap signed by Sir Ben Ainslie himself. Well done to all Eleanor and all the cadets nominated.

Cadet Week, as I’m sure you are aware, does not happen without a great deal of effort from a great deal of volunteers.

The Cadet Committee has been outstanding and have provided me with so much support throughout the year. So thanks to Scott Weller (Barracuda group), Tim Allard (Shark group), Penny Allard (Piranha group), Liz Moody (Social events / Bosun’s Hut), Matt Waters (sponsorship) and Garry Ellis (Accounts).

A special thanks to Barbara Hervé once again for all her energy, enthusiasm and organisation in the Bosun’s Hut, and to Scott and his team provided a splendid menu

to keep everyone fed and watered throughout the week.

Donna and all the staff behind the bar provided an excellent service, as did the cleaners, who put in a lot of hard work and extra hours as they do every year.

Thanks also to all the rescue boat crews in each group, especially the Lloyds, the Swindons and the Elmore family who provided their own ribs. Well done to Linzi Swindon again for taking wonderful photos of the entire week and producing the discs for us to keep as memories.

Matt Waters does a fantastic job in generating local sponsorship year after year. This enabled us to keep costs down to the same price for the fourth year in a row, a massive thank you to Matt and to our sponsors Dedman Gray, Harrison Holgate Insurance and Finance, Robinsons Solicitors, RDP Newman Chartered Accountants, Johnson Gillies Ltd Chartered Surveyors, Merenda Insurance, Wetsuit Outlet, Phasic Shift, Pearl Dragon Restaurant and Jerry Bell Hairdressers.

A special thanks to James and Liz Moody for getting Sir Ben Ainslie to provide a signed shirt which raised £67 for the Cadet Oppie appeal, which aims to replace our depleted oppie fleet which has done us proud over the years.

Thank you also to Kerry Brown who was an absolute star behind the scenes during the week.

A massive thanks also to Janet, our wonderful Club Secretary, who has been a constant help to me throughout the past few hectic months.

The final round of thanks go to the growing number of volunteers too numerous to name, who turn out every year to provide a wonderful week for the cadets of TBYC. They may not realise it yet but one day they will look back on these years, gaining confidence, lifelong friends, life skills, and above all, lots and lots of happy memories.

The next Cadet week takes place between 3rd – 7th August 2015. See you on the beach!

Mark Petty-Mayor TBYC Cadet Rep

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Lasers At the Tollesbury Sailing Club Laser Open Meeting, 14th September

Meeting at 10 at Thorpe Bay in order to stack Nick Turner, Wesley Absolom and Rick Paxman’s lasers into the back of one of Rick’s work vans, we were heading off to Tollesbury for a Laser one-day Open. With a forecast of 20-25 knots a few people were put off, but the sun was shining and the potential for some great racing was on the cards. Making their own way over to Tollesbury were Jeremy Doran, Chris Tillyer and Michael Airey so the club was well represented with six out of the eighteen lasers being Thorpe Bay boats.

After the briefing we waited for sufficient water to sail to the race course. Short tacking out of the creek gave everyone plenty of time to get into the groove. The standard rigs (11) and radials (7) were starting together and the results would be calculated on a handicap basis as well as splitting the fleets. With three relatively short races scheduled, it was always going to be imperative to get a good start. Wesley did his usual pre-race beat-and-run but unfortunately did a death roll on the way back to the start and ended up landing on his centreboard, breaking the top off and cutting his arm. Not a good start!

Overall results 1st and 1st Radial 2nd 3rd and 1st Standard rig 4th and 2nd Standard 6th and 3rd Standard 8th and 5th Standard 12th and 7th Standard

Chris Tillyer Wesley Absolom Robert Laurie Rick Paxman Nick Turner Michael Airey Jeremy Doran

The second race has a slightly different course but again racing was very tight.

First round the windward mark was again Robert Laurie closely followed by the Thorpe Bay fleet. A slight misjudgement of time and distance by Chris resulted in him losing a few places.

Having completed his turns he managed to recover a couple of places over the two lap course. Race 2 finished with Robert Laurie in first, with the Wesley, Chris, Rick and Nick occupying second to fifth. Michael finished fourth in the standard fleet with Jeremy eighth.

