Banff Sailing Club
NEWSLETTER
May 2011
Courses
The Power Boat level 2 course is postponed until we get the RIB sorted out and
in the water; I will keep those that have put their names down informed of new
dates.
On second week in April, 5 people successfully completed the Keelboat level 1 &
2 course with Ewan Stirling, Ewan turned out to be a good instructor with a very
easy manner and engaging style. On
the Friday of that week Ewan assessed 3 people to go on and do the keelboat
instructors course later in the year.
We then had the weekend, where 8 dinghy instructors from all over the
North East came along to the club to get some coaching from Ewan on keelboat
sailing, they went through setting up the boats, trimming and helming in
different conditions. A great
weekend was had by all, with feedback like….”
Just wanted to
say thank you to yourself and everyone at Banff Sailing Club for a great
weekend, I was really impressed with the club and how friendly everyone was,
also the catering was excellent! Please pass this on to everyone involved.”
Simon
A
big thank you to all that helped out on the weekend, with the RIB and catering,
Pam, Adrian, Jane, John, Graham, Gordon, Bob, Desmond, Carol, Alistair, Lynsey
(apologies if I have missed anybody).
Neil and David stepped in to make up the crews, thanks to them. A lot of work went in to making it a
successful event, thanks to Neil for that.
Neil, David, Neil, Jane, Ewan and David
Visiting instructors with Neil and Ewan
Going forward we would like to gauge the interest in running more practical
keelboat courses, details as follows, if you are interested in putting your name
down for them, please contact Neil Overton.
Keelboat level 1 & 2
Monday 15th – Thursday 18th August, there are 5 places
available and the cost would be
£200.
Instructor Assessments
on Friday 19th August, if you feel you would like to enter in to some
coaching and taking a turn at skippering general sailing sessions, please put
your name forward.
Keelboat level 3
Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st August, there are 5 places
available and the cost would be £100
Round Britain &
Ireland Challenge
Neil Overton and Anna Daley embarked upon a leg of the Round Britain and Ireland
Race; this is their joint log of the journey…
After our 2
training weekends we were ready to embark upon the Round Britain & Ireland
Challenge (RBIC).
6 Dehler
Varianta 44’ boats slipped from Weymouth in the afternoon sunshine on Sunday 27th
March where, after a short race round the cans in the bay, our voyage began as
we passed Portland Bill at 15.29hrs.
After sailing
through the pitch black night sharing short 90minute watches in the biting cold,
we passed Longships lighthouse, barely visible in the rain, at 17.35hrs on
Monday 28th March. The watches were unrelenting and continued
through the next pitch black night (reminding us of why sleep deprivation is a
much valued torture technique!). Our saving grace through the
long nights was the constant companionship of a 25 strong pod of Irish dolphins
which stayed with us from midnight till dawn, playfully tapping our rudder every
few minutes as if to keep us on course. Late evening on Tuesday 29th
March we were somewhere in the Celtic Sea.
In the early
hours of Wednesday the 30th we moored at Cork Yacht Club in
Crosshaven Marina. We awoke to warm spring Irish sunshine & the long
nights miraculously faded from our minds whilst eating warm croissants & sipping
strong coffees al fresco, served by a stunning Irish waitress. We spent
the day exploring Crosshaven & the evening devouring enormous fish suppers in
newspaper from “Chish & Fips” which we ate in the Moonduster Inn washed down
with a Guinness or two.
The fierce
winds & heavy seas in the Atlantic forbade us from venturing out of the relative
shelter of the Lough but we did manage an afternoon sail, venturing further up
the Lough & into Cork. On the return to Crosshaven we had the opportunity
to play around testing different headsails in the freshening 40 knot gusts.
The time ashore had also given us the opportunity to undertake some running
repairs & rigging improvements.
As every
sailor knows, the weather often dictates our plans & the RBIC route was amended
to avoid the gales on the West coast to the relative shelter of the East coast
of Ireland. So, on Saturday 2nd April we slipped lines & set
sail for Bangor with plenty of ports of refuge to hand on the voyage north.
The calm after the recent storm made the sail between Carnsore Point & Tuskar
Rock a pleasure.
Another 2
night sails found us negotiating the lights of Bangor in the early hours of
Monday 4th April where, after a few hours’ sleep we were able to
explore the town. Espresso Martinis, ordered by our skipper, were to be
had by all of our crew in the Rabbit Rooms to wash down our bowls of mussels.
This was followed by us attending the open mic night downstairs where after a
few Irish sherries we felt we were singing in tune like Irish rock stars,
despite the reality of our woeful performances.
The following
night was a bit of a contrast, when we had the privilege of dining at the Royal
Ulster Yacht Club were we were warmly welcomed by the members despite our rather
casual attire. We were also given a few gratis tips for getting out of
Belfast Lough the following afternoon & pointed in the direction of a little
known back eddy express train on the north side of Belfast Lough.
We slipped
Bangor in the early afternoon on Wed 6th April. Getting on our
short 2 knot express train (leaving the rest of the fleet to punch tide up the
middle). We got off to a flying start leaving the Lough & left Rathlin Island
to Port & the Kintyre peninsula to Starboard on our way north towards Stornoway.
