Dominating shifts in the sunshine at the Moth Inlands at Rutland

 A healthy entry of 26 boats fronted for this year's International Moth class Inlands at Rutland SC in the shadow of a borderline foiling forecast.

Early arrivals on the Friday busied themselves with boat preparation with the chance of a practice sail not eventuating in the sub five knot SE winds. 

Brad Funk was deservedly crowned our Rose Bowl Inland Champion for 2021 and generously thanked our Rutland Race team for their excellent work and hospitality over the weekend. He also took time to speak highly of the challenges of racing over the shifty Rutland course area and the benefits in learning how to master such.

Consistent sailing saw Dave Hivey take second a point ahead of both Eddie Bridle and Simon Hiscocks, with Eddie taking third by countback.

The closeness at the top had 5 points covering second to sixth place showing just how tight the racing was. Special mention for Andy Jarvis posting all top 10 results for 7th, Gareth Davies taking a solid 8th and James Sainsbury in his home build with strong early scores before retiring with a sliced finger and Kay and Paul Myerscough for making the long trip down from the NE to join us in enjoying the event.

On the design front we had 4 different designs in the top six, with three different designs on the podium reflecting a healthy return on skipper input and ability over equipment used.

,The class now looks forward to a strong 2022 calendar of events as we travel along the road to the Weymouth 2023 Worlds. If you have ever entertained the idea of joining the Moth fleet then now is the time to push the button and come along for the best ride you will have.

Thanks to our race day sponsor Allen Brothers, our long standing class sponsor in Noble Marine and Gordon Upton of Guppypix for his great photos over the weekend.

For all UK Moth class information join the Facebook group or visit the class website at www.internationalmoth.co.uk

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts

1st 4823 Brad Funk 1 1 1 1 (3) 4

2nd 4817 David Hivey 2 5 3 4 (6) 14

3rd 4826 Eddie Bridle 3 4 (11) 7 1 15

4th 4778 Simon Hiscocks 6 2 (7) 3 4 15

5th 4546 Alex Adams 4 (7) 5 5 2 16

6th 4705 Kyle Stoneham 5 3 (10) 2 9 19

7th 4721 Andrew Jarvis 7 (9) 6 6 8 27

8th 4525 Gareth Davies 8 8 9 (11) 11 36

9th 4764 David Smithwhite 13 12 4 8 (DNC) 37

10th 4808 Sam Curtis 9 (14) 8 10 10 37

Olympian Luke Patience and Mary Henderson win 60th Endeavour Trophy

 After a couple of mixed results on the opening day yesterday, including an OCS, silver medallist Luke Patience and Mary Henderson won the Endeavour Champion of Champions title with two final race wins.

With three points between the top two boats (Patience/Henderson and Palmer/Seabright) going into the second and final race of the day, the pressure was on. A bit of a battle took place off the start line but once again Patience/Henderson were able to repeat their performance and secure another win, which was enough for an overall win. Palmer/Seabright were always in contention but they had to settle for a close second, which after their impressive results from the opening day, were able to take second place overall.

For Patience and Henderson winning the 2021 Endeavour Trophy was a case of completing some unfinished business from the last Endeavour in 2019. Patience recalls it well: "Indeed, it almost feels like a bit of redemption from when we almost won two years ago but mucked up on a gybe on the last run.

"In a way it makes it even more special to have finally won the Endeavour. It was really great racing."

