Author Archives: Stephen White

Shustoke report and results

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A small but competitive fleet of six, mainly comprising of home boats began their contest. Within the pack was last year’s winner Bob and Colette Horlock from Exe Sailing Club, which is the home to the strongest Comet Trio fleet in the country.

In the first race it was the “Bushwackers” with dad and son team of Stuart and Rory Bush who established a substantial lead to take the first race ahead of Adrian and Tracie Padro. Last year’s winner came in third.
In the second race Stuart and Rory were looking confident managing to stay ahead of the Adrian and Tracie and opening up a safe margin. With minds clearly elsewhere, probably contemplating that having had most of the winter off was a good thing, the Padro’s nearly took Stuart and Rory on the final two downwind legs. With Stuart and Rory now forced into defensive play, it wasn’t long before Adrian and Tracie were able to seize their opportunity and win the race. Third and fourth positions were equally hotly contested with a draw on the line between Tony Fulford and Bob / Colette Horlock!

Into the last race and for the decider….. Well it was certainly going to be a Shustoke boat home first, which was good to see given that in previous years both crews had been bridesmaids in this event.
It was at this point that it is rumoured that Adrian suggested that Tracie wore his lucky snood to keep her warm in the closing race. Tracie, always suspicious of a gift from Adrian, checked out the item of clothing and realised that the snood was branded “Calvin Klein” with an extra hole at one end. Despite Adrian trying to pass-off his undergarments as a snood Adrian and Tracie managed to win the last race snatching the victory from Stuart and Rory.

Final Comet Trio results:

1st – Adrian and Tracie Padro, 2nd – Stuart and Rory Bush, 3rd – Bob and Colette Horlock, 4th – Tony Fulford, 5th – Anthony and Carol Campion and 6th Chris Padro and Peter McDonald.

Alex and Bob’s Sailjuice success

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Sailjuice 2017

At the CCCA AGM back in May 16 it was suggested that rather than spend money on a CCCA Stand at the dinghy show we could show off the Trio in other ways.  One way would be to enter big handicap events so that sailors who are not familiar with the Trio or only see it as a training dinghy at their local club could see the true capability of the boat.

So I hatched a scheme to take Trio 394 (16 years old and with 7 year old ‘best sails’) to the Sailjuice Series.  Alex would helm, I would crew and we would go and see what we could do.  The Sailjuice Series consists of 7 races from November through to February at the big inland water clubs around the country.  With 4 races to count we just picked the nearest 4 to Exmouth/Southampton (where Alex lives) and set off for some fun!

On the 19/20 Nov we made our way to Draycote Water near Rugby for the Draycote Dash.  With 101 other boats of many different classes also turning up, the event was a chance for us to line up against those who sail very different types of dinghies.  On Saturday the weather was cold and in a light F2/3 wind the race officer managed to get all 4 scheduled handicap races sailed.  With 3 races to count we had managed 8, 28, 11. The Laser of Craig Williamson was leading overnight.  Sunday was marginally warmer and initially a little breezier, F4 but this faded as the racing took place.  A single 120 minute pursuit race was staged with the slowest boats starting first in the better breeze.  Craig Williamson sailed off into the distance to win the pursuit race and the event overall but at the end of the 120 mins we had worked our way into 8th place leaving us 9th overall. With 10 different classes of boats in the top 10 places overall the organisers were delighted with the way the handicapping system had worked out.

The next race in the series took place at Datchet Water on 10/11 Dec.  Again the breeze was light with 3 handicap races sailed on the Saturday and a double points non discardable pursuit race on the Sunday.  With several of the top RS200 sailors taking part along with plenty of other class National Champions there was some excellent racing amongst the 105 entries.  The highlight of our Saturday racing being the 3rd place in Handicap race 2.  The pursuit race was as tense as ever as we caught the Enterprises at the last mark only to let them get in front again as we finished in 11th place. Once the results were finally sorted out we were 14th overall.  Buoyed by this we decided to enter the Bloody Mary and the Oxford Blue.

