Welcome to the fifth RYA NorthWest newsletter of the New Year. Here, you will read about RYA activities in the NW, and find out more about latest initiatives from RYA HQ. The newsletter is being sent by e mail to clubs and centres in the NW. You can forward the e mail news to your fellow committee members at your club, or even to all your membership thus giving them all the chance to get the latest news fast. Print a copy to put on your notice board to let others see the news, or cut and paste stories onto your club website. You can also be added to the circulation group to receive your own personal copy.
If you would like to be added to the distribution list, just contact the Regional Secretary at
This month’s highlights include;
- Dates for your Diary
- Junior Racing- Andrew Brown wins biggest ever Topper Inlands
- Junior Racing- NW Windsurfers and Mirrors star at Eric Twinames
- Endurance Racing- 12 Hour Laser race at W Lancs
- Team Racing- RYA Team Racing Nationals
- Sailability- Round Britain sail by Geoff Holt
- Team Racing- Wilson Trophy at West Kirby
- Regional Development
- Club Development
- Junior Racing- Rounds 2 and 3 of RYA NW Junior Travellers
- Junior Squads- how to get your place
- Yacht Racing- Liverpool YC series
- Endurance for Juniors
- NW Junior Traveller Series 2007
- Opens in the NW in 2007
- Astbury take first Team 15 Interclub
- Rules- New methods for resolving disputes
- Honda Youth RIB dates and places
- Volvo Keelboats news
- RYA new books
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
T15 Interclub, Manley, 19 May
Enterprise NW Areas, Ainsdale, 19/20 May
Graduate Nationals, Bass, 26-28 May
Phantom NWs, Delph, 2/3 June
Windermere on Water weekend, Windermere, 8-10 June
T15 Interclub, Hollingworth, 9 June
RYA NW Jr Traveller, Ullswater, 9 June
GP14 Northerns, Derwent Res, 9/10 June
RYA Honda Youth RIBs and Honda Fours, Isle of Man, 16 June
RYA NW Jr Traveller, Bolton, 23 June
Juniors 12 Hour Race, Southport SC, 30 June
JUNIOR RACING
Andrew Brown Wins Magic Marine Topper Inlands
With over 300 boats registered the 2007 Magic Marine Topper Inland championship was the largest on record. The introduction of a Regatta fleet extended this highly enjoyable weekend to many siblings. Grafham Water SC had plenty of space to accommodate main and regatta fleet trapezoid courses as well as leaving room for club racing. Saturday 5th May had light breezes, with just one race sailed in each of the four flights.
Sunday morning dawned with the wind in the opposite direction (SW) and building to a steady 15Knts as the fleet launched. Race 2a (Yellow and Red flights) favoured those that noticed that the course was positioned to the right of the start line, there were many who over stood the port layline. The race was won by Andrew Brown the current World Champion, followed by Michael Wood and Max Richardson. Race 2b (Blue and White) was won by Freddie Connor. By the start of race 3a (Yellow and White) the breeze had built a couple of knots, favouring those with stamina and a well set up downhaul system. This race was won by Max Richardson. In Race 3b (Red and Blue) Andrew Brown was dominant and sailed away from the fleet. The fleet then came in for a much needed lunch break.
The Regatta Fleet with most reefed managed two races in the boisterous conditions, with Megan O’Brien winning race 3 and Giles Kuzyk taking Race 4.
The final race of the day was sailed in similar conditions and race 4a (Red and White) was won by Matthew Johnson followed by Robin Elsey and Andrew Brown. Race 4b (Blue and Yellow) was won by Michael Wood followed by Jon Sleight and Phil McCoy.
After the fourth race the competitors were allowed to discard their worst score and this meant that on 5pts the North West’s Andrew Brown became the 2007 Magic Marine Topper Inland Champion, adding that to his World title of last year. He was closely followed by Michael Wood on 6pts and Phil McCoy on 7pts.
