www.tbyc.org • Edition 9 • Autumn 2013
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Nick Elmore Commodore As the season draws to a close once again, it is a time to reflect on all things Thorpe Bay Yacht Club. Although the season got off to a very slow start with the poor weather, our teams of race officers and helpers on Rescue boats and Committee boats managed to run 99% of all racing for the few to enjoy. The season turned warm during May, leading up to a very well-supported Feva Class National Championship where the club played host to 92 Feva boats, 184 Helms and crews ranging in age from 6 to 16 years old plus all the parents for a four-day event. This is the largest junior championship the club has ever hosted. The most impressive thing was the volunteer members – fulfilling jobs from parking cars to serving food to race management. Over 100 different members helped over the four day period, and the event was a total success. The general sailing numbers then increased as the weather and water warmed into the summer. We saw another successful Cadet Week this year with over 150 children enjoying themselves and all the club has to offer, with a very dedicated team of volunteers helping to get kids into boats. Sail training this year has seen the largest number of members through our stages one, two and three. Thanks must go to Mike Thomason who arranged an extra session after Cadet Week for those who wished to further the skills learned and to start joining in the club’s general racing activities. The club house has seen further improvements. The installation of a CCTV system early in the season has helped with club security plus giving us even more images via the webcam, so that we may enjoy the club even when we are not there. We are currently undergoing a full electrical rewire to ensure safety to the current highest standards. We will be introducing a new till system once we have rewired
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the club, to bring our bars up-to-date and ensure better accountability and allow members to order food from the bar as well as the kitchen. The system can be expanded in the future to give members account cards and even door access systems. During September we started our new chef Scott Wooldridge of Nevaeh Catering, who has really gone to town with the food offering. He has introduced the Friday Night Dining once again and is packed out for the popular Sunday Carvery. Scott has fixed weekend opening hours of 9am to 6pm, so we now all know when the kitchen will be open and he will extend his times to suit sailing as the need arises. All we need now is members to come to the club more often. Now that we have good food and good drink, we need your support for the club to ensure we continue the upward trend and keep both the bars - and Scott busy. Nick Elmore Commodore
tbycsocial Don’t miss out on any of TBYC’s vibrant social life! See posters around the club for details
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Most of you know of and indeed remember fondly the Cadet: the only true double-handed class dedicated purely for junior sailors. It also retains the symmetrical spinnaker and ensures that kids learn to handle all three sails, making the transition into their next class - be it 420, 29er, Spitfire or Laser - a simple process with all the necessary skills already learned. Although sadly we are small in numbers, with only two boats currently at TBYC, we are huge in what we do and what our children achieve. So what have we been up to? Last year Matthew and Katie Lloyd paired up in the ex-Herve boat 9029 Freestyle and were in the Junior Development Squad where the training was extensive through the winter months, and certainly proved valuable during last year’s events, seeing them climb the ranks and finishing in the top fifteen in their last two events.
to good use through the year and they finished overall in the top twenties. Ben Warrington has been crewing for Katherine Selfe who is based at Stone SC sailing 7280 Predator. They too have been working hard with the Junior Development Squad and enjoying their improvement in the fleets. The national events are designed to run a selector series over three different events where the final top 7 boats are selected to complete in the World Championship Fleet representing Great Britain. Last year’s Worlds were over the Christmas holidays in Hobart, Tasmania! We sent a team of ten boats and GBR scored a 2nd, 9th and 13th, which was a great achievement. The sailor who came second has now transitioned into the 29er fleet and is beginning to make a name for himself already.
So the winter of 2012/3 has seen all three of the teams selected for the National Squad and we’ve had a wild winter of training at Poole, Oxford, Burnham and Rutland. However, due to the age restriction of 17 Laura has now left the class but leaves as an exceptionally talented crew and racer. Ellie Wootton from Waldringfield asked to join Alex in this year’s sailing as his crew. Ellie has just returned from Hobart where she and her helm came 9th overall. She was in great demand Alex Warrington and Laura Lloyd, sailing 8541 and Alex is very happy to have her with Stress started the year in the National Squad and considerable skills as a crew - and by the way, coached by multi-national/European champion she’s only 12! Michael McNamara. Again the training was put
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The goal this year was for all three teams is to make the World Team selection. This year’s selector events to determine who sailed for GBR were the Inland Champs at Rutland which were held back in the spring, and sadly only one race sailed due to a lack of wind. The second event was at Parkstone Yacht Club, sailing in Poole Harbour in early May, and then back to more “home” waters at Royal Corinthian YC in Burnham.
given the opportunity to work with North and their development team. So far the sails are proving very quick!
The Worlds were held in Nieuwpoort in Belgium at the end of July, and were a superb event. The huge seas of the Belgian coast provided some awesome surfing and for most of the week the sun shone and the wind blew!
Matthew has now left the Cadet class to join the Laser fleet and Kat is also leaving this year. The beauty of the Cadet is that it provides the perfect transition boat to other classes with a maximum sailing age of 17.
It all started so well; Alex and Ellie won the first race which was a great achievement and a good boost for the GBR team. Competition came hard and fast from the Ukraine, Australian and Polish teams among others from around the globe. GBR finished 2nd and Alex came home a creditable 12th overall and 4th in GBR. The class was very pleased to have retained the support of the RYA again this year and they have provided for a National Junior Squad coach, sending three coaches to assist the teams in Belgium and have given financial support to help training back within the clubs. The class has also been approached by North Sails who are keen to work with us to develop competitive sails for the Cadet. Luckily Alex and Ellie have been
The year is now almost over and the class enjoyed three fantastic Selector events. Alex and Ellie had some great success and were 2nd overall at Parkstone, missing the win by just one point. After the three events Alex and Ellie were third overall and secured a place in the GBR World Team. Matt and Katy were 19th and Kat and Ben were 27th.