The Bloody Mary took place on the 7 Jan.  With 288 entries and 244 finishers, this was by far the largest pursuit race of the season.  It all seemed so promising as we were rigging up, a nice F3 was blowing and all was well.  We launched, the Toppers started and the wind decreased.  The Enterprises, Lasers and GP14s set off and eventually we started on an empty start line 3 mins in front of about 30 RS200s.  After about 15 mins the wind dropped to a F1 and we eased our way slowly round the course.  Catching the leading boats looked an impossible task and so it proved!  Only 1 RS200 overtook us and the only other boats to catch us were the Thames A Raters which looked like Americas cup yachts of the past as they sped by with 20 mins to go.  In the end we finished 24th well behind the Fireflies which held on to take the first 2 places.

The Oxford Blue took place on the 18 Feb, another 3 handicap races to be sailed by the fleet of 147 boats and light winds again! This time things didn’t go so well, starting in the last of the 3 fleets it was vital to get off the line in front of the pack.  This didn’t prove so easy with the Finns and RS200s taking the clean air.  Even once in clear water we were soon into the back of the Aero fleet which had started 3 mins in front.  Dirty wind in light shifty conditions is not good and we had fairly average results leaving us in 37th place overall.

Nevertheless with 4 solid results in our chosen 4 races we ended up a very respectable 9th place overall out of the 711 boats that had entered at least one race in the series.  Matt Mee and Emma Norris, the RS200 National Champions, showed the rest of us how it should be done with 4 fantastic results to win the series followed by Ben Schooling in his Musto Skiff and Craig Williamson in a Laser.

Already Alex is planning for next years Sailjuice series so if anyone else would like to come along and give a go it would be great to see you.

 

 

 

Bob Horlock

 

Versa Trio Duo and Zero Inlands 27/28 May 2017

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Inland Championships 27th May – 28th May 2017

The 2017 Comet Inlands will be held at Burghfield Sailing Club over the late May bank holiday weekend, Saturday 27th May-Sunday 28th May. However, the Comet Duos will only race on the Saturday.

An eight race series (four races for the Duo) is planned, with the first start scheduled for 11am on Saturday. Full details are in the Notice of Race, which is available on Burghfield’s website.

Meals, including evening meals on the Saturday and Sunday, will be available at the club. Evening meals will need to be booked on the club website nearer to the event. The AGM will be held on Saturday evening. For camping nearby (including motorhomes), please contact the club manager. If you wish to leave your boat at the club on Friday please contact the Club Manager to ensure you know when the compound will be unlocked. Further information about the club is available on Burghfield’s website.

Entry is via Burghfield’s website, and closes on 21st May. Early entry, which attracts a discount, is available until 30th April.

The club manager can be contacted at: manager@burghfieldsailing.org

The website address is: www.burghfieldsailing.org/comet_championships

The website address leads to Burghfield’s webcollect page where you can enter and find the Notice or Race, Sailing Instructions and other information about the club.

Duo World Championships hosted by Cransley

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The inaugural World Championships were held at Cransley Sailing Club on Saturday 9th July for the Comet Duo. Whilst less than 200 were built and as far as is known most are still in the UK, the class were keen to welcome any visitors from around our planet!.  Two visitors did travel – ok not quite from Australia or USA, but from Oulton Mere SC and Hawley Lake SC, to join 7 Cransley Duos for the largest  gathering for a few years.

Race 1 – The wind was forecast to be 15 gusting 20-25 knots but the early rain dampened it to 10-12 knots for the first 2 laps of the Race 1.  This allowed the fleet to bunch together and Peter Stein/William Grantham chased Nigel Austin/Emily Britton for the first half of the race, before the wind increased.  Jane and John Townsend teamed up for the first two races (before putting Jane put her curlers in and dashed off to a party), were a constant threat to John Linnell (2015 champion) and crew, Caroline Hughes (who wasn’t expecting to sail), but couldn’t quite catch them. Nigel & Anne Ford, followed by Tony Hetherington/Julie Aves and Andrew Heald and Lesley Johnson finished but Stephen Linton who ventured out on his own was entrapped by the Cransley weed at the leeward mark and had to retire. Also Darrell and Ella Hutchings retired at the same location as they found sailing without the jib was quite a challenge when tacking.

