The magazine of Thorpe Bay Yacht Club
www.tbyc.org • Spring Edition 2022
Yourmagazine Yourphotos Yourstories YourTBYC
Adrian Bunting Commodore
Welcome to our 2022 Newsbuoy kindly put together again by Howard and which I hope you enjoy reading. The Winter sailing season is nearly over and the Committees have ensured we have a packed, exciting and variable new sailing calendar for all our members to enjoy. Our membership continues to remain strong and although we have a few members who have resigned we have also gained a few who I’m sure will enjoy the fabulous facilities and warm welcome from our existing members. Last year the club continued to be very active even though we were still contending with Covid with good turn outs for sailing and our socials. It was particularly pleasing to see 135 plus cadets for our annual cadet week. The marquee for the week was a success so we have already booked one again for this years cadet week. The winter sailing has been interrupted by some strong winds and on one occasion was cancelled because the fog just would not lift. Despite this on some winter days we have had 35 plus boats out racing. Thank you to all our members who heeded our warnings and ensured their own boats were secured in the dinghy park during the particularly bad storm some weeks ago. Despite the winds possibly being the worst we have ever experienced and from the South West, thankfully, little or no damage was caused. Since Covid measures were lifted our members have been representing TBYC further a field with notable successes which I have spoken about in previous email circulations. The cadet fleet continues to become more active throughout the year not just during cadet week. Of special mention is our young RS Tera fleet which is going from strength to strength lead by Andras who has also encouraged a lot of them to start traveling on the circuit. The delayed Christmas Ball now called The Spring Ball will I’m sure have been a success by the time you read this edition of Newsbouy and Lesley will already be planning the Summer Ball. In the meantime it is planned to have the occasional live entertainment at the club as this proved popular when we were able to arrange it last year. You will notice we have purchased a replacement towing vehicle as the Rav, which had given us good service ,was struggling and no longer suitable for what we required. Hopefully the new acquisition will serve us equally as well. Along with the new towing vehicle we are in the process of replacing two of the trailers which needed to be done due to current traffic regulations. It is a shame they now need to be braked trailers due to the weight but we just need to ensure the brakes are flushed after each use to avoid them seizing. The working party last Saturday was well attended and lots was completed. The height restriction barrier I spoke of last year is in the process of being erected to prevent further damage to our club car park which at some point will be replaced or resurfaced. Scott is doing a great job rallying members to get jobs around the club completed. Please assist if you can, as many hands make light work as we all know. The recent land based adult sail training coordinated by Scott, Tolga and Harrison, has proved a great success and will continue as the weather improves with some practical training. For those who are interested you can catch up with the sessions via the zoom tutorials and hopefully we will run similar sessions later in the year or the start of next. We are moving forward with our larger projects with the Rib store currently with the council at planning stage and Toby's Hut being worked on initially by Mark Dell before we can move forward to ask for planning consent. As said before these are both big projects and so will take time to complete but we do want to get them right. Please put a note in your diary for the August weekend when not only will we host our TBYC cadet regatta but we also have been asked to hold the prestigious Thames Barge Race on the Sunday which will be a great spectacle. We plan to set some of the course as close in shore as possible and hopefully some of the boats will moor off the club house before and after the race so that you can get a close up view of these wonderful examples of some of our sailing heritage. With the summer season nearly upon us I am hoping that you will all make use of the club as much as possible whether thats to pleasure sail, go racing or just to enjoy the other benefits our club can offer with having one of the best outlooks over the Thames from Thorpe Bay.
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Happy sailing in 2022 Adrian.
Your Committee Commodore Adrian Bunting Vice Commodore Nick Elmore Rear Commodore Howard Warrington Treasurer David Tierney Cadet Rep • Lindsay Rainbow House Rep • Scott James Sail Training Officer • Andras Gal - Nick Alston Social Rep • Lesley Dye Sailing Secretary • Mark Dell Honorary Secretary • Mark Robinson Secretary • Janet Willsmer Dinghy Park Rep • Jeremy Sandford Support Boats – Ribs • Tony Clark Committee Boat • John Casson Windward-Leeward • Rod Watson Catamaran • Keith Persin Monohulls • Mark Petty-Mayor Sandhoppers • Scott James Race Results • Graham Dare
© Thorpe Bay Yacht Club 2022. All rights reserved.
Painting by Margaret Kennedy
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tbyc:social
It was another difficult year for everyone, however there were still some very good times had socially at the club. My continued thanks go to the bar and kitchen team as Paul stepped back and Shane took over the reins, for supporting several events across the year. Members enjoyed several events including a very successful Wine Tasting evening in November. I am sure we will repeat this event as it was enjoyed by all. Of course, who could forget watching World Cup football and 6 Nations rugby, we were so close! The matches attracted many members supporting England and other teams while having a bite to eat and a social drink. Alas the Summer Ball ‘Celebration of the Sea’ was delayed however a great night was eventually enjoyed in September with fab food and live music. We also invited Dave Gellert to perform a free night of soloist music and songs, which was packed out! I’m really pleased he will be returning to play on Saturday 2nd April 22, do come along.
Various open/national sailing events were held across the year together with social evenings and music, including the Hurricane event, which was supported by a live band. We were all looking forwards to celebrating Christmas at the Winter Ball, however again our plans were scuppered, and this was delayed until March. We managed to come together in March for the Spring Ball, when the club was decorated in lovely spring colours and vases of daffodils completed the theme. Despite some Covid concerns we were once again treated to lovely food and live music from The Undercovers band. I am always very grateful to everyone who support these larger events, either by attending or helping to set up and clear away, even when slightly worse for wear!! Looking forwards, we are looking to change things up in the summer as our theme is going to be a less formal ‘Caribbean Party’; we will be treated to good food, perhaps a few cocktails and live music followed by a great DJ. I do hope this will be a fresh and enjoyable alternative event for our members. Don’t worry our winter ‘black tie’ ball will be back in December! We will continue to provide a varied and interesting social calendar including a Beer festival with local ales at the end of April.
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2021 started in lockdown and the Icicle series was left unsailed. A sad situation but it had to be. The Sailing Committee continued to meet monthly via Zoom and we looked ahead and monitored the situation to see when sailing could resume. In the meantime, Scott James led a team of cadet parents to work on Polly and completed a superb overhaul on the old girl. She looks great and will continue to be of good service to the cadets.