Ben and Katy have teamed up and are trying for the Junior Development Squad and looking forward to the coming year. The recently took part in the RYA Zone Championships at Grafham and came 30th out of 34 in their very first event. Ellie is now helming her own boat so her younger sister Anna has jumped in with Alex for his final year. 2014 will be very exciting for the class, as the World Championships will be at Weymouth, sailing on the 2012 Olympic course. Most of the selector events will be at Weymouth to give the sailors the best experience. Our year’s events concluded with a re-run of the Inland Championships at Datchet, which was days away at the time of going to press - so here’s hoping for a good result! Howard Warrington and Michael Lloyd
If any of you would like to see what the Cadet is all about and would like to have a sail, please let any one of us know and we’d be happy to take you for a sail. Or see the Cadet in action - type CadetNJS into YouTube and see if you can spot the TBYC Cadets.
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Right, so that's another summer of racing whizzed by. So how was it? To be honest with you, I'm struggling to remember. It will have been great, because it always is, but what did we get up to?
for the event, which compares very favourably with our nearest neighbours at Seasalter who had 19 (albeit with dreadful conditions) and Marconi who had 25. Clearly, travellers recognise and appreciate the facilities, location and benefits that TBYC offers. I'm told their appreciation was observed in the entry fees, catering and bar receipts - good news indeed. At this point, the Sprint fleet would like to extend their thanks to Alan Willis and his assistants for a fantastically organised open meeting. But it wasn't just about Thorpe Bay. Eight members journeyed to Pentewan in August to participate in the Nationals as part of a 70-strong fleet. Well done to top TBYC boat Chris Tillyer (25th) who edged Steve Healy (27th) using Steve's old boat and at his first Nationals. Other placings were Rob Bailey, 29th with not one but two 10th places, Darren Fitchew 35th, Gary Sverdloff 42nd, Keith Persin 46th, Gerald Sverdloff 50th and Alan Leonard 69th, just one race away from the endeavour trophy.
Well, for club racing, we were clearly very busy. A quick review of the results show that more ‘15s entered each series than for any other class in eight out of the eleven events. How disappointing then to see a potentially great set of results ruined by too many “DNS”. Looking back, you can see that for us (and most other classes), if you put together a series with no “DNS” included, you are almost 100% guaranteed a place on the podium Cue Flag, the National Anthem, medal, posy of flowers, blubbing, thankyou speech and (possibly presumptious of me) a “Dame” or a “Sir” in the post come January New Years Honours. Who wouldn't want that? So what do we need to do to help you round off that series? It's also apparent that the mini-series weekends haven't been as popular as the regular weekends. This strikes me as a great shame, as they were proposed and encouraged to the sailing committee as a way of enabling busy people to participate in a complete series without having to commit to multiple weekends. Additionally, they allow us to have two races back to back! Please think about the kind of racing that you'd like and discuss it with Paul Morgan or Steve Healy so they can forward your ideas to the sailing committee. 2013 saw the club host our own ‘15 open meeting after a number of years off the circuit. We had 37 entrants
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On the subject of the Nationals, it won’t have escaped your attention that next year it's our turn to host the premier singlehanded catamaran event. Lots to do for this, but lets start with the basics: Tell everyone at work that you’re on holiday between the 12th and 14th of July. Tell everyone at home that you’re working 12th and 14th of July. Reserve your space in the field for a weekend of camping, sailing & fun. Some bright spark on the Sprint 15 committee (let’s call him ‘chairman’ for the sake of argument) thinks we
can get 100 entrants for this event. If we can mobilise all the club’s ‘15s and get them racing, he may well be right. Your class captains will have more to say on this in the new year, I'm sure.
I can’t believe it’s nearly a year since becoming House Representative!
Apparently it's not all Sailing, Sailing, Sailing, and some of our class members have be busily promoting other pursuits. To hint that we're good for a laugh, Theresa has regularly organised terrific nights out at a comedy club in Westcliff. Then, to prove it, she arranges cycling trips for the M.A.M.I.L.S. (Middle Aged Men In Lycra Shorts). Not a pretty sight! Talking of not pretty, the fashions worn by some of the guests on Nick's 'music nights' predate the bands themselves. Time to update those original tour tshirts, guys. In recognition of the efforts made by the Sandhopper fleet in running our open meeting, a good number of Sprint sailors were out on the water helping with their Nationals, including Howard Hawkes who did a superb job fulfilling the requirements of race officer. The fleet also came together with the rest of the club to assist in the Feva Nationals which saw approx. 100 boats take to the water in 4 ‘flights’ to contest a vibrant and well raced series. A fantastic achievement. So, what’s next? Well, we have a winter series of 8 races taking us up to Christmas and the festivities that entails. For race 1, we had a superb 17 boats out racing. I believe this series is five results out of eight, so let’s see if we can get half the fleet qualifying with no ‘DNS’. On an entirely personal note, a huge thank you to all those who extended commiserations, offered assistance and contributed to Lesley's donation page after she was taken from us in August this year. Gary Burrows
For anyone who doesn’t know me, I regularly sail a Sprint 15 throughout the year and take part in the open events and our nationals. I’m a self-employed plumbing and gas heating engineer with over 20 years’ experience, which is probably why Barry Duce asked if I would like to take on the role as House Representative. I have thoroughly enjoyed being house representative over the past year, and have found it a very rewarding role especially because of the support other members of the club have given me. A big thank you to all. Earlier this year we had problems with the hot water boilers. A special thankyou for the help from Ian and Stephanie Bradley as they managed to get them fixed under guarantee. Also, we have had the pool table recovered which has come out well. Going forward we are hoping to replace the curtains in both bars and I am in the process of getting quotes for this. Work parties are a massive contribution to the maintenance of our club. The first work party went very well; unfortunately the weather was against us and some of the jobs could not be accomplished. However, the second work party was fantastic. We managed to complete lots of jobs including painting the Bosun’s Hut, Race Box, anti-fouled the slipway, clearing and weeding the dinghy park, all the while being supplied with lots of tea and coffee from Barbara Herve to keep us going. A huge thank you to everyone who came along and helped out, without your help our club would suffer a large maintenance bill. So keep up the good work and I am looking forward to next year, hopefully with your help and support in the future. Thanks again Rob Bailey House Representative
Work parties: show us you’re proud of your club and help us save on maintenance bills!
