Radio Sailing News Archive
Vintage day Wednesday 14th July
IOM Quad Club Event 9 June
With blue skies and a strengthening wind, the first post-Covid open event was a glorious day. We were able to welcome clubs from Hampton Court, Emsworth and Woking. With 20 boats on the water there was some keen team racing with Hampton Court Model Yacht Club triumphant. Emsworth, Woking and Frensham were 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.
Post lockdown rules
1. By arriving for sailing you are self-certifying that you are, to the best of your knowledge, free of COVID.
2. No more than 30 members at one time per day - but the Groups of 6 rule no longer applies.
3. Park your cars 2 metres apart and still obey self-distancing (2 metres).
4. No entry to clubhouse apart from DO and to visit lavatories.
5. Click here for the DO Rota
These Rules and arrangements are likely to be changed/relaxed in the coming days and weeks as HM Government change them. Such changes will be circulated once we are sure.
Plans for 2021
At this stage of COVID the Programme for 2021 needs to be adaptable and to incorporate into the FPSC timetable of events. There will be the normal Seasonal events.
The Summer Cup (with eight event days) starts on 25 May 2021 and Autumn (with four event days) starts on 21 September. All three Classes (Big boats, IOMs and DF) will have the same arrangements.
The Winter Cup will probably begin on 2 November 2021.
Various Open events are planned, including Nick’s Knots for IOMs on Wednesday 15 September 2021. In addition there will be a first Quad Club event (IOMs) held between Frensham, Emsworth, Hampton Court and Woking on Wednesday 9 June 2021. Once all the arrangements are in place, the NoR etc will be published. There will be a minimum of five skippers/boats per team and the aim for all four Clubs will be to select a representative team spanning all abilities.
The overall aim is to get back to sailing a regular and planned schedule of races and Series for all three Classes just as soon as we can and to put the stresses and strains of coping (in sailing and racing terms) with COVID and its associated rules behind us. The best way to do this is to be as patient as we can be until all UK lockdown/distancing rules have been lifted.
MYG Charity
Our chosen Charity for 2021 is the Woodlarks Campsite, Farnham which provides care and support for people with a range of disabilities - including outdoor activities. Further details of this will be circulated once we know what we can reasonably accomplish this year.Every effort will be made to have the famous orange bucket to the fore at our Open and other events. Thank you to all members for their wonderful donations in 2020 and long may they continue in 2021.
Nigel Barrow has brought together his experiences of building and sailing an IOM. Go to www.nigelbarrow.co.uk.
While there is no sailing, have a look at the photos of past sailing triumphs at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13r8bcOmDOHpmSc-s9KNsxKnF4yqJXsd1?usp=sharing
Keep up to date on the FPMYG Whatsapp Group. To join email mygresource@gmail.com with you mobile phone number. You will need to have Whatsapp running on your mobile.
Winter Sailing
At the first meeting of your Steering Group for 2020 it was decided to try a different approach for the winter season (formerly the winter series). Instead of having a race series where every weeks races are part of the one event, there will be individual Cup day races with boat types split as before, up to one meter and over one meter. Each weeks event will be individual with simple prizes for the winners.
The aim of this change is to take account of variable weather conditions during the winter period and remove the pressure to attend and sail every week to be competitive in the series. The winter season results will be aggregated so we will still award a winter season trophy for the best skipper(s) overall. Work continues on how to decide the overall winner(s) will be, taking into account discards sailable days etc.
The MYG Charity collection
£420 was presented to the Shooting Stars Chase charity on Tuesday 28 January at the lake. Ellie Constable (the Community Fundraiser for Shooting Stars) not only accepted the cheque but sailed a Dragon on a freezing but beautifully sunny day. Shooting Stars Chase provides hospice care for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families. They are based in Hampton and Guildford.
Many thanks to all who contributed to the orange bucket including members of the group and visitors on race days and open events.
First Open Footy event 2020
On Sunday 2nd February 10 Skippers turned out to The Guildford Club's Abbey Mead Water for an enjoyable days sailing. There was a 15-20 mph wind with strong frequent gusts. C or D rigs were the choice of most skippers until the afternoon when the wind dropped a bit and when most changed to a slightly larger rig, but we still had the gusts. In total 15 races were completed on a windward leeward course, with an extended windward leg for the drive to the finish line. Each of the races fell into a predictable pattern with Peter Shepheard taking the lead chased by Roger Stollery and Peter Jackson, David Wilkins was next, sailing a una rig footy. Then came the juniors, Oliver and Nathan Stollery over seen and supported by their father Peter, then the rest.
Another stunning day on sailing barge Alice
Peter Wallis organised his annual excursion on the Solent on the sailing barge Alice. For a full report and pictures see here.
MYG photo library
The new photo library is now here. See:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13r8bcOmDOHpmSc-s9KNsxKnF4yqJXsd1?usp=sharing
All photos are welcome: contact Jon Maslin or Paul Brooks if you have some to upload.
Summer Friday evenings
Do you fancy a Friday Fling? Frensham Pond will be open for sailing on the Friday evenings of July and August, why not come and sail and enjoy a jar afterwards?
It should be possible to sail from (say) 6:30 to 9pm, and last year proved to be enjoyable and relaxing. We have in mind free sailing, but if there are a few of us we can try some boat tuning. It is an excellent opportunity to try some new rig settings.
Annual Picnic 2019
A good day's sailing with an excellent picnic provided by The Vine. Fair winds, a good lunch and £250 contributed to one of our selected charities.
Featured yacht this year was Peter Mitchell's J Class with revised keel.
Footy weekend 13th/14th April 2019
Report by Roger Stollery
Saturday’s racing
Fred’s Big Toephy
This Footy event was postponed from the cold snowy conditions in February planned for sailing at Guildford Model Yacht Club’s water at Abbey Meads Lake, Chertsey. Subsequently this event and the Videlo Globe event were brought together to create a weekend of Footy sailing in what should have been better weather.
Far from it, Saturday was freezing cold with incredibly variable north-easterly winds 3 to 8 mph and attracted a small, but high quality entry from the Abington Park and Birmingham clubs, as well as the local entries from Frensham Pond and the host club.
Race Officers Martin Crysell and Peter Dunne had a difficult job as the wind was so variable, but set a simple windward leeward course several times to get the best angle for the windward legs.
The event started well with a win for Roger Stollery sailing his new ICE, but he was then beaten into 2nd and 3rd places by John Burgoine in the next two races. Peter Shepherd then headed the fleet to win Race 4, before letting John have a run of 4 consecutive wins only interrupted by Roger in Race 9. John's winning streak continued in the next race, but Peter took Race 11 and the last Race 14. John sailed incredibly well with 9 wins, having to discard a 3rd place as his second worst score! With a well setup rig and beautiful home-made sails, John looked invincible when combined with his clever strategy around the course. The powerful ICE design is resistant to nosediving and was able to manage the vicious gusts, which struck the course from several different angles.
Unusually, we welcomed a spectator, George Cannon and his wife Shirley, who had read about the event on the Footy website. He had a Footy himself but wanted to glean information about the latest developments with a view to starting a class at his steamboat club near St Albans.
Results:
1stJohn BurgoineBirminghamICE 152ndPeter ShepherdAbington ParkFAT BOY SLIM 283rdRoger StolleryGuildfordICE 314thPeter JacksonAbington ParkIBEX 405thKeith ParrottFrensham PondICE 53
The Dinner
Everyone thawed out in a local pub with a dinner and the usual discussions about new Footy developments and putting the world to rights.
