Commodore's July Newsletter
Published 16:04 on 29 Jul 2022
| Dear Member, It is at this time in the sailing calendar we see the highest amount of sailing activity and this newsletter therefore reflects the amount of activity both taking place at the club as well as members activity around the country. Birkett's Budworth Village Over the first weekend in July (2nd & 3rd), nine Budworth boats met on a start line for 187 entries to compete in the 60th Lord Birkett Trophy Event on Ullswater in the Lake District. The event is over two days with 2 races on a course over the full length of Ullswater. Around 15 miles without taking into account the distance added by any tacking or gybing. The event is open to a ceiling of 230 entries of dinghies that conform to a range of specified PYR ratings. It's is such a prestigious event and so highly rated that Yachts & Yachting put it at No. 8 in the sailing events you must do! 18 Budworth sailors plus spectators set up camp in the field adjacent to Ullswater's clubhouse with tents and motorhomes to party and share sailing notes over a beer or two and Barbeque foods. The Budworth fleet comprised GP14's, RS400, RS200's and a Fireball. Your Commodore was also there in a purely technical support role! Hugh Devereaux won the highest placed GP14. For most of the rest of our members it was their first experience of such a large fleet endurance race on inland watersand what an exciting experience it was too! Worthy of note Budworth's Ilca (Laser) Open on 3rd July attracted 20 entries including visitors from Dovestones, Scammonden Dam and KSA. It is worthy of note that six of the competitors were juniors, many taking part in their very first ILCA open event. A great westerly force 4 wind with gusty conditions greeted the fleet. The choice of rigs between the ILCA 7, ILCA 6 or ILCA 4 sails was critical for each competitor. Overall winner was Dovestones's Ian Jones, followed by Scammonden's Oliver Hirst. Budworth's Pete Wilkinson came in with a creditable third place overall whilst James Alexander achieved second placed junior. Four races were sailed with simple courses set by Steve Hayward - PRO and his team who ran a very enjoyable event. Commodores Chronicle The club hosted in excess of 200 members at its annual Commodores event, spanning the weekend of 8th to 10th July. The festival commenced with the pitching of tents on Friday evening. Members were able to enjoy a balmy evening drink from the bar and take in fabulous views of the sun setting over the Mere. Once again, Saturday witnessed the infamous Black Beard, meeting his arch rival Red Beard, to entertain the juniors on and off the water. The club's main social event of the year boasted a BBQ, bonfire and live music from the ever highly acclaimed band 'Elephant Juice'. The Firework display, accompanied by an acoustic set by Rob Murphy of Sign on You Crazy Diamond (Pink Floyd), enriched the sky and led to many thanks for a superb display from local residents who had been pre-advised to look out for the spectacle. After such a party, it was back to sailing on Sunday when 52 boats contested for the club's silverware. The four race format generated opportunities for 8 first place pieces of silverwear and 13 prizes overall. First placed for silverwear were: Okell Cup John Chapman and Wendy Martin (RS200), Crews Race Tankard James Hughes (GP14), Veterans Trophy Russel & Vicky Page (RS200), Super Veterans Trophy Dave Nicholson (Ilca/Laser), Budworth Belle Sue Brown (Ilca/Laser), Junior Budworth Belle Rozanna Joyce (GP14), Champion Helm - Russel & Vicky Page (RS200), Junior Champion Helm - Rozanna Joyce (GP14). As an in-house catered event, the entire weekend was made spectacular by all the members who volunteered their time to decorate the clubhouse, create floral displays, entertain the members (old and young), cook food, clear up, provide safety and rescue services and great racing. This has been a truly memorable event which shows the dedication and engagement of our members in making our club the success that it has become. Thank you everyone. Trial Starts Sunday 17th July saw the start of the Summer Series in which our Racing Secretary is trialing a shorter start sequence for the Summer Sunday Handicap and Summer Points. The trial sequence will be 6, 4, 2, start. The objectives are: to reduce the workload on the PRO, improve turnaround times between races, increase flexibility of course setting and reduce risk of the first flight lapping before the last flight has started. All of which will give better control of race durations (circa 35 minutes for leading boat of first flight) by allowing shorter laps / increased number of laps without the first flight lapping before the last flight has started All PROs are requested to give a rigging / launching signal of multiple klaxons approximately 10 minutes before each scheduled start. This is to give competitors time to launch and reach the starting area. An amendment to the Sailing Instructions has been posted. The trial will be monitored, and changes made as required during the summer. The starting order has also been amended as is usual in recognition of the anticipated turnouts (see posted Notice of Amendment of Sailing Instructions to be found on the results page of the website). Spond your interest Budworth Sailing Club is offering all members the opportunity to take part in Team Racing, aka 'Chess on Water' by those who are experienced at it. This is especially aimed at those who wish to improve sailing skills, boat handling and knowledge of racing rules. It offers an opportunity to sail in a Firefly with various members from across other club fleets. Sessions will be run on Friday's 6:30 - 8:00pm 22nd July, 12th, 19th, 26th August plus Saturday 10:30 - 12:00 24th July and 21st August If you are interested in joining in on Budworth Firefly Team Racing, you can get involved by downloading the Spond App and registering to sail. This will help keep track of those wishing to attend each session. Follow the link here https://group.spond.com/MEXDY. A small charge of £3 per sailor per session will be levied. For any more details contact Bex Smith @ bexsmith2018@gmail.com Committee Sixcenteenary This Thursday (21st July), your dedicated Committee will have met for the 600th time in the clubs history. Your Committee consists of a group of highly motivated volunteers who tirelessly continue to look after the daily running and direction of all the clubs activities for the benefit of the whole membership. We say THANK YOU to them all. Budworth by the Sea Abersoch Dinghy week returns, starting this weekend to celebrate its 50th anniversary! Currently we have over thirty members going sailing in 7 x RS200 + 7 x Ilca's + 3 x Toppers + 2 x Solo's and 1 x Fireball all from Budworth entered. This year South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club (SCYC) have introduced a new modern racing format with committee boat starts, and two shorter races per day with varied courses taking advantage of the fabulous waters of Cardigan Bay. The week long schedule of six races over six days in morning or afternoon sessions. Dinghies are organised into single class fleets with their own start or mixed handicapped. If you've never been you should put it on your "must do" list. Barter is Best Budworth sailing club is about to revert to Barter (cashless payment) as of September 5th when our popular on-line or card Payments systems will be fully enforced. Given the continued closure of local bank branches, it has become increasingly difficult to bank coins and notes and get change of appropriate denominations for our bar and galley. After feedback from members regarding our use of card payment for bar and galley purchases, we your committee has decided that, like many other organisations over the past year or two, we will only be accepting card payments from September 5th in both the bar and galley. Ticketed events, boat hire etc will continue to be paid online using the website. Thank you for your support and understanding. Bill |