Howard Warrington
The other 2 displacement boats were made ready the autumn before thanks to the Sprint Class jumping to it. They were now ready to go at a moment’s notice. John Casson also with the help of the Sprints, made sure that SS4 was also in a similar situation. With a new fuel tank and larger anchor at the ready. Unfortunately, only volunteered maintenance could take place under the restrictions, so we continued to monitor and follow the HMG guidelines. Finally, during March and into April, sanctions were slowly lifted and we were able to launch the safety boats, followed a few weeks later by the Sandhoppers and Cruisers. Easter Weekend saw the club back to sailing. A huge relief for us all and the racing turn outs were great to see. Racing continued as planned and we were able to complete all the trophy races throughout the season. Unfortunately, some sanctions were still in place such as changing rooms and camping facilities. Because of this we did lose the Contender / Finn / Laser Open meeting in May. The TBYC Regatta was a huge success with 64 boats entered. It was great to see such activity back at the club. With Social Distancing still in place we held the prize giving in the front car park which had been closed off to cars during the Pandemic. This became a regular sight and a popular area for prize givings. Our cruiser section has also grown substantially over the last 2 years. We now have a nice variety of cruisers who are often seen out exploring the Estuary on day or weekend trips. It is excellent to see these boats sailed regularly. They have even taken part in the odd club trophy race., something we’d like to see more of next year guys! Our cadets were also the winners of the Matt Dear Trophy, with Hannah Cole and Lydia Stephenson taking the win. Despite what we’ve been through many sailors flew the TBYC burgee at several events around the country. 2022 is looking fully booked. With Open events already planned for the Finns, Hurricanes, Contenders, Teras and Sandhoppers it’s going to be another busy year. Finally, I would like to say that sailing here at TBYC can only go ahead with the continuous help of our volunteers. Without you, we have no racing. To all the Race Officers, Assistant Race Officers, Committee Boat Assistants, Safety boat helms and crews – thank you
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Nick Elmore - Vice Commodore So as we head into another full season of sailing and events, the club is in very good shape. Over the Winter we have strengthened our services within the club. In the office we have seen Janet being assisted now by Jo and Lucy giving a great team of administrators to deal with the overall increase in membership and all the challenges that brings. Our Bar, under the management of Shane, has added new drinks offerings, new wine and snack availability whilst still maintaining supply of our old favorites in the midst of a supply and transportation crisis. We are in the process of adding Cocktails to our long list of additional drinks. Our Kitchen, under the management of James, has been going from strength to strength with an increase in food offerings plus service which we should all be proud of. The Kitchen itself underwent a lot of new equipment installation during last year which better serves our style of food and means we can offer larger parties and greater choice. Our mission, since we started to recover from the closures of 2021, was to offer members a greater service at lower prices designed to bring everyone back to the club. I have to say that with the management of the Bar and the Kitchen at such a high standard that we have succeeded in our mission so far. Our profitability has come not with higher prices or greater margins but from the large amount of members now using our club. Long may that continue into the 2022 season. I wish you all Happy Eating and Drinking but most of all Good Sailing for 2022.
k c i N
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TBYC Windward/Leeward Class Hi, welcome to my first attempt at writing one of these marvelous articles for Newsbuoy. I have to be an inclusive class captain as I am representing the entire Fast Handicap fleet so thanks to the guys in the Musto Skiffs, Nick and Andrew in the Nacra, Michael and Maurice in the RS400, Dion and family on their Shearwater and Mike Cable on his Shadow; meaning 20 crews competing for the summer Series. But I, together with my son Alex, bought a Hurricane at the tail end of 2020 and fortunately, there hasn’t been too much head shaking or demanding who’s bright idea was it to have got ourselves into this, instead we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves getting to know the boat and racing in such a great fleet. Other purchases in this year include Howard and son George buying Made in Essex from Nick and remains remarkably intact given the boys’ propensity for let’s say, pushing boats to the edge and beyond. My thanks must go first of all to Julian for carrying the torch for the Hurricanes for the last seven years and driving us on to be the largest active fleet at the club. 6 of our boats traveled to Stone for the TT there with Howard and Alex Farrell scoring an early bullet in the very strong winds that first day. This last year was capped off with a brilliantly organised and run Nationals held at the club in August. 13 of our own boats took part along with 15 visitors from across the country. The food and entertainment off the water was excellent and the racing gave Thorpe Bay’s usual mix of strong winds and chop and light winds and chop. This is also where Alex and I had our first big lesson; first beat first race, we’re in it to win it so let’s just duck that boat ahead sailing happily on starboard, unfortunately, this intention wasn’t picked up by our boat and we smacked solidly into the back beam of their boat and crumpled our bow, leading to frantic trips to B&Q for Gorilla Tape and the quashing of our hopes for this year (fortunately, Messrs Charlesworth and Robinson weren’t ones to carry a grudge and have come to join in the winter and Icicle series here this winter). This early curtailment on Alex and my part though left the field open to the Stone boys and they took the top 3 places with our own Paul and Bertie Palmer coming home 4th. A lot of work has been put in by the Hurricane guys to dig out and concrete in chains to provide an essential means of fixing the boats down, which has proved itself vital after the visits from Dudley, Eunice and Franklin wreaked so much damage in the area.
The winter series have been hotly contested by up to 11 boats including a visitor in the Hurricane Fleet, Adam Charlesworth driving up from the South Coast in the hope of getting to sail in some very varied conditions which unfortunately included Poogate...... I’ll wrap up by hoping that this year will give us uninterrupted time on the water and I very much hope to see you all out there. Hurricane Open Meetings 2022
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Starcross 21/22 May 02/03 July Thorpe Bay Royal Yorkshire YC (Bridlington) 23/24 July Stone SC Hosting the Nationals from 19 – 21 August.