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WE E K The 5th – 9th August saw 141 Cadets aged between 4 and 17 take part in TBYC’s 2013 Cadet Week. The weather forecast looked fair, and both parents and children looked forward to an action-packed week. The Cadets received their registration packs and T-shirts and were told which groups they were in. After a main briefing, the Cadets split up into 4 groups - Stingrays, Piranhas, Barracudas and Sharks - and received their own briefing. The Stingray group, led by Mark Petty-Mayor, got changed and headed for the beach.
The Stingray Group is all about having fun and learning the basics. Sailing off the beach in Oppies, learning how to rig, balance and trim, paper boat races, cork races, treasure hunt, tug of war and solo sailing were just some of the activities that the kids took part in, which gave them growing confidence throughout the week. A fire engine visit on Wednesday resulted in lots of people getting very wet and muddy! This year, the stingrays were very kindly provided with 6 paddle boards by Pete Thompson, who along with Rupert Snow gave excellent help and tuition throughout the week. The paddle board races were hugely popular and fun to watch.
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The most improved Cadet in the Stingray group this year (and carrying on the family tradition) was Lily Collis, well done Lily! The Piranha Group, under the leadership of Scott Weller, headed for the beach to the west of the breakwater and used Tim and Penny Allard’s beach hut as HQ for the week, with lots of cadets in Picos learning new skills. Never too far away were the Barracuda Group with Mike Thomason at the helm for the last time. This group never cease to amaze me with their seamanship skills and games, which include sailing backwards, treasure hunts, walking the plank and those wonderful rafts that appear year after year. Last but not least the Shark group were led by Tim Allard, and headed out to sea every day in a variety of classes.
The Cadets had a wonderful week which included sailing to the Island Yacht Club on Canvey, camping overnight and sailing back (via a Rossi’s ice cream) the next day, in fact I seem to remember a lot of ice cream was consumed that week in the Sharks group. Lots of competitive races were also held, including team racing, in challenging conditions. Evening events included a BBQ, a trip to Adventure Island, karaoke at Gold Coast and Kids Kingdom.
stepped up to the plate and showed us how to feed 150 hungry kids in 5 seconds flat! Well done to Debbie Kilkelly and Penny Allard for the logistics behind the scenes. The very talented Linzi Swindon took some wonderful photos during the week and produced lots of DVDs for us all to enjoy for years to come. Once again, the behaviour of the children was outstanding and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. I look forward to 28th July 2014 when we can all do it again! Mark Petty-Mayor TBYC Cadet Rep The club was packed for the prizegiving. Every cadet was presented with a trophy, and a big thank you once again to Pete Thompson from Wetsuit Outlet for sponsoring the wonderful dry bags and towels the lucky winners received. Cadet Week, as you can appreciate, just does not happen. It relies on a great deal of time and effort given by a lot of people and I would like to thank my Cadet Committee Mike Thomason, Tim Allard, Scott Weller, Toby Speller, Debbie Kilkelly and Matt Waters. Sponsorship is also critical in order that we can keep the costs down each year, and I would like to thank Wetsuit Outlet, RDP Newmans, Johnson Gillies Ltd, Merenda Insurance, Harrison Holgate, Robinsons Solicitors, Dedman Gray, Jerry Bell Hairdressing, Phasicshift and The Pearl Dragon for sponsoring Cadet Week this year and look forward to their continued support in the future! A big thank you to Matt Waters for all the work he has done in this area. The next group, too numerous to mention individually, are the vast number of parents and grandparents who gave up their week to ensure all the rescue boats were manned, rotas were filled and duties were undertaken, including road crossing and beach duties. Next our thanks to the bar and catering staff who kept us fed and watered, and the club cleaners, who were outstanding. A special thank you to the teams in the Bosun’s Hut, under the leadership of Barbara Herve, who once again
Cadet Week Piranha Report 2013
This was the second year for Piranhas at Cadet Week and this year our numbers increased to 43 in total. Our group objectives were to increase confidence, sail triangular courses, learn and practice race starts. The weat her was fantastic all week and the sailing was very impressive too. We started with some simple sailing which progressed to sailing round triangular courses and practicing race start proce dures, which was very testing for us group leaders but was well worth it in the end with the whole group eventually I think understanding the start and course sequence. Each day a relay race was run with each team startin g from the beach then sailing one lap round a triangular cours e then changing crews for each lap. The winning team was at the end of the week was Green team, so congratulat ions to them. Another great achievement was the entire group sailing to Halfway Beach along with the group leade rs where choc ices and refreshments were provided. The sailing was much easier than handing out 43 choc ices to excited screaming children! One of the funniest moments of the week was the day I decided to teach everyone the Port and Starboard rule. I blame the lovely weather and obviously the sun affec ted my ability to tell left and right which was clearly pointe d out by the kids who still now will not let me forget about it. The Piranha Cup was held on the Thursday with perfect weather conditions. All boats and crews started witho ut any incidents and all sailed two laps of the triangular cours e. The finish could not have been any closer with the winni ng crew literally taking victory by a whisker. That was how close it was. 3rd place went to Harriet Elliss and Rachel Bickn ell, 2nd place Felix Johnson and Noah Prince with 1st place and winner of the Piranha Cup 2013 going to Mason Swindon and Jack Morgan. It was a great moment to see everyone start and finish the race. Well done kids, I was proud of you all. On the last day we decided to sail back to Halfway Beach, where sweets were provided along with me being thrown in the water then splashed by 43 children. A big thank you goes out to all my helpers for the week becau se without you Piranhas would not function; also Penny and Tim Allard for the use of their beach hut all week . Look forward to seeing you all on the TOPS start line next year, and roll on 2014 Cadet Week! Scott Weller
