by Simon Hinnigan

For the first weekend of March we hosted the Supernova Winter Championship with members enjoying the morning sailing before racing started.  Congratulations to Matthew English for winning first Bowmoor and Lizzie Fewings who was 1^st woman and 1^st MK1.

Although sunny, conditions on Sunday were challenging with no wind until after 13:00.  Many thanks to Caroline Doran, as OOD, who managed to hold one race in the afternoon!

This weekend we are running an RS300 open event and an RYA Power boat course.  If you want to access the lake on Saturday or Sunday, please coordinate with Charlie Sansom as race officer.  As always, sailors engaged in racing have priority so please respect race team instructions and remain clear of the race area. The bar will be open on Saturday evening. Note that on Sunday 10^th club racing will start at 12:30.

For the weekend of March 16^th we’re hosting a University Windsurfing event.  Although the club will be very busy, the lake is open as normal.  Club racing will start at 10:30 on Sunday 17^th.

Finally, we received sad news regarding Richard Thompson this week, more information from Mike Read below. Richard was a key member of Bowmoor at our old lake and the club continue to do many of the traditions that he started.  He will be remembered by many members.  Many thanks to Mike for keeping Bowmoor updated. 

From Mike Read:

Sad news, Richard recently passed away at the age of 82. The Thompson family were a prominent members of Bowmoor back in the 1980’s. Richard and Carol  help start the Optimist fleet and the tradition of Oppy Camp. Following the Thompson’s hard work and enthusiasm the fleet numbered over 50 boats!  Richard, Carol and their children, Charles, Katherine and Rachel were all prolific sailors, it was in their DNA!  Richard sailed many boats but was a strong competitor in the Laser fleet in the 80’s and 90’s!

Richard wrote and annually reviewed our sailing rules, and was key on introducing and conducting Team Racing to the club.

The Thompson sailing careers moved into other directions as we moved to our new lake, with Richard moving to larger boats and becoming an international umpire.

Richard was recently honoured in the RYA 2021 Volunteer Award for his services to sailing. He was on the RYA rules committee since 1998 and The ISAF racing rules committee since 2005. He umpired many international competitions across the world and always umpired the varsity sailing matches , where his sailing career began!

His memorial service is in St Mary’s church Fairford on 21 March at 2.00 pm

Carpe ventum.

Saturday 9th March
RS300 Open - Restricted Access, see RO.
Sunday 10th March
RS300 Open AM - Restricted Access
12:30 - Icicle (Change of start time)
Back to Back - Frostbite
Saturday 16th March
University Windsurfing
Sunday 17th March
10:30 - Icicle (Change of start time)
Back to Back - Frostbite
University Windsurfing continues from 12:30
Saturday 23rd March
Laser/Byte Open - Restricted Access, see RO
Sunday 24th March
11:30 - Icicle Series Ends
13:30 - Frostbite Series Ends

The full calendar is published on bowmoor.com/calendar/