Plans are already under way for next year's Investec-sponsored Endeavour Trophy, which is taking place on 8-9 October 2022.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts

1st Olympian 470 Luke Patience Mary Henderson (OCS) 1 1 3 1 1 7

2nd Thames A Rater Ben Palmer Amy Seabright 2 2 2 ‑11 3 2 11

3rd RS400 Nick Craig Katie Burridge 4 6 4 4 4 ‑7 22

4th RS200 Arran Holman Toby Lewis ‑9 4 5 7 6 4 26

5th Solo Andy Davis Pippa Kilsby 7 ‑21 3 15 5 8 38

6th Merlin Christian Birrell Matt Mee 5 13 (BFD) 5 15 6 44

7th RS Feva Millie Irish Joe Warwicker ‑21 18 11 1 12 5 47

8th National 12 Tom Stewart Isobel Stewart 1 ‑19 17 9 8 13 48

9th GP14 Mike Senior Liz Senior 8 ‑27 8 13 9 11 49

10th RS800 Tom Morris Guy Fillmore 11 10 9 ‑28 2 20 52

The Grafham Cat Open is back!

 The annual open meeting for catamarans at Grafham Water is back and will take place on 30th & 31st October. Over 70 boats are expected. This event has a reputation for being extremely sociable with highlights including an evening meal, open bar and on-site camping.

Entry is now open and can be made online here via WebColletc. Camping and campervan spaces can be booked here.

Grafham Water SC offers some of the best inland sailing in the country and is open to all classes of boat with strong fleets of catamarans, Lasers, Solos, RS classes and Flying Fifteens. For more information about the club please visit their website www.grafham.org or call the club on 01480 810478. Follow the club on Facebook here.

Bosun Bob's RS400s Frostie Series at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club

 After a hiatus of two years the Bosun Bob's RS400 Winter series is back! The much-loved Belfast Lough sailing event will kick off on Sunday the 31st October for eight consecutive weeks up to 19th December.

This event was last run in 2019 before the pandemic paused things, at that point this was one of the best supported winter events in Ireland, with a regular 18 boats on the start line and a bonanza of boats turning up for the last day, known as the Christmas race.

The web page with entry details went live on Friday, and as of Monday there were 11 entries already! Which is quite the response. This series draws boats and very talented sailors from all over the country with some boats travelling all the way from Dublin.

The PRO Gerry Reid said, "A typical Sunday race will consist of three quick fire races of about 20 minutes each. We bear in mind that it gets cold for the competitors and the event team, so we don't hang about.

Racing can be watched from the shore at Cultra, starting at 1.30pm Sunday 31st October.

Women's Pathway Program athletes to race in Sail Grand Prix for first time

 SailGP's road to creating a more inclusive championship reaches another milestone this weekend at the Spain Sail Grand Prix taking place in Cádiz-Andalusia. The sixth event of the season will now include six athletes onboard all F50s for racing - a first for the global league - resulting in the league's Women's Pathway Program athletes racing onboard for the first time in SailGP.

SailGP introduced the WPP at the start of Season 2 as part of its better sport strategy to promote inclusion, inspire change and provide opportunities across all levels of the sport. With the addition of a new crew member as a new standard and light-wind configuration, WPP athletes are now able to gain the valuable experience needed to race the high-flying, high speed F50s.

Great Britain SailGP Team athlete and the world's most successful female Olympic sailor Hannah Mills said: "I'm incredibly excited to be racing this weekend, it's a really great step forward for the female athletes to be in the thick of it, witnessing it all, getting in and helping wherever we can - tactics, strategy, and communications - I am really excited for that. The adrenaline rush is going to be massive, it already is when we do the practice racing.

"It's also awesome for SailGP to have a strong vision and commitment going forward for the future of women's involvement in the league, it's very exciting and I can't wait to figure out how we can make it all happen, how we can make it a success and how I can help drive it forward."

National 12 Dinghy Shack Open at Ripon Sailing Club

 Dire wind forecasts, unseasonal temperatures, heavy rain and a national fuel crisis did not stop the smiles at this year's National 12 Open at Ripon.

The 9th event in the Dinghy Shack series started with a steady Southerly blowing down the lake and a clean start for the fleet. Ian & Alex Gore set the theme for the day and pulled ahead of the fleet to get a solid win. Places were traded behind them with Philip & Em taking the 2nd spot after a hard fight with Paul & Isobel who had their best finish of the day with a 3rd spot.