TBYC Endeavour Trophy
The Endeavour Trophy returned in 2021! The Entrants: Defenders: Peter Thompson and Mark Dell Sprint – Chris Tillyer and Steve Healy Finn – Lawrence Crispin and Allen Burrell Hurricane – Paul Palmer and Alex Farrall Cadet – Charlie Elmore with Alex Warrington So what's the idea? - It is to pitch the best sailors from each of the fleets (overall class winners from the previous season) together in a winner takes all, one day event. Sailing in the same class of boat. As a "handicap" Peter and Mark were given "Primo" to sail. As you know Primo is the class owned boat available for anyone to use to learn to sail in or just take for a spin. Clearly she's not a racing thoroughbred and is quite heavy. Chris and Steve drew "The Dogs" kindly offered by Mark Jewell Lawrence and Allen drew "Bluejacket" kindly offered by Richard Barnes Paul and Alex drew "Zeus" kindly offered by Rupert Snow Charlie and Alex drew "Squiffy" kindly offered by David, Howard and Andy As always it was a great event and very closely raced. Early wins for Paul and Alex looked like they might have this sorted but were soon put over by Peter and Mark who were truly masterful in their "old girl". The Finn pairing of Allen and Lawrence kept the Race team amused with lots of different spinnaker shapes - and as two spectacular helms; now saw what a difference a great crew can make to your race! Charlie Elmore - having never sailed anything much bigger than his Laser put in a great performance and kept the fleet very much in touch. However the win went to the Defenders - Peter and Mark who retain the title for another year. Look out for the 2022 invite - it could be you representing your class. 2022 date is Sat 30th July - make sure you're free!
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Dutyman
Racing and sailing activities at Thorpe Bay YC have always relied on club members volunteering to manage racing and crew support boats to keep us all as safe as possible while out on the water. 2022 is no different with racing available every weekend that tides permit plus midweek racing and events like the Hurricane TT, Nacra 20 & Tornado Nationals taking place at TBYC. So as usual we need as many volunteers as possible to get things running smoothly on the water. Currently we only have about 160 members who actively take part by volunteering for duties. Of course, those who race and sail at the club and benefit from the support boats and race organisation are expected to do their bit, but many others who don’t currently sail also help and enjoy taking on duties. So, why should you volunteer to help if not already doing so? There are many benefits including: • Getting out on the water – this is what the club is all about. Taking advantage of the great location we have and just enjoying being afloat. If you can’t sail or race then being out on a support boat is the next best thing. • Learning about handling the support boats so if you want you can progress to Helming or gaining your Power Boat Level 2 qualification – the club runs its own courses for this. • Be up close to all the action in the races. It’s great to sit on the club balcony with a drink watching the racing through binoculars but being in the midst of it is much better! Also, for those who do already race you can learn to improve your race craft. Watch how the best racers do it up close at the starts and rounding the marks. And learning how Race Officering works can gain you an advantage when out racing. 2022 Duties No experience needed! Start out by crewing on one of our displacement support boats or on a RIB. If you then want to progress you can book onto the Powerboat Level 2 course and learn to helm the boats. You could also start by helping the Race Officer (RO) and Assistant RO as a 3rd hand before progressing to Assistant RO or RO. There will be coaching sessions with an experienced RO on the Committee Boat over the year – please keep an eye on the website for these golden opportunities. Mark Robinson
By March you should have been invited to choose your duties for the coming season using the online calendar or emailing me directly. If you have not done so and what to join in there it’s never too late as there are always vacancies so please do email me asap. I know when you first look at it Dutyman may look a bit daunting but it really is easy to use once you make a start. There are also User and How To guides on the TBYC website under the Club Duty Guidance section. If you do need any help volunteering for duties please do contact me if you can’t find what you need on the website.
TBYC Dutyman Administrator
Email: dutyadmin@tbyc.org
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Cadet Training and Racing
Nick Alston
We had another successful year with our TBYC Cadets racing and training during the season. All the Club races now include a Cadet Start, allowing the more experienced youngsters to race with the main fleets. Congratulations goes to Nathan Sverdloff, Michael Scanes, Hannah Cole, Lydia Stevenson, Joe Blaker, Henry Petty-Mayor, Isabella Rainbow who came first in a Race Series during 2021. The Rebellious Bowl Cadet Trophy race was won by Hannah Cole and Lydia Stevenson sailing their RS200, demonstrating the progress they have made over the last few years. Race training, which requires the young sailors to engage in exercises designed to develop their racing skills, work hard to get the best out of the sessions.
We held a Mini Regatta during 2021 where Miles Mawditt displayed his competitive spirit and took first place by one point over Daniel Tillyer in his Topper.
Practise Starts are always included and you would be amazed how good they can be; analysing their performance and making the next Start even better. Each training session is finished with three or more short races, so that they can demonstrate their skills.
It was great to see eighteen enthusiastic sailors battling it out on the water.
This year the series of sixteen races was won by Ethan Manging, closely followed by Isla Higginson, both in Lasers.
Of course, not everyone can win, but it is refreshing to see the youngsters trying to finish each lap just a little faster than their last. The two external events that our Cadets attend annually is the Matt Dear Trophy and Interclub Cadet Team Race, both at Thames Estuary Yacht Club. Hannah Cole and Lydia Stevenson took first place again this year in the Matt Dear Race with our Cadets taking seven out of the first ten places. We had twenty boats entered for the event. The Interclub Cadet Team Race was also won by our Cadets, taking the first 3 positions. The winning Team was Nathan Sverdloff, Michael Scanes, Eleanor Johnson, Ashleigh Williamson, Charlotte Rainbow and Holly Cole.
Looking forward, we have a full programme of Cadet Sailing. At our Club we have everything from RYA Youth Sailing Scheme courses to Race training and Mini-Races, in addition to organised Fun sailing and Oppie Beach Club offered by a great team of volunteers. For the more advanced sailors there is the Cadet Regatta, Trophy Races and Club Races with a course specially set for our older Cadets. Let's have a great 2022!
Nick - cadetracingtbyc@gmail.com
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Scott James Wow what a year 2021 has been, we managed to get most of the fleet afloat at the beginning of the season as planned. Had a bump or two at the start of racing and had to get one of the boats out for a bit of a repair. But then on for what seemed to be a year of average weather and changeable conditions, but a lot of fun overall for most. The below is just some of the highlights of the year, there have been too many to go into detail about and I would like to thank everyone that has competed, volunteered, and supported our wonderful class during 2021 and thank you in advance for 2022.
Open Evening On the 2nd July on a warm Friday evening we as a fleet took 15 members of TBYC out for an experience of a Sandhopper, a great evening was had, we picked up participants from the slipway and headed off in the distance for a short trip to show what a Sandhopper was all about, this even led to two of the guys that joined us of them buying one each! We are planning to do a few more of these events in 2022 so please let me know by emailing me if you would be interested in joining us.
