Sailing News

Short Handed Series - Amendment to SIs

At the WMYC Sailing Committee on the 2nd June, it was agreed to make an amendment to the SIs Appendix relating to the Short Handed Series.  This is with immediate effect.   On page 2 of the Appendix, under the heading 'Short Handed Series & Wallet Cup Race' Rule 4.4 now reads:

4.4 RRS52 'Manual Power' applies, but only in so far as the use of autohelms alone is not permitted whilst racing at any time during this series, including the Wallet Cup race.

JEDI KNIGHT Wins EAORA Week 2008

Congratulations go to Stan Fenton.

The 2008 EAORA Race Week took place during the week 28th June to 4th July starting with a race from West Mersea to Breskens, five races in Southern Holland followed with a final race from Breskens to Ostend.  Stan Fenton’s Jedi Knight managed 4 out right wins, one 2nd place, one 11th place and one 6th place to win the week both overall & Class 1.

BOATOX

Kay Linscott and Richard Hayden’s Boatox also competed in the Week finishing 7th out of the 14 yachts involved in the full week.    

Archiplago Raid 2008

From William Sunnucks

Dear all,

 I’m back in England now, recovering from 6 days of solid sailing.  We finished the Raid 3rd, behind a fast French team doing the race for the 5th time, and a Swedish team whose navigation was faultless.  We were the top British boat, and top amateurs in that neither of us make our living from sailing.  The other Brits could outgun us in terms of offshore experience – both helms (Conrad Humphries and Ellen McArthur) have sailed round the world single-handed – but we have had more practice in small catamarans.

 I still can’t believe the distances we covered and the variety and beauty of the scenery in the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos.  For sailors it is a huge natural playground.  The Raid sets out to be the toughest small catamaran race in the world.  The racing starts at 2am or 3am and you keep sailing for 16 hours or so, unless you get lost in which case it can be longer.  The navigation is made as difficult as possible. 

 Our equipment was much better than before and this made a difference.   In particular:

·         We had studied the paddling and had special cranked paddles which were much faster – now we are competitive in this department, but there wasn’t much paddling to do.

·         We had heavy weight dry suits, which could be inflated to keep you warmer if needed – no more hypothermia

·         We had a hand held GPS chart plotter, which we used continuously in identifying submerged rocks often only a few feet away.

 Despite the huge effort we put into organising the trip, we had the usual catalogue of disasters:

• Our bags were stolen before the start, along with passports, laptops and some navigation equipment.   
• Despite the chart plotter we managed to hit several rocks, one so hard that we capsized diagonally and wrote off a dagger board.
• We had a 10 ft tear in our spinnaker and there were several botched attempts to repair it before a kind competitor showed us how to use Sikaflex, a messy compound normally used for leaking hulls.
• We led the fleet down a channel, which looked wide and navigable.  But at the far end there was a power line crossing it and we all had to turn back.  6 places lost – not clever.

 Both Simon and I were pleased with a podium finish in this event.  We have enjoyed help and advice from a lot of people in preparing for the trip, and lots of e-mail interest.  Many thanks for all the support.

 William

 PS full results are on www.archipelagoraid.com

'3 Sad Old Blokes' Take Laser SB3 UK National Title in Largs

Photo by Alan Henderson, www.fotoboat.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

The final day of the Laser SB3 National Championship dawned windless and it looked like overnight leaders Jerry Hill and his crew of Joe Llewellyn and Sam Minns on '3 Sad Old Blokes' would be announced National Champions without leaving the dock. However the wind had other ideas and by midday a small breeze had developed in the channel off Largs Sailing Club and the postponement flag came down.

Despite going into the final day with a thirteen point lead, with the possibility of a further four races and a second discard that would come into play after ten races, '3 Sad Old Blokes' couldn't afford to be complacent.

The race win went to 'Bod' (Richard Hall) who sailed their best race of the championship to score their first result in the top ten. '3 Sad Old Blokes' crossed the line ninth, with Mark Rushall and his team tenth, 'Team VW Touareg' sixteenth, 'Doolali' twentieth and 'Baloo' twenty-third. With the race committee able to sail up to four races on the final day, Hill did not know whether he had the championship sewn up and the only way to be sure was to stay out and sail all the races.

Despite going light towards the end of the first race, the wind picked up enabling the race committee to start a second race. For '3 Sad Old Blokes' it was still a case of staying out of trouble, which was helped enormously by the fact that 'Team VW Touareg' and Mark Rushall all started prematurely and were penalised with a black flag disqualification, forcing them to sit out the race. With the pressure alleviated, '3 Sad Old Blokes' sailed a faultless race to rack up their fifth win of the championship and, when the race committee signalled that no further racing would take place for the day, the national title by an impressive twenty point margin.