Sailing for the first time at a Ripon National 12 event were juniors AJ, Ethan and Isobel. The cold got through to a couple of them, not least for the several swims that Ethan had, but Isobel's smile warmed everyone up at the prize-giving. We had juniors in the race office too with Lucy Priest being ably assisted by her two helpers, Katie & Calum, and by AJ for the afternoon races.

Overall Results:

Pos Helm Crew Sail No Club

1st Ian Gore Alex Gore 3525 Up River Yacht Club

2nd Philip David Em Hampshire 3499 Yorkshire Ouse & Ripon Sailing Club

3rd Tim Hampshire Chris Hampshire 3330 Ripon Sailing Club

4th Paul Keeling Isobel Keeling 3285 Blithfield Sailing Club

5th John Cheetham Alison Cheetham 3209 Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club

6th Tony Dufton AJ Gregory/Patrick Gregory 3283 Yeadon Sailing Club

7th Steve Jackson Ethan Wild 3505 Ripon Sailing Club

Cowes Small Ships Race 2021: Success for all at youth charity's annual sailing race

 Last weekend (Saturday 2nd October), over 90 young people took to the water for the Cowes Small Ships Race. This youth charity sailing race is organised by ASTO (Association of Sail Training Organisations), a Gosport-based charity which promotes Sail Training in the UK.

The Small Ships Race is a yearly event that takes place on the first Saturday in October and sees Trainees (young people aged between 12-25) onboard Sail Training vessels competing in a 'round the cans' race in the Solent. This year's race included vessels from eight different UK Sail Training organisations, all of whom take young people to sea for personal development.

ASTO would like to thank the Royal London Yacht Club, the Royal Yacht Squadron and Cowes Yacht Haven for their assistance in organising this event.

Amongst this year's prize winners were:

Aurora Trophy for 1st Place Overall — Jolie Brise, Dauntsey's School

Glenlee Cup for Line Honours — Scaramouche, Greig City Academy

Richard Langhorn Trophy for Spirit of the Race — Johanna Lucretia, The Island Trust

Bloodhound Cup for Youngest (Average) Age Crew — Pegasus, The Island Trust

Seven Seas Trophy for Youngest Skipper — Toby Humphreys, Eastern Star

Cowes Rotary plaque for Best Crew Parade — Donald Searle, Rona Sailing Project

To learn more about ASTO, the Small Ships Races and our UK Sail Training members visit: www.uksailtraining.org or find us on social media: @UKSailTraining.

Sailing charity aims to raise £1.5m to help pandemic-affected young people

 THE UK’s largest youth development sail training charity has launched an appeal to raise at least £1.5million to buy an additional large sailing yacht to help hundreds more young people a year with a ‘life-changing’ voyage.

Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT) currently has a fleet of four 72ft Challenger yachts and a 55ft ketch, which enables the charity to take 1,000 young people to sea every yea

Its new LifeChanger Appeal aims to raise the money to buy and refit an additional 70-80ft sized vessel (10-12 berth), increasing its sea-going capacity by approximately 250 young people a year.

Funds will also cover three-years’ running costs, including bursaries for 750 young people to go on a voyage.

The Trust, which works with young people aged 12-25, has a particular focus on supporting those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with 75 per cent of its beneficiaries coming from this cohort.

RS Aero Open at Papercourt Sailing Club

 Mirror-calm conditions and bacon butties welcomed 22 RS Aeros on arrival at Papercourt's fourth RS Aero open and there was much rig-swapping as competitors up-sized to suit the conditions for the best day's racing. Thankfully, the breeze lived up to the forecast and filled in just in time for the first start.

Congratulations to Tim Hire, 1st RS Aero 9 and 1st overall, Sam Mettam 1st RS Aero 7, Claire Power 1st RS Aero 5, Tom Ahlheid 1st Youth, Gareth Griffiths 1st Master and Abby Hire 1st Lady.