Windsurfers and Mirrors lead West team to second overall at the RYA Eric Twiname Championships
The rain poured in Rutland on day two of the 2007 RYA Eric Twiname Championships, but it did nothing to dampen the spirits of some 330 junior sailors who were fighting it out on this final day of the ‘Battle of the Zones’.
The young sailing talents, all aged between 8 and 15 years, are some of the best young prospects from each of six English Zones, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Competitors from the Southern Zone went home the coveted Eric Twiname Shield for the best overall team performance of the weekend.
The South’s sailors put in some strong performances to take the overall dinghy prize as well as the ET Shield, emerging as the top Zone in the Optimist, Cadet and Mirror classes, while the West Zone took the overall windsurfing trophy.
There were top performances from a number of West Zone windsurfers, led by Oliver Bradley-Baker (West Kirby SC) who claimed victory in the Bic Techno 4.5m class, while team mate Josh Knight took third. At the other end of the age scale, Callum Stuart (Astbury) took second place in the 7.8m event. These three scores helped the West Zone to victory in the windsurfing class.
The other highlight for the West Zone team was in the Mirror class, where the Royal Windermere conveyer belt of talent continued to roll, with both of the top pairs coming from there. William and Hannah Parkinson took first, with Brendan Sweeney/ Max Ligema in second. All the named top performers in windsurfers and Mirrors came from clubs in the NW.
Overall, the dinghy team came third in the Zones, and combined with the Windsurfers’ win, that made the West Zone second overall in the Eric Twiname Shield.
TEAM RACING
RYA Team Racing Nationals at West Kirby
After a series of qualification events held around the country 16 teams were selected for the team racing national finals. This was splendidly hosted on April 28/29 by West Kirby Sailing Club – world renowned for the expertise in this area of the sport. Winds were light moderate and there was plenty of spring sunshine. The elected format was a full round robin so that all participating teams would get the opportunity to spar against each other. This was followed by knockout rounds to determine the champions.
Sailing in three matched sets of Fireflies, supplied by West Kirby and London University the full round robin took one and a half days to complete.
After the round robin 4 teams stood clearly ahead: Spinnaker All Stars with only one loss, closely followed by New Forest Pirates (Also from Spinnaker). The hosts West Kirby were also able to boast two teams in the semis West Kirby First Team and West Kirby Hawks.
All Stars defeated Hawks in the first semi final. The score line at the end of the semi finals belies the fact that it was some of the most tenacious racing throughout the weekend. In the second semi final Pirates despatched West Kirby in two straight races – the scene was set yet again for a Spinnaker shoot down.
In the first to three wins format All Stars clawed their way to a 2:1 lead.
In the fourth race all six boats bunched together at the bottom of the run and were simultaneously involved in a mark trap. A similar pile up occurred at the fourth and last mark as several boats were even seen to be gybing on to starboard despite the rum line course being a port tack beam reach. As the bunch rounded the last mark All Stars held a precarious 2,3,4 combination. Ben Vines in 4th (All Stars) was deemed to have infringed, putting Pirates into a highly unstable winning position, and bringing the race truly alive.
Now Rob Sherrington in 2nd (All Stars) and Steve Tylecote in 3rd needed to co-ordinate an attack on the Pirates. After much exciting racing, the All Stars clinched the race to take the final by 3:1. Spinnaker All Stars team was Steve Tylecote, Sally Wilson, Rob Sherrington, Toby Lewis, Ben Vines, Linda Eadie.
ENDURANCE RACING
Laser 12 Hr race at W Lancs
08:00hrs on Saturday 28th April was the start of the first ever West Lancashire Yacht Club Laser 12 Hour Race, hosted in partnership with Phoenix Marine, Rooster Sailing and Whitehorse Photography, and raced on the Marine Lake at Southport, the home of dinghy endurance racing. 5 knots of Northerly breeze greeted the 60 participating sailors, and by the end of lap 1 Dovestone held a narrow lead over West Lancs Masters, with the pursuing pack 50 metres astern. West Lancs Masters took the award for the fastest first 2 laps, after Dovestone incurred a ¼ lap penalty as a premature starter. By 09:30, the wind had steadily built to 12 knots and teams were starting to make their first crew changes. Dovestone maintained a lead of around 100 metres, while Dovestone Ladies excelled in the marginal conditions to lead the race on paper and Rooster moved through the fleet to press for the lead. After two hours of sailing, Rooster had taken the lead, but the local White Horse youth team to tenaciously grab the number one spot by 11:00am. Meanwhile Dovestone were steadily increasing their lead on the water, and by 11:30 had achieved the requisite ¼ lap margin they needed after their premature start, to move into the lead.