TBYC’s / SCBA’s own Sandhopper" "Primo" is the clubs own Sandhopper and in 2021 we launched its online diary, and YouTube videos of how to rig it up. This has given the opportunity for several members of the club to use the boat during the year, in racing and a cruising capacity. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to use the boat in 2022, or if you would like some guidance on how to use it.
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A very sunny National Championships We were very pleased to be able to have a National Championships in 2021, we welcomed two boats from Maylandsea to join us and as I understand it this is the first time in many years, which was fantastic. While the conditions were very challenging being mainly light and sunny, a good time was had by all. We will be having our nationals again in 2022 and hope to wish more of the Maylandsea Fleet back for this on the 13th /14th of August. Congratulations to our 2021 Champions: Chris and Ken Clarke
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The Final Fling Each year we have a final race before lift out and this year was and exception, yes an exception as there was some confusion at the start of the race we had two Final Flings! This gave us two courses, with most of the boats heading round a course that led us out into deeper water and two boats that raced the original course, they raced a very tight race all the way round changing positions often. The larger fleet was led home by the youngest helm of the fleet Pippa Mintern with Harry Boygle as Crew.
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We have been invited to join Maylandsea Bay Sailing Club in July for their Open Day. We have agreed to attend Burnham week for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday Bank holiday weekend and we have the National Championships and 50th Anniversary of the Sandhoppers at TBYC. We now have a class trailer, so we can move the boats around and make us a little more flexible, a new mast rack thanks to Graham Slack and hopefully a new Launch Cradle again thanks to Graham Slack. We just need to get lots of Sandhoppers out on the water at the weekends and during the week, enjoying the wonderful coastline, competing, honing our skills, teaching others and sharing these wonderful boats with as many people as possible. I would also like to note that we have some newer owners of Sandhoppers, Tolga Kulahcigil, who purchased Katie last year and took out 14 non sailing friends with him over end of the season, Harry Floyd who purchased Zeus after it was taken out of the water and after 25+ years of owning Undine the Willis’s have parted company with her and she is off to pastures new. Not far though just to Maylandsea with Bill Wright who is a returning Sandhopper Owner (Former owner of S10 and S34) he also sits on the Burnham Week Committee and has confirmed he will be joining us for the National Championships!
Yachting correspondent, Bob Fisher, who wrote the article on the first 21 years of Thorpe Bay Yacht Club taken from the 1969 handbook sadly died in January 2021. He was a regular competitor at TBYC in the late fifties and sixties, winning the 1958 Hornet Worlds with John Partridge. Hosting this event was the reason our club house was built after a conversation between Kit Hobday and Beecher Moore. Bob owned several Hornets and Flying Dutchmen all named “Pink Plymouth” in acknowledgement of the supply of suitable refreshment by a west country gin producer. He defended the “Little America’s Cup” once with Peter Sneider and also with Reg White in “Lady Helmsman” an event hosted many times by TBYC for the Chapman Sands Sailing Club. Always being one at the forefront of change he led the famous crew strike at Whitstable Hornet Nationals when all us helms were left holding the boats, up to our knees in water, while the crews adjourned to the bar for a meeting to discuss future “rules”. Working for the BBC in the early days led to his boat, ”Barracuda of Tarrant” featuring in the programme “Howard’s Way” with him as a technical consultant. After the BBC came work with the Guardian newspaper and many years with Yachts & Yachting covering all things controversial, and the America’s Cup proper. Philip Crawford
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THORPE BAY YACHT CLUB By BOB FISHER
Reproduced by kind p ermission of BOATS and Yachtsman
Any mention of Thorpe Bay Y.C. is invariably coupled with the name of Kit Hobday. Hardly surpris ing in view of the fact that the club owes its very existence to his original idea and his continued drive in its early days. Not that he did it all alone but he
was able to stimulate interest and activity in the people around him. On May 17th, 1948, 12 people (average age 17) met in the drawing room of Hobday's home and discussed the possibility of a yacht club at the eastern end of the Southend foreshore. Twenty years later, four are still members of the Club. There were already four flourish ing clubs westward of the pier, and there seemed little hope of receiving much encouragement from any of them. But these were keen people who wanted to sail in more open waters and as a result of this meeting Thorpe Bay Y.C. was formed with Kit Hobday as Commodore. Around this time dinghy sailing was a fast growing sport; the do-it-yourself boat had just arrived and its potential was realised by many in the country who had always considered yachting to be a sport for rich men only. The club started to race assorted dinghies in handicap class, using the Hobday·s beach hut as a starting box, club house and changing room. The next season saw the first class racing, with a modest fleet of Jewels and the beginning of the construction of the original clubhouse on the beach (now used as a starting hut). It also saw the disappearance of Kit Hobday for two years-into the A.rmy for National Service.
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On his return Kit persuaded Stephen McAdden (now Sir Stephen), the local M.P., to be Commodore of the club. The club was still being run by young people for young people and needed an authoritative Commodore to command respect with the establishment. The club's annual regatta was becoming famous, attracting entries of more than 100 from the Southern shore, and the south and east coasts. Thorpe Bay Y.C. hospitality became a b yword among the dinghy boys-a feature which lives on today. National 12s were adopted in 1953 when Hobday again became Commodore. C. J. Moorhouse was talked into the job of club bosun and providing a trophy for the 12's Estuary Championship.He threw himself whole heartedly into the job of getting Thorpe Bay Y.C. moving, providing facilities and hours of his own effort. 1:he club house was extended, the slipway improved, the size of the fleets grew, and the Hornet class arrived.
