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On Saturday 9th June keen wayfarer sailors went for a day cruise, although not necessarily in their Wayfarers! The commodore and Emma set-off first in Waratah and dropped anchor off of Osea Island where the vegetarian then started to cook the bacon. We were soon joined by Mark and Chris, Belinda and Allan, Sue and Ian and Lindsay and Steve. I think that Steve was very hot from crewing as he decided to go for a swim first - he didn’t even change into his trunks. He obviously missed the ‘swim at your own risk!’ memo. We did promise him that we would not post a picture of this, remaining true to our word! 

From Osea we went for a beautiful cruise up to Bradwell Beach where we tucked in to many wonderful culinary delights prepared earlier. The only disappointment was when half a bottle of wine got spilled. There was talk of going for a walk but that’s all it remained - talk. After a few naps and much jovial conversation later we set off back to Blackwater Sailing Club, looking forward to a gentle broad reach return with the wind and tide behind us. Soon after Richard and I saw Belinda and Allan in the distance and remarked on how wide they were taking the river as they practiced using their spinnaker - strange that. We then got a message from Jack Spratt saying that Jessie may be in trouble? So we went to investigate. Jessie had first lost her jib halyard and then her boom block and was sailing using just the main sail (tied to the stern) and the spinnaker which was proving difficult; a tow was needed. Attaching them to Waratah was harder than it needed to be. I offered to throw the line but Richard remarked that he wanted it to reach them! So Richard helmed, adjusted the speed of the approach (we were under power) and threw the line himself, twice and failed. The third attempt, where I was allowed to help, worked. Belinda and Allan were then safely towed, although nearly cast-off at Northey, and managed to make it back to the club in one piece, no doubt grateful of the nap they’d had earlier! All in all a great day out, certainly excellent practice for the forthcoming Wayfarer Norfolk Broads Cruise in September. 

List of things to remember for September:- 

A Wayfarer 

A spare jib halyard 

A spare boom block 

Swimwear 

Wine stoppers…… 

Words by Emma Reeve

On Sunday 17th June we held our annual round the Islands races as a charity event with entry fees of £250 donated to the RNLI. 36 dinghies entered the main race around Osea and Northey island. 

First Place: Fireball, Brian and Will Sargeant, Second Place: Fireball, Mark Maskell and Nigel Sheppard, Third Place, Fireball , Charlie Stewart and Stephen Humphrey

Wayfarer Cup: Steve and Jack Perkins

Cruiser Round Osea Race: First Place: Paul and Evelyn Su

Round Northey Race: First Place: Topper, Theo Aers, Second Place: Topper, Tracy Haigh

please see the Yachts and Yachting article by Chris Brown for a fuller report https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/206683/Blackwater-Round-the-Islands-Race

Photo (c) Kate Stewart

Nine Blackwater SC cadets competed at the RS Feva UK Nationals, held at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, from 26 to 29 May. 

The cadets were: Theo Aers and Rhiannon Webber, Marnie Aers and Abbie Wallace, Ruby Andrews and Gemma Raymond and Sophie Johnson helming for Burnham SC sailor, Dylan Collingbourne, Joey Taylor helming for Hunts SC and Aldeburgh YC sailor Terry Hacker and Nick Evans - crewing for Hayling Island SC sailor, Kuba Staite.  The Burnham Squiddies Team members were supported by renowned Feva gurus Jonathan Lewis and Flynn Davies who coach the Squiddies Team through the winter.

The event saw a wide range of wind conditions - with strong but steady conditions on the first day, followed by light conditions on the second day. This allowed for the Principal Race Officer, Ian Bullock, to complete all six qualifying races, after which the Championship divided into two fleets for the final two days. Unfortunately, the wind didn't really get going on the third day, and only one race was completed. However, on the final day, the wind gods woke up and delivered white caps in the harbour, with the maximum recorded speed of 27 knots, although it did calm down a bit as the day wore on. It meant that four races could be fitted in and this led to some tired sailors at the prize giving. 

Sophie had a great event, finishing fourth overall and first female helm for the second year running, in the process securing no less than four second place finishes and a bullet - fantastic achievement. Sophie and Dylan had the same points tally before the discard as the winning boat and, after it was included, had the same points tally as the boats in the second and third places but lost out to them on count-back! The closeness of these results reflected the competitiveness at the top of the fleet.