As the wind increased to a gusty 13 to 15 knots, some impressive downwind sailing enabled Dovestone to re-gain the advantage over Rooster, and Dovestone subsequently kept their grip on the race for the remaining six hours through to the 20:00 finishing gun, with Rooster comfortably 2nd for the duration. The fastest Ladies award at 18:00 was taken by Dovestone Ladies, who had now downshifted to the Radial rig, as had others. With Dovestone and Rooster sailing inexorably out of reach, the primary interest now revolved around the coveted 3rd spot, with West Riding holding it until the final hour, In the event, West Lancs Masters moved past White Horse and took West Riding with 45 minutes to go, taking control of that position through to the finish. Dovestone were worthy winners of The Phoenix Marine Trophy, and thanks are due to Rooster Sailing, Phoenix Marine and Whitehorse Photography for their generous support.
West Lancs Commodore Bryan Marshall said, ”I was delighted with the inaugural event”. The unanimous verdict from the competitors was they want to return next year, so we’ve already started planning for next year’s event. We’re determined to make this a significant annual event in the Laser class calendar.” The winning Dovestone team was Ian Jones, Ian Lees and Nathan Poulton. Special Awards went to Elton Juniors, as first under 18 team, to Dovestone Ladies as first ladies, and to West Lancs Masters as first Masters team.
TEAM RACING
USA team takes Wilson Trophy at West Kirby
The 58th Wilson Trophy (British Open Team Racing Championship) was held on May 12th & 13th on the Marine Lake at West Kirby SC. This is recognised as the premier 3-boat team race sailing event in the world and, this year, there were 32 teams including five from the USA, one from Canada and one from Australia. The remainder of the teams were from England and Scotland, and included both university and youth teams as well as ‘star’ club teams. The action was fast, action-packed and colourful, with 6 flights of fully colour-coded Firefly dinghies and 24 on-the-water umpires meting out instant justice. Indeed, as always, it was rather crowded on the lake! This provided great spectator material, watching from either the lake wall or the specially erected grandstand, and helped by a loudspeaker commentary system. Racing started at 8am Saturday, with a race start every three minutes from there on – each race lasting 6-7 minutes.
The Saturday racing consisted of 9 sets of round robin races using the Swiss league system that draws teams into races with other teams with similar results. About 140 races were completed before racing was terminated in a dying wind. Nevertheless, this did allow competitors, race officials and a legion of volunteer helpers to prepare for the legendary Wilson Trophy dinner that evening, with nearly 300 people eating, dancing and partying in the boatsheds! The round robin racing re-started at 8am Sunday morning and, almost unbelievably, all teams managed to show up on time this year. Around 1pm, the round robins ended and the best-of-three quarter-finals started. These were all hard fought, but resolved 2-0 in favour of New Forest Pirates (beating Spinnaker All Stars who, a fortnight earlier, had beaten them in the final of the RYA/UKTRA National Championships at West Kirby SC), Whishbone (USA), Silver Panda (USA) and West Kirby Hawks (who beat a West Kirby team of ageing stars, the Wirral Waders, in their quarter-final match). The semi-finals bought two USA versus GBR line-ups in a dropping wind and increasing rain, with the USA coming out on top in both matches. With umpires watching intently on rule 42, the best-of five all-American Final was won 3-1 by Silver Panda for the second year running to great cheers from the grandstand.