Then all retired to the clubhouse for a civilised lunch break of pulled pork rolls and pasta – none of this 3 races back to back stuff!

Race 2 – saw a few crew changes, which meant that the previous race results wouldn’t count unless they reverted to Crew no. 1 in the 3rd race.  Peter Stein signed up Elinor Pawluk and Stephen Linton and Darrell Hutchings teamed up.  With the forecasted 20-25 knots materialising, the top five results were the same, however Stephen And Darrell pushed Tony and Julie down to 7th despite Darrell falling out the boat (!), with Andrew and Lesley bringing home the fleet.

Mid afternoon Tea and Homemade cakes followed!

Race 3 – only 5 of the original 9 started the last race, due to a combination of fatigue, high winds, too much lunch and tea!, those that did, had a change of course with a tricky dead run that saw Nigel and Anne swimming (however it meant Anne took some great pictures of the action, thanks).  The top 3 were the same although a tasty battle emerged between Peter/Elinor and John/Caroline which lasted to the finishing line and was good viewing.  Stephen and Darrell finished fourth without Darrell throwing himself overboard this time!.

Whilst the results are always of interest, it was the great spirit in which this championships was sailed which was the winner, and with all boats being double handed at some point with crews both young and old, experienced and not.  The race officer and team produced good courses and the safety and catering crews were excellent.  It was all agreed that we would be back next year and we would try to encourage more to come along – so the hunt is on to find the other 170 Comet Duos – wherever they are in the world!

Nigel Austin, Comet Duo 103

More photos to come and results.

Comet Duo Worlds

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Cransley Sailing Club will be holding the inaugural World Championships on 9th July

It is intended to start races at 11.15am, 1.15pm and 2.45pm with lunch and afternoon Tiffin in between races just to be civilised – however the Race Officer will have the final say although it wont be starting any earlier for the first race.

At Cransley we have as 9 potential helms  –  myself, John Linnell, Mike Sawford, Rhiain Bevan, Tony Hetherington, John (or Jane) Townsend, Peter Stein, Darrell Hutchings, Miles Billingham – so in theory we could be well into double figures!!!Hope everyone can make it, perhaps if you know of others not on this list you can forward.For those unfamiliar with Cransley all our details are on our website www.cransley.org.uk  – however it may not explain that the entrance to the club is via a drive that looks quite private.  There are a few signs though so you shouldn’t get too lost!If you are able to let me know whether you are likely to take part that would be great (just to make sure we have enough food!). If you are a Cransley boat and you are unable to attend but willing to loan your boat there may be some bona fide sailors out there who could fill the gap – of course we would however love all mentioned above to be there with or without crew – just to say  “I was there!”

Regards

Nigel
Comet Duo 103
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Peak Dinghy AGM Builders Report

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Peak Dinghy – Combined Comet Classes 2016 AGM Report

It has been a year since we took over the Comet Trio from Andy and one year on I now know a lot more about the Comet Trio than I did 12 months ago. As you may know we have eight Trios at Ogston Sailing Club, where they have been used as training boats since 2002. I have to admit that when they arrived I had never heard of a Comet Trio, They were purchased with the aid of a lottery grant from Sport England and were an immediate hit with everyone.
Sadly, at Ogston, they have never broken out of the training boat role and people graduating from the learn to sail course are pointed in the direction of the Enterprise or Laser fleet. One advantage those fleets have is an abundance of cheap second-hand boats. A second-hand Trio for sale is a very rare sight and because they are built so well, they command a good price, but as we all know, they’re worth it.
Over the last year the demand for spare parts has steadily grown and we are continuing to source parts from the same suppliers that Andy used. It’s great that so much is made in the UK, much of it by small companies and I like to think that we are doing our bit for British manufacturing and supporting local small businesses that are being squeezed so much by global manufacturers. When I say local; that’s; Derbyshire, Devon, Essex, Hampshire and Yorkshire to name a few.
It’s also good to be able to report that all Trio parts are available and should remain so. Clearly, some of the hardware is common across many fleets, but the Trio has some unique parts; foils, mast and boom etc and there is no supply issue there. It’s true that we are not holding a great deal of stock of parts and so there may be a little wait sometimes, but as demand grows we will look to hold more stock.
Some of you will have seen the first Peak Dinghy Comet Trio; we brought the Hull down to Exmouth Sailing Club during the Nationals last year and then took Trio 500 to the Dinghy Show in March. We had some interest following the Dinghy Show and I am pleased to say that Trio 500 has been sold. We have also sold a few Spinnaker Chute Kits and the feedback from customers is very positive.
It’s good to see all the work that various members of the Class are putting in to help promote sailing in a Comet Dinghy and I am sure that the number of people who own a boat from the Comet family will grow and grow.
I was late for last year’s AGM and not hear at all this year. I had hoped to come along but family commitments have made that very difficult. I will try to come along to Trio events where I can and if there is anything you want to ask me, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks
Glyn
Peak Dinghy
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Inlands at Cotswold SC 28/29 May 2016

