by Tom Whittingham

It has been another busy weekend at the Club both on/in the water and ashore.   Friday night was a flurry of activity as our young sailors got ready for the Regional Championships at Oxford SC (see report below). With them all departing it made for an unusual mix afloat.  The adult sailing course started along with a powerboat  safety course and were then joined on the water by the Saturday Cruisers and a strong turn-out by the Ladies who Launch. 

The Friday and Saturday evenings were lively with many staying on site including many of those competing at Oxford.  The weather was glorious, and many took to the water to cool off.  The Sunday Big Swim also attracted a variety of participants, some covering competition distances and others focused more on wellbeing. 

The fine weather also brought many to the Club after a long absence and unfortunately there were multiple instances of ignorance of or simply ignoring extant rules and guidelines.  Our priority remains safety and then integrity of our Club and its down to us all to ensure we achieve this.   This will be supported by spot checks so a little research before you come to the Club would not go amiss.  

Entry is now open for the 2023 edition of the Bowmoor Sailing Club 5 Hour Race. The 5 Hour Race will be held on Sunday 2nd July 2023.  To enter you need to have a team of at least two helms or crews racing the single boat.   There is a change-over gate established just in front of the Clubhouse which makes for entertaining viewing and crews must change over at least once.     Visitors are welcome to compete.  Enter here.

There will be a party on the evening of Saturday 1st July to make sure you are feeling fresh and relaxed for the race!

 Classic and Vintage Racing Dinghy AssociationBowmoor Sailing Club Rally 29th July/ 30th July 2023It’s that time of year again so Bowmoor Sailing Club will againbe hosting an event for the Classic and Vintage Racing Dinghy Association (CVRDA) over the weekend of 29th July/ 30th July.

The 2022 event saw the CVRDA make a welcome return to the club after a period ofabsence due to Covid. This attracted a wide variety of interesting boats including several International Moths, two Mirrors, an Albacore, a GP14, a classic Merlin Rocket and a Europe. Three of the boats that took part, a GP14, a Europe and a wooden Mirror were from Bowmoor and this year it would be really great to increase the number of home boats competing if possible. So, if you have a boat that might be eligible (I know of at least a dozen in the boat park that qualify) then why not dust off the cobwebs, evict the spiders and come and join in the fun.

The event has been won by Enterprise number 452 in the past so don’t worry if your boat is not pristine and up to full racing spec, in fact the more original it is the more favourable handicap it is likely to attract. For example, wooden spars and cotton sails would give you an extra handicap allowance.The principle aim of the CVRDA is to get older boats out on the water doing what they were designed to do even if they are no longer competitive on the open circuit. We pride ourselves on the fact that the overall emphasis is on being inclusive rather than exclusive

The RIAT weekend is always a busy time when many Family Members enjoy camping at the Club.  There is no pre-booking needed be we will ask you to collect a ticket to attach to your tent or van unless it is already sporting a Bowmoor membership sticker. 

You may bring guests but only within the limits (one family or 3 individuals).  They will need to pay for a temporary membership of £5/night as they would on any other occasion if they camp with you overnight.   

The main gate will be locked throughout the RIAT weekend to enhance security. 

Over the next few weeks there will be random checks conducted against the membership database.  Issues that have been dealt with over the last few weeks have been:

·       Visitors not signed in/or more than permitted.

·       Members not looking after their guests; you are responsible for them abiding by the rules.

·       Family membership used across multiple households, including Pensioner (grandparent) membership bringing sailing grandchildren and bringing a parent as a ‘guest’ to the point they need membership.

The points above have been raised by members to the committee and sometimes also reporting being abused for pointing out breaches of rules and guidelines.  When it comes to safety issues such as use of buoyancy  aids or activities at the wrong time and place, we all have a responsibility not to turn a blind eye.  Please refresh you understanding of Water safety.  If you are planning to camp, please check Camping Protocols.

There were 54 entries for the regatta, but the strong gusty conditions during the camp reduced the participants down to just 18 with wear and tear on boats and sailors.  Despite the numbers, those 18 participants raced hard and did well to complete three challenging races. Entries ranged from age 9 to 18. Aero 7’s and Bytes competed in the fast handicap. Mainly Tera’s with a token Topper made up the slow handicap race.   The Northerly conditions meant all starts were from the committee boat and the race team adjusted the course after lunch to continue the challenge.