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Well, it’s the end of a season. In theory at least. This is because we are a club that sails throughout the year, weather permitting. We have had some fantastic events; Cadet Week, Feva Nationals and Sandhopper Nationals to name but a few. At the time of writing this the two classes who had their Final Flings - Sprints and Sandhoppers - had a combined turnout that most clubs would envy for all of their classes. I’m sure that those hardy souls who sail during the winter will enjoy the planned Winter and Icicle Series. We have had some great weather but also too many days of strong wind. As sailors we need wind – but not excessive amounts. It is a fine line to tread for Duty and Race Officers to make the decision as to whether to race or not when conditions are marginal. Thank you guys. By the time you read this we will have had Prize Giving. 101 members have won trophies this year, excluding Cadet and TOPS series. Is this a club record? If it is, let’s better it next year! We are currently compiling the 2014 sailing calendar. Preparations are already in hand for the TBYC Regatta and the Sprint Nationals, two of our major events. We will be needing volunteers to help with these. Please help where you can. Finally, thank you to all those who have performed the various duties this year. Without your help we would have no racing. Tony Byrne Sailing Secretary
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In addition to all the current training we have with Mike Thomason, and the TOPS Series, Nick Alston training the Fevas for team racing, which has been very successful with some very excellent and encouraging results. All these activities are programmed to continue in 2014 so the decision to retain Seasafe 5 will, I think, allow the Club to expand with its on-water activities with suitable safety cover. As for the two new Ribs, both are performing well and those that have driven them during the season have reported they are pleased with the new boats. We do have teething problems, as with anything new, but nothing that cannot be, and has been, solved easily. Our old Rib, which we used for 13 years continuously, was sold by tender and has found a new home with Maylandsea Bay Sailing Club, who are located on the River Blackwater, and she continues to give good service. I sometimes, look back at Thorpe Bay’s early days, when I was a member of another club along our coastline, when all the club had for safety cover were boats borrowed from a strong supporter of this club. They were known then as the Flattie, the Duckpunt and the Double Ender. Well, we now have five club owned Safety Boats and are probably the envy of other clubs along our foreshore. Mustn’t forget we also own our committee boat Polly and a small fleet of sailing dinghies all used throughout the season for training and encouraging all our members to take to the water. Here’s to a good winter series. See you at the club. Tony Twoflags
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Following last year’s purchases of the two new Ribs Willis and Olympia, it was decided early on in the year in Sailing Committee that we retain Seasafe 5 as a “Spare Rib” (if you’ll excuse the pun) and this has proved, I believe,to be a wise decision. She has been used, together with the other Club Ribs and Displacement Launches, in the Feva Nationals, Cadet Week, Open Meetings and as a substitute when one of the other Ribs has been on alternative duties, thus allowing the Club to always give full cover to Club Racing and any other on-water activity which has required safety cover.
Surf’s up - even when the tide’s out!
So, here we are, at the end of 2013 Summer Sailing season and a full season for our three Club Ribs.
Another season is drawing to a close, and despite our best efforts, our Hurricane mast is still standing and we still have our old pin top mainsail, writes Jeremy Sandford... I have enjoyed the year, remembering some great moments in the Hurricane with Julian and without him in the Sandhopper when he dived off the back to board Undine and kiss Sally Willis whilst Alan was hanging off the side! Open Meetings and travelling TBYC away I would like to start by reminding you of a great achievement this year. It was in August when Alan Burrell took his Finn down to Torquay for the 2013 Nation Championships at Torbay YC. He sailed against 38 other Finns, sailing superbly well and scoring 6 pts 2-1-2-1 to be crowned Finn National Champion 2013. An amazing achievement in a prestigious class held in highest regard.
committee boat racing in two fleets and more safety boats and every rib members and guests could muster. What a spectacle. The whole event was a tremendous success, with one name Elliot Wells standing out as one for the future. Thanks to Nick and Martin for all their hard work organising a great even, and to all the TBYC volunteers without which it would not be possible. Our other open meeting this year saw the Sprint 15s enjoying a great weekends racing in a competitive class. The 2014 Sprint 15 Nationals promises to be an exciting event. 2013 Season at TBYC The year started with the Frozen Sheets Trophy being sailed in freezing blustery conditions. 17 boats entered, with only five finishing and the sprints showing us the way. Martyn Ellis won in Sprint 1981. It was a slow delayed start to the main season with the Arctic weather delaying annual maintenance works to both guard boats and committee boat alike. Eventually the weather eased, ice thawed, boats came out from under their covers and the Albacores appeared from garages, completing the familiar dinghy park scene. Having said that the scene has changed this year. It was to be a foiling carbon development year in the Americas cup and here at TBYC. The Moths rigging up on the front and passing you upwind at 25mph is now a usual sight, as is passing them upside down at the windward mark and every gybe thereafter, and with more arriving throughout the year, the future is good at the cutting edge of development class racing! The Midweek Series went from strength to strength. Despite light winds and trying conditions a total of 81 boats entered the traditionally well-supported competition and enjoyed some beautiful midweek evenings. Sue and Will Daley were rewarded for their consistency with an overall victory and their names on the new Midweek Series Cup.