SAILABILITY
Round Britain voyage on a Challenger
Dear Isle of Man Clubs
My name is Andy Cockayne and I’m a member of Geoff Holt’s “Personal Everest” crew. As you may know, Geoff is a disabled yachtsman and the challenge he has called Personal Everest is his attempt to become the first disabled person to sail single-handed around Great Britain in a 60 day project which commences on May 14th 2007. For full details of the challenge including our Passage Plan which details our proposed stopover venues, please log onto
www.personaleverest.com. He will be making his attempt in his Challenger 15 foot trimaran in support of RYA Sailability.
Geoff has asked me to write to individuals, clubs and groups around the UK which are en-route which is why I’m writing to you to request your help. Geoff and his team will call in to Port St Mary, Isle of Man, on 30th May. Yachtsmen in the area may spot him the day before, on his way from Holyhead, or the day after on another challenging passage to Port Logan, on the Southern tip of Scotland, near Portpatrick.
We are a fully crewed expedition with 2 vessels, 3 vehicles and a total of 8 fully qualified crew. Not only a feat of endurance for Geoff, it is a mammoth feat of logistics for the whole team as we progress around the coast over 60 days.
Despite our best efforts at planning and enlisting volunteers en-route, we acknowledge that we will be relying heavily on local knowledge and the goodwill of the sailing community. I have copied our proposed passage plan with target dates below so that you can have an idea of when and where we will be in your region at the bottom of this email.
First and foremost, we would welcome advice on our choice of stopover, for example is there a nearby sailing club which would be preferable to a town slipway? We have a number of immediate needs at each stop over, most notably the ability to launch and recover Geoff’s 15ft trimaran, ideally the ability to moor the 22ft RIB overnight on the water, the ability to overnight our 3 vehicles (2 motorhomes and 1 Land Rover) plus the ability to make use of basic facilities like showers and loos where possible.
We know that it is asking a lot but it is an opportunity for you to be involved in this truly memorable event and any help or advice you can offer would be much appreciated.
If you would like further details or would like to offer help in some way, please drop me an email to andy@personaleverest.com
Kind regards
Andy Cockayne
07766526722
www.personaleverest.com
14/05/2007 starts from Hamble, Royal Southern YC
28/05/2007 Holyhead
30/05/2007 Port St Mary Isle of Man
31/05/2007 Port Logan
16/07/2007 Finish at RSnYC Hamble
STOP PRESS, 15th May
Geoff Holt washed overboard at Hamble departure
Dear All
I thought I should update you on the start of Geoff’s Personal Everest.
At departure from the Solent we were joined by many well wishers on various craft following close by.
Unfortunately some spectator boats sailed far too close to Geoff causing a confused sea, despite protestations, and the inevitable happened. A mix of two large washes conspired to push Geoff’s Challenger, the Free Thinker suddenly to starboard propelling Geoff out of the craft. Fortunately the support RIB, Everest 1 was close by and Geoff was
only in the water for a matter of seconds. The Free Thinker was towed back to the Royal Southern with Geoff safely on the rib for a hot drink and a regroup, sailing done for the day.
Firstly Geoff is fine, a little shaken and damp, but fine and ready for the restart. The test of our safety procedures was not expected so early but I am happy to say that they worked extremely effectively in a true test. There are some consequences however and I would ask that you pass this information to anyone in your area.
1. Our schedule is now delayed from the original plan by several days. I will contact all stopover destinations with as much notice as possible so that arrangements can be re-made.
2. I would be very grateful if you could pass the following safety message to all supporters at every venue. No following vessel for any reason must
(a) be any closer to Geoff than 20 Meters beyond THE SUPPORT RIB, EVEREST 1 in any direction
(b) Cross in front of the FREE THINKER OR BETWEEN HER AND EVEREST 1.
(c) In any instance either on land or sea assistance will only be gratefully accepted if requested. We are so grateful
for the support of well-wishers, but please let the crew handle all situations UNLESS we ask for help.
So we will still be arriving and we are all very much looking forward to meeting you and thanking you personally for your support. It will be a little later than we had hoped, but that as you know is sailing! Any problems please let me know.