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The third race was longer as the tide was starting to ebb and the breeze was up,

The first race got under way and leading round the windward mark was a standard rig sailed by Robert Laurie (TSC/RYA) with Wesley and Chris right on his transom in their radial rigs. Hot on their heels were Rick, Nick and Martin Smith (TSC) in their standard rigs. The racing was close and Chris managed to pass Wesley and Martin who in turn managed to pass Rick and Nick. The race finished with Chris in 1st, followed in 2nd/3rd by Wesley and Robert. Rick and Nick were 2nd and 3rd respectively in the standard fleet. Michael retired(!) and Jeremy unfortunately missed out the gate on the second lap. gusting 30mph at times! It was a long slog up the beat with tired legs but the 1 mile long reaching legs that followed made it all well worth while. Robert was only just ahead of Chris around the first windward mark with Wesley, Rick and Nick following a few boat lengths back. The second lap was proving too much for some as a number of boats capsized at one (or both) of the gybe marks, one of which was Nick who suffered a nasty gash to his head.

With blood dripping down his face he carried on to finish 4th in class (TBYC laser sailors are built tough!) Race 3 finished with Chris in 1st, Wesley 2nd, Robert 3rd, Rick 4th. Michael was 3rd in the standard fleet with Jeremy 7th. It was a great performance by Jeremy at his first Open Meeting in testing conditions.

Eventually when we reached land we found out that Nick

had been protested for touching a mark, but the protest committee eventually threw it out for lack of evidence.

The Club advertise themselves as the friendliest on the East Coast and we all second that. The welcome we got was lovely, with unlimited cups of tea, bacon rolls and even an evening meal served, all for just a £10 entry fee. They are going to make it an annual event which we and hopefully more of the Laser fleet will attend.

A big well done to Chris Tillyer for winning his first Laser event.

Rick and Wesley Joint Laser fleet captains

Wow! What a busy summer we have had at the club this year.

The men’s changing room has had a partition wall built not that we have any peeping Toms, I’m sure! - and both changing areas have dehumidifiers installed to help with the constant dampness, and they seem to be working very well.

We’ve also given the ladies’ toilets a repaint and tidy up.

I think everyone will agree that the new balcony tiles and balustrade look fantastic, so much so that we have been asked not to put any signage back. We have only had good feedback from members which is very nice. We did have a few minor issues with the roofing contractor, but all has now been resolved. SWF, who installed the balustrade and glass, did a first class job. Nothing was too much trouble and I would recommend them.

I would like to thank Toby Speller for his input, also Mike Thomason who helped me oversee the whole job from start to finish. We have installed two new warm air boilers serving the Main and Commodore Bar as the old boilers were very antiquated and inefficient, the two new condensing units will keep us warm in the coming winters. Although we have spent a lot of money on maintenance this year, hopefully we will be able to budget for the bars being redecorated next year, with new carpets and curtains and a lick of paint or paper. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I would love to hear from you.

Many thanks to everyone who continues to support the club by coming to the twice-yearly work party. Whether you were involved in painting, filling holes, clearing the dinghy park, cleaning tables or making the tea and coffee that keep us all going, thank you again.

Happy Sailing.

Rob Bailey

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tbycsocial

Well, as the saying goes, it’s been a long hot summer.

And how lovely that was for a change!

Since my last article there has been rather a lot happening, including many fine dining and themed meal evenings. We enjoyed a fantastic evening of Lindy Hop way back in May at the Regatta Party. Many thanks to all the members who came along and joined in.

In June we had the main event of the year, a truly fantastic Summer Ball, with a theme this year of the ‘Four Seasons’ in honour of our entertainment. We used a play on words for the menu with dishes from Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (who could resist laughing at all those with ‘snow moustaches’ from the drinks reception!) The food was delicious and delivered with military timing; many thanks to Scott and his team for their hard work on that night. Many thanks also to the bar staff who ran things just as efficiently and worked tirelessly all night.

I decided to do something different with the entertainment this year to mix things up a bit. So, we commenced with Michael Bublé, interluded with the swinging 60s, continued on with The Jersey Boys and there was something for everyone for the finalé. The dance floor was full from the first bar of Michael Bublé and never emptied all night. I have to say, The Jersey Boys were one of the best groups we have ever had at the Club and I would definitely invite them back. The memory I have that set the tone for the evening was their rehearsal hour just before everyone arrived. The windows were open and a few of us were suddenly aware that a large group of people (not club members) were obviously so taken with the music that they started dancing along Barrowsands and into Thorpe Bay Gardens. I felt like I was an extra in an episode of ‘Fame’, a lifelong ambition! Absolutely brilliant!

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And so we look forward now to the Autumn and Winter events – I can’t believe it’s that time already! The next event is the Prizegiving Supper on Saturday 11th October.