The
pressures of being part of a crack racing crew became apparent to us during the
afternoon, as we surfed downwind.
Listening to loud country music, eating jelly babies & competing with each other
to see who could record the fastest Speed over Ground while remaining on course.
ANNA WON! 13.6kts following a brief coaching session from a handsome man with a
soft Irish brogue.
We sailed up
the Sound of Jura through the night on a changed watch pattern. Luxury!
2hrs on & 5hrs off!! What to do with all that free time!?
Stopping at
Crinan it was a real team effort to pick up a mooring buoy in the pitch dark, in
strong tide & changing winds at 02.00hrs on Thursday 7th April.
We awoke in the morning light to the subtle buzz of a RIB demanding a £15
parking fee. Welcome to Scotland ye first Southern visitors of the season. Perhaps we would have secured a
discount if Anna or I had poked our heads out & enquired “Aye, aye. Fit like
loon?”
After a heap
of bacon rolls we had a lovely sail through the Dorus Mor where Neil expertly
helmed between the multiple whirlpools & eddies, despite it being slack water.
(What on earth is it like with a flowing tide?!). Then it was up through
the Sound of Luing with the Corryvechan in the distance to Port.
We arrived
at Dunstafnnage (Oban) where 10 days at sea had transformed Neil into a Johnny
Depp lookielikey with 10 day stubble, mirror shades & bandana. A more
hospitable Scottish welcome saw the crew, now joined by Michael Matheidas,
having mid-afternoon hot toddies in the marina's “Wide Mouthed Frog”, before
retiring for a sedate evening in Oban, starting in Auleys Bar. A feeding frenzy
in the steak house was followed by dancing & singing wildly to a lone Vatersay
Boy held captive in the Woodside pub by us (& him drinking only orange juice for
Lent, poor man).
Leaving the
comforts of Dunstafnnage on the afternoon of Friday the 8th we sailed
up the Sound of Mull as the sun set. We were so far in the lead at this point
that we were able to bow to the pressure of the Balamory fans on board & make a
brief detour into Tobermory bay for a photo opportunity.
We rounded
Ardnamurchan Point as darkness closed in & saw the new dawn come in on Saturday
the 9th April when we savoured the ethereal beauty of the Minches
with the Hebridean Isles & Skye either sides of us. We "oood" & "aahd" at
the beautiful scenery, the wildlife, ferries & cargo ships, and passed the
Shiants before reaching Stornoway, the culmination of our part of the Challenge,
in the afternoon. We were welcomed in to port by the local harbour seal &
there was a sea otter frolicking on the rocks around the corner.
We bade
farewell to the fleet the following day, leaving Stornoway on the ferry to
Ullapool & leaving Michael aboard to carry on the Banff legacy on his journey
through the Pentland Firth & onwards towards Edinburgh. Our Venus was
overall race leader. We're still unsure if it was down to our brilliant
crewing or the brilliance of our skipper team.
770 miles logged.
Anna Daley &
Neil Overton
Michael
Matheidas then took up the baton for the next leg round to Granton; he has
promised me a log for the next newsletter
Marex 707 Challenge
On the 28th May Marex have kindly agreed to sponsor an inter club
Match Racing Challenge on the 707s, ourselves, Peterhead and Stonehaven will
race against each other. The RIB
will be on the water and there will be food available in the clubhouse all day. A full days racing is planned with
race starts at the pier so it should be good for spectating. If you would like tickets for lasagna
supper in the evening please let me know.
Volunteers are needed through the day to help out with food; RIB etc.
please let me know if you’re available.
707 sailing
There will also be a normal Wednesday evening sailing session on the 11thMay,
meet at the club about 18:00hrs
Saturday 14th May if
any skippers (&crew) are available to sail let me know. It could be a
morning sail. HW is @ 09.42 with the boats finishing up at Whitehills ready for
the Taster Sessions on Sunday 16th which are planned to run from 10.00 to
15.00hrs.
Sunday 16th May is Taster
Sessions out of Whitehills with 1 hour sails starting from 10.00 to 15.00hrs.
David Murrayd.murray55@btinternet.com
is organising the day & volunteers so please get in touch with him regarding
that day. We could do with a few more people to help out on shore & on the
boats. Thanks to Bob Maycock, David
Barclay, Alex Taylor, Andrew Sayers (after 15.00) who have already volunteered
to help out.
Wednesday 18th will
be a much needed maintenance & clean up night at the club. Pop along to
help out anytime between 18.30 to 22.00!
Saturday21st/Sunday 22nd May.
Boats are available to sail in the afternoons. Crews & skippers let me
know.
Wednesday 25th. Evening sail. plan to slip lines around 18.30 so
turn up in plenty of time to help rig the boats.
Saturday 28th is the "MAREX
Keelboat Challenge" between Banff, Peterhead & Stonehaven. So the boats
will be in use all day. Do however come along & help out on shore, in the
RIB or just to watch & chat with whichever crews aren't racing at the time.
I've been asked to skipper a boat for Banff so I'll be asking for team members.
