by Simon Hinnigan

The year is speeding past, I know Easter is early this year (it is snowing as I type) but where has the time gone?!

British Summer Time returns on Sunday and so does the three race format.  The number of sailing and social activities for Adult and Young Sailors increases through April.  See below for the return of the very popular youth Hour of Power on Sunday mornings.  Member Coaching is also proving to be very popular with 57 places booked so far.

This weekend we’ve the Beryl Edmonds Cup on Sunday and further racing on Monday, format TBC.  From April 10^th we have the return of Wednesday evening racing, no doubt with the traditional shifty wind conditions and glorious sunsets.

On Saturday 23^rd we hosted the Laser & Byte open in really very tough conditions.  We had to deploy two anchors for the committee boat to stop it dragging.

For the Bytes, Matthew English was sailing strongly but had to retire when all six rivets were ripped out of his gooseneck, yes he is that strong.  Ellie Pickard took a well-deserved and hard-fought 3^rd place, finishing strongly as 1^st Woman, 1^st Bowmoor and 2^nd Byte C1.  Combs SC took 1^st and 2^nd, something we’ll have to remedy when we visit them in September.

For the Lasers, Bowmoor’s Richard Lymposs secured second place in style, just 1 point behind 1^st place.  In 10^th place, Bowmoor’s Aimee Bulkes was 1^st woman; a great result for the only teenager representing Laser’s at Bowmoor and recently recovered from injury.  Thank you & well done to Toby Banbrook for his first duty as an Open Meeting Race officer, a fantastic and challenging day.  Special thanks as well to the three safety crews and the sailors who came back onto the water to help recover boats.

Hacketts will be open on Saturday, Sunday and Monday this coming Easter Weekend.  They will then be open on Saturday and Sunday for the rest of the summer.

Please take note of the Easter Weekend camping restrictions, and a special note to swimmers.

Starting every Sunday from the 21st April, Bowmoor's extremely popular Hour of Power is back.  Set your alarm clocks to get ready and rigged by 9:15 each Sunday morning.

HOP is a weekly youth training focused on building sailing skills at every level.  HOP ends just before club racing so that youth and instructors can join in.  It has always been Bowmoor's most popular youth training format.

The cost is a very low £25 per block of 5 weeks. We only have 24 spaces available and we will run a waiting list.

HOP is part of the Bowmoor Youth Training pathway, find out more about Bowmoor Youth here: https://bowmoor.com/training/youth/bowmoor-youth-pathway/

HOP is open to Bowmoor members only. Sailors must have passed their RYA stage 2.  You can use club boats, but that will be on a first come first served basis and RYA courses has priority at all times.  There is a fully kitted out RS Tera still available for purchase.

Parents must remain on site and support with launching & recovery.  If your sailor does not attend enough sessions your space will be allocated to people on the waiting list.

Further questions, please email: MemberTraining@bowmoor.com

The ground is still very wet, it is ok to walk on the grass but vehicles will slowly sink if they are on the grass for any length of time.  This is a real shame for the very early Easter Weekend, please follow these rules.

• No vehicles on the grass or in the dinghy park.
• Camping is permitted, it will be wet, check the ground first.
• Motorhomes/caravans can use the hard standing in the carpark.

I know it’s hard to believe, but some members don’t read Bowsprit!! If a member does get stuck, please don’t damage your car trying to extract them, or get injured trying to push the vehicle.  There are plenty of members available, please come to the club house so we can all help.  The fine is a round at the bar for all those that had to help 😊.

On Saturday we had swimmers wanting to enter the lake after 09:30 as sailors were getting ready to launch.  A quick reminder to avoid disappointment:

• Swimming can happen before 09:30 every day on the whole lake or after 16:30 in the swim area at the western end of the lake (after 15:30 between November to March 30^th).  The Swim area is marked by round yellow buoys.
• On week days during term time only, if the lake is not in use then swimmers can sign on the activity board for a maximum of 30 minutes.  Currently schools have broken up and term time restarts from April 15^th.
• Please familiarise yourself with the club rules, they are for your safety.

Swimmers & Power Boats: So that the club can operate, powerboats can be launched AT ANY TIME, they are not restricted to launching after 09:30 like sail boats.  You must not swim inside the rectangle created by the shore and marks 11 & 12.  This means that the area from the race hut east to the end of the training dinghy park is a no-go zone for swimmers when powerboats are being launched, in use or on the pontoon.  Do not enter this area of the lake.  Our power boat drivers are trained and licensed to a high standard, please respect their instructions, they will keep you safe.

https://www.sailingchandlery.com/pages/club-scheme-bowmoor-sailing-club

Sunday 31st March
Easter Sunday, Beryl Edmunds Cup
3 Races, BST Begins
Monday 1st April
Team Racing
Saturday 6th April
Member Coaching, AI Assessment day
Sunday 7th April
11:30 Spring Series AM
13:30 Spring Series PM
15:00 Spring Series late PM

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