John's ICE 35 in a match race with Peter Shepherd's FAT BOY SLIM 65
Roger Stollery's ICE 17 pushing John for the lead
Sunday’s racing
Videlo Globe
If Saturday felt cold, it was nothing to Sunday’s exposure to the icy 4-12 mph north-easterly wind blowing onshore into the control area at Frensham Pond. Race Officer, Roger Stollery, set a simple windward leeward course, which had to be varied as the winds became more easterly during the afternoon. The Footys were sharing the pond with combined Lark/RS 200 dinghy open events, which provided an interesting background to the Footy racing. Whilst the dinghies had 4 races, Footys had 17 and despite the small size, more starts and more racing created more fun for the 10 boat Footy entry, which equaled the numbers in each of the dinghy classes.
With a pole on the bank to adjust the starting line angle there were some very even starts and very good racing. The difference in the conditions compared with the Saturday was that the big waves created by the onshore wind suited the diagonally measured fine ended narrow boats better, as they were able to slice through the waves more easily than the more powerful, wider and more bluff-bowed boats that had dominated racing the day before. They won all but 3 races, which were won by the ICEs of Keith Parrott in Race 4, John Burgoine in Race 7 and Graham Whitehead in Race 9.
Just as John had dominated the Saturday racing, so Peter Shepherd sailing his balsa FAT BOY SLIM, lead the fleet on 10 occasions, often by a large margin as his boat was perfectly suited to these wave conditions. The other races were won by the IBEX designs sailed by Sid Sims in Race 5 and the IBEX designer, Peter Jackson, in Races 12, 13 and 16.
The prize-giving
The Frensham Pond Sailing Club Commodore, Jeremy Hudson gave away the prizes and marveled at the number of races sailed and gave his full backing to this form of sailing at the club. The race team of Roger, Nick Royse, Steve Hill and Bryan Stichbury were thanked for having to work in such cold conditions.
Footy boat developments
Footys are made from many different materials, balsa as the winner of the Videlo Globe, plywood, corrugated plastic and carbon fibre, which at this small scale is not expensive. However there were new developments at this event, as David Wilkinson initially sailed a 3D printed GREEN HORNET hull designed in America by Bill Hagerup and built by David’s clubmate. It looked good, but suffered from mechanical/radio problems. The Footy is absolutely ideal for this method of construction, with the whole hull being manufactured ‘ by string’ wound vertically from the transom to the bow. Whilst the finish was not perfect with tiny ridges that one could feel long the surface, it does hold great promise for the class as lightweight hulls can be made quickly and cheaply in one piece.
It is likely that the long fin of a Footy is still likely to be made with more suitable reinforcement material such as carbon fibre. Roger’s new ICE was sporting a new set of low drag fin and rudder sections designed by Dave Hollom, of America’s Cup fame.This boat was used by John Burgoine before lunch and David Wilkinson later using their own rigs when their boats had to be retired and it showed some promise.
Results:
1stPeter ShepherdAbington ParkFAT BOY SLIM 192ndPeter JacksonAbington ParkIBEX 303rdGraham WhiteheadFrensham PondICE 574thSid SimsBirminghamIBEX 585thKeith ParrottFrensham PondICE 616thDavid WilkinsonCotswoldGREEN HORNET 767thJohn BurgoineBirminghamICE 878thColin RobertsonCheddar SteamIBEX 929thTony ButlerBirminghamIBEX 9810thSteve HillFrensham PondICE 157
John Burgoine receiving Fred's Big Toephy from RO Martin Crysell (on the right)
Photographs courtesy of Peter Dunne and Roger Stollery.
Click here for a photograph gallery.
The large number of free hull designs and a full programme of Footy racing can be followed on www.sailfootyuk.com.
The boats we sail
The recent survey of boats sailed showed the rapid growth of the DF65 class. While there are three major groups, members have a diversity of other non-class boats.
Boats sailed
Spring Series trial
For the Spring Series 2019 we will three racing sessions. The Dragonforce DF65s will continue to sail at the western end of the embankment. There will be separate alternating races for IOMs and larger boats such as 10Raters and Marbleheads.
Welcome to new members
Peter Kirby
Keith Wharburton
Richard Bailey
Keith Williams
2018 MYA FOOTY Open and Junior National Championships
John Burgoine became the new national Footy champion on the 16th September at this open championship, which attracted 17 entries from 7 clubs. Thanks to the efforts of the host club and the class captain, Peter Shepherd, it was a very successful event, despite light and very variable south-westerly winds.
In addition to this event, Frensham Pond Sailing Club were also organising a Laser dinghy open meeting and there was no problem with sharing the water as the Footys sailed in only a small area close to a grassy bank between the launching jetties.
At registration, all competitors were pleased to receive an MYA championship cap, each with their sail number on the peak, thanks to the Footy class captain and the MYA. Included in the 17 entries, which is the best for many years, 5 children between 5 and 8 years old took part in the Junior Championship, which was sailed within the Open Championship until lunchtime, when the Colts Foot Trophy and prizes were presented. Young competitors continued to have fun in the afternoon sailing in the 16 races that determined the Open Championship.
Race Officer, Roger Stollery, set a windward leeward course, with a windward and spreader mark and a leeward gate. The start and finish lines were adjusted by poles on the bank to suit the wind variations. Despite dramatic wind changes caused by the wind blowing over the trees and causing big eddies and blowing in the opposite direction through the trees, the course worked well and was enjoyed by competitors.
The morning’s racing
There was a surprise winner of Race 1 as 8 year old Oliver Stollery, who had arrived only just in time, started on port near the bank and sailed away from the fleet to create a lead, which he never lost. Top Footy sailor, Peter Shepherd won the next one with his beautiful varnished wooden Fat Boy Slim, but only finished 2nd in Race 3 to John Burgoine sailing an ICE. However, Peter won 3 of the next 4 races, only beaten by John in Race 6. At the lunch break competitors enjoyed cooked food in the clubhouse. The lunchtime leaderboard was headed by Peter with 8 points, ahead of John with 12 and Keith Bell with 23 points.
The afternoon’s racing
After lunch the Junior Championship trophy and the prizes were presented and all but the 2 girls continued to race in the main event. The winds were a bit more tricky, as more vicious eddies were caused by the strengthening breeze. However John was the master of these shifts and had 7 straight wins, keeping Peter in 2nd place most of those races.
There was a new winner in Race 15, as Peter Jackson sailed his IBEX into the lead. There was another new winner in the final Race 16 when local sailor, Graham Whitehead finally got on top of the podium!
All retired to the clubhouse for tea and cakes and the presentation of the trophies and prizes by the Frensham Pond Sailing Club commodore, Jeremy Hudson. Prizewinners thanked Roger and the club members for putting on another good event. Jeremy was impressed by the radio sailing and hoped that competitors would return again next year.
The boats
The jury is still out on whether the axial measured boats are superior to the boats measured diagonally within the one foot long measurement box, even though in this event the former design type won. Most interesting was the multi-chine HAWK design, built by 7-year-old Edward Lee and his dad William. Not only is this a fantastic effort by a young builder, but Cherub dinghy sailor William’s input was to add a horizontal foil to the rudder, which from his dinghy experience has the effect of damping the motion of these rather light bob-about hulls. Although this team had a problem with leaking, it certainly made the designers in the fleet think about its potential for new designs.
