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For those members who wish that Cadet week lasted forever and for all those potential members who would love to join the Yachts and Yachting RYA East Club of the Year 2019, have a look at the pictures on our  BSC Facebook  page to remind yourself what fun we had during Cadet week and what fun you could have as a member of Blackwater Sailing Club. Friday 2nd August 2019 will surely go down in history as the day we sent a fleet of over 120 boats and 180 people to Maldon. This is the largest invasion fleet since the Vikings invaded Maldon in 991 AD! Once the beachhead had been established at Promenade Park, our Cadets showed no mercy to the locals as they swarmed ashore and stripped the local kiosks of every available ice cream and box of chips. Once the job was done, the fleet withdrew to the safety of the Club to continue the remorseless hunt for food, now in the form of cake which was hungrily consumed down to the last crumb. 
Pictures (c) Nicky Johnson who is now featured photographer on the home page of the website.
Have a look at the Album Cadet Week 2019 on Facebook for even more fantastic photos from our official photographer. 
 Bring on Cadet Week 2020   Registration 1st August 2020, Cadet Week 2nd to 6th August 2020. DON'T MISS IT - Put it in your diary NOW 

Over 140 cadets, their families and numerous Club volunteers enjoyed a great cadet week at Blackwater Sailing Club while raising money for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously during the week which meant that we raised an amazing £1072, which will enable two young people recovering from cancer to go on their first sailing trip with the charity. Thank you to Derrick Louis and his son Rafe who gave such dignified and personal presentations at the beginning and end of Cadet week. This helps remind us all that while you may take your health and that of your loved ones for granted, it is the most important thing in life. It is fabulous to be able to help young people who have suffered so much due to cancer, while enjoying the sport we all love - sailing. 

On Sunday 21^st July 84 boats set out from Blackwater Sailing Club on a warm afternoon to take part in the annual Round the Islands races. 54 entered the main dinghy race around Osea and Northey and 22 the short course around Northey. 8 cruisers joined in and raced around Osea. The entry fee was a donation to the RNLI and much to the delight of local Vice Chairman, Ken Harrison, we raised a fantastic £447.04 for our local lifeboat stations.

The 37 medium handicap boats started first in a gentle force 3-4 westerly breeze with a short port tack down wind leg to Ballast Hole which was very congested with the boats 10 deep. The fleet gybed onto starboard to a broad reach which gradually became a run as they passed south of Osea. Another gybe at the eastern end of Osea then a fetch becoming a beat around the north of Osea. The wind gradually backed to south westerly and freshened as the fleet passed through the gate over the Osea causeway. The shifty gusty wind freshened to force 4-5 at times as boats raced to the south of Northey.

The fast handicap started 20 minutes after the medium but some managed to hunt down and pass most of the medium fleet. It was great to see such a large fleet of boats out on the river and bodes well for our upcoming Cadet and Club week.

Results:

Round the Islands - dinghies:

1^st Mark Maskell and Nigel Sheppard - Fireball – Jubilee Goblet

2^nd Andy McIvor and Tracy Haigh – Laser 2000 - Vincett Wings trophy

3^rd Guy and Alison Welch - Snipe

Round Northey:

1^st Jamie Norman – Laser Radial

2^nd Kane Gooch – Laser Radial

3^rd Julie Nelson and Harrison Gooch – Mirror – Round Northey Spoon

For the full results click RTI Results

Photos © Zoe Nelson and Rob Haigh

The survey vessel PROTEUS will commence surveying operations on 15th July for approx 13 days in 6 areas of the Blackwater.

For full details see the Notice in full  HERE

On Sunday 30^th June, over 100 members came along to our mid summer BBQ and new members day in brilliant sunshine. Many had taken the opportunity for sailing in perfect conditions in the 9:45 race and then took advantage of the weather to sit on the patio for a drink while the food cooked. In a break from tradition, the new members who came along were treated to a taster sail on the river in one of the Club RS Quests, a Dragonfly trimaran or a Beneteau First cruiser. Extreme wind during our Open Day meant we hadn’t been able to offer taster sails then, so our new members appreciated the chance to get out of the water.

Many thanks to Alan Hoy and Sheena Berney for organising the event and to Mike Taylor and his team of master chefs and helpers for arranging and cooking a delicious BBQ followed by strawberries and cream.

Photos © Kate Stewart

The weekend of 15-16 June was one of the busiest of the year at the Club with a full programme of Cadet training on the river and the lake as well as Club racing and we also hosted a very successful down river Fireball Open meeting. 11 home boats were joined by 7 visiting boats from 7 different clubs. Competitors enjoyed five races in force 4-6 winds which produced perfect conditions for the heavy weather experts. Despite an OCS in race 1, consistency in the remaining races to count gave Blackwater team of Dave Hall and Paul Constable outright victory. In second place were Peter and Tom Kyne from Brightlingsea and in third place were Isaac Marsh and Squashed Olly from Northampton. For the full results click Fireball Open 2019 Results.pdf

Photos (c) Zoe Nelson

Many congratulations to Blackwater Sailing Club Cadet Joey Taylor and his crew Terry Hacker who have been crowned RS Feva National Champions 2019 in a fleet of 94 boats. A strong contingent from the Club headed to South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club, Abersoch for the 4 day event from 25-28 May. Joey and Terry won the qualifying event and then went on to post an impressive 1,1,2,1,1,1 to become champions an amazing 22 points in front of the second boat! Thanks to fantastic performances from the other BSC sailors, Blackwater also won the prize for the top club. Sophie Johnson and Theo Aers won first mixed crew in 9^th and Nick Evans and Oscar Cawthorne came 14^th. Marnie Aers with Ellie Shelter and Jemima Cook with Abbie Wallace sailed very well to get into the Gold fleet and Ruby Andrews and Sophie Foskett came an impressive 7^th in the Silver fleet.

The RS Feva was only introduced to the club in 2016 so it is remarkable how quickly our cadets have mastered the class and risen to the top. This is testament to the close training collaboration with the Burnham Squiddies and all the hard work and support from their coaches and those at the Club.

Read Joey’s report on the championship RS FEVA Nationals 2019 report - BSC.pdf

Click for the overall  Results

Photos © Andrew Taylor, Digital Photography

Light winds prevailed for our first full training weekend of the year, this gave the perfect opportunity for our new sailors on the lake to gain confidence under the expert tutorage of Nick O’Connor with his new glamourous assistant Kylie Gooch.

After being assigned their nick names for the year the Jolly Sailors made good progress towards their Level 2 badge.

On the river we had good sailing conditions on the Saturday with an unforecast Sea Breeze developed. On the Sunday we were met with a flat calm but the cadets still went out and  managed to get to a Millbeach for an ice cream, the Laser group had fun with no rules racing. All our sailors were rewarded when steady F2 breeze picked up at 2pm which allowed us to get some sailing in for the last hour.

Here’s hoping for stronger winds for our next training weekend on the 15/16^th of June. 

Photos Stephen Foakes, Nikki Taylor and Rob Carver

Congratulations to Club Steward Rob Dean and Club Assistant Zoe Nelson who were honoured by the RNLI at a presentation evening at Maldon Little Ships Club this week. Blackwater Sailing Club got a big thank you from John Rogers for all the support they gave to MLSC by providing RIBS to escort their sponsored Row and Gig race on Saturday 5th January. This popular charity event raised over £10,000 for the RNLI. Rob and Zoe got a special mention for doing a brilliant job laying the marks and keeping the crews safe. Zoe represented BSC at the ceremony and was very proud to accept a special award from the RNLI for her and Rob in recognition of their hard work.  Photos (c) Zoe Nelson