Thanks to Fraser Hayden and team for running a slick event on the water and to Jill Hamment and the galley crew for the fabulous spread.

Next up for the UK's RS Aeros is the Royal Lymington Open on Saturday 9th Oct followed by the RS Aero Inland Championship at Draycote on 16/17th Oct.

Solo Open at Notts County Sailing Club

 NCSC held the annual Solo open, part of the Midlands circuit. 

Two back-to-back races were held with the visitors dominating both races. Martin Honnor from Ogston SC taking two bullets. Meanwhile the four Notts County Sailing Club boats were battling it out for places.

After lunch Race 3 saw some more lively forecast weather complete with rain squalls. This time the race leader was visitor Kev Hall from Northampton SC who led from the off and looked unlikely to be caught. Fun and games at mark 8 with a gybe but the wind dropped, leaving sailors wondering which way to head. Clive Gimson from NCSC held on to 3rd ensuring a one point lead to secure 3rd overall.

Overall winner was Martin Honnor who thanked Notts County the host club and those that competed despite the forecast and potential lack of fuel to travel.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Club R1 R2 R3 Pts

1st 5880 Martin Honnor Ogston SC 1 1 ‑2 2

2nd 5524 Kev Hall Northampton SC ‑2 2 1 3

3rd 5774 Clive Gimson Notts County SC ‑4 3 3 6

4th 5866 Ian Firth Notts County SC 3 4 ‑5 7

5th 4902 Stephanie Gunn Notts County SC ‑6 5 4 9

6th 5856 Brian Fisher Notts County SC 5 ‑6 6 11

2021 Gul Fireball UK National Championship at Hayling Island Sailing Club

 Matt and Dan results were enough to secure the championship with Chips & Vyv 2nd overall and newcomers to the fleet Arran & James 3rd.

Prizes galore were handed out with vouchers generously provided by Gul. The final spot prize draw of the week was for a spinnaker, provided by Hyde Sails. The lucky winners were Jiri Paruzek and Jakub Kosvica – that and the racing made their long journey worth it!

We're incredibly fortunate to have support from our main sponsor, Gul, and further prizes donated by Ropelocker, Hyde Sails, North Sails and UKGlobal.

Thank you to the entire race management team at HISC, and to the club and its members for giving such a warm welcome to the Fireball and 505 fleets. The Fireballs will be back in 2022 to celebrate 60 years of the Fireball!

 

Overall Results:

Pos Sain No Nat Helm Name Crew Name Club Fleet R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts

1st 15123 GBR Matt Burge Dan Schieber Poole YC Gold 2 1 2 2 ‑5 7

2nd 15144 GBR Chips Howarth Vyv Townend Bough Beech SC Gold 5 3 1 (BFD) 3 12

3rd 1510 GBR Arran Holman James Taylor Hollowell SC Gold ‑16 7 4 1 1 13

4th 15155 GBR Dave Hall Paul Constable Blackwater SC Gold ‑8 2 3 6 4 15

5th 15141 CZE Jiri Paruzek Jakub Kosvica Jachtklub Tousen Gold 11 4 5 3 (RET) 23

6th 15162 GBR Isaac Marsh Oliver Davenport Northampton Gold 7 5 (DNC) 4 7 23

7th 15112 GBR David Sayce Matt Alvarado Hayling Island SC Gold ‑9 9 8 5 2 24

8th 15124 GBR Pete Kyne Tom Kyne Brightlingsea SC Gold ‑15 6 7 8 8 29

9th 15150 GBR Steve Chesney Hugh Watson Hayling Island SC Silver 1 10 ‑18 7 17 35

10th 15161 GBR Maria Stanley Tom Darling Hayling Island SC Gold 10 11 9 

Firefly Open at Dell Quay Sailing Club

 The much-anticipated Dell Quay SC Firefly Open took place over the weekend of the 25th and 26th September, the first time Dell Quay has hosted a major Firefly event in 50 years.