Results of the Open Championship:
1stJohn BurgoineBirmingham MYCICE182ndPeter ShepherdAbington Park MYCFAT BOY263rdKeith BellAbington Park MYCIBEX424thPeter JacksonAbington Park MYCIBEX465thKeith ParrottFrensham Pond MYGICE626thGraham WhiteheadFrensham Pond MYGICE687thDavid WilkinsonCotswold MYCICE898thSidney SimsBirmingham MYCICE939thOliver Stollery (jr)Guildford MYCICE10510thColin RobertsonCheddar Steam ClubICE12311thJohn HaineFrensham Pond MYGICE14012thCharles SmithFrensham Pond MYGICE15213thEdward Lee (jr)Guildford MYCHAWK16914thTony ButlerBirmingham MYCICE17115thEden Vice (jr)Guildford MYCICE18216thNathan Stollery (jr)Guildford MYCICE18917thAlice Lee (jr)Guildford MYCICE205
Junior Championship results
1stOliver Stollery9 points2ndEdward Lee193rdNathan Stollery214thEden Vice245thAlice Lee27
Frensham Pond MYG IOM Open Meeting 12th September 2018
The Frensham Pond IOM Open Event for Nick's Knots was sailed on Wednesday 12 September. The wind was predominately north east or thereabouts. Initially some 10 mph, it faded as the day went on. This was a demanding day for course setting as the wind was predominately onshore. Accordingly the start line was almost parallel to the shore, leaving a tight area for prestart manoeuvres. A total of twenty two entrants braved the conditions, and a fine day's racing was had by all, even if a few races were completed in some drizzle. The entrants were divided into two fleets with four promotions and demotions between the fleets after every race.
Master of the conditions was Dave Adam sailing his Britpop design 36. Such was Dave’s mastery that after eight races he was able to discard a 4th and a 3rd place. He was greatly consistent with four second places. However, the fleet was competitive, and there were six different race winners, which made Dave’s consistency all the more impressive.
In second and third place were a new design, Stephen Ridgeways Sedici 02, and John Shorrock with another Britpop 29. Dick Jobbins with a Merlo came fourth, following his second place last year.
All contestants were very well behaved with penalty turns for infringements being done promptly and usually without any reminders being needed. A strong contingent of Frensham MYG members was there - some sailing and some helping with the race administration - especially noteworthy being John Haine's PC skills with the MYA race management system, which worked flawlessly producing results and current placings within moments of the end of each heat.
The twenty two sailors came from twelve Clubs, and enjoyed a cream tea and prize giving at the end of the day.
Report by Nick Royse and photos by Tony Schlaeppi
10 hour race 2018
By 08:30 hours all of the MYG members who had promised to come and sail had turned up and set up our gazebo on the bank and prepared the first model yachts so that we could have a presence on the water as soon as the start signal was given for the event to begin. The early wind was quite a strong easterly making the choice of rig a B for the IOM's present, with the 15Meters reducing their topsails. There was only one of the powerful rescue boats on the pond, which at Paul's request was readily handed over for us to set out a simple windward leward course in the form of a flat triangle between the piers and close in to the bank, this worked well all day and did not result in any conflicts with the dinghy fleet.
At 09:00 on the dot the klaxon sounded and treated us to the magnificent site of a mass start as all of the mixed dinghy fleet headed off into wind from the clubhouse end on the pond.Whilst our model skippers settled into a rhythm negotiating our course and counting the number of laps completed, not as easy as it seemed.
Our early morning skippers were Paul Brooks, Graham Whitehead, Peter Martin, Graham Hetem, Rod Evens, Peter Mitchell and me. During the day we were joined by Roger Carter, Richard Baldey and Byran Stitchbury.
We had a good model yacht presence all morning with up to 5 boats on the water at any one time. As midday passed and having fulfilled their promise to sail, skippers started to leave and head home to their domestic commitments. The first boat to succumb to the rigors of sailing continually was Peter Martin's IOM with displaced winch sheeting, just leaving us with Graham Whitehead's and my boats to keep up the MYG presence. The winch in Graham's IOM was next to give up, but having a spare in his tool box he set to replace it, not an easy task pondside. I pressed my DF65 into service to join my Trusty IOM Gadget, aided by Peter Martin, Richard Baldey and Bryan Stitchbury we continued to keep the MYG pressence going on the water. Roger Carter also joined us for a while inbetween his rescue boat duties. Graham was able to return his IOM to the fray for the last hour or so.
It was disappointing that no more MYG members came along in the afternoon to support this event, it really was a great sailing day and an ideal chance to practice or experiment without the presasure of racing.
By 17:00 there was only only 4 of us left with only my DF65 and Graham and my IOM's to sail. With domestic duties calling and boats and batteries having had a hard day we decided we had done our bit, ceased sailing and cleared away.
The orange bucket had been on duty all day and I am pleased to report that at end of play it contained a total of £70.50p which I handed over on behalf of the MYG to Jeremy Hudson, the club commodore.
In total the MYG skippers sailed a total of 464 recorded laps of the course which was about 100 meters per lap. This meant our boats sailed a total distance of 4.64 kilometers, Graham achieving the most laps at 157.
Thanks to all of the MYG Skippers who came along and supported our presence at this club event, which was duly noted.
Report by Keith Parrott
Footy Open Videlo Globe Trophy
We ran the Footy Open Videlo Globe Trophy on Wednesday 11th April as planned, despite the lowest entry for some years. Originally we had a confirmed pre-entry of 8 skippers but only 6 made it to the event. Others were expected but in part due to the NOR not going out on the SailFooty website until late and some of the Midland skippers attending the funeral of a fellow model yachtsman, only two visitors travelled south from the area with the most concentrated group of Footy sailors.
The day started early for our Race Officer Roger Stollery who was seen manfully rowing the aluminium boat around to lay out the course when I arrived at 08.20am. With the variable NEN wind Roger laid an interesting course starting between the two jetties at the clubhouse end of the bank. A row of windward bouys were laid out to act as the turning marks allowing easy adjustment for the shifts in the wind direction.
The racing started in the usual good humour and well mannered tradition. From the start it was clearly going to be a battle between Peter Shepheard and Peter Johnson who was going to take home the trophy, Peter S has won the event for the past 5 years and was determined to take it home to put it back on the shelf in the same spot to avoid having to dust it. But the two Peters did not have it all their own way, a lot of the time especially in the morning Keith Parrott was hot on their heels and even won one race by a clear margin. Charles Smith, recently back from a holiday in Singapore and sailing a borrowed Footy, took time to settle with the boat but was soon in the mix with John Haine and Colin Robertson, our other visitor. John's day was distrupted by having to miss a few races for a medical appointment. After the lunch break the wind had slackened a little and the racing was much closer between John, Charles, Colin and Keith.
In the end Peter Shepheard retained the Videlo Globe Trophy despite Peter J's determined efforts to wrest it away from him, whilst Keith P took the last place on the podium by coming 3rd and at last losing his Novice Status. Charles followed by Coling took the next two places and John picked up the last skipper award.
It was a really good days sailing with just the right amount of wind and no rain even if it was overcast. Thanks must go to Roger for running the event also to Nick Royce who compiled the scores whilst carrying out enmergency duties.