Top 5 Overall Results (10 races, 2 discards)
1, 3 Sad Old Blokes (J Hill/J Llewellyn/S Minns) 21 pts (4,1,1,1,8,1,(12),4,(9),1)
2, Baloo (M Boatman/I Turnball/J Outhwaite) 41 pts (3,6,(11),5,2,3,7,8,(23),7)
3, Doolali (C Simonds/E Simonds/G Simonds) 45 pts (2,7,9,(22),4,10,4,6,(20),3)
4, M Rushall/J Baxter/L Rushall/C Savage 47 pts (1,4,2,9,(23),13,1,7,10,(BFD))
5, Team VW Touareg (J Shelley/J Modral/C Blackburn) 49 pts (11,5,3,4,1,4,5,(23),16,(BFD))

Motor Boat Programme 2008

Saturday & Sunday 7th/8th June -IPSWICH

Visit to Fox's Marina for Beneteau owners, but to include other boats for a stay-over at Ipswich Haven or Neptune Marinas on the Thursday and Friday nights 5th & 6th June

(as well as the Saturday for the non-Beneteau boats).

19th July - MALDON

Visit to Maldon Quay for lunch, at one of the many pubs on the quay, or even a picnic, the choice is yours.

Saturday 2nd August - ROWHEDGE

A pub lunch or picnic.

Thursday/Friday 21/22 August - CLACTON AIR SHOW

Friday (although being the WMYC Regatta day) the better day for the air show activities.

13th September - BRADWELL

Lunch at the Bradwell Club or at the Green Man

Dennis Snow

Local Handicaps.  (revised/updated 20 May 2008)

Please note that cut-off for Fast and Slow Fleets will be announced prior to

race.

Handicap in blue indicates change

Any comments or errors please contact Richard Hayden and the Handcap

Committee.

Buoy                                                    Location

1 Quest                                              51º 45.821'N  000º 56.254'E

2 Gosling Insurance                       51º 45.211'N  000º 56.620'E

3 MFOB                                              51º 45.132'N  000º 52.900'E

5 Caribbean Pools                          51º 45.055'N  000º 54.323'E

6 Oystercharter.com                    51º 45.739'N  000º 58.956'E

10 Fox’s                                            51º 44.823'N  000º 59.414'E

12 Waverly TBS                              51º 44.377'N  000º 52.779'E

14 Woodcraft                                  51º 45.583'N  000º 54.138'E

17 Mossglen                                    51º 45.206'N  000º 55.112'E

Middle Ground                                 51º 45.809'N  000º 55.346'E

Nass Beacon                                   51º 45.821'N  000º 54.833'E

As at 6th April 2008

Alan Jones

**New Course Card published - **

The Race Courses have been comprehensively reviewed for 2008, and are now published and available to download at the link below.  A great deal of work has gone into creating courses that give more interesting racing, and to neutralize any "boat length bias" within individual courses.

18th April 08 -  Issue 2:  IMPROVED FORMAT

The format has been updated to improve display on some computers.  If you had difficulty reading the issue 1, you may have more success with this issue.  There is no edit to the courses in this issue.

click here to download:  WMYC Race Courses 2008 issue2

Complete Season NOR and SI published

Notice of Race, and Sailing Instructions for the complete seasons racing are published and available below.

click here to download: 2008 Sailing Instructions inc Appendices

2008 SHORT HANDED SERIES

Following the success of the annual Wallet Cup race, the decision was taken to run a Short Handed Series this year which, it is hoped, will be similarly well supported.  It may, perhaps appeal to those cruisers which do not regularly compete in the local IRC racing. 

As detailed in the Race programme, the series will consist of four races, to be held on the following Saturdays:

May 17th

May 31st

July 12th

August 9th

Each race has a scheduled start time of 10.30am, and is open to boats sailing either single or double handed.   The final race in the series is also the Wallet Cup race.   There’s a time limit of three hours for all races in the series.

An appendix attached to the WMYC and DSC Joint Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions details a few additional rules relating to this series.

The series will be raced using the handicaps issued by the Joint Handicap Committee, based on the Portsmouth Yardstick System, so it’s not necessary to have an IRC Certificate to compete.  A boat wishing to compete in the series without using a spinnaker at any time can even apply to the Joint Handicap Committee for a revised handicap number for the series.

Short Handed racing has become increasingly popular on the south coast in recent years, and the Committee hope the idea will appeal to Mersea based sailors.  It’s a bit different; why not give it a go?    