Twelve visiting boats joined a strong turnout of fifteen local Fireflys to make up a fantastically mixed fleet with National and World Champions sharing the start line with relative beginners, some in their first season of racing. The junior turnout was impressive, with twenty of the boats racing with crews under the age of 10. Visitors travelled from as far as the Brecon Beacons to be part of the action for what is the oldest new event in the Firefly calendar, a testament to the rich history of the class has at Dell Quay.

With their consistency across the wind range Stuart and Lizzie Hudson from Royal Lymington YC took the event win, with Paul and Ludo Kameen from Bosham SC second and a consistent Guy and Frances Davison third.

As the last pints of Firefly Beer were finished, the prize-giving bought a fantastic end to the weekend with every junior competitor being award a medal, not least Charlie May who was not only the youngest crew at 5 years old, but skippered by his Dad Iain, managed to complete all six races, a fantastic simply fantastic achievement.

The Dell Quay Fireflys would like to extend special thanks to event sponsors A-Plan Insurance, Rooster, Spinlock and Langham Brewery and they look forward to raising the bar further in 2022.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts

1 3850 Stuart Hudson Lizzie Hudson Royal Lymington SC (4) 1 (5) 1 1 2 5

2 2018 Paul Kameen Ludo Kameen Bosham SC 1 4 2 3 (9) (DNC) 10

3 3318 Guy Davison Frances Davison Llangorse SC (5) (6) 3 4 3 3 13

4 498 Mark Tait Beatrice Tait Dell Quay Sailing Club 3 3 4 (7) 6 (DNC) 16

5 3125 Archie Massey Rosie Massey Dell Quay Sailing Club (DNC) 7 1 5 5 (DNC) 18

6 3027 Harvey Hillary Sophia Hillary Dell Quay Sailing Club 2 2 6 (10) 10 (DNC) 20

7 3739 Lucy Boreham Rachel Crebbin Chichester Yacht Club (10) 10 (11) 6 2 4 22

8 550 Tim Boon Richard Oliver Dell Quay Sailing Club 8 (14) (9) 8 8 5 29

9 3674 Ollie Reynolds Ted / Arthur Reynolds Dell Quay Sailing Club 7 9 8 (11) (11) 6 30

10 3023 Barney Smith Karen Main RAFYC/Hamble River SC (DNC) (DNC) DNC

2021 Dragon East Coast Championship at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club

 Six home and five visiting teams took part in the 2021 Dragon East Coast Championship out of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club over the weekend of 25/26th September.

The fleet extended their thanks to the race team for getting four good races in, and to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club for hosting.

Overall Results:

1st GBR 792 Pageboy XI, Jono Brown, Clive Page, Graeme Page

2nd GBR 722 Avalanche, Mark and Mandy Wade, Nigel Cole

3rd GBR 746 Beauty and the Beast, Peter Marchant, Katie Cole, Noddy

4th GBR 763 Bertie, Simon and James Barter, Donald Wilks

5th GBR 753 Fit Chick, Chris Grosscurth, Emma York, Simon Townsend

6th GBR 827 Still Crazy, Ian Gray, Alex Burnett, Rene Nel

7th GBR 760 Hands Off, Andy Moss, Tim Wilkes, Teresa Wilkes

8th GBR 747 Suti, Toby Atack, Trevor Cox, Ivor Allcock

9th GBR 726 Gandalf, Edwin Hannant, James Hannant, Kerry Worsfold

10th GBR 826 Dublin Bay, David Warner, Geoff Butcher, David Clarkson

11th GBR 797 Vivacious, Andrew Barlow, Hugh Rich, Heath,

Next year's East Coast Dragon Championship will be back in Rochester hosted by the Medway Yacht Club. Visit https://www.britishdragons.org/ for more information.