Bank protection
On the 16th May a small work party gathered to replace most of the original bank protection. Masterminded by Roger, your Steering Group, assisted by Graham Whitehead braved the strong winds and cool water to install new Corex bank protection sheets to protect our yachts from the rock filled Gabions.
10R and Marblehead Open Meeting 25 April 2018
There was a forecast of winds from 15 to 20mph average, with anticipated gusts up to 28mph. An exciting day was the prospect. As it transpired the winds did drop to almost nothing briefly but the strongest gusts could well have been near those anticipated. In practice the gusts were not so much cat’s paws as a Lion’s paw as one competitor put it.
We had a dismasting, several ‘sail aways’ and a couple of entanglements to sort out. Not surprising really in view of the problems of control in the more extreme gusts.
Most competitors selected ‘A’ rigs, but a few sailed with ‘B’ or ‘C‘ rigs all day. Generally the ‘A’ rigs were dominant, but suffered badly when gust hit them on downwind legs. Several times many boats buried their bows, and were uncontrollable for brief periods.
However, in spite this, and of some significant wind shifts the course remained substantially the same, although the starting line was adjusted several times, this was easy to achieve as an onshore post was used to define one end of the line.
Twelve races were sailed with a break for lunch, and another pause for a heavy shower while we all huddled under the large gazebo.
Both Marbleheads and 10 Raters sailed as a single fleet, which is the common practice at Frensham. Many were surprised that Roger Stollery won the first race with a Marblehead, and indeed was leading the Series at lunch lime. However David Potter, who had initially been delayed by heavy road traffic, showed near dominance at the front of the fleet with his Defector 10 Rater. David won seven of the twelve races sailed. He was normally pushed by Roger Stollery who won two of the races, and Dave Andrews won the other three races. Roger sailed his own design UP Marblehead, and Dave sailed a 10 Rater of Diamond design. These three were in a class of their own. Roger Carter had borrowed Graham Whitehead’s Slim10 10 Rater, and after he had sorted out initial winch problems started snapping at the leader’s heels in the afternoon, with top six results in the last four races.
A special mention should go to Chris Head, who removed the receiver from his own boat and lent it together with his transmitter to Dave Andrews. This enabled Dave to sail in the Series as he had forgotten to bring his own receiver. An impressive act of sportsmanship by Chris.
After a full day on the water, having endured the testing combinations of flat calms, rain squalls and sunshine and large wind shifts, the sailors retired to the Clubhouse for a well-deserved cream tea to round off an enjoyable day.
1stDavid PotterBirkenhead10R Defector2ndDave AndrewsMYSA10R Diamond3rdRoger StolleryGuildford MYCMarblehead UP4thPhil HollidayDatchet Water RSC10R Diamond5thRoger PearceFrensham MYG10RDefector6thMartin CrysellGuildford MYCMarblehead Prime Number
Report by Nick Royse
MODEL YACHT GROUP 10 HOUR CHARITY CHALLENGE 2017
Despite the FPSC 2016 10 hour event being cancelled the Model yacht Group (MYG) went ahead and raised a total of £200 for the Phylis Tuckwell Hospice Charity. Our challenge was could we beat that total in 2017.
Sailing on the same day and for the full 10 hours 10 members of the MYG sailed their Radio Control model yachts around a limited course set close to the bank so as not to hinder the Sailing Club dinghy Skippers in their charity event as they came in to change crews every hour. It was much appreciated that the dinghy skippers showed respect to the radio sailors by keeping clear of their boats and course.
The number of laps of the course completed by each model yacht was noted, A total of 846 laps were sailed in the 10 hours by a variety of designs of model yacht from the1 meter class up to the 10Raters. The highest individual score being 189 laps by boat No23 sailed by Ian Garner closely followed by boats 56 with 170 laps sailed by Rod Evans., and boat No 10 with 140 laps sailed by Graham Whitehead. Other Radio Skippers during the day all doing their bit to add to the total were Bryan Stitchbury, Peter Martin, Paul Brooks, Pat Reed, Peter Broome, Tony Schlaeppi and Keith Railton. For the radio skippers it was an ideal days sailing, lovely sunshine a steady easterly breeze with dinghy’s sailing in the background. Only worry was would their batteries last.
It was initially intended to seek sponsorship for the number of laps completed by the model yachts, but led by Paul Brooks wielding his trusty yellow bucket over the past few weeks. MYG members just decided to support those who sailed for the 10 hours and have raised A TOTAL OF £400 for this very worthy local charity.
18th July 2017
Keith Parrott
Cheque presentation
MODEL YACHTS AT THE FRENSHM POND SAILING CLUB OPEN DAY 13TH MAY 2017
by Keith Parrot
The Model Yacht Group jumped at the chance of increasing our profile and exposure to the Sailing Club members and any visitors who might be interested in our activities.
From the programme of events planned for all the dinghy classes it was clear that putting model yachts on the water was not a sensible option. In any case the bank would be used for a display of dinghies. So we set up a gazebo with a comprehensive static display of all the types of model yachts sailed by the MYG members. Arriving at the pond at 08:30am, yes we can get up early sometimes, we were fortunate to meet Stefan Bennett who was the club organiser for the event, with Stefan’s help it was agreed that we could set up our gazebo and display on a patch of grass close to the club house and clear of the dinghy activities. This proved to ideal as we were in a very visible location and close to the BBQ.
Nick Royse bought along his own design IOM for display but apart from occasional visits to make sure we were behaving ourselves, was committed to instructing dinghy sailing on the day. The other MYG members, Pat Reed, Peter Wallis and Graham Whitehead all bought along the models that had been requested so we had everything from a Footy up to Graham’s “Slim 10” 10 Rater on display. Other interest was covered with Peter W’s Trimaran and Adam Craft. Bryan Stitchbury gave us all great support with the practical tasks of setting up and clearing away.
The day started bright and dry with lots of activity members everywhere setting up dinghies
Frensham Pond 10 Rater Open - April 19th 2017
report by Nick Royse
This is the first time Frensham Pond Sailing Club have run a 10 Rater Open Meeting. It was therefore very rewarding to have an entry of nine sailors making the journey to Frensham to take part in the event at our beautiful location. A beautiful tankard had been donated by Paul Brook as the prize for the event. The whole day was sunny with a light, predominately easterly breeze and everyone had a great deal of fun sailing the 13 races that were completed in the four hours of racing time.
Nick Royse, as RO ably assisted by Peter Martin and Bryan Stitchbury set a simple windward leeward course with separate start and finish lines. Nick set an array of buoys at the windward end of the course to enable the windward leg to be varied in angle to accommodate the wind variations. There were plenty of these throughout the day, but generally this ploy was successful.
The breeze was light, perhaps no more than 7mph, but briefly some races became “drifters” as the wind tried to reverse in direction. Predominately the wind was from between the north east and an easterly directions. Regardless of what the wind was doing the same skippers seemed to show their skills to good effect.
Sailing his Defector consistently near the front of the fleet, Roger Pearce won the event. However equal on points and only separated on count back was Roger Stollery sailing his Marblehead Uproar, with an uprated 10 Rater rig. Colin Harper sailing his Blade IV sailed well for third place but could not find the consistency of the leaders.
