Sailing Secretary’s Report

The season got off to a good start, due to a late Easter and good weather. Since then there has been a relatively low turn-out for races/cruises but several club members have been participating in a variety of other events such as the Classics’ Sole Bay Festival, other OGA fixtures and racing on the Medway and elsewhere.

Several boats attended the Shakedown Cruise to Woolverstone in early May and a respectable number turned up for the Passage Race to Harwich Town Sailing Club. Would those who competed in this event please let me have their finish time so I can work out the results? No times means no prizes! Unfortunately, the recent Passage Race to Harwich and Dovercourt Sailing Club has to be postponed due to lack of interest. Although several people were talking about going, visits to other clubs require a definite advance commitment for catering purposes and the complication of a not-ideal tide time necessitating an overnight stay on the Saturday probably put some people off. We will see if we can run this event later in the year or make it a post-season drive-down social, perhaps in November.

The Micro races continue to be fairly well supported and eight boats took part in the two-day Micro ‘World Championships’ at Manningtree at the end of June. Winning streaks established early in the season by Ian Pavey in Muscle and Tony Power in Takita are now under threat from Martin Pavey in Virus who has splashed out on new sails and Dave Waters in Indecision whose recent ‘retirement’ from working in the City seems to have given him a new lease of life. Martin Pavey won the ‘Worlds’ overall, ably crewed by Andrew Yates, with Ian Pavey and Steve Garnham second and Neil Manning with Robert Gee and Peter Shakespeare third. Unlike last year, this year was blessed with sun and manageable amounts of wind.

The most exciting development so far this year has been the Junior events. Two have been held so far with some thirty children taking to the water in a variety of boats, including dinghies, canoes and motor boats. These sessions were intended to be taster sessions and have been supplemented by Sail Training at Alton Water for beginners and Manningtree for Improvers. Many of those who turned up for the Junior events had not sailed at all before and are keen to build on this experience. A Newsletter especially for the Juniors is being prepared to go out with Bowsprit. Thanks go to all those who have helped in any way to make these events such a success.

Forthcoming events include an attempt at another ‘Swallow and Amazons’ Event at Holbrook Creek on 9th/10th August, weather permitting. Keep a look out for more information nearer the time. The highlight of the year, Regatta weekend, takes place on 30th/31st August. Sailing events will be similar to last year with a Pursuit Race on the Saturday and class racing on the Sunday. More details appear in this issue of Bowsprit. We hope to see as many of you as possible out on the water for Regatta weekend.

Jenny Pavey