Joey's performances got better and better throughout the event. He achieved no less than four top ten finishes, securing 13th place overall! A brilliant result for a helm competing in his first national event in the class. 

Nick had something of a yo-yo: a difficult first day followed by an amazing second day with three top ten finishes; a UFD on the third day and a tough final day in the breeze, finishing 30th overall. Nonetheless both he and his helm were chuffed - and surprised - to be confirmed as National Junior Champions, for the 13 and under category. 

In their fleet, Marnie and Abbie secured an excellent third place on the light third day and finished in 15th spot. Theo and Rhiannon secured a fantastic second place on the tough final day, and finished in 20th and Ruby and Gemma showed some real resilience and potential and finished in a very commendable 35th. 

A full write up of the event can be found on the Yachts and Yachting website; see: 

https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/205884/RS-Feva-Nationals-at-the-WPNSA-overall

Or watch the whole event here! :

https://www.facebook.com/rsfevagbr/

Congratulations to all sailors and thanks to your parents and the BSC Cadet Team for supporting you. It seems only a short time since the Feva was introduced at BSC with the aim of developing the class at the club and encouraging our cadets to travel to regional and national events as part of our champion club aspiration. This really has happened which is great to see. WELL DONE to you all from the flags team. You make us all very proud to be part of such a successful club.

Nigel Butler

Rear Commodore

Nick Roll tacking - (c) Sportography.tv.

Many congratulations to BSC Optimist sailor Nick Evans! After being invited to the Optimist selections at Weymouth over the early May bank holiday, he has come away in 9th place out of 81 sailors. This means he has qualified to be part of the British Sailing Team going to the Europeans in Holland! You can read Nick's story here: Nicks Story

Here are some great pictures of Nick from the selections, 1) demonstrating his rolls tack, picture (c) Sportography.tv. 2) Rigging up 3) with GB Olympic 49er sailor Dylan Fletcher

295 visitors flocked to Blackwater Sailing Club on Saturday 5^th May for our annual Open Day and RYA #pushtheboatout “Try Sailing in May” event. The Blackwater was looking stunning under clear blue skies with glorious sunshine all day. 83 adult and cadet helpers from the club helped make this a fantastic day out for our guests, many of whom had never considered trying sailing before. 322 taster sails were provided during the day on our 7-acre training lake in our fleet of RS Quests, Wayfarers, RS Fevas, Toppers and Optimists. Even our local MP was spotted getting out of a Quest with a large smile on his face. As the tide came in, 56 people tried a taster sail on a cruiser, 126 enjoyed a river trip on one of our Ribs or the launch and many just sat and watched our club races. Sailing is thirsty work and our visitors managed to drink the bar dry after enjoying the food on offer throughout the day. Over 30 new members signed up on the day making this our most successful Open Day ever. A big thank you to all our members for your amazing welcome to our guests and thank you to all our visitors for coming to try sailing and see what we can offer. We hope you enjoyed a wonderful day. With thanks to Chris Nichols, Zoe Nelson and Nigel Butler for the photos.

A sellout crowd of 92 packed into the main club-room on Saturday 10th March for our annual Fitting Out Supper. Despite the recent unseasonably cold weather, this event serves as a reminder to members that the sailing season is upon us and their preparations for a great season of sailing should be well underway. After a delicious three course meal, guests were entertained with a very humorous talk by local boy and Practical Boat Owner columnist Dave Selby. Dave enthralled the audience with tales of his exciting voyages and his many transatlantic crossings. He wowed us with tales of his amazing navigational feats, the highlight of which was running aground on Northey Island during the highest spring tide for twelve years. He demonstrated that it is possible to sail with a limited budget and his Sailfish 18 "Marlin" is testament to that. He has recorded one of the slowest passages in maritime history from the Blackwater to the Southampton boat show, known in the annals of sailing as "Marlin's Mission". Dave has recently published the sailors "must have" book "The Impractical Boat Owner". Dave generously offered this to Blackwater Sailing Club members at a specially inflated price. He also gave us the opportunity to buy illustrated mugs and drawings in support of his charity to raise money for research into the rare neurological condition which means he has to be admitted to hospital every four weeks. As promised, those privileged to hear Dave's talk learnt absolutely nothing about sailing, but anyone who wasn't enthused to give it a try should take up golf.