Very best regards
Andy
Geoff restarted his voyage from Hamble on 20th May.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
News from Sally
Instructor Conference
Thankyou to all of you that attended the NW Instructor Conference in March @ West Kirby SC, hopefully next year we will not have a F7!
I am looking for a different Venue for 2008, if anyone knows of a club or centre that would be willing to host this for next year please contact me – any suggestions would be most welcome!
Windsurf Conversion
Thanks to Mike Roberts for running the Conversion course in March at Hollingworth Lake, we had a full turnout and a great day all round.
If you are a Windsurf Instructor (Old Level 2 or above) and have still not converted, please contact me as I will be organizing another Conversion course in September
Inspections
All Inspections have been allocated, please contact me if you have not heard from your Inspector by June as I will then chase it up
Hope you all have a good start to the season, any problems or queries please contact me on:
Sally Kilpatrick
RYA Development Officer North
( Mobile: 07747 534527
: E-mail: sally.kilpatrick@rya.org.uk
CLUB DEVELOPMENT
Are you looking for Instructor Endorsements?
If you have a group of four or more Instructors at a club that are in need of an Instructor Endorsement, I can put you in contact with a Coach / Assessor to try an organize a course @ the club
I am also building up a list of Individuals who are in need of Endorsements so that I can organize courses on demand.
Please contact Sally Kilpatrick on 07747 534527 or sally.kilpatrick@rya.org.uk.
JUNIOR RACING
Rounds 2 and 3 of RYA NW Junior Travellers
The second round of the RYA NW Junior Travellers Series, sponsored by First Mark Ltd, was sailed at Winsford Flash on 21st April. There were many new faces joining in for the second event of the series, bringing the total number of entries for the series for Handicap class up to 40 after just two rounds. The victor was Peter Mitchell, from Nantwich, sailing a Radial, who now moves up to second overall in the series. Jessica Millington, from Redesmere, also sailing a Radial took second place, while home sailor Meghan Thorp sailed her Topper into third place to take first overall in the series after the two rounds. Sophie Stott in a Radial, and Archie Nicholson in a Topper, took fourth and fifth places. Top sailor among the under 14s was Rachel Wilcock, from Budworth, who took sixth in her Topper. In Optimists, a trio of Leigh and Lowton sailors took all three top places. Martin Wrigley led the way from Jamie Catchpole and Bobby Hewitt.
On Monday 7th May Budworth hosted the third event in 2007 RYA junior travellers series, sponsored by local chandlery 1st Mark , which attracted 38 entries with strong support arriving from local clubs Redesmere SC, Leigh & Lowton SC and Winsford Flash SC. Racing for the series is being held in two fleets, handicap and Optimist.
The handicap fleet comprised an excellent turnout of 23 Toppers, 6 Radials and a solitary OK dinghy! The sailing conditions started light and variable but built to force 3 to 4 breeze blowing down the Mere from the west. Race 1 was dominated by Joe Hanson in his Radial who took an early lead and extended it throughout the race to take line honours and also win on handicap. Behind Andy Dawson, Elliot Hanson and Sam Watson were locked together in a fierce battle for the Topper top spot! Andy held off Elliot to take 2nd and 3rd respectively on handicap.
With the wind swinging from south to west the Toppers took command at a congested starboard end start line in race 2. Again, Andy Dawson was able to hold off and cover national squad sailor Elliot to take the gun after 40 minutes with Charlotte Greenhalgh taking third in her Radial. As the breeze freshened in race 3 Elliot Hanson struck back to win race with Andy having to settle for second and Tom Keegan in 3rd place.
The Optimist racing, fleet of 8, was dominated by Lucy Yeates, Martin Wrigley and Jamie Catchpole, all from Leigh & Lowton. Lucy won the first two races to win the Crompton Shield but Martin finished strongly to win the third race.
Next event of the Junior Travellers is at Ullswater, on 9th June.