There is no doubt whatsoever that their record in t�e racing field has helped to get_ others to want to try their hand against them on their_ own pu?dle..The _ cl� b honours board is crammed with champ1�nsh1p wins rn the Hornet, Albacore, Firebal_l, a!ld Flyrng Dutchm_an classes with the 1964 Olympic silver medal of Keith Musto' and Tony Morgan taking pride of plae:e (A. Jardine, who was in the 1968 b ronze medal-winning 5.5 Metre, is also a member ) . Championships and Olympic trials ar� fam\liar features at Thorpe Bay now, with special meetings !Ike the H,olt 21st Birthday Regatta and the Shoreline Trophy meeting added for variety. All are immaculately run, _ a �uarantee to the overall success of any regatta. But 1t 1s for it� part in running the Little America's Cup that Thorpe Bay Y.C. has become justifiably famous. W�en Jo�n Fisk and Rod Macalpine-Downie captured this _ cup rn 1961 it was the 1962 defence which worried �h_e Chapman Sands S.C.They had neither waters nor fac1h ties needed for the event. Already Thorpe Bay Y. C.had esta blished itself as capa ble of organising b ig regattas and it seemed natural that they should be approached to run the Little America's Cup series.Seven years later it is now handled as a run of the mill event with clock work efficiency. The Thames Estuary is often criticised as being unfair waters in which to hold the Little America's Cup.There is a tide, and a strong one, racing can o�ly take _plae:e three hours either side of high water. and 1f the :,v 1�d 1s . offshore it shifts without warning. (There are criticisms of Newport Rhode Island as a place to hold the America's Cup but that doesn't do us much good.) But it is to the credit of Thorpe Bay Y.C. memb ers that they
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have overcome these permanent hazards and criticism and have established a club, famous for its organisation and hospitality, which has never lost sight of its original idea-that of promoting sailing for young people. It seems fitting therefore that Kit Hobday should return to the office of Commodore for the club's 21st year. Plans are under way to make this a year to remember. On May 17th/18th a 21st Anniversary Regatta is being held and it is hoped that well over three hundred boats will take part: the social side will see a Grand Gala Ball on Friday, 16th and a Cocktail Party and Dance for all competitors and members on Saturday, May 17th. It is to be hoped that the club will continue to grow in size and strength at the same rate for the next 21 years.
Typical of the club's acceptance of challenge is the story behind the building of the present club house. As a result of a bet between Beecher Moore and Kit Hobday the l 958 Hornet World Championships were awarded to Thorpe Bay Y.C.on condition that they had a suitab le club house from which to hold them. Twelve months is not long to cut the red tape, plan and build a clu b house, but somehow the members managed it. The finance �as raised by rib tickling, b ullying, cajoling, �nd outstanding generosity.Two members raised £10,000 interest free as a bond to build the clu b-and were promptly repaid £2,500 collected from 100 members in direct gifts. The total loan was repaid in seven years. Since those Hornet championships, the club has held many national and international events. The enthusiasm and ability of the Thorpe Bay sailors is infectious. 6
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Cadet's Corner Lindsay Rainbow - Cadet Rep 2021 started in lockdown and for the first few months looked like Cadet week and other activities may be in jeopardy but with super speed as soon as restrictions were lifted the cadet section sprung into life and have had an incredibly busy and successful year with huge numbers of cadets on the water throughout the year and throughout the winter series. Andras and Nick’s training sessions had consistently high turn outs throughout 2021 and cadets have competed in club racing, attended open meetings, training, national and European championships. It has been fantastic to see TBYC so well represented around the country. Some of the tera fleet are attending winter training throughout the East and this fleet is continuing to grow in the club. To build on the excellent sailing programme in 2022 we are thrilled to see the return of Oppie beach club to get our youngest cadets out on the water in small, safe, fun and supported sessions thanks to Adam Clarke stepping forward to run these opportunities. The cadet programme will be published within the club programme – please put the dates in your diary so not to miss out – speak to myself, Andras, Nick or Adam if you have any questions about the sessions or suitability. We are lucky to have a small number of club boats so that cadets can get out on the water before investing in your own boat. Information can be found on the website. Cadet Week 2021 was an incredibly successful event with cadets enjoying a packed schedule of sailing and shore-based activities enhanced by the addition of the marquee. 134 children participated from age 4 to 18. We welcomed back our older cadets who could not compete in 2020 due to the pandemic for a ‘one off’ so they got to experience one of their ‘lasts’ when so many others were cancelled. Happy faces were seen throughout the week and the chanting during the Sharks rounders could be heard at St Augustine’s church! Preparations will soon be underway for Cadet Week beginning on the 25th July 2022. The week is so successful due to our sponsors and volunteers, if you wish to contribute time or sponsorship, please contact me!
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The Cadet regatta over the August bank holiday was well attend as cadets demonstrated the confidence and skills gained during cadet week and in 2022 we hope the we will be able to open this up to other clubs. The calendar for 2022 is packed for the cadet section with lots of opportunities to make the most of our amazing facilities. Getting cadets on the water is a team effort and the commitment of family members has been fabulous. I think most parents who have gotten in the water helping their child will agree it is great fun. Many adults are novices themselves but learning by doing is a great strategy so please come down with your cadets and get in the water to help (with suitable clothing and buoyancy aid) we are happy to share our experience and knowledge or check out adult sailing support information shared on Facebook. Looking forward to another fantastic year!
Lindsay
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Andras Gal Cadet sailing update It is great to see cadets growing up and succeeding. Several sailors who trained with us over the years are out and enjoy winter sailing with the adult racing. I am sure you all know the faces at least. Girls and boys sailing in the Feva and several serious Laser sailors having outgrown their youth boats. It is great pleasure for some proud fathers to partner up with their offspring. Our RS Tera group had 10 sailors signed up for the regional race training series in the winter (RS Tera Eastern Squad, led by Jonathon). It gives great experience to do some traveling and sail at different venues in different conditions and of course we were proud to host the first session at our club. We had the opportunity for some younger and less experienced sailors to have a taste. Great success. Burnham had its usual strong tide and with light winds, this was a serious challenge for young minds to concentrate. What a great experience to learn how to manage a strong tide. Brightlingsea was be cancelled due to raging winds. Royal Harwich presented us with fierce offshore gusting and shifting winds on the river. This was less fun and really hard work initially, but by the end of Sunday there was rising pride - we made it (and not just the cadets were proud, their parents and coach as well). Not just our cadets are learning and growing by experiences, also our parents are getting educated as well. We are lucky to have such a great team with amazing enthusiasm and support from the parents. This enabled me for the first time since I have been a member, to organise a few winter training sessions at the club for our most experienced Tera sailors. These were rather short fun sessions to let the steam off. The Royal Harwich experiences made us keen, and a small group of more experienced sailors ventured out for a short ride in strong windy conditions. After risk assessments and robust safety support with parents outnumbering sailors, we went out. All sailors reefed. They learned soon that the estuary is different from the river, the short choppy waves were troublesome at first, but then it started to get interesting. The second occasion was much easier, cadets demonstrating that it is great fun to ride waves. Next time other boats joined in - Feva and Laser. It is often thought that sailing is an elite sport, sailing families have a huge advantage getting their children into the sport. It is worth mentioning however that we have growing number of cadets from non sailing families doing really well. The structured RYA teaching method certainly has made coaching more successful. There is the strong team spirit with our group regularly training and traveling together. The parent group is welcoming and supportive to non sailor parents. Come by to any of our sessions, you will see. Talk to us, get involved. It is particularly important for me to encourage new sailors in the Tera group. Support will be given to those who ask for it. Two of our squad sailors learned how to sail last season. It is not that difficult to progress fast for those who are keen and willing to train regularly. There will be other opportunities for young sailors, other types of boats can be sailed as well. Laser Pico, RS Feva, Laser 4.7 are commonly used. The club boats are a good starting point before getting your own boats. Sam and Scott Weller with Chris Boshier organised an advanced training session for cadets regular in club racing. Sadly the conditions were too harsh, so a classroom discussion was held with great interest from the youngsters. There are plans in place to go ahead with the training in the Easter school holidays.