In May this year the club hosted one of its biggest events in recent years when the RS Feva Nationals came to town. It was TBYC Volunteer organisation at its best, with 100 visiting boats, two cadets per boat and accompanying families. Every detail of the visitors’ experience at TBYC had been planned, from accommodation, catering, boat storage, briefing and presentation marquee,
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The Trophy races this year were generally well supported and continued to be popular events, with competition tight at the top. We saw 48 boats entering the Yantlet, 47 racing for the Shoreline, 30 racing the Peter Hayes and 26 competing for the Benfleet shield. There was general feeling this year that to do the competition justice, some of the more bigger trophies sailed
on less flexible fixed destination courses needed racing in suitable conditions and should not be held on unsuitable light wind days. This year at prize giving we introduced Trophy Winner TBYC Polo Shirts which were well received, so if you see someone sporting one of these bespoke shirts, they are the guys to beat! I would like to congratulate Stephan Smith, Savva Tretyakov and Mark Petty-Mayor for their turnout in the General Handicap Trophy Races. Each fleet this year had a stand out sailor who competed in the biggest percentage of available races; John Glynn in the Windward Leeward catamarans, Graham and Nick Ollett in the Fast Monohulls, Phil Crawford and Margaret Kennedy in the Sandhoppers, Savva Tretyakov in the Slow Monohulls, Ronnie Barnes in the Windward Leeward Monohulls and, racing 82% of the available class races, Gary Burrows in the Slow Catamarans. The Regatta this year was another TBYC extreme weather classic and meant that because of the high winds, the event had to be postponed to a later date. We re-ran the Regatta over the three day August Bank holiday and although relentless rain and more flooding than we have seen for a long time meant the Saturday was lost, we managed to get in 5 races over the next 2 days, even enjoying sun on the Monday! Graham Dare has taken over the week-to-week entering and coordinating of the results this year and I would like to thank him for all his hard work to ensure our results are available promptly online and emailed out to competitors. Graham has also worked hard populating and running the club’s online duty rostering software Dutyman. More and more of you are taking advantage of the ease with which you can swap duties and see how we care covered for the weekend racing. It takes eleven volunteers just to run a normal club race, and without Graham’s organisation and all
those people who not only diligently turned up for their allocated duties, but volunteered and stepped in to support the your racing and covered duties without which racing would not have taken place. The Thorpe Bay race area and resources Following last year’s Sailing AGM, we reintroduced marks X, Y and Z and added extra mark between old 4 and 5, forcing a rename all round. We settled on 3 rows of 5, numbers running from E-W. 15, 6-10 and 11-15. At the same time all marks were cleaned and relayed to Google Earth GPS positions using new chain and weights to set us up for a number of seasons racing. This was organised and marks were laid by Paul Morgan and Mike Thomason, two people that have been amongst the first to offer me their support and help on the Sailing Committee this year, undertaking and completing all the unseen jobs that keep club racing running as smoothly as possible. Safety cover has never been better at TBYC, with two displacements and three Ribs providing week in week out cover for club racing, sail training, Feva class training sessions, TOPS racing, cadet week and the Nore Race. These essential resources, strengthened this year with Willis and Olympia arriving fresh from London 2012 have been launched, maintained and crewed under the watchful eyes of Tony Clarke and Toby Speller, to whom we all owe our thanks. Without their relentless efforts behind the scenes each month, the extensive racing and training calendar we offer members would simply not be possible. Thank you both. Cold, Wet, Frozen, let’s go for a sail? The Winter series is next on the sailing calendar, organised with military precision by Mike Thomason. If you have not entered yet and your boat is in the dinghy park, it is not too late to join in and race all the way to March. For this year we have decided to make the winter series a mass start round a single course and run from the race box. This makes the setting of courses and administering of starts easier for those kind enough to run our winter sailing. It also enable us for the first time to offer both General Handicap Racing across all classes with big prizes together with tandem series and prizes for our four winter classes this year; Fast Monhull, Fast Catamaran, Slow Mono and Slow Catamaran. We continue tradition with our everpopular Frozen Sheets race on Saturday 4th January 2014. Why not get involved in the event and visit the Bosun’s Hut to watch the race and enjoy complimentary rum punch and mince pies? Jeremy Sandford
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The RS Feva fleet has enjoyed a varied programme of ‘on-thewater’ training, evening theory sessions and regular participation in the club’s squad proudly fleet races during this p r e s e n t e d season. themselves, dressed in team I have been keen to encourage the colours, prepared cadets aged between 11 and 15 years to to compete think about their sailing, whilst having against some of fun, being with and competing the best schools against each other. This has been and Sailing clubs. particularly evident during the popular Each team Cadet evening sessions, where we competed in at have looked at boat handling, tactics least eight races, and the sailing rules, and then using all winning their those skills on the water. first, with much excitement and expectation. The competition was A particular focus for this year has strong, however our teams performed been Team Racing, initially introducing well with a range of manoeuvres; it during Cadet week. It particularly Pass-backs and Mark stops, learnt and appeals to their competitive nature, practised during the previous weeks. with its tactics involving blocking the They confidently protested the opposition to allow your team opposition at every opportunity and through. Of course, they needed to reluctantly did their turns when learn the basic tactical moves and have caught out. One of our teams a thorough understanding of the rules. managed to reach the finals, achieving a most creditable fourth place. Our aim was to participate in the British Schools Championships The following weekend, we finished (Midlands) at Oxford Sailing Club, our season with a final match against where we would Eton College, winning all six races, compete with three followed by a thank you speech, a TBYC teams. On the day, our
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tour of the college and enjoying a well-deserved sense of achievement. The RS Feva fleet welcomes new youngsters to join in with the many activities that are planned for next year. Our racing and training is not exclusive to the class, with cadets aged 11 to 15 particularly encouraged to join in with the fun. We are looking forward expanding our fleet with friendly support and encouragement in 2014. Nick Alston
Feva 2013 Nationals Repo rt
This year, TBYC was cho sen to hold the 2013 Fev a Nationals, which meant that we had to arrange to accommodat e a hundred boats, two hundred sailors and two hundred parents. We also had to arrange camping for thirty Camper vans as we ll as ten tents and seventy cars, as well as continue with club sailing. On top of all that we had to offer catering throughou t each day, covering breakfast lunch and dinner, which included a ho g roast for 300 people on the Su nday evening. With all the se areas to cover off, planning for this event started early in Januar y, with the formation of a small ste ering committee, tasked wit h the responsibility of breaki ng down each area of the event. Following three furthe r meetings a volunteers list was pre sented to all members during a Su nday morning meeting where we asked for people to volunteer for over 200 du ties during the five-day event. Leading up to the event, we held three further volunteer meetings where we ran through each day of the eve nt and the job descriptions of each duty. Following each meeting, the duties we re updated to ensure that all eventualities were covered off and amendments were made to both the running of the event and the layou t of the boat park and the parking. Friday 24th May was memo rable for two reasons. The first was that it was my birt hday, and the second was that it was pouring with rain and we had to set up the car park, boat park, marqu ee and clubhouse. Well, in typical TBYC fashion we did it, and the club was ready to receive our visitors by 1p m.