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Combined Comet Class Association – Inland Championships 28th and 29th May 2016 – Sponsored by Noble Marine

The CCCA Inlands, sponsored by Noble Marine, took place at Cotswold Sailing Club over the bank holiday weekend.  12 Comet Trios and 4 Comet Versas competed for the trophies over excellent courses set by race officer Neil Wetherley.  North Easterly F3 or 4 winds enabled the full set of 5 races to be sailed over the 2 days in gusty and shifty conditions.

Trios

Adrian and Tracy Padro from Shustoke SC dominated the weekend winning all 5 races.  Despite several different boats holding the lead at times in various races but no one else could manage to be in the lead when it mattered!

They were chased hard all weekend by Stuart and Rory Bush also from Shustoke SC who with 4 second places secured the runners up spot.  It was left to Bob and Colette Horlock from Exe SC and Stephen and Helen Whittle from Cotswold SC to battle for 3rd place.  This contest went down to the wire with the outcome depending on who could finish in front in the last race of the weekend.  Stephen and Helen and Bob and Colette swapped places all round the course but in the end Stephen and Helen won through to take 4th in the race and 3rd overall.

Versas

John and Jackie Sturgeon from Hawley Lake won four of the five races and despite some remarkably close racing, the last 4 races resulted in wins for John and Jackie, seconds for Anne Higgins of Cotswold SC and thirds for Al Parker.

Adrian Padro thanked Cotswold on behalf of all the competitors for an excellent weekend.  The food and hospitality extended by the club had been first class, the organisation of the event had been seamless, the racing fair and well run and the BBQ and quiz night had been great fun.  Thank you to our sponsors Noble Marine for the prizes.
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Agm 2016 Cotswold SC 28th May

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  • The CCCA Annual General Meeting will be held at Cotswold Sailing Club after racing on Saturday 28th May 2016

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Poole Cruise July 2016

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2016 Cruising at Poole.

15th-17th July

Poole YC have kindly accepted our request to use their facilities for this years cruise, and what a amazing club it is, please try their website, http://www.pooleyc.co.uk, to grasp how big they are, for most of us from small clubs this is very special.
Poole harbour gives us one of the best and safest dinghy cruising areas in Britain, lots of activity, loads of space, plenty to explore.
There is a price for this, the club charges, are £11.45 per day per boat.
There are no Harbour fees for small craft.
The club has a special area for 6 motorhomes, no electric hook-up, max length 6.2mtrs, £15:00 per night these must be pre-booked, but be aware that there is a railway line adjacent to the club, if you wish to stay here please book with the club, referencing our visit.
The nearest Campsite I can find for the Motorhomers and tenters is Beacon Hill bookings@beaconhilltouringpark.co.uk call on 01202 631631, I’ve started a group booking under Presley, 2 nights, Medium Motorhome with electric is £37:00, Please call and book your pitch.

For a video of the club and the sailing prospects go to:-https://youtu.be/WGMqfHEPudQ

All types of boats are welcome, we normally have about 10 boats, if applications exceed this number I may have to limit it to first up first served, so contact me ASAP.
Bob Presley Cotswold and Comet Cruising. Contact bobannp@fsmail.net

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