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Who gets the most improved trophy? Here’s a winning formula.... It’s an annual task for every Sprint Captain. Deciding who deserves to take the title of ‘most improved’ and sail off with the hand carved trophy. But it left captain Keith Persin all at sea. Why? The Hal’s Race Results - a regular feature for over a decade at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club – offers very little help here. “I like my systems to be measurable and transparent” said Keith, an engineer and business owner “but this seemed hit and miss, a guessing game. How on earth could I choose the most improved Sprint sailor?” His search for a solution led him to a poker player and tech wizard in Canada. Q: So why did you find the usual system so baffling? A: It didn’t clearly show how much you had improved over the year. It showed your results improved if you attended more races, it didn’t particularly show if you had beaten someone more skilful than you. So, it felt a bit meaningless in terms of whether you were really improving, or not. I was staring at all this data on a spreadsheet but I might as well have picked a name out of a hat.
out he was a terrible poker player, but a rather good data scientist. He did more than explain the theory, he provided computer code that could be adapted. So I turned to Alex again. Q: And then? A: Over Christmas instead of solving the daily advent coding challenge, Alex uploaded the source code, forked it, that is to take a copy and modify it, so that the system could collect and analyse all the race data for our 30 sprint sailors at TBYC. He treated it like a puzzle. I was SO excited. It felt like a EUREKA moment. Here’s the original Canadian formula it is based on...
Q: Pardon?! A: Ok, it IS quite complex but in a nutshell the new system is clearer and more transparent. It shows the probability of where you will finish in the race, and over time will rank every sailor. Crucially, it takes into account every race you compete in, and does not penalise you for missing races. If you beat a high ranking sailor you get shed loads of points. If you win against a less competent sailor, you get less points. Easier to see how much you have improved over the year and it means everyone can keep track of who their nearest rival is - their nemesis.
Q: So what did you do? A: I searched online for a solution. Came up with nothing. Over lunch in London I was chatting about it to my son Alex, who is rather good at data stuff. He pointed me to a ranking system called ELO. The ELO system was originally developed to measure the relative skill of chess players. Although widely used now in many sports it is for solo matches and I needed something that could be used to rank a multi-player sport. A search for multi-player ELO systems led me to a white paper written by a Canadian scientist who had tried to solve a similar conundrum. That was the starting point. Q: Who was this Canadian guy? A: A data scientist and keen poker player who developed a ranking system for his poker club. It turns
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Q: So in a nutshell - who is the most improved Sprint sailor? A: John Laliberte was the most improved this year, but the new system won’t give a result until next year. Q: Does it show anything else?
A: Chris Tillyer is the top ranked Sprint sailor despite not winning any series. But we knew that anyway. What we didn’t know is where the rest of us fit in.
Q: What do the Sprint sailors at TBYC think of the new ranking system? A: Pretty positive so far. But please do feel free to feedback your comments to me. TBYCsprints@gmail.com One suggestion from Daren Fitchew was to award a NFT trophy, that is a virtual but unique trophy, may be next year. Q: Any final word? A: I would mention Alan Grant, who had a stellar year winning both the Saturday and Sunday Summer Series as well as the coveted Sunripe Cup. This includes races all through the main season.
Q: You sound pretty competitive Keith? A: I am ‘friendly competitive’. I don’t mind if I don’t win - but I want to focus every minute of the race so I can do the best I can. Better to be in 7th place, than 8th place! Of course, I always try to beat my brothers Gary and Gerald (both TBYC members) - but that’s a sibling thing!
Jim Bowie did well in the General Handicap racing winning the Peter Hayes Trophy and coming second in the mid-week series. The most important thing is being out on the water with friends…. and the trophies just add a little competitive fun. NB Thank you to Danny Cunningham for giving permission to modify his ELO system (and to son Alex Persin).
Q: Is racing all you do? Keith Persin was talking to Elke Tullet A: No. We have cruising and fun days. The Sprints joined in the Mulberry day this year, setting up a much needed 36M2 shade between four Sprints. Sandhopper Duncan bought the BBQ and we had enough food and drink to start a café out there. We even played ultimate frisbee which proved too energetic for most of us. It was a glorious day out.