Friday night saw the arrival of about thirty Campers and tents, and the influx of sailors continued on Saturday, until we had ninetytwo boats neatly lined up on the green. , The event itself went off without a hitch with the sun shining every day and the volunteers completing all their tasks and more. I would like to thank all the club members who gave up their time to help run this event, especially Paul Morgan and his family who could be found on the beach, tidying trolleys, washing boats and directing everyone, each and every day of the event. Well done to the five crews from the TBYC Feva Class – Jourdan Swindon, Edward Elmore, Vicky and Millie Little, Harry Boygle, Olivia Petty- Mayor, Samuel Laliberte, Jacob Allard, Sophie Boygle and Genevieve Bailey, who all had a great time and did exceedingly well in this, their first Nationals. The RS Feva Class Association declared the event a total success with many more compliments from parents of visitors. This event was a very proud moment in time for Thorpe Bay Yacht Club. Martin Swindon
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The winter weather has played havoc with our sailing programme, and as such the clubhouse revenue has suffered. During the long cold nights over the winter period we often forget that our club house is here for the use of our members and is open 6 days a week. This year has seen a number of successful functions including the New Year’s Eve dinner dance and the now famous New Year’s Day brunch. We have held a champagne tasting evening, which, from what I remember, was very enjoyable and interesting. Plus we have had Quiz nights and a Salsa evening, all of which proved to be very successful. The Summer Ball was a successful event and my thanks must go to Sharon Hadley for stepping in and organising the event. We have also held the RS Feva Nationals in May, which attracted almost 100 boats and was a great success. We had boats from all over the country and the feedback on TBYC from all the competitors was extremely positive. The event proved to me what a great facilities we have together with great members, who when asked, all helped to make the event possible. This year we have appointed a new caterer, as Fuud Ltd felt it was time to move on. Scott Wooldrige joined us in September following a rigorous interview process which included a tasting evening and sample events. He has already proven that he is not only a great chef but he is a nice guy, who is willing to accommodate all our requests and demands. Scott can sail, and he has a sound understanding of the needs of club members and I am sure that you will join me in wishing him every success at TBYC. I would like to thank all those members who joined me on the catering steering committee and in the selection process. Looking around the club, it is very apparent that we have a number of new members both young and old and it reminded me of my first few months at the club and how daunting it can be joining a club like ours. The first person I remember meeting at the bar was Barry Duce, whom I had met briefly a few years earlier. Now for those of you who don’t know Barry, I can assure you that if you were to meet him at the bar in the club prior to joining, you may think twice about handing over your membership cheques. But seriously, Barry is a longstanding member of TBYC and has a great wealth of knowledge for anyone wishing to know more about the workings of the club. With Barry’s help and guidance I gradually got to know more members and I made the effort to attend different functions and activities the club had to offer. My children attended cadet nights most Thursdays and built up a nice network of likeminded friends, plus they have progressed their sailing skills to a level I can only dream of. The club has taken my oldest son Jourdan from a complete novice to a national sailing squad member in only four years, and it is only now that my wife and I realise how supportive the club has been. For all those new members, my advice to you as a new sailor at TBYC is that there are many facets to the club and the more you give the more you will get. By the way, if you do see Barry at the bar, please tell him his wife is looking for him, that always gets rid of him. Let’s not forget, we are here because we love sailing! Martin Swindon
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First off, wow what a summer!
learning so so much. It really is important to mix with the top guys. Since then we have also competed at the Hayling Island
This has been a perfect year for flying lessons and the newlyformed TBYC Moth squadron has been making the most of it. You may have seen but not heard us out there. Joining fleet veteran Mark Dell is a re-entry for Danny Clark the silver fox, Kyle Stoneham without the stabilisers, Chris Clarke who is looking much younger on a moth and Miles Burrage. After much swimming we can now pretty much get round a course with little embarrassment. The first Moth Gala I attended was Stokes Bay in June, and boy was I surprised at how fast the UK fleet is! I managed a DFL in all but one race and realised the potential of this craft. Upon return to TBYC we began a bit of a race training programme to make us a more competitive. Gybing on the foils became the main aim for us newbies, but I think we are all there now and it makes such a difference on your VMG. Late June, and three weeks after Stokes it was the Nationals at Castle Cove in Weymouth, with ‘motor mouth’ Miles Burrage and I taking part after a smooth drive down. The 71-boat fleet were a good spread ability wise, and it was quite clear after the first practice day which end of the spectrum we were - but my God, did we enjoy flying around in 16 knots on flat water! There was a mix of conditions over the four days, and twelve races later we came 51st and 55th from the 71 entries. I was chuffed, having beaten twenty other boats after the Stokes open, and we had a cracking time meeting a great group of people and
Open and the Stone Open, and each time our position is improving significantly. I can now finish races without being lapped and also recorded a 5th place in a competitive fleet race which is leaps and bounds from my paddling last December! The moral of this article, I guess, is that if you have an urge to go fast, you are lighter than Mark Dell, younger than Danny Clark and fitter than Chris Clarke you can join our fleet! It is only a season to become competitive at a national level and we can fast-track you with our knowledge of polishing and cleaning. Don’t wait, just buy one – you will get fitter and lighter and have a lot of fun! July 2014 sees HISC hold the World Championships. This is a big deal; Americas Cup sailors, Olympians and professional sailors from all over the globe will be challenging for the title and we will be there to race in the same fleet. UK sailors Ben Paton, Rob Greenhalgh and Chris Rashley have just returned from Hawaii Worlds ranking a very credible 4th, 5th & 7th respectively. Are we training with these guys over the winter? Hell, yeah. Kyle Stoneham
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Writing these words at this time makes it more like a review of the year than an update of current affairs, but it has been a year with a difference. I make no excuses for continuing with a review as I think it is important for the sake of continuity and to keep this year in context. Last winter was strange as indeed this winter will be, with Thorpe Bay Cruisers laying up at venues spread far and wide. In many ways the new lift-out routine that the insurance company thrust upon us last year was a boon. The bad weather prevented much of the winter work that had been planned, and it was early April before any serious work was being undertaken. A lift-in that was part of a schedule would have been unfortunate in the extreme, with many boats having to take to the water in an ill-prepared state. Lifting out at boat yards or yacht clubs where the lifts, whether they be out or in, can be spread has meant that boats will return to the water in their own time and prepared. The weather forced delays to Polly with late work and the discovery of failed components delaying her return to service until June. Unfortunately she suffered a pump failure by late July and was out of action again for a few weeks whilst parts were obtained. This eased the manning problem this year with fewer members serving fewer boats, but it is something that will need to be reviewed. We have tried the idea of trying e-mails or texts to get some idea of the traffic the duty boson might expect, but this is not the complete answer and will need to be reviewed.
