by Simon Hinnigan

Good evening Bowmoor!

Last weekend saw the fantastic Bowmoor Bubble RS Aero Open.  I want to thank Rosemary again for organising the event and making it such a success, it could not have gone more smoothly!  I've included her race report below.  Many thanks as well to our excellent duty crew who ran the event, David Nunn, Nigel Fletcher, David Fewings, Alex Weston and Jamie Fewings.

Helen and Dave have also asked that I remind everyone to book your Christmas lunch (15th December at 14:00), places are filling up fast!  Contact at the Galley or via email and online payment to dave@hackettsgroup.co.uk.

Please note the updated and highlighted timings for club racing on December 15th - see the calendar at the bottom of this email.

It's that time of year again where we select our duties, please see the note from Alastair and Jacky below.

Next weekend is quiet for the club, EXCEPT for the weather with +50kts forecast on Saturday, do make sure your boat is tied down!

Best wishes,

Simon

Clubhouse News

Winter is coming.  Last winter our clubhouse became home to some furry visitors. With the help of Rentokil and some strategically placed traps, we are happily rodent free.  This winter can all club members keep all clubhouse doors closed and report any animal sightings to clubhouse@bowmoor.com.

We have had reports that the showers for the ladies are very cold.  We increased the temperature a couple of weeks ago and will increase them again this Saturday.  Please let us know if they are now at an acceptable heat or need adjusting again.

Please report any problems (however small) to clubhouse@bowmoor.com.

From Rosemary Dillworth

Twenty-nine RS Aeros entered the Bowmoor Bubble end of season open meeting. The day started slightly overcast. As the start of the open meeting neared, the sky cleared giving a glimpse of dazzling winter sun. The breeze built giving race conditions of light to moderate winds with plenty of gusts and shifts to keep the racing interesting and very competitive.

The Bowmoor RS Aero fleet continues to be a strong fleet and we were pleased to welcome youth sailors who had borrowed boats to join in this open meeting. With seven visiting sailors, this led to a shake up of the normal order of racing. The fleet was split into three starts: Aero 9, Aero 7 and Aero 6 / 5 handicap. Two races were run in the morning. After a delicious lunch from our caterers Hacketts, a further 2 races were run including a short pause for a course adjustment as the wind significantly shifted for the final race.

Aero 6/5 Fleet

This was a handicap race for the Aero 6 and 5 fleets. It was a very competitive fleet with them sailing very close together and plenty of place swapping. It was notable how well the Aero 5, sailed by Emily Davis, kept up with the 6's and Emily took first place in race 1. Rachael Jenkins took 1st place in races 2 and 4 closely followed by Charlotte Hitchmough who took 1st place in race 2. Sarah, Ellie and Fiona sailed some great races to keep the pressure on the front of the fleet. Overall, 1st place was Rachael, 2nd place Charlotte and 3rd place Sarah.

Aero 7 fleet

This is the largest fleet sailing in the open and is also the most hotly contested. The first race was won by Neil Crosby. For race 2, Toby Banbrook changed his sail down and joined the fleet. He dominated the races and took first place in the final three races. Neil continued at the front of the fleet taking second place in race 2 and 3 with Esther Heathcote close behind. Race 4 saw Esther just get ahead of Neil to claim second. The middle of the fleet was very competitive with tight mark rounding and good tactics to gain places. At points in the race they were at the front of the fleet but were unable to maintain the pace as more experienced sailors headed up the ranking. The challenges of lake sailing and wind shifts ensured that no one was assured their place until crossing the finish line. The pressure to gain places caused a few roll gybes to be a little exaggerated resulting in the helms experiencing the water temperature. Notable performances were given by the younger youth sailors Alex Davies, Marus Pakes (Haversham SC) and Josh Pickard. We are sure they will be putting pressure on the podium places before too long.