Overall Results:
Handicap “Blakes Marine Paints Trophy”
1st Topper 46124 Andrew Dawson (Winsford SC)
2nd Topper 46023 Elliot Hanson (Redesmere SC)
3rd Laser Radial 171775 Joe Hanson (Redesmere SC)
Optimist “The Crompton Shield”
1st 4630 Lucy Yeates (Leigh & Lowton SC)
2nd 4496 Martin Wrigley (Leigh & Lowton SC)
3rd 5271 Jamie Catchpole (Leigh & Lowton SC)
Oppies for sale, Scotland
3 Optimists for sale, good for training, plastic with all gear, covers and trolley, £250.00 each for more details Robbie Wilson 07711 382207 and email robbie.wilson@gowriegrowers
JUNIOR SQUADS
LASER 4.7
The Laser 4.7 National Junior Squad PHASE 2 Selection process is now available.
Ladder event 8/9 Sep 2007 Hayling Island
East Zone Champs 29/30 Sep 2007 Grafham Water
Full details can be found on the RYA Website at
www.rya.org.uk/Youth/youthsailr
nationaljuniorsquad/laser4.7
HOW TO GET SELECTED FOR THE WEST ZONE SQUAD
It is important to read the full selection policy
www.rya.org.uk/Youth/youthsailr
DINGHIES
1. You must tell us you’d like to be considered for a zone squad place by completing the online application process which will be available from the end of May at www.ryaracingevents.org.uk
2. You need to attend the following events for your class:
Topper 22 Sep 2007 Tamworth
Optimist 15 Sep 2007 Leigh and Lowton
Cadet 15 Sep 2007 Barnt Green
Mirror 22 Sep 2007 Hollingworth
3. You must also attend the RYA Zone Championships on 29 & 30 September 2007. This is at Ullswater YC for Optimist, Topper, Mirror and Cadet.
Entry will be online via www.ryaracingevents.org.uk
4. You must attend the following Open training for your class.
Topper tba
Optimist tba
Cadet No open training
Mirror 23 Sep 2007 Hollingworth
WINDSURFERS
1. You must tell us you’d like to be considered for a zone squad place by completing the online application process which will be available from the end of May www.ryaracingevents.org.uk
2. You must also attend the RYA Zone Championships on 29 & 30 September 2007. This is at Notts County SC for Windsurfers. Entry will be online via www.ryaracingevents.org.uk
3. Performance at the Youth and Masters in Weymouth on 15/16 September 2007 may be taken into consideration.
4. You must attend Open Training on 27/28 October at venue tbc
For further info or advice, please contact
Chris Blackburn
RYA High Performance Manager, North and West
07909 994637
YACHT RACING
Liverpool Spring Series
Liverpool Yacht Club held the sixth race of the Fareastsails.com sponsored Spring Series on Sunday May 6th. 13 yachts took part in the 3 IRC classes. After settled weather with persistent easterlies the weather changed with a front passing through. This gave overcast skies, and a F5 NW that reduced to an oscillating F4 -3 for the later part of the race. Fortunately the rain held off until the boats were locking back into the marina. With strong gusty winds at the start several yachts started the race with reefed mains or smaller genoas but by the end of the first leg these had all been shaken out. Racing Captain Andy Napper was race officer for the day and set long sausage, upwind / downwind courses for all three fleets. A delay getting all the starters through the lock eventually resulted in the class 3 course, which was the same as for class 2, being shortened.
Class 1 saw Guy Cowper’s and Charlie Jones’s Dehler 39 SQ Deliverance II storming home to take both line and class honours. He was followed in by Neil Thomas with Nick Ogden, who is still in the early working-up stage, with his new J122 Ulula claiming another podium finish.
In Class 2 Michael Inman’s Sigma 33 Musketeer with him as tactician and his son Kieron helming dominated the class again this week, Stuart Lofthouse and past Commodore John D’Henin taking the minor places. Despite a very conservative start Richard Baldwin in his Superseal Tango ground out a commanding lead in class 3 to take line and class honours. They were followed by John Myerscough in second position, and TSC Commodore Tudor Goodman’s Superseal helmed by co owner Mike Duran third.