Other notable aspects were the appearance of the prototype Frenetic design from the Peter Mitchell yard. Peter was sailing his first designed 10 Rater, Boubloon, and was a close fourth behind Colin. His new design showed great pace off-wind, but with sails that looked more like a pillow case, was unable to perform upwind.
The results and prize giving took place in the club house whilst tea and cakes were consumed. This midweek event was considered to be a success, and it is hoped that Frensham Pond Sailing Club Sailing Club MYG will repeat the event next year.
Results:
1st Roger Pearce Woking Defector 21
2nd Roger Stollery Guildford Uproar 10 21
3rd Colin Harper Hampton Court Blade IV 36
4th Peter Mitchell Frensham MYG Boubloon 37
5th Graham Whitehead Frensham MYG Slim 10 41
6th John Sturgeon Frensham MYG Bently 60
7th Keith Parrot Frensham MYG Bently Turbo 66
8th Paul Brooks Frensham MYG Frenetic 107
9th Clive Cooper Frensham MYG Bently 110
Videlo Globe Footy Open - April 12th 2017 report by Keith Parrott
This is the first time this event has been run mid-week, as weekend dates in April were unavailable due to major dinghy events at Frensham Pond Sailing Club. It was therefore very rewarding to have a dozen regular Footy skippers making the journey to Frensham to take part in near-perfect conditions at one of the best Footy venues. The whole day was sunny with a light westerly breeze and everyone had a great deal of fun sailing the 16 races that were completed in the four hours of racing time.
Roger Stollery, as RO ably assisted by Bryan Stitchbury throughout the day set a simple windward leeward course with separate start and finish lines. Roger in his usual meticulous manner realigned the course after Races 1 & 2 to take any bias out of the start line and gate at the leeward end against the mostly south westerly breeze. The breeze started the day lighter than forecast and several of the skippers sported “A” rigs for the first two races, but as the day went on “B” and “C” became the norm with occasional gusts causing most of the boats to broach at times.
Peter Jackson made a good start with a win in the first two races sailing his new IBEX design Footy. He was determined to wrest the trophy away from Peter Shepherd, who has won it for the previous 3 years. Peter Shepherd sailing his trusted balsa FAT BOY SLIM design after a slow start fought back as the event rolled on. Mike Ewart sailing an ICE, Keith Bell sailing an IBEX and David Wilkinson with his ICE sailed very consistently, finishing in that relative order taking most of the 3rd 4th and 5th places between them during the event. Sid Sims, who did not have one of his best days, had an enjoyable private battle with Colin Robertson throughout the day.
Of the local Frensham skippers, John Haine could only sail for the morning, whilst Steve Hill and Frank Wood were sailing boats that were not of one of the usual competitive designs. These skippers along with Colin Robertson showed their lack of experience and practise of sailing at this level of competition. Graham Whitehead pushed Keith Parrott hard, but did not prevent Keith getting his usual 6th pace overall back after the last Footy event. Keith is still trying to break into the top 5 group of Footy skippers.
There was some amazingly close racing not just at the top of the fleet, or even in the middle of the fleet, but at the bottom. The closest finish recorded being a split-second apart with the bottom two fighting it out for last place in Race 5! The standard of rule compliance was absolutely excellent and it may be because Footys are the ‘fastest boats in the world’ at doing penalty turns and therefore the penalty turn is less of a disadvantage and therefore easier to accept.
The results and prize giving took place in the club house whilst tea and cakes were consumed. This midweek event was considered to be a success, so much so that it was suggested that Frensham Pond Sailing Club Sailing Club MYG should consider running two events next year to bring the bias of Footy Open events further south away from the concentration in the midlands.
Thanks go to The Race Team, RO Roger Stollery, Bryan Stitchbury and Roger Carter for a well run event.
Results:
1st Peter Shepherd Abington Park FAT BOY SLIM 20
2nd Peter Jackson Abington Park IBEX 25.3
3rd Mike Ewart Abington Park ICE 32
4th Keith Bell Abington Park IBEX 43
5th David Wilkinson Cotswold ICE 56
6th Keith Parrott Frensham Pond ICE 63
7th Graham Whitehead Frensham Pond ICE 74
8th Sid Sims Birmingham ICE 99
9th Colin Robertson Cheddar Steam Club ICE 116
10th Frank Wood Frensham Pond ‘1299’ 124
11th Steve Hill Frensham Pond ‘1299’ 134
12th John Haine Frensham Pond ICE 162
Best novice of the day, Keith Bell.
Chairman’s Update March 2017
Thank to those who came to our Annual Meeting, as you will recall we were left without a Sailing Secretary. However the Steering Group have since responded to popular requests, and seconded Keith Parrot to join us. We spent most of our time at the SG Meeting today planning the coming Open Meetings, and looking briefly at our forthcoming events; see below.
You will also note that some of our buoys have been modified to make them easier to use and more reliable. We should thank Roger Carter for his design and work in this respect, please let him know what you think of the changes he is making.
During the discussions after the Rules talks organised by Rod, it was agreed to try two different systems of racing. Last week we tried a “K” course followed by a rectangular course, to see if this reduced interclass conflicts. The general conclusion was that this combination could work in theory, but was very sensitive to the prevailing conditions, timing, and buoy locations. As this appeared to be difficult to consistently get good results, we decided not to adopt this for the forthcoming Series. Today we started running the races with only one fleet on the water at a time. This was not popular as it seemed to involve too much hanging about waiting the alternative fleet to finish. The experiment was abandoned after only three pairs of races were completed all morning.
Accordingly we will sail our Spring Series using our normal method of starting the “Big Boats”, with the “Little Boats” starting as soon as practical afterwards.
The presentation by Rod of a video of our activities was quite shocking, and showed we must all try harder to avoid contacts, and sail by the rules. Remember, if you have a collision you are ruining the race for all boats involved.
Looking forward we have the trip to Chatham Rope Factory on 5th April, the Videlo Globe Open for Footies (12th April) our first 10R Open (19th April) and our 10 Year Celebration Lunch on 30th May, followed by a trip on Alice on 21st June. The trip organisation is with thanks to Peter Wallis, and yes, we have been very active for ten years now. I hope you all agree we are thriving. Please contact Paul Brooks if you want to help celebrating our MYG success during a lunch at the Farnham Golf Club on the 30th May.
Remember our Spring Series starts next week 21st March, hope to see a good turnout.
Good sailing,
Nick
Breaking News
From our survey the preferred travel is by a mini coach with Safeguard Coaches leaving Frensham at 09:30hrs cost £36.00 plus the £14 entrance to the dockyard .
Group expeditions
Peter Wallis is busy organising this year's expeditions. They are always interesting and in various ways eventful. So far this year they include a visit to Chatham Dockyard, the annual trip on Alice, and a return visit to Portsmouth Boathouse 4. Please confirm your interest to him at phwallis@btinternet.com. Full details are:
Chatham Dockyard, April 5
We are in the final stages of organising our visit to the Victorian Ropery at www.thedockyard.co.uk Chatham. I already have 8 reserved places and need a further 6 or more to qualify for a group discount. You may recall that initially we were taking the mini coach route but this option has been dropped as being too costly therefore it is my suggestion that we take 4 cars and I will be asking for these once numbers have been confirmed. We shall all assemble pondside at 09.15hrs for a departure at 09.30hrs. The estimated journey time is 1 1/2 hrs - upon arrival I suggest coffee followed by a conducted tour of the Ropery with lunch on site. I am reliably informed that it takes two days to cover all the dockyard so you will have plenty so see in the afternoon. If you look through their website this will give you a good idea of the exhibits you might like to visit. Whichever time we leave there will be traffic – I suggest we exit Chatham say 16.00hrs hopefully arriving back at Frensham around 18.00hrs. Cost group rate entrance is £14 and I suggest we each contribute to the cost of fuel on the day. Final details will be circulated once I have the numbers confirmed ‘promptly please’ from your goodselves – thank you.