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Monohull
Mark Petty-Mayor
It has been a tough couple of seasons for everyone and we are just seeing the signs of an improving situation at the time of writing this article. Due to dwindling numbers, this season the sailing committee have decided to combine both the fast and slow monohull fleets together. Have a look for your starts and courses by looking at the sailing instructions. We have lots of various classes including Lasers, Finns, Aero’s, RS200’s, RS400’s, Albacore’s, Musto Skiffs, a Hadron and a Hornet to name but a few. Most will sail a triangle course however, the Finns will sail a windward/leeward course, which suits that particular class, as it is a lot more competitive. A few TBYC monohull members have had many successes on their travels recently, including Duncan DeBoltz winning the Gold Roman Bowl, Round the Island Trophy for the second year against 1200 boats. Sam Blaker coming first at the Lymington Regatta in a Fleet of 14 Aero’s 5 class, posting a 1st,3rd, 2nd, 6th,1st and a 3rd. The Finns have also been busy posting great results at both the Nationals and World Masters. As we see a light at the end of a very long tunnel, I hope we can get back to doing things we all took for granted a couple of years ago and reflect on what we have at our fantastic club. I would like to start a Whatsapp group so we can stay in touch with each other rather than emails this year. If you would like anything bringing up at the monthly sailing committee meetings, please let me know. Hope to see many of you on the start line in the Spring and Summer. Take care and stay safe,
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House Rep – Scott James – TBYCHouseRep@Gmail.com I want to start off thanking all of those that have volunteered and continue to support the club, by giving their time and skills when it comes to maintaining the club house, Sea Safe Support Boats, Dinghy Park, and Slipway. Hopefully you will have read some of my communications over recent months about the club and what we have been doing to maintain and improve the facilities we all enjoy. The entrance to the club Paul Morgan, Tony Tugwood & Alan Grant have done a Stirling job of redecorating the entrance to the club, Alan taking the lead with the outside and Paul plastering the Wall behind the TV and Tony spending countless hours on the woodwork, noticeboards, stripping and replacing some of the charts and painting the walls and skirting. We now have a lobby to be proud of, thank you for all your hard work. The Lift We know this has been a bit up and down this year! But we have been working hard with the service company to ensure that it will be as reliable as much as we can for the foreseeable future, the parts for the lift have been a challenge as many things have been coming from Europe since Brexit, however we think we have resolved the main shuddering issue while the lift is loaded. We are in the process of changing maintenance companies to someone who specialises more in these types of lifts and should therefore be able to rectify any further issues more quickly in the future. Showers The showers have been an issue for a number of years especially for the Ladies, and after a number of engineers looking at the current system, and quotes obtained for alternative systems, one of our own very skilled volunteers has stepped forward to figure out why they were not working, this has taken hours of investigation, to unwind what other companies had done or not done in the past and to bring the system up to full speed. This is still being worked on and we expect it to make a sull recovery, saving the club potentially thousands of pounds and more importantly actually providing hot water when we need it.
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Hoses We have replaced most of the hoses in the dinghy park, this is to save water and improve the facility’s overall. It’s been great to get such positive feedback, especially over the winter series as no longer do you need your finger over the end of a hose when they are already cold from being out racing, or when you’re the cadets who are already warming up while you are putting away their boats for them. What’s new? Awnings on the balcony The old and tired awnings that cover us all in the summer at the front of the club will be replaced very shortly. They have served us well but have reached the end of their life. We ask that the new awnings are wound out and in by the bar staff were possible and are not left out in winds more than 25mph, this will ensure that we prolong the life of them for as long as possible. We did look at alternative structures that would be capable of winds of more than 25mph and most required structures that would obscure our wonderful view. We agreed as a committee to keep to a similar but stronger design that what we have.
A Rib Store We are expecting the outcome to our planning application for our Rib Store to come back at the end of March. This will house all three of our Ribs and during the summer. During the winter we will have sufficient space to store all three Ribs, but use the additional space to maintain the displacements boats who will be on launching type trailers. This building will also allow us to increase our storage capacity overall and flexibility for space, as well as improving to overall look of the club. The below are a few of the initial designs that give you an idea of what the building may look like and where it will be situated.
Commodores Bar The Commodore’s Bar has had a water leak from the roof for some time, and we now think that this is resolved thanks to the hard work of Scott Weller and Matt Rainbow who recently replaced the guttering and Scott who then came back to seal up the bottom of the door above. With these repairs now done. Allen Burrell very kindly offered his time and skills to replaster the wall after Adrian Bunting stripped off the old backing paper. Once the plaster is fully dried out it will get a coat of bathroom paint as we know that the windows still leak a little when its stormy and we want to protect the wonderful plaster as much as we can. We will also be putting roller blinds up as well as the curtains that were removed, as we know on a sunny day it can get a little warm! A fantastic job done by all, thank you.
If you are a volunteer or want to be and have not registered on the online system, please go to the following link https://forms.gle/iAa2NuCgF4oqE39CA . Complete your details and when we have works that need to be done, I will send out an email to everyone that has expressed an interest to help to see who is available. We also have a WhatsApp Group that we use to let everyone know what is needed to be done and being done!
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I hope you all have a fantastic 2022 and beyond and thanks again for all you do!
Race officer's notes. ....Start Sequence for Points Racing at 3 min before start time raise the D Flag
Windward/Leeward Warning
at 2 mins raise the P Flag
at 1 min lower the P Flag at the start time lower the D flag and raise the 3rd Sub Flag
Windward/Leeward Start Monohull Warning
at start time + 1 min raise the P Flag
at start time + 2 min lower the P Flag at start time + 3 min lower the 1st Sub and raise the NN0 Flag
Mono Start Sandhopper Warning
at start time + 4 min raise the P Flag
at start time + 5 min lower the D Flag
at start time + 6 min lower the NN0 Flag
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Sandhopper Start
TBYC – Adult Sailing Support
A New initiative to help support adult members wishing to learn to sail. Held at the club every Thursday evening and on Zoom. Run by: Scott James, Tolga Kulahcigil and Harrison Floyd One of the main areas we wanted to address this year was providing sailing support for our adult members. We’ve had express demand from new members and parents of cadets requesting further knowledge and understanding so that they can enjoy what the club has to offer, get out on the water more often, and generally enhance their knowledge and confidence regarding all things sailing related. On January 13th, the Sandhopper Class lead by Scott James, along with Harry Floyd and Tolga Kulahcigil launched the delivery of TBYC’s adult sailing programme for beginners, along with help and assistance from experienced sailors such as Howard Warrington, and Chris Boshier. Initially, there were approximately 20 new members from the club who signed up for the event, which was held weekly to encourage those that are new or rusty to get back out on the water. The first session was well attended and focused on having a conversation around what members wanted to get out of these sessions, what’s been stopping them, and any fears that they may have. This proved to be a very insightful session as reasons varied from wanting to be more confident around the water, how to be more helpful during cadet week, not really understanding why I’m being told to do something, fear of embarrassment, understanding why the boat is/isn’t moving in a particular direction, wanting a refresher after not having done any sailing for 20+ years, to just wanting to enjoy sailing/kayaking and other water-sports with the family. Addressing those points that were raised, the initial sessions focused on some core basics, such as the different parts of a boat, wind direction, points of sailing, and tacking. Once these basics were covered, the sessions moved on to topics such as trimming, launching and recovery, rigging a dinghy, and learning some of the key knots that are most useful to know. Due to covid restrictions, these sessions were initially held over Zoom but as these restrictions eased, the sessions were extended to run simultaneously over Zoom and physically at the club. We’ve had great feedback about the accessibility and the content, and also that members have enjoyed being back in the club once again to meet up face-to-face, have a pint (other beverages are also available), and share stories, experiences and to learn from one another in our warm and friendly community at TBYC. We really are lucky to have a club with such a wealth of experience, and also one which owns a vast array of boats,
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kayaks and paddleboards etc, which are available for the use of all members. So why not come and join us at a future session, get to know other members, ask questions and enjoy what TBYC has to offer? For those that are interested, the Zoom sessions have been recorded and are available to anyone who was unable to make the sessions. The aspiration is to continue these sessions until the end of March, when the summer season’s sailing will start in earnest. If you would like to participate, have any further questions relating to these sessions, or ideas on what you’d like covered in future sessions, please don’t not hesitate to contact sandhopperclass@gmail.com, who will be more than happy to help.