2008 WMYC Yacht Racing Photograph

Dear Racing Skippers,

Please find your waterproof, 27-exposure camera, waiting for you at the WMYC Office and addressed to your yacht.

For too long we (racers) have lacked action photographs of our boats and crews. The solution is here. You may choose to delegate to your bowman while on the wind or your white sail trimmer off the wind. What we need is ACTION and this may be on your boat or the opposition (as you lap them!).

So the gauntlet is down. Use the camera as quickly as possible so that the web site is topical and personal. Once the camera is ‘used up’ return it to the WMYC office (keep the Jiffy bag for returns) for processing.

There will be a prize for the season’s best picture, so fire away.

Good Luck and don’t be shy, the theme is fun.

The Sailing Committee.

I know that you have only just put her to bed, but time to polish those topsides and take out a mortgage for antifouling!

Racing starts on Sunday 30th March, the first of the Mersea Spring Points (5 races).

There is an incentive for us slower boats during the MSP series. When numbers of entrants reach 12 (and at OOD's discression) the fleet will see two starts. Slow Fleet off at 1030, to revel in leading the pack, until the Fast Fleet start at 1045. All will share the same course and results.

There is a full programme of racing this year, not least of which, the Centenary Regatta on the 10th and 11th May. This will see the WMYC holding a post-race party on the Saturday, starting with perhaps a curry, shaken down with a disco.

I will be contacting participating skippers soon.

Brian has issued the 2008 Sailing Instructions and these are available from Saturday 8th March in the Club foyer.

Before reading, please turn to the back page and complete the Safety Declaration, which with a copy of your IRC certificate needs to be returned to the Club Office, as soon as possible, to allow you to compete from the 30th.

Once the above are returned there will be an 'issuing' of disposable cameras to each racing boat. This is to allow all racers to compete for a 'Racing Photograph of the Year Award'.

Race Courses are being changed this year, as per the wishes of the Cruiser Forum, held earlier in the year. The courses will have variation to suit all tastes from 'fast boys' to us 'logs'. The course cards will be available before the ...................
                    

FIRST RACE ON THE 30TH..

Jim McNaughton’s commitment to sailing gains the royal seal of approval

On Thursday 22nd November, well known Club member Jim McNaughton was recognised for his dedication to our sport when he was presented with the RYA’s Lifetime Commitment Award for the Eastern Region by HRH The Princess Royal, the association’s president. Our Commodore was also invited to attend the presentation and the Commodore’s Reception that followed.

It is estimated that through Jim’s enthusiasm and leadership, well over 1000 successful candidates have been enthused and made competent, safe sailors through the courses run here at the Club.

The longevity of Jim’s absolute commitment to sail training is staggering. Now in his 76th year, he continues to manage and deliver both shore based courses and practical examinations. To acknowledge his exceptional service to sailing, in 2002 Jim was made an Honorary Life Member of the Club.

SASKIA IS TOAST OF THE COUNTY

WMYC member Saskia Clark is Essex Sports Personality of the Year.

She scooped the top award at a glittering ceremony hosted by SportEssex in Chelmsford just weeks after being named a member of the British Olympic Sailing Team.

Speaking from a training camp in Palma, Majorca, Saskia thanked everyone in Mersea and Essex for supporting her and team mate Christina Bassadone in their bid for an Olympic medal.

One of only 18 sailors who will compete for Great Britain in Beijing 2008, Saskia sails in the women’s double handed 470 dinghy. She and Christina have spent the last three years ranked among the best in the world and have medaled at the last two world championships.

“It is great to know we have so much support on Mersea and in Essex and it makes us proud of what we have achieved,” she said afterwards. “Next year is a big year for us; we have the skills and the right support to do well. We now have to pull it all together and make sure we can perform when it matters.”

The pair will spend the early part of this winter fitness training in the Balearics before getting back on the water in mid-December for a regatta in northern Spain. They then fly to Melbourne, Australia for the 2008 world championships, the first of, next season’s round of Olympic Class regattas.

Saskia has also been short listed for the regional BBC East Sports Awards which take place at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford on Monday 12th November.

You can see Saskia’s video acceptance at: http://www.sportessex.com/sports_awards.php

Hear her live interview on BBC Essex at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/articles/2007/11/09/essex_sports_awards_feature.shtml

RNLI Pennant Race - Photo Gallery from Janus van Helfteren

Those of you racing may have spotted Janus out there with a long lens; he took loads of great shots.  Click below for the gallery and contact him on janus"at"van-cols.co.uk if you'd like a copy of any image, all profits to the RNLI

6"x8" at £6/print (50% to RNLI) plus £1 p&p - larger sizes available

RNLI Pennant Photo Gallery from Janus CLICK HERE