Thames barge Alice, June 21 – new date
This is a few weeks later than last year so hopefully no sea mists. This will be on the same lines as previous and limited to 12 persons. Cost approx £80 each please let Peter Wallis know if you are interested.
Boathouse ‘4’ Sept 6 - new date
By request we are revisiting Boathouse ‘4’ to see the progress made on the restoration of the exhibits. There are no limits to numbers and we will start with coffee in Boathouse ‘4’ restaurant at 10.30hrs with lunch around 13.00hrs. As last year I will be asking for a donation towards the Boathouse ‘4’ that will be given on behalf of the Frensham MYG.
After lunch there will be free time to explore the historic dockyard at your leisure – do note that for other exhibits you will need to purchase tickets at the gatehouse.
IOM gear survey
Interesting survey of boat design and rigs sailed at IOM Nationals at West Kirby at https://gbriom.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/gear-guide-2016.pdf.
Programme change
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 7th February.
There is a change to one of the club training days in August. There will be no sailing on the 15th August and informal sailing on 1st August.
Sailing Secretary's Report 2016.
At the beginning of the year I stated what I wanted to achieve in my role of sailing secretary. These are my thoughts and impressions of what was achieved.
The Footy sailing has gone very well with the “Videlo Globe” Open being a success in April and 4 club Footy events during the year. Apart from me only Steve Hill ventured beyond our home water to sail in the Footy Open series. For the club events we usually had a turnout of 5 – 6 boats with Graham Whitehead and my ICE Footy’s setting the standard for the club. Information bought back from the open events on the latest mods’ to improve the performance of these little boats has been passed on. However I know new designs are in the pipeline for next year so we must continue to improve if we want our fleet to stay competitive.
Dragon DF65’s have been well represented on The Pond with some good club events led by the class captain Tony Schlaeppi. With the support of the Dragon Ladder team allowing the loan of their two boats we have always managed to put out a fleet of at least 5-6 boats to compete for the excellent Dragon Trophy donated by Tony, currently held by Ian Garner. New DF65’s are in the pipeline for next year when we can look forward to some more one design competitive sailing.
IOM’s continue to be the most prolific class of boat in the club. A lot of effort has gone into making new boats by some members; this is very encouraging as Nationally it is in danger of becoming an expensive one design class. The Mid –Week “Nicks Knots” IOM Event which the club put on for the first time was an unqualified success with more entries and from further afield than we expected. The feedback we have received shows there is a demand for this type of event and it is planned to be repeated in 2017. It’s pleasing to note that our home designed and built boats were seen to competitive against the well-known top designs.
The big boats; Marblehead’s and 10R’s, are well represented in the club with a good regular turn out each week of these larger classes. Along with a fortnightly gathering of a group of MYG skippers on the Hawley Lake water. They are frequently sailed boats, mostly of the older designs. However the future is looking good for the 10R’s with a new prototype design from Peter Mitchell with moulds under construction by Barry White for a “Frensham” boat in this class. It would be good to see a home grown 10R challenge the well-known top designs.
Alternative sailing at the club house end of the pond has been very popular with some members not wishing to compete in the usual days racing, preferring a more relaxed day or taking the opportunity to test and tune boats. Peter Wallis has done well this year to produce and sail a very nice, semi scale Adam Craft Along with sailing his trimaran and of late a refurbished Black Swan complete with bilge pump. Jon Maslin’s “Britannia” a classic vintage design has also made an appearance. Whilst Footy and Dragon Boat testing has gone on most of the year. The number of 8Meter boats in the club has declined, there now only being 5 boats owned by members who competed in the one design event run by Andy Andrews at the beginning of November.
The Club Summer Picnic was a lower key affair than usual this year. It was pleasing to have some of our lady supporters along to see what we get up to, perhaps next year we can get them to try their hand at sailing. For the first time we made use of the club Bar B Q and despite the heavy shower neither our spirits or the food was dampened.
Although the overall standard of sailing in the MYG has improved greatly over the past couple of years I feel this is an area where I should have given more focus. We still have too many conflicts rounding the bouys and reluctance by some to do penalty turns. Perhaps the winter months will allow us to have a few club house sessions on the rules and sailing tactics. Next year a few more non-series racing days have been put in the calendar some of which can be used to hone up our sailing skills.
Now for me. I have been on the Steering Group for 6 out of the 8 years I have been a member of the MYG. This last year as Sailing Secretary has been very enjoyable, challenging and at times frustrating. I have received a lot of support and encouragement from the MYG membership and am pleased that the SG has worked so well with Jon and Roger taking up posts under the guiding hand of Nick. But now I think it is time for me to step aside and let another member bring a fresh mind and new ideas to the role of sailing secretary.
Thank you all for your support in 2016. Wishing you all happy and enjoyable sailing in 2017.
Keith Parrott
Friday Evening Workshops
Roger Stollery's Friday evening workshops resume on 28th October. Always informative and a chance for practical experience, they are a stimulating evening. They start at 8.00pm and are held at the Victoria Halls, Ash. Dates and topics are:
28th October: Design
9th December: Moulding
27th January: Making sails
24th February: Sail setting and rigging
27th March: Rules & Race strategy
Boathouse 4
16 members of the Peter Wallis Expeditionary Force met indoors during excellent sailing weather for a visit to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with a guided tour of Boathouse 4.
Built immediately prior to the 2nd World War, the boathouse has been recently resuscitated with a mezzanine providing a boat display area and a bar and restaurant with magnificent views over Portsmouth harbour and HMS Victory. While it is open to the public to wander about the benefits of a guided tour had the benefit of a lot more information with access to restricted areas where the details of the work being carried out could be seen. The ground floor is where all the activity takes place with the renovation of about 20 boats and the building of new boats based on old designs. All of the boats are wooden and range from launches used on 1st World War ships to commodore's barges or 'green parrots' and private yachts but all in need of some tender loving care. Some of the boats had been built originally in the boathouse, but others came from a variety of yards so we could be shown carvel, clinker and diagonal planking methods. Often this work can take years to complete and can involve replacing planking and decking or even complete rebuilds of rotten sections. It was reassuring for those of us who build our own model yachts to see that the methods are practically identical. Boathouse 4 is the home of International Boatbuilding College and it is the students who do most of the work. They start with learning basic joinery skills and progress using hand tools only to complete boat building. There is a range of courses from day courses for caulking and tool care to 47 week courses leading to a City & Guilds Diploma. Cost? £80 to £15608. The student workshop was full so there shouldn't be a shortage of boat restorers, unless of course they go off and fit out luxury yachts.
New build with laminated keel
Lively Lady being prepared for 3rd time round the world
Lunch
Christmas Lunch Arrangements
Tuesday 13 December
This year the Christmas Lunch will be held at the Army Golf Club, Laffan's Road, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 2HF. The food will be good, and the company better. As usual guests and partners are welcome. Some members will even win prizes.