Our young instructors fought hard during the three races with Toby Banbrook squeezing out first place in all three races with his brother closely behind however, Sam Fewings stole overall second place after a very competitively fighting for position and stole 2nd place in race 2 & 3. It was exciting spectating watching from the committee boat.

It was great to see a large Byte fleet out on the water again after a popular winter training and all sailors out in good performances. Esther Heathcote stole the lead in all races and was crowned first Byte sailor. Throughout she was keeping a watchful eye on her rival Matthew English, who had escaped from his GCSE revision to make it out on the water, fresh faced without the exhaustion of camp.   Monty Heathcote in his C1 also sailed well after some kit failure and some fast-acting shore team to get him back on the water for race 2 where he was just behind the winning Byte on handicap.

In the slow handicap, Jay’s training has paid off and he stole first prize in the sport rig with Catherine Davies in 2nd, Jasper Keck 3rd overall and first Pro rig.  

The prize giving was fully attended by all participants and parents as generous Amazon prizes were awarded to all sailors thanks to the YOO sponsorship of the event.

Oxford Sailing Club based at Farmoor Reservoir hosted the RYA Regional Junior Championships for the South Region over the weekend of the 17-18th June.   Bowmoor  SC saw a good turnout with 11 young sailors, many of whom had never sailed away from their home club. 

In the regatta fleet which is the mid-tier section aimed at improving sailors race knowledge and confidence took part in 10 short snappy races across the weekend. This was run by Jake Elsbury from RS.  Tilly and Oscar improved their skills as the event progressed with Oscar achieving half of his results in the top 3 and Tilly achieving her best result of 2nd in one of the races in Tera’s and Cairenn in the Topper fleet being 1st girl. 

The main championship regatta took place with 4 fleets on one large trapezoid course with Feva’s and Toppers completing the outer course and Tera’s and Optimist’s completing the inner course. The race committee had a challenging weekend with light shifty wind conditions and the ever threat of thunder and lightning with Amber weather warnings over the weekend.

In the Feva’s Alex and Monty paired up for the first time with overall result of 11th and best race result was a 5th. Sailing the new RS demo Feva on kind loan to the club from RS was Grace and Poppy sailing away from Bowmoor for the first time and smiling til the end. 

In the Tera’s Josh Pickard was our medal winner achieving bronze to claps of congratulations from the Bowmoor team that stayed until the end.  Jay achieving 7th with best race result of 3rd , Jasper finishing 10th best result 8th followed by Catherine completing all races stepping up from the regatta level. 

The Bowmoor team worked hard on the water but found the light wind conditions challenging and frustrating at times after races were abandoned and delays with the AP flag being a feature of the weekend.   All sailors had good practice of the championship course style which is different to the Bowmoor courses and had the added strategy of gates at the leeward marks. Well done to all competitors.   

We hope at next year event even more young sailors from Bowmoor look to join the team to participate in an away event. Whatever the level there is an entry point to try sailing at another venue.

Wednesday 21th June

19:00 - Handicap Racing

Saturday 24th  June

09:00 - RYA Adult Level 2 Course

Sunday 25th June

 09:00 - RYA Adult Level 2 Course

11:30 - Handicap Races 

13:30 - Handicap Races

15:15 - Personal Handicap Race

Wednesday 28th June

19:00 - Handicap Racing

Saturday 1st July

19:00 - Mid-summer party.

Sunday 2nd July

 09:30  - 5 Hour Race

Wednesday 5rd July

19:00 - Handicap Racing

Saturday 8th  July

90:30 - Tera Squad Training

11:00 - Cruising Saturday, Ladies who Launch

Sunday 9th July

 09:30 - Tera Squad Training

11:30 - Handicap Races 

13:30 - Handicap Races

15:15 - Personal Handicap Race

Wednedsay 12th July

19:00 - Handicap racing

Friday 14th July

11:00 - Cuising Under the Smoke

Saturday 15th July

11:30 - Under the Smoke Regatta

13:30 - Under the Smoke Regatta

15:15 - Under the Smoke Regatta

Sunday 16th July

 11:30 - Handicap Races 

13:30 - Handicap Races

15:15 - Personal Handicap Race