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rlands Tamaki at Lemmer, Nethe
The combination of the lack of the familiar lift-in and severe winter meant there was no defined start to the season. It was hoped that the Sweeps Festival in early May would provide a clear and decisive start to the Cruising season but weather and the new wintering regime had impacted on the number of cruisers retuning early to moorings this year. The consequence of this combination was that the numbers participating in rallies was greatly reduced. The Thorpe Bay burgee was once again to be seen in Scandinavia, Holland, France, Spain and the Mediterranean this summer in addition to the normal round of domestic rallies. Roger Anderson, with Vic Davis crewing, left Leigh marina in early June to take his southerly Tamaki on a cruise that took him up the East Coast before crossing the North Sea to Flushing. The plan (sorry Roger “intention�) was to explore the Dutch canals before moving on to the Ijsselmeer. The cruise encompassed the Friesian Islands and the North sea coast of Germany.
Miralune returning from Calais
Jim and Joan McSorely sailed Braveheart, a Hunter Legend 356, back to home waters from Dubrovnik in Croatia. The journey started in early May and arrived back in home waters in late September. The route took Jim and Joan across the Adriatic to Brindisi, around
the heel of Italy, through the straits of Messina and then north to Naples. From there they headed for Elba followed by Corsica, aiming to reach Marseille by mid-June. Jim and Joan returned home for two weeks at this point. When they returned their mast was taken down to use the French canal system, making their way through Paris to Le Havre where the mast had arrived by lorry from Marseille. With the boat back together they sailed across the channel to Brighton and made their way along the south coast and from there to the river Roach to spend the winter. A journey totalling 3795 nautical miles. Well done! That will take some beating.
The members of the Cruising Section Committee have been hard at work. Gaynor Thompson has been working very hard organising the social events which are so important to us, for which we are all truly grateful. Bill Dashfield has not only been taking on the arduous task of Secretary, but also worked very hard on the duties of Moorings Officer, and if that was not enough he has organised our website for us. Bill is moving back to New Zealand and his input is going to be greatly missed. Colin Keeling as always has been the steady hand on the helm of the accounts steering them in the right direction. Vic Davis has been busy
It impossible to cover all the cruising currently being sailed in foreign water, but just to mention Colin Keeling in Topaz, making many sorties from Sweden into the Finnish Islands; Nigel Campling criss-crossing the Channel in Dutch Courage, Keith Fenton in Holland with Freya and John and Nesta Williams crossing the North Sea to fly the burgee in Belgium. If I have missed your travels out I apologise, but will be happy to receive reports on them. The Calais Rally was also back on the venue list this year. Yammas and Miralune attended for Thorpe Bay. It was a very subdued Calais with only a few boats attending, most East Coast boats were still out of the water after the poor winter.
Topaz in Svartholm, Finland
planning our Rally season outings and added a Day Sail for those that are not able to take part in a full weekend Rally. The Day Sail was well attended and enjoyed by the participants. Bill even took Lillie to the assistance of a “Pan Pan” call. The website and email has been keeping you abreast of the Rallies and reporting upon them all thanks to Bill Dashfield’s efforts. At the time of writing we are finishing the Cruising season and about to embark upon those dark winter nights where our thoughts turn to those social events. There are one or two new ideas this year which I hope you will enjoy. Keep the ideas coming!
illemstad Tamaki in W
Derek Wellings
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So 2013 did turn out to be unlucky for some, but lucky for others in the Sandhopper fleet with some fantastic racing but also some frustrating weather at times and quite a few races cancelled.
The weekend of 21/22 Sept saw twenty-three boats competing for the much-coveted shield in the Sandhopper Nationals at TBYC. It was very close with several boats still in the running at the start of the forth and final race, but Allen Burrell and Paul Beasley in Scruffy held their nerve and mastered the light fluky winds while avoiding the seaweed, and it was all over.
The early part of the season proved chilly and a tad breezy so initially only the toughest ventured out – otherwise known as Team Spratty and Team Moorshead. But they were soon joined by Team Satisfaction, followed by the rest of the fleet as conditions improved! May onwards did provide improving conditions but due to the weather this year all fleets were down on numbers – something we hope to change next year!