Race 6 Results:
Class 1 IRC (TCF > 0.936)
1st. Guy Cowper’s & Charlie Jones’s Dehler 39 SQ Deliverance II
2nd. Neil Thomas’s Prima 38 Mighty Max II
3rd. Nick Ogden’s J122 Ulula
Class 2 IRC (TCF 0.871 – 0.935)
1st. Michael Inman’s Sigma 33 Musketeer
2nd. Stuart Lofthouse’s Impala OOD Skukusa
3rd. John D’Henin’s Starlight 30 Quilla
Class 3 IRC (TCF < 0.871)
1st. Richard Baldwin’s Superseal Tango
2nd. John Myerscough’s Sadler 32 Catch 32
3rd. Mike Duran’s Superseal Nightflyer
ENDURANCE FOR JUNIORS ONLY
Southport Junior 12hour race
Southport Sailing Club will be holding the 22nd Junior 12hr Race on SATURDAY JUNE 30th 2007. 0800 hrs – 2000 hrs. The Race will take place on the Marine Lake, Southport, Merseyside. Clubs may enter one or two or three teams. Two clubs may enter a joint team.
Go to website at www.southportsailingclub.org
OPENS IN THE NW
2007 Opens, Endurance, Long Distance Races and Holiday Weeks
| May 20 | Solo NW Traveller | Crosby SC |
TEAM 15 WINDSURFING
First Blood to Astbury in T15 Interclubs
Manley Merekatz hosted the first of this year’s series of Team 15 Interclub windsurfing events, on Saturday 20th May. Team 15 is a network of windsurfing clubs for youngsters of age 15 and under.
Home team Manley faced challenges from current West Zone Team 15 champions, Team Astbury, and their fierce rivals West Kirby Warriors. But Manley fielded their biggest ever team, of eight surfers, to help them cope with the onslaught from the visitors.
There were seven races each in five classes, with different size rigs to suit all sorts of ages, from youngest competitor, Zac Bradley-Baker, age 7, upwards. In strong, gusty winds and good sunshine, it was a debut race to remember for many of the 25% of the young competitors who had never raced before.
West Kirby Warriors looked like they were set to sweep the board, taking first places in four classes, the 3.5 meter, 4.5m, 5.5m, and 6.8meters. Tom Coldham, Oliver Bradley Baker, Chris Chavasse and Jay Gwynn took these four classes for the Warriors. But Astbury stopped the clean sweep as Cameron Finney took the Bic Techno 6.8m class, while Astbury and Manley Merekatz weighed in with several second and third places. Best of the Merekatz home team was Xenia Spencer-Milnes who took second in the 5.5m class.
With four out of five class wins in the bag, the Warriors were confident that their team would get the verdict, but when the scores were totted up, they added up to a win by just a single point for current champs Team Astbury. Astbury’s consistent scoring, with a string of top three places, meant death by a thousand cuts for the Warriors, who retired home to West Kirby to lick their wounds.
But they are sure to be ready to rejoin battle at the next Team15 Interclub, at Hollingworth Lake on 9th June.
RULES
RULES DISPUTES
The RYA has produced a Rules Disputes Best Practice (www.rya.org.uk/general/rulesdis
To bring this into force:
- It must be provided for in the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions
- The Club or event must have one or more Rules Advisors ready to handle rules disputes after racing
To help this process, the RYA offers a day’s training at local venues for potential Rules Advisers. This is not a formal qualification, and the decision as to who shall be a Club’s Rules Adviser(s) is purely for the Club. The course is aimed at (a) the process of running an advisory hearing or an arbitration hearing, and (b) the techniques of ‘finding facts’ – establishing what happened. This course cannot hope to teach all the rules themselves, although there is plenty of practical work to get experience of applying the rules to the facts.
The ideal arrangement is a course at one club attended by members of local clubs – between 12 and 16 people is a good figure. The expenses of the presenter are met by the RYA. A screen and Powerpoint projector are needed.