Frensham IOM Open for Nick's Knots Trophy
Wednesday 14th September saw Frensham Pond MYG's first ever Open for the IOMs. There were however 23 skippers/boats and the two flights had 8 good races in the day - ending just after 3pm. The day was beautifully warm but the wind was spasmodic and generally a little lighter than would have been chosen. In fact it was a Race Officers nightmare, with the basic windward / leeward course providing a beat, run and reach on every leg at some stage, and often during the same race. However, the 23 skippers/boats were very tolerant of the conditions, realising that the only way to race was to accept the variations and race regardless. The fleet was divided into two flights with promotions and demotions after each race. The course was reversed after lunch and the wind was somewhat more consistent. All skippers had the chance of 8 good races in the day; and racing finished just after 3pm.
In spite of the conditions some skippers managed to sail with remarkable consistency, the eventual winner, Dave Allison, discarded a 4th and 5th! In second place, just 3 points behind, was John Shorrock, whose son and grandsons sail at Frensham. The top Frensham MYG sailor was John Sturgeon sailing a borrowed wooden boat who came in third.
After the sailing the fleet enjoyed cream scones, cake and tea, while having a good chin wag. The general feeling was that Frensham had revealed a hidden demand for such mid-week fun events, and it is hoped that several other clubs will stage similar events in the future.
Many thanks go to all the MYG helpers, especially to our Sailing Secretary Keith Parrott, and to Jean Royse and Jacqui Sturgeon who organised the tea and cakes.
Date for the diary
Wednesday 19th October MYG Trip to The Boathouse, Portsmouth – See Peter Wallis for more information
Rules
The MYA has published some video guidance to the rules, please follow this link and learn!
MYG raise £200 for the Phillis Tuckwell Hospice
The 12th of July saw our Annual Picnic being held. The day did not hold much promise, with strongish winds and rain forecast. However, for those who attended, it turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable. The sailing was masterminded by Peter Mitchell and then Rod Evans as Duty Officers, and a splendid job they both did. At lunch we headed for the Awning at the front of the Clubhouse, and as if on key the rain appeared. However this did not stop the BBQ efforts, with Peter Wallis leading the way.
As the 10 Hour Race had been cancelled we agreed to use this event to raise some money in support of the Phillis Tuckwell Hospice.
There were a few tools available in response to a charitable donation, and the “Charity Box” circulated the dinners. Our afternoon tea also raised more funds for the Phillis Tuckwell charity, which was boosted by a magnificent anonymous donation of £50 from one member.
I have just returned from the Phillis Tuckwell Hospice where I was able to the donate £200 raised on the day (a figure achieved with the help of a small rounding off amount from private sources). This was a magnificent effort by our members, very well done.
2nd JULY 10 HOUR CHARITY EVENT - CANCELLED
As usual the MYG is going to take part in this event. This year instead of trying to keep 3 teams running throughout the 10 hours our aim is to have free sailing for most of the time with an impromptu team relay race for a couple of hours to spice up the day.
Three aims:
1. To raise money for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice to this end all skippers and MYG members will be invited to put a donation in our charity box.
2. To have model yacht(s) sailing on the pond throughout the 10 hours
3. To have an enjoyable day.
This is an opportunity for the MYG to showcase our activities. The classes of boats we sail from Footies up to 10R’s including vintage and specialist yachts. Would all skippers prepared to bring a boat along please let Keith Parrott know over the next couple of weeks.
Summary of Steering Group meeting on 2nd July 2016
The meeting concentrated on the actions decided upon at the last meeting. The following have been achieved:
Nick Royse has attended meetings at Reading and Eastleigh each of which ran 16 races in a day and which he found to be friendly and low key.
Roger Carter has made 2 new buoys of a modified design and will be testing them in deep water.
He has also produced an audit of the bosun’s shed. We decided that all the tools should be kept, but that all the consumables should be disposed of to members of the group.
The MYG now has a significant presence on the FPSC website. We are all grateful for the work Paul Brooks has done in the past, and will continue to provide him with results as long as he wished.
John Haine has taken over the recording of results and these are now displayed on the Club website along with other classes.
Sailing instructions have been produced.
The duties rota has been implemented successfully.
The MYA website now has the revised MYG secretary information. The new website will now be entered on the MYA website.
Keith Parrott will firming up dates for Footy, Dragons and 8metre events.
The IoM meeting in the Autumn will be held on Wednesday 21st September in order to allow for normal Tuesday sailing to be maintained. Invitations will be sent to local clubs. Tea/coffee and cakes will be provided.
The Summer picnic will be held on the 12th July when there will be free sailing. This year the Club barbecue is to be made available and the bar is to be open, but members will have to bring their own food. Local clubs will be invited.
The Group will take part in the Sailing Club 10-hr charity event on Saturday 2nd July with 3 teams. Keith will be emailing details.
There were a few administrative items. It is club policy that members have at least £2 million 3rd party insurance. This can be provided through membership of the MYA, but equivalent policies were acceptable. It is also club policy not to provide email addresses, so emails should use blind copies and the members list should be revised.
31st May
On Saturday I helped bring a couple of dozen Toppers to the Green in preparation for the RYA Sailing Courses next week. Please do not attend the Club hoping to sail this Tuesday, 31st May. On your behalf Paul Brooks has made arrangements for model sailing at Hawley Lake as an alternative. Please refer to his email for further details.
Sailing Instructions
Please view our Sailing Instructions that will apply henceforth. These will not being about a major change to our racing, but there are a few minor tweaks. Perhaps the main change is to the discards, there will now be two discards after six races, or days of racing in a Series. This recognises that some of our Series only have six days of sailing.
Results
The intention is to post the Series results in a similar manner to those for the main dinghy sailing. This will underline to the rest of the Club just how active we are, and that is down to the many members of our Group who enjoy regular sailing week after week. Thank you, and well done.
Spring Series
A hard fought Spring Series is finally over. Both Big and Little boat series were completely dominated by the winners.
In the Little boat Series Mike Christie won all but one of the days he sailed, only slipping to second overall on one day. His handicap improved by an amazing 22%, but this was from a low (for him) start. Nevertheless his final handicap of 96% is a remarkable achievement. The first three places were close, with only 6 points covering them. Other notable handicap results were the 19% improvement by John Haine, and 12% by John Maslin. Well done both.
The Big boat Series was dominated by Roger who was well clear of the field, as usual. Like Mike he won all but one of the days when he sailed, only slipping to second on one day. His handicap improved by 2% to 92% underlining his domination, which was particularly evident when he upgraded to his new 10R which is a very fast craft.
These Series are not just about the winners, and it is worth noting that the sailing was undertaken with a great spirit, and enjoyed by some 31 sailors who took part. Thank you everyone for joining in.
MYG “ALICE” SPRITSAIL BARGE TRIP WEDNESDAY 11TH May 2016
12 ancient mariners from the Model Yacht Group descended on GUN WARF QUAYS Portsmouth to have a day sailing on this marvellous Spritsail Barge. We drove through heavy rain to arrive at the quay to a damp misty morning with no wind. We were welcomed on board by the skipper and owner Alan, his crew Reg, Paul and Wilson the dog.
