CCCA Inland Championships – Cotswold SC 7/8 Jun 25
The CCCA is pleased to announce that the CCCA Inland Championships for 2025 will be held at Cotswold SC on 7/8 June 25. Cotswold is a great club and we will be sure of a warm welcome! The event is open to Trios, Duos and Versas and Cotswold have a number of Trios and Versas so you can be sure of some local competition. Cotswold can offer camping/caravaning/motorhoming from the Thursday to the Monday nights. Fresh water and chemical toilet emptying facilities are on site. Everyone should be able to get a water side pitch.
Trio National Championships – Brixham YC 8-10 Aug 25
The Trio Nationals will be held at Brixham YC on the 8th to 10th Aug 25. We have been to Brixham before and we look forward to welcoming the Trio fleet again for more great sailing in Torbay!
Noble Marine Comet Trio National Championship at Exe Sailing Club
The Comet Trio National Championships (proud to be sponsored by Noble Marine Insurance) was held at the lovely Exe Sailing Club on 31st July – 1st August.
It was a good turnout with several visitors from Durleigh, Whitefriars, Cotswold and Hawley Lakes joining the local Exe boats. Several new boats were making their debut nationals including Steve’s new white boat looking very pacey with a new MK1 North sails and Guy’s new boat with MK2 sails, both showed amazing speed with race wins throughout the event. Scarlett Lady also made a grand return with new owners and also new to the fleet Chris/Ben Biglin.
MK1 report
Saturday races were closely fought throughout fleet, with 3 different race winners including Richard Sallis/Carol Williams, Chris/Ben Biglin and Steve Ashford/Martin Yeomans. Closely followed by Symon/Lou Doliczny, Sue Morris/Debbie Woodcock, Jamie Gregor/Tim Farmer all with top 3 results, it was shaping up to be a close fought championships.
Sunday started in a light shifty easterly. Steve was seen up early studying the wind shifts and tidal patterns but a battle on the start line meant that both Steve and Richard were both OCS allowing Chris/Ben to get another 1st place. Anne/Mike Way had their best result finishing 2nd and Sam/Chris Mayne with a 3rd.
It came down to the final race to decide the MK1 championships and in a more steady 7 knots breeze, Richard/Carol won with Chris/Ben second Steve/Martin 3rd. These turned out to be the final overall results with 4th to Simon/Lou Doliczny and 5th to Jamie Grigor/Tim Farmer.
Comet Trio Mk1 Winners
MK2 report
Saturday racing was a tight affair with 4 different race winners – Ade/Tracie Padro, Bob/Colette Horlock, Guy Farrant and Graham Skyes, and Andrew/Caroline McAusland. It was all to play for on Sunday with only 1 point separating the top 3 boats.
Sunday saw a delay whilst the wind settled however the AP flag came down and we were able to launch in a light breeze.
With favourable pond like conditions, it was Ade/Tracie who led in first place around the last mark with a final run to the finish however the wind became lighter/shifty and the lead boats were becalmed for a few minutes while the wind filled back in. 1st to spot the new breeze were Guy/Graham who took full advantage and finished in 1st place, the battle for 2nd was between Andrew/Caroline and Ade/Tracie and Bob/Colette who had to settle for 4th following A port/starboard incident. This enabled Ade/Tracie could sneak through to 3rd place.
With one race remaining, Ade/Tracie, Andrew/Caroline and Guy/Graham were on equal points, this was going to be the closest finish of the championships. Ade/Tracie reached the first mark first and then spent the rest of the race in close coverage of Andrew/Caroline. Bob/Colette split from the top 2 in search of new wind shifts, however Ade/Tracie managed to hold off the fleet to win the event overall on count-back. Andrew/Caroline finishing 2nd, Guy/Graham in 3rd place, 4th went to Bob/Colette and 5th to Simon Gregory/Veronique Hart.
Huge thanks to Exe Sailing Club for putting on a terrific three days including sailing, BBQ, Trio dinner, cream teas and for all the help / support needed to run a successful championship.
Entries are open for the Trio Nationals at Exe Sailing Club later this month. 3 days of racing in Lyme Bay with a social programme to match. We are of course expecting the sun to shine and a nice breeze to blow! The plan is for 2 races Friday, 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, with a BBQ on Friday evening and the Trio Dinner on Saturday evening. This year we are using outside caterers to deliver these meals and it would help us to know the numbers of people attending so please submit your entries to Caroline McAusland and if there will be others in your party who would like to come to the socials please her know. The racing will be in separate fleets for the Mk1s and Mk2s. All the information is on the Exe SC website on the Open Events tab. Here you will find the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions. The entry form is part of the NoR. There is also information on; accommodation, including local campsites and details of the car parks in Exmouth that allow overnight motorhome parking, tidal flows in Lyme Bay, and things to do in Exmouth when you’re not sailing. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible to celebrate the end of the lockdown restrictions (assuming all goes to plan!) Bob HorlockSec CCCA
I’m sorry to report that Eric Goodley has sadly passed away. Many of our long standing members will remember Eric as Secretary of the Class Association from it’s inception around 1997 until 2005. He did a lot for the class during this time, promoting the Trio both on and off the water. He was friendly and conscientious, welcoming new Trio owners to the class at events and showing them how it should be done by helming Lady Z to first place in the inaugural Trio National Championships in 1998 and also the Inland Championships in 2002. He could be found at the Dinghy Show manning the stand and extolling the virtues of the Trio to anyone within earshot. As Secretary he helped David Talbot steer the Class Association through it’s transition from the Trio Class Association to the present Combined Comet Class Association. He will be sadly missed by those who knew him. His funeral is likely to be in the first week of February and it will be video streamed. If anyone wants any further information then please contact Chris Boutle. Bob Horlock
Following the announcement from Peak Dinghies that they had asked North Sails to produce a white Dacron panel cut main to replicate the performance of the original Rowsell main sail, the CCCA set up a Mk1 Working Group composed of five Mk1 Trio owners to consider the suitability of the North main, jib and code zero spinnaker as replacements for the Rowsell sails.
The Working Group met on 24 Oct 20 at Whitefriars in the presence of a number of other Trio Sailors and compared the North main, jib and code zero spinnaker to a number of Rowsell Trio sails.
Comparison of size between the North Trio mainsail and a Rowsell mainsail.The North Trio Mainsail hoisted
They concluded that the new North Mk1 Main, Jib and Code Zero Spinnaker are acceptable as ongoing replacements for the Rowsell sails on original Trios.
The CCCA Committee met on 4 Nov 20 and accepted the conclusions of the Mk1 Working Group.
We are therefore pleased to confirm that we have advised Peak Dinghies that the North Mk1 main, the North Jib and the North Code Zero spinnaker can be marketed as Trio Mk1 sails. The CCCA will revise the Trio rules to reflect this change and the revised rules will be put to the Trio owners in due course.
May I take this opportunity to remind Trio owners that sails and all major components of the Trio must be bought through the licensed builder Peak Dinghies. Replacement, class legal and race legal sails for Comet Trios may now be ordered from Peak Dinghies.
I have today e-mailed all CCCA members with a copy of the 2020 AGM minutes. If you haven’t received your copy, look under the Documents tab, 2020 AGM, and please let me know as I may have an out of date e-mail address for you. Bob HorlockCCCA Sec