It has also been decided in light of the limited time for practice sessions to
make this a No Spinnakers race. So one less thing for us novice 707 racers
to worry about. Though there are plenty of other things for us to be
concentrating on during the races.
Sunday 29th has been set aside for MAREX
employees to use the 707s as part of their generous sponsorship of the challenge
event. There may be a need for some Banff 707 crew to come along as
well.
Well that seems to be most of May accounted for!
There may be some impromptu mid-week forays out by me (one of the joys of shift
work) I will try to let all know when I'm available to go out. Any other
skippers with similar plans or a free evening I can pass on the availability of
a sail to all on the list.
Banff take up
the Tarbert Challenge
Michael Matheidas invited some BSC members to
join him with Exxon-Mobile at Tarbert for their Tarbert Challenge; this is Bob
Maycocks account of the weekend…
At the
invitation of Exxon-Mobil’s Phoenix club we arrived at Largs on the Royal
Wedding day and the party started. Although some of us did not have the stamina
a few crew did hit the local night club and enjoy the benefit of being foamed.
[From my crew I can confirm coming out onto the street wet at 2:00am does not
have the same attraction as it does in Ibiza]. Setting off a 10:00 the following
morning in a strong Easterly we set off for the race start up the East Kyles of
Bute. The race was due to start at 13:00 at the start of the West Kyle and we
were able to relax and enjoy the bank holiday sunshine. Given my crew all had
little recent experience of sailing we gave ourselves plenty of sea room and
then balancing the sails [Moonsong was a 45’ Bavaria with Jib and Mast roller
reefing], we headed for the start. Rounding the headland we found the start boat
had moved closer up the Kyle and with a boat to our windward and no room to gybe
we decided to take the penalty and go for it. We soon overtook the earlier boats
and were leading up the Kyle. Having tuned our sails before the start had given
us a real advantage as many with roller reefing had approached the start with
Jib only. The wind had built to F5 and my crew most news to sailing had the
experience of helming close hauled in exhilarating conditions. One had a broad
grin for the whole of the half hour he spent the helm. Rounding Ardlamont Point
we headed downwind to Tarbert. Still reefed I had a mutiny on my hands when the
first boat passed us and as a result we put out more sail and even with the
penalty managed 3rd in the race. We finally rafted up to a 50ft
Beneteau ‘ Moonrise’ and prepared for the fancy dress party in the evening.
The evening was
a raucous affair our boat had decided to go as Chavs and with one of our crew
Wayne dressed up as Vicky Pollard [Little Britain] and in character for the
whole night it was a great night.
The following
morning saw us leave Tarbert at 10:00 for a 10:30 start. Unlike the previous day
we had more sea room and crossed the start line about 2 minutes after our time.
However it was a close-hauled up Bute Sound to Garroch Head, Southerly Point on
the Isle of Bute, and despite the cruisy nature of the boat by careful reefing
we were able to point to within 35 degrees of the wind and make good progress on
the fleet. At this point we were
second in the race, and the skipper [me] made a fatal error. I decided to let
out a little more jib and main. This then stopped us from pointing so high and
the no go zone slipped to 60 degrees. We then could not get the main back in so
had to continue with too much sail. This caused some difficulty with the helm
and after broaching once; I took the helm and managed to get us enough sea room
to sort out the sails. The result was that we finished well down the pack.
Mooring up at
Kip Marina the final night was the prize giving and a we had a great live band,
although with the great sailing not all crews stayed to enjoy it, as some were
already exhausted and partied out.
Motoring down
from Kip to Largs and having lunch off Cumbrae before mooring up for the final
time, we had time to reflect on what had been a great weekend’s sail.
Would I do it again? In a flash!
Club Polo shirts
Club polo shirts are available from Jane Bowie,
they are navy Fruit of the Loom, they will be embroidered with club logo on the
breast and optional 707 logo on the sleeve, cost will be £20 each, Jane will be
placing an order in the next few weeks so please email her on
js@bowie.fsnet.co.uk There are a few visits to other
clubs planned this year and other clubs visiting ourselves, it would be good if
we could at least look like a slick, organized
well-oiled team!!!
Club Burgees, £17 are available from Pam Peters
on 01651 873048
Competitions
A reminder that if you have any good sailing logs
or photos, please send me them to be entered in to this years’ competitions.
Cruising
On our planned cruise for 23rd I think
was the only day we had lashing rain in April, however the 2 707s and Blue
Pegasus showed willing and had a sail round the Bay then back to the clubhouse
for a BBQ in the evening, with a good turn out and some lovely grub, it was a
good end to a not so great days sailing, thanks to Pam and Adrian for organizing
things in the evening.
On the 21st and 22nd May
there is a cruise up to Lossie planned, Ivor and Adrian are organizing, if you
would like to join them get in touch.
And finally….
The lady that has been cleaning the club has had
to retire due to ill health, could we please make some extra effort to clean up
after ourselves in the meantime.
I have set up a Facebook Page for BSC and on
there will put updates on what’s planned sailing wise and socially, this then
feeds on to the front page of the website site where you can view it, so you
don’t have to be on Facebook to see it, have also posted some club photos there
as well.