Tickets are priced at £7.50 - see the ad on the back cover and on posters around the Club house. Please book and pay directly with Scott, our chef, in advance.

The Adult Christmas Party is on Saturday 13th December.

Tickets will be priced at £8.00 (incl. of buffet) and £3.00 (party only). This year, back by popular demand, we will be returning to the previously enjoyed format of traditional party games. So, leave your dignity at the door and come along and relive your youth! Tickets will be available directly from me and you can pay in the usual way (cash or cheque for my attention in the club postbox with the order form which will be available to download from the club website or via hard copy on the bar, online BACS transfer with a note on your order form, or via card payment at the bar).

The New Year’s Eve party this year falls on a Wednesday.

Tickets will be priced at £13.00 (incl. of buffet) and £8.00 (dancing only). Come along and celebrate with us whilst dancing to JB Entertainment Disco, and enjoy a complimentary glass of bubbly at midnight! Again, tickets are available direct from me and order forms will be available to download from the club website and in hard copy on the bar.

Wishing you all a fantastic winter season and I look forward to celebrating with you over the festive period!

Sara Speller

BAR & KITCHEN OPENING TIMES Monday Club is closed all day except for Bank Holidays, which will be Sunday hours Tuesdays/Wednesdays Bar 11am–3pm & 7pm–11pm Kitchen 11.30am-2.30pm Thursday Bar 11am–3pm & 5pm–11pm Kitchen 11:30am–2:30pm, 5.30pm–8pm Friday Bar 11am–3pm & 5pm–11pm Kitchen 11:30am–2.30pm, 7pm–9pm Saturday Bar 11am–11pm Kitchen 9am–6pm Sunday Bar 11am–7pm (9pm in Summer) Kitchen 9am–6pm Kitchen opening times will be extended during the sailing season to encompass sailing times.

As I am writing this, we are near the end of a very busy season for the Picos, Optimists and Teras. We decided to return to the old name of The Pico Series at the start of the year, this was not to exclude Teras and Optimists from the racing, just to focus on the large majority.

The series is run every other weekend, and enables the least experienced sailors the opportunity to sail around a simple course. We follow the normal 3 minute start sequence and sail simple triangular courses that usually incorporate a beat, reach and broad reach. Most races last between 20-30 minutes. Our top sailors are regular competitors in the main races and often with the Fevas.

This year we offered a 10-race Spring Series, an 8-race Summer Series and an 8race Autumn series. In addition to this we had a 6 race Bank Holiday mini-series.

Each of this year’s main series has attracted between 18-20 competing boats, this is testament to the commitment of the competitors and their support teams (parents) to take part.

We have three club Picos that are available for most races, however their primary function is as a sail training boats, so that activity takes precedence. We also have a club Tera available for most races.

Our Spring series started with high winds and we lost a couple of sailing days, we still got 6 races completed. Our first placed boat did not win a single race, but benefited from points from every race.

Because what do points make? Prizes!

For the Summer series we sailed 6 out of our planned 8 races, first place was deservedly won with 3 first places and competing in every race. Between 3rd place and 7th place only 7 points separated the crews, close series racing. The August Bank holiday series was sailed in testing light conditions, however the chance of a series over the weekend got some of our top young sailors back into Picos. The weekend was for the anti-social bunch, 8 out of the top 10 boats were sailed single handed, which demonstrates the versatility of the Pico racing in 1- or 2-handed mode.

Autumn series is 4 races in and all to play for.

We planned to sail 8 races throughout September, but Bart’s Bash coincided with one race day so the Picos supported that event. Well done to the Picos that took part in this fantastic record breaking event.

I look forward to seeing as many of you out on the water in the next season. and would like to thank all the support crews for laying courses and keeping the competitors safe.

Tim Allard

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TBYC Sailing: it’s only just starting The winter series is one of my favourite series throughout the year. It’s cold, it’s dark, it’s usually wet and did I mention cold? But sailing on a crisp, dry morning is one of the freshest purest times of the year to race, lets face it more of the winter hours see us inside, so grab a moment of excitement, enjoy the estuary at a great time of year.

Did I mention it’s cold? It doesn’t have to be, take a trip to Wetsuit Outlet and pick up some great Winter Kit to see you through till March. The best part of all, once you are back in, the only thing better than a warming up in the shower is the warmth of the bar and a pint waiting upstairs.

Never winter sailed before? Be part of it.

Jeremy Sandford

www.tbyc.org

Photos in this issue by kind courtesy of Irina Tretyakova and Linzi Swindon MADE IN

ESSEX

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