First place to Toby Banbrook and a birthday present for him. Second place was taken by Neil Crosby, and third place Esther Heathcote. A credible performance gave Darcy Lynall fourth place. Three of the top five places were taken by youth sailors aged18 or under. Well done to everyone!

Aero 9 fleet

Eleven sailors competed in this fleet with the front of the fleet being given no room for complacency. First place was hotly contested but Dave Lynall kept up his top class performance to win the first 3 races. Peter Barton, Buzz Keck and Will Morris pushed hard but ended up fighting for second and third places throughout the races. The final race was without Dave, leaving open the podium places for Peter Barton (1st) and Buzz Keck (2nd).

Overall, Dave Lynall took first place, Peter Barton second place on count back and Buzz Keck third place. Close behind them, Will Morris took fourth place and representing the youth.

The day ended with prize giving. We were delighted to share a birthday cake with Toby and Phil. A great end to an excellent day.

We look forward to holding the event next year and welcoming Aero sailors to Bowmoor Sailing club.

From Alastair and Jacky Stagg

You will this week receive an email from DutyMan asking you to choose dates for your duties for 2025.  There is an expectation that eligible members will select one duty, plus a further Wednesday duty if they take part in Wednesday racing.

These emails are sent to the email address you register with the club so in some case a single address may get multiple requests.  The members name is within the body of the email so please do not ignore the extra emails and assume they are just duplicates.  Please ensure that you use the correct email to register your duty with as the name on the email will be allocated to the chosen duty.  Instructions on how to select a date and duty are within the email.

The ability to choose dates within DutyMan is open for two weeks until the 19^th December after which I will allocate unallocated people who have not yet chosen a date to fill up any gaps

We are planning a full racing season from January to December 2025. Please therefore select your duty or duties from the list.  All members (and family members who use the club facilities) are required to do a race duty with the following exceptions:

• Those who have paid the duty opt-out fee
• Children under 16 on 31 December 2024
• Those over 70 who do not sail at the club
• Associate members
• Swimming members

If you have members in the above categories who have been invited for a duty, whilst not required to do a duty they are invited to do so, as it can be interesting and informative and it will help the club. 

To safely provide Club racing, we require the following:

An Officer Of the Day (OOD)  - you should have the experience to run the committee boat and supervise the race team.

Assistant OODs - no experience necessary.

Safety Boat Driver - you should have RYA PB2 qualification and experience of driving a powerboat and supporting club racing.

Safety Boat Crew - no experience necessary.  Note that this is an on-the-water duty and volunteers should come dressed appropriately for potentially wet and cold conditions.

Some members have been pre-selected as Officer of the Day as a result of your racing experience.  If you feel you need more familiarisation, some training sessions can be arranged, or you may like to shadow another OOD before your duty date.  Information about all the duty jobs are on the club website at  https://bowmoor.com/racing/duty-info/

In addition we are looking for some non-sailing volunteers to assist with ground maintenance (lawnmowing / strimming etc ) so if you wish please opt into this. Dates for this of are for the week of not necessarily that date.  For enquiries about this please contact clubhouse@bowmoor.com

At the end of the selection period your chosen duties will be published to the active duty roster where duties may be swapped in the usual way.

Thank you for assisting by selecting your own duties.  If you have any questions please ask.  You may contact Alastair Stagg either at duty@bowmoor.com or find him at the club.

If you are no longer a member of Bowmoor SC, and are not intending to re-join for the current season, please accept our apologies and let us know at duty@bowmoor.com so that we can remove you from the DutyMan database.

Sunday 8th December
11:30 Winter Series AM
13:30 Winter Series PM

Sunday 15th December
11:30 Winter Series AM
12:30 Winter Series PM
14:00 Christmas Lunch

Sunday 22nd December
11:30 Winter Series AM
13:30 Winter Series PM

Tuesday 26th December
Boxing day short race format

Sunday 29th December
11:30 Winter Series AM
13:30 Winter Series PM
Winter Series Ends