One day courses in the NW area will be run in September/October (dates and venues to be announced soon) and will be arranged by the Regional Rules Adviser, who is:
Peter Johnson, West Kirby SC on 0151-632-1805/ 07973-247893 or e to mq22@liv.ac.uk .
Peter is an International Judge, and is the Chair of the RYA Judging and Umpiring Committee.
POWERBOATS
Honda Youth RIBs dates
Regional events will be;
NorthWest Sat 14 July, Taylor Park, St Helens
Isle of Man, Sat 16 June.
Details e to youthrib@rya.org.uk
NW contact; Colin Howard on 0797 653 2753; RNOLIC@aol.com
Isle of Man details, David Hill, 0762 447 1410, or hill@manx.net
The National final will be on 15 September at the Southampton Boat Show.
Powerboat enthusiasts may enjoy watching the Honda Fours powerboat events, which are;
NorthWest 28/29 September, Liverpool
Isle of Man 16 June
KEELBOATS
RYA Volvo Keelboat Programme Northern Report April 2007
Late March and early April marked the end of the University sailing season with a flurry of events, the Scottish Universities Yachting, The British Universities Match Racing Finals and the British Universities Yachting Championships.
The BUSA event, run in similar Jeaneau 37’s at Royal Southern YC, attracted 31 teams from around the country. Aberdeen, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Durham and Newcastle Universities all travelled south for three days of tight racing on the Solent. Henry Foster who sailed with Durham University said of both events, ”We’ve entered SUSA yachting twice as it is a great event with close racing, which gives great training prior to BUSA..”
Back in fleet racing, the season is well underway in the North, as Northern Keelboat Manager Marc Turner noted on a recent visit to the Royal Northumberland YC in Blythe. “The club had invited me down to discuss their club youth program and I was impressed with their early season set-up. At least 15 Sportsboats including Sigma 8’s and 1720’s were berthed at St Peter’s Marina, eight miles up the River Tyne in Newcastle.”
Despite the southern location, a number of Northern sailors took part in the Red Funnel Regatta, a traditional opening to the season. Angus Stevenson was onboard a new Seaquest RP36. “This was an excellent event, and the additional coaching certainly helped us to make our boat go a bit faster in the difficult conditions.”
This year the RYA coaching team placed a number of Keelboat coaches and squad members on RIB’s to do some on the water coaching, among these was Adam Wallace who commented, “I found the onboard coaching particularly important as a lot more can be learnt about the boat and team in order to help them to improve in the most effective way.”
Members of the Keelboat squads in one design and handicap racers are now in training for the Bell Lawrie Series in Scotland.
The next Volvo RYA Open Keelboat training got underway on the 21st-22nd of April at the Royal Northern & Clyde YC with coaches James Urqhuart and Marc Turner giving a weekend of race training in the club’s fleet of Sonar class keelboats. The weekend also provided an opportunity to gain experience in the fleet used for the following week’s Match Racing Qualifier.
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Secretary; Graham Knox 01706 642311 jgraham.knox@virgin.net
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Regional Development Officer; Sally Kilpatrick 07747 534527 sally.kilpatrick@rya.org.uk
OnBoard Development Officer; Adam McGovern Adam.McGovern@Rochdale.gov.uk
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Secretary, Training Forum; Judith Baldwin 01625 584442 forum@rya-northwest.org.uk
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Powerboats; Richard Solomon rmsolomon@btconnect.com
Sailability; Ian Shirra 07749 012414 ian@shirra.fsnet.co.uk
Communications; Alan Henderson 01292 281383 alanhe@tiscali.co.uk
Web addresses for further information;
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Disclaimer; this newsletter is published by RYA North West Region. Information is believed to be accurate at time of going to press, but comes from diverse sources. Neither RYA NW nor the editor can take responsibility for any errors or omissions. Opinions of contributors or interviewees are not necessarily those of RYA NW. Please check info about events etc before going.
RYA Hamble contact
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