Commiserations went to Phillip Crawford and Margaret Kennedy who missed the top spot by one point, and Will and Sue Daly on a fine third place. The Nationals dinner on the Saturday night proved as popular as ever and our new Chef Scott did a fantastic job of his first big event at TBYC.
The Nore Race took place on Saturday 30th June and for the first time in 3 years we had great weather. It was an exciting race, particular for Andrea and I who led for most of the way in Cracker, which was a bit of a surprise to most of the other boats (and even more so to us.) Unfortunately we were piped at the last mark by Nic Barnes and Bruce Spratt in Bluejacket – although they were cheating, or hiking out as it’s otherwise known! Barry also gave us a close run and finished third in Windrush.
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Several boats changed hands this year with Spider (43) being snapped up by Peter Thompson – maybe starting a new trend of owning multiple boats Peter? We also have 2 new members joining the best class with Brian Farendon being the new owner of Sandfly (45) and Martin Swindon who obviously thought Cat sailing and messing about on a RIB was a bit dull so he has bought Pearl (32). Further good news: we have now acquired Ringle to be set up as a training boat to support the other training available within the club. It will also be used to give other members a taste of the fantastic Sandhopper racing at TBYC if they thinking of joining the Sandhopper class but weren’t sure if they could cope with the excitement!
The Albacore fleet haven’t been out as much as they would have liked this year due mainly to family and work commitments, a problem common amongst the fleets at TBYC it seems. Thorpe Bay Sandhopper Association has bought a Sandhopper to use as a sail training boat to help new members enjoy sailing without a wetsuit. It will also be used by those who would like to get into the class, allowing them to try before they buy. Primo Insurance has very kindly donated the funds to purchase the boat, with a huge thank you to Robin Foster-Taylor. During the winter we will be completely refiiting the boat ready for next year. If you would like to help with the refurbishment and learn some new skills please speak to Paul Spratt. We are all looking forward to seeing the complete transformation of the Sandhopper, which is in a bad state of repair, and the launch of the new shiny Primo next year.
When out however, the Albs have always given a good account of themselves, as shown in the summer Sunday series when Albs took first, second and third places. Graham and Nick in 7767 That Rabbit, (five first places in the series racing) and George and Mark in 7506 Invisible Touch (4 seconds and a third) have been the most regular sailors and are consistently at the front of the fast mono fleet.
Congratulations to Steve and Sharon who got married earlier in the year in Turkey on a Gulet yacht, a traditional two-masted wooden vessel 110 feet long. A lotta varnishing there, Steve!
More great news is that Class Captain Rupert is now well on the mend and will be back sailing with us next year – the downside being you have had to put up with me covering for the last couple of months! So, with new blood in the class, better weather (surely) next year and immaculate boats after their winter layup, let’s make 2014 a record year!
Being of wooden construction, Albacores don’t like cold damp weather and will soon be taken home to be wrapped for the winter. Never mind, next summer will soon be with us - and here’s hoping that it will be as good as this one. John Payne Albacore fleet captain
Mark Robinson
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2014 Another fantastic year for the TBYC Sail Training programme. The year started off with our Stage 2 in March and April. Over three rather chilly weekends five Cadets and nine adults braved the elements with being in, on and under the water. Penny Allard recorded a sea temperate of 4 degrees on the day all had to do their capsize drills, survival swim and swim under an inverted Pico. All prevailed and all completed and the determination of the entrants was not going to be spoilt by some unfavourable conditions even though most were in summer wetsuits. Stage 1 followed in April and May, with 18 cadets and 12 adults getting their feet wet in Oppies and Picos. In July, the club introduced 22 Cub Scouts to sailing over two evenings of close inshore racing and many thanks to the Pico Cadets and Adults for volunteering their time which enabled the Cub Scouts to qualify for their water activity badges. This year we put on an additional Stage 1 a week after cadet week in August with 9 cadets and 3 adults completing. 61 of our members completed a sail training course this year,
bringing our total to 683 completed courses over our first 10 years. As always, my thanks to our adult instructors of Nick Cotgrove, Shaun Christian, Tim Allard, Simon Bown, Scott Weller, Garry Ellis, Trevor Hughes and John Williams; our cadet instructors Laura Lloyd, Oliver Ellis, Maddie Thomason, Jourdan Swindon, Alex Nevin, Alex Warrington, Johnny Snow, Alex Watson, Alex Farrall, Teddy Elmore, Alex Thomason, Ben Warrington and Matthew Lloyd; and I must mention the cadets who helped out in the Onboard programme during the year: Jacob Allard, Sophie Boygle, Harry Boygle, Peter Snow, Amy Chapman, Michael Hodges, Tommy Holmes, Harry Hughes, Robyn Murdoch, Oliver PettyMayor, and Rupert and Lynda Snow for manning the support boat. For next year we will be looking to recruit some additional adults and older cadets to instruct in our sailing courses. If you wish to become involved and have the patience to pass on your sailing skills then please give me a call. I can assure you, it is very rewarding.
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For our new members who may wonder what our Sail Training is all about, I will provide a brief introduction. Stage 1. Cadets aged 5 – 11 start off in the Club Oppies. Children age 12+ and adults start in Picos. Stages 2 and 3 all learn in Picos.
Your 2014 sail training
diary
The Stage 2 course in March / April is open to any adult and cadet who have already completed their Stage 1 and who are reasonably competent in helming a Pico around a triangular course. All Stage 2 entrants who have not raced before will be required to helm in one of the Pico Spring Series races or a normal club race to cover the racing part of this course. Full sailing kit is required. It is not necessary to have your own Pico although if you do, this will ensure you are on the course. The Club has three Picos for Sail Training so space is very limited to those members who do not own a Pico. There are a maximum of 24 spaces available on each of these courses. There is no charge for the Sail Training Courses and Log Books. However all entrants are required to turn up on all the days of the course including the briefings. If you are unable to make all the required dates, it would be appropriate to allocate your space to another member on the waiting list. Mike Thomason
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