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Cruising Life with Wes Absolom Put your feet up, leave your troubles on the shore… ……..and explore new destinations
(Woolverstone Marina – River Orwell) A brief introduction – I’ve owned various cruisers since 1983 and we bought our current boat, Molly Malone, January 2014 in Penzance, Cornwall. Catherine and I sailed her round Land’s End, up to Wales and moored her in Penarth Marina, Cardiff for two seasons. We cruised the Bristol Channel extensively before deciding to bring her back to Southend. We took a week off work and sailed her back via Land’s End and along the South Coast stopping at various locations en-route to Thorpe Bay. We currently moor Molly at Paglesham and at Thorpe Bay for a couple of months in the summer. So what is Cruising Life all about? Here’s an extract from our log dated Saturday 17th July 2021: After attending a friends lunchtime BBQ in SW London we managed to get back in time to catch the last of the tide and cast off from our mooring (TB) at 2000hrs. The wind was very light (4 knots) so we motored across the Estuary to Queenborough, arriving at 2130hrs. We sat down in the cockpit for a late snack and a glass of wine. Ten minutes later a couple, who had clearly been to the pub, drifted past in their dinghy attempting to row back to their boat. As they were unable to stop giggling (which set us off) it was clearly not going to happen and they asked if we could assist. I put the outboard on the dinghy and towed them over to their boat on the other side of the river. Once safely back on-board Molly we could enjoy the rest of the wine and our evening. The next day was glorious sunny with very light winds so we just spent the morning relaxing and watching the world go by. The giggling rowers motored past and thanked us for our assistance as they
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headed back to Medway YC. Chas & Lynne Gibson stopped by for a chat with Paul and Lisa Farrall on their RIB as they were out cruising the River Swale, as was Scott James in CJII. We cast off late morning and sailed round the Swale to Kingsferry Bridge before heading back to TB. Rob/Cara (Crazy Crew) had been out for a two-tide sail and were anchored at the Mulberry Harbour waiting for the tide. Once back on our mooring we had lunch, watched the club racing, did a few jobs on-board and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We rowed ashore at 1800hrs, having had a great weekend. Okay so it’s not an exact transcript of the log but it’s an accurate reflection of the weekend and we can thoroughly recommend the cruising life to anyone considering buying a boat. It’s great to see the number of cruisers at the club increasing and as Cruiser Captain I was keen get some events scheduled in the program for 2022. I set up a WhatsApp group for general cruising chat and to coordinate future meet-ups afloat. There are some members who moor their yachts elsewhere and if you would like to join the group, you are of course welcome, so please let me know. 2021 season It was a limited season for so many reasons. However, some of our cruisers managed to visit destinations further afield, from Whitstable to St Katharine Docks, Chatham to Ipswich. On the racing scene, four cruisers entered the Nore Race – Rupert/Linda Snow in Spartacus (Parker 285), Paul Farrell – Infamy (Parker 27), Scott James – CJII (Horizon 23) and Nick Turner – Lucy (Kelt 850). Nore Race Results: In group 6 - Spartacus finished 5tt with Infamy 7th In group 7 - CJII finished 8th In group 8 - Lucy finished 7th The Shoreline Trophy race also saw four yachts starting but unfortunately due to the light winds only three finished. As two of the boats (Infamy & Lucy) were sailing single-handed we agreed that no spinnakers would be used. The light winds meant the course was set just on the East side of the pier. All four yachts crossed the start-line close together and headed down to the first mark which was off the Sea Life Centre. First round was Infamy with Molly Malone and Lucy rounding together. The beat back along the shore to club mark number 1 saw Infamy pull out a good lead while Molly Malone and Lucy crossed tacks all the way up the beat. Molly Malone rounded just ahead of Lucy and held her position to the finish. On handicap Infamy finished 11th overall (1st cruiser), Molly 16th and Lucy 17th. Crazy Crew called it a day early and went for a cruise around the Estuary instead.
Infamy
Lucy
Molly Malone
2022 Season I’ve scheduled a few club visits, as detailed below and we are also considering a run up to St Katharine Docks. Additional impromptu over-night / weekends away will be arranged through the WhatsApp group as and when the tide, weather and interest are all aligned.
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There are no specific cruiser races arranged for this year but I’ve agreed with the club that we can join in the longer distance club trophy races. Many thanks also to Howard who has offered to start us on a two-tide or passage race, if there is sufficient interest. Scheduled events 27th March
Cruiser lift-in
7th / 8th May
Chatham Marina – River Medway
9th July
BYC Nore Race
23rd / 24th July
Brightlingsea – River Colne
20th / 21stAugust
Conyer Creek Marina – River Swale
10th / 11th Sept
Burnham Marina – River Crouch
15th October
Cruiser lift-out
Crazy Crew – (Hurley 22) I am planning to re-introduce some ‘cruiser nights’ and will provide further details in due course. Please also check out the Cruising Life notice board in the club foyer for regular up-dates of general information and hopefully some useful tips. I look forward to see you on the water. Wes Absolom Cruiser Captain
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