The first procedure of the day was to consume well filled bacon croissants washed down with tea and coffee, we could not do much more as the mist had thickened and was rolling in from the sea. We went on deck and enjoyed talking to members of a sail experience yacht as they prepared to spend the day exploring the town.
After a while the visibility opened up to about 100 yards. We got clearance from the harbour master to leave the quay after letting a ferry to go ahead of us. We set off under motor power for the Isle of Wight. We had not gone far when the mist thickened and was rolling in dense banks from the Solent. Using GPS but no radar, the skipper kept us in the middle of the channel, we all had to keep a good lookout as dredgers and incoming yachts appeared out of the mist, with visibility at times down to about 50 yards. We even had a twin hulled fast ferry come up astern of us which had to hove to and wait while we sedately moved to one side of the channel to give him sea room to pass.
As we got further out from the harbour the mist thinned and a course was set initially for Ryde where the skipper knew there was a suitable mooring and we could take turns at the helm. Unfortunately Alan was informed this was not available to us so we steered more to the west. We thought our skipper’s intention was to shift the IoW further out into the channel as he beached the barge on a sandy stretch. It was lunch time!
We feasted on jacket potatoes cold meats and salad, for afters homemade cheese cake all washed down with welcome beverages. Suitably fortified it was time to go to work as the wind had got up sufficient for us to set sail back to the marina. Pulling on sheets and lines as directed the main spritsail, jib and mizzen sails were all set, but the wind was very light and we barely made 4 knots. Excitement came in the form of a fleet of Seaview Mermaid yachts racing to a turning bouy directly ahead of our course. Like Nelson at Trafalgar we sailed directly through the middle of the yachts with much friendly banter between us, it was obviously not a serious race.
Just over half way back to our mooring in the marina it was time to start furling the sails and return to motoring. Furling and lashing the sails was a work of art about which the skipper was very meticulous. As we approached our mooring the skipper did his party piece by turning the barge in its own length and tying up with the bow pointed out to sea.
Our trip finished in MYG style with more tea, coffee and home-made biscuits.
RG 65 Sailing
Only seven of our gang had a go -or several goes-at our time trial on Tuesday 19 April. During the morning, wind was virtually non existent and lap times were around 5-8minutes with the exception of a gust which took John Sturgeon round in under 3 and a half minutes.
After lunch we had some brief blows and times gradually improved.Rod posted a time of 3.14 and improved it to 2.04 by 2 pm. Along came Graham W. and in 5 attempts managed FTD of 1.45secs.
Graham was awarded his prize - an r/c helicopter.
The participants enjoyed the day and would like another similar event (with some wind ! )
MYG Chairman’s Newsletter April 2016
New Steering Group
What happened? I was asked as soon as we had held our first SG meeting. Well not much to change our week to week activities. But most of us subscribe to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. That is not to say we have been inactive, but any changes will be gradually introduced. The main actions being undertaken are:-
Review the programme and duty rota. The old rota had several large inequalities on the number of duties expected of us all. This has been reviewed and will be published shortly. We have discussed possible activity changes, but are holding fire on any changes.
We decided to consider running an Open Meeting for IOMs. Reading Sailing Club are running one on 16th April, but we are thinking of starting gently with a mid-week (Tuesday) meeting in the Autumn.
A draft set of Sailing Instructions has been prepared to reflect the way we race and score our races. In order to reflect our practices we will increase the number of discards to 1 in 4 races, 2 in 6 races and 3 in 8 races. This will apply after the current (Spring) Series has been completed.
With regret I must record that Peter Mitchel has asked to be relieved of his scoring task. Peter has put much effort into this task for more than three years, and I am sure you will all echo the vote of thanks to him that was recorded in our Steering Group Meeting.
If you feel able to undertake this task, please contact a member of the Steering Group. As a temporary measure please return all race record sheets to me, or email them to myg.royse@gmail.com.
Jon Maslin has also set about updating our contact details with the MYA. Also Jon has already set up a database of members which included email addresses and phone numbers and will be extended to include boat details, MYA membership, and safety boat driver approval. I am sure it will be a useful tool.
In accordance with the General Committee’s wishes, we shall look at making more use of the main club’s website. Initial discussions have already taken place on this.
The practice of renewing our Afternoon tea sessions was discussed. This was viewed as a valued occasion to enable all members to come together and discuss sailing. The club had decided that facilities should be limited to heating water for tea and coffee. Home-made or shop bought cake could not be sold and MYG members would have to supply their beakers. There will be a box for donations to the MYG. These will be used to purchase the tea, coffee, cake etc. and hopefully would enable small purchases for bosun type repairs, prizes etc. Although Rod and Paul kindly offered to kick start this activity, we need others to help them. Please think of being a volunteer to help Rod and Paul undertake this key task.
The above comments reflect the Steering Group meeting on the 5th April. The formal minutes of that meeting will be accessible to members on the FPSC main web site, once they have been approved.
Dates of note.
Please note that RYA Courses will be running at the Pond during the period 31st May to 3rd June and there will be no MYG activity during that week.
Summer Picnic - Tuesday 12th July
The Summer Picnic will be held on July 12th and is a splendid opportunity to enjoy a garden party atmosphere. Wives and partners are invited of course, straw hats might be worn and the weather will be delightful (if it isn’t we will all escape into the club house). Bring your picnic basket – and that boat you so rarely sail. Guests are entirely welcome.
10 Hour Race
July, Saturday 2nd. For those of you who haven’t sailed in the Ten Hour, the object is to raise money for charity by entering a boat (or boats) sailed by a team of skippers and to keep going for ten hours (9am to 7pm). Usually we sail one hour slots, and both expert and novice skippers are encouraged to take part. Since the event raises money for charity each year, all the skippers make a small contribution to cover the entry fee, and we also ‘pass the tin’ amongst skippers who are not taking part. The club has a carnival atmosphere on the day, usually with a hog roast going on at lunchtime, BBQ in the evening, and a lot of thrills and spills to watch as the full sized crews change over. I hope that we will be able to enter at least two teams and there will be a spreadsheet at the club on which we can book in teams who will be there throughout, and invite every other member to come along – with their families – to have a go during the day, even for half an hour. Remember, it’s an opportunity for everyone, experienced or not, and a fun day out for the whole family even if you are not sailing.
Meet and Greet and club number restrictions
Please introduce all new and potential members to officers of the Steering Group as a matter of routine, and then to the appropriate Class Captains. I’m afraid that the MYG membership is now closed to potential new members from outside the FPSC and a waiting list will be established - although of course Members of FPSC may join the MYG group routinely.
Dragon Force Class
Tony Schlaeppi is organising group sailing for the Dragon Force 65 next week he is talking of running time trials.
8 Metres
Andy Andrews is pushing on with the 8 Metre group and the Mk II rudder is being tried and appears successful. The verdict so far seems to be that it gives better control when tacking and much more stability on the run.
Footy Class
Keith Parrott (who sits on the Footy National Committee) is organising a small Footy group and already has five or six owners of these quirky (and very quick) little boats. Keith plans to run 2 more formal events during the year in addition will be organising sailing for the group whenever possible on alternative sailing days and perhaps during the week. There is an established open circuit for the Footy and in the past we have run not only the Videlo Trophy but also the Nationals at Frensham. Watch out for Keith’s Footy newsletter. Free plans for these boats are available along with help and advice in building and setting them up.
