Discover first hand what it’s like to compete at Olympic level.

Elton Sailing Club would like to invite you to an evening to meet Team Volvo Sailor Shirley Robertson on Thursday 17th May 2012 at 7:00pm, at Elton Sailing Club.

Double Olympic Gold Medallist Shirley, is one of the UK’s best known sailing personalities.

The evening is free to attend.

Elton Sailing Club Elton Reservoir, Bury, Lancashire, BL8 2BR.

Race training dates can be found on the attached poster.

race_training_poster

Week 1

Four boats were out racing and 2 new members in a blue GP took the opportunity for a practice.

Chris Aubrey, whilst rigging his boat on the jetty realised he had forgotten a vital piece of equipment – his rudder. He told me he had 2 at home but they are not much use there are they Chris. John Moulton was the saviour and lent his so that Chris could sail after all.

Hopefully see more on the start line next Wednesday.

Sunday Week 4

Gary Deighan & Alan Woods were sailing away at Combs this weekend.

Graham & Julie Courtney arrived early to rig their boat in time for the 1st race but after a slight mishap resulting in a spinnaker halyard shooting up the mast, only made it out for the 2nd. Dare not say who was to blame!!!!

Gusty strange swirling winds caught some of us out today. Chris & I capsized in the 1st race – last time we went in the water was 2 years ago! Mike Critchety ditched his Supernova to sail with Alex Collins in the 2nd and 3rd race. He won the 2nd but just as he was catching us in the 3rd race, another of those strange gusts caught him out and tossed him in. We breathed a sigh of relief and Graham & Julie Courtney now had a chance to pass Mike & Alex and beat them. Graham & Amy Kershaw managed to stop upright all day and finished all 3 races.

Julie Waddington

Record Keeper

Friday/Saturday 13/14th April 2012
By Keith Roberts
Supernova Training
Bolton Sailing Club hosted a Supernova Training day on Friday 13th April with 17 boats taking part in the training. Paul Earnshaw the Supernova Association chairman travelled up from Haversham SC to pass on his knowledge assisted by Steve Hawley from Bartley SC. The weather lived up to the forecast of sunshine and showers with a F2 easterly (onshore) wind which eventually swung South then settled in the North before finally dying away just as the on water sessions finished.
Paul’s approach to the training was a quick briefing in the club house about the boat setup and controls, followed by getting the boats on the water and trying out different settings.
After lunch, a briefing on race starts followed by a look at Paul’s boat and a practical display of the effects of controls on the sails. Then it was on the water with several mini races with Paul sailing his boat and Steve in the safety boat organising the start/finishes.
All the participants came off the water at the end of the day tired, but much better prepared for the Open meeting organised for the Saturday.
The sailing club organised a meal in the evening for those staying over for the Open meeting.
Supernova Open
Saturday morning dawned and the breeze had increased to a north easterly Force 3, with frequent shifty gusts which kept the safety boat crews busy! By 09:30 the registration desk was extremely busy with the club turning out 13 boats and 16 visiting boats from several clubs in the UK. Due to the direction of the wind the Race officer decided to use several of the marks and all of the lake however it ensured that there were at least 2 good beats in each lap.

In race 1, Tony Critchley (Bolton) arrived at the 1st mark ahead of the pack however it paid to keep right and Paul Earnshaw (Haversham) had a battle with Mark Platt (Bolton) and Steve Hawley (Bartley) however Mark pulled clear of Paul on the last lap. After 3 laps the OOD shortened course and Mark took the win followed by Paul, Tony and Steve.
After lunch race 2 started with continuous gusts coming across the lake, Paul Earnshaw lead from the start with Stuart Catterall (Bolton) hard on his heels with Mark Platt giving him a hard time. Mark eventually got past Stuart and at the end of the race the order of finishing was it was Paul, Mark and Stuart.
Race 3 was run immediately after race 2 was finished. Paul Earnshaw had a great start and a battle with Tony Critchley however Paul was 1st to the windward mark followed by Tony and Mark. They seemed to get away however; a massive wind shift brought all the fleet together. Paul went on to lead from start to finish with Tony in 2nd place and Mark 3rd.
Final results:
Gold Fleet
1st Paul Earnshaw (Haversham)
2nd Tony Critchley (Bolton)
3rd Steve Hawley (Bartley)
Silver Fleet:
1st Mark Platt (Bolton)
2nd Stuart Catterall (Bolton)
3rd Mike Critchley (Bolton)

UPDATE

The fleet has seen almost 80% of the 22 boats on the water in the first three weeks of the season.

This as I am sure you will agree is fantastic. When we agreed to run with the fleet’s own start I was hoping for a good start but this has been exceptional.

We have had pretty testing conditions over the last two weeks but this has not put people off and we have continued to have good numbers at the start line with a good mixture of abilities battling it out over the course.  So far the score sheet has seen it all, from seasoned veterans that we all know, to first time out after level 2 training in toppers like Dave Halton.

It is great to hear and see people sharing ideas and pointing out observations on and off the water. Also the reminding of obvious mistakes at the bar afterwards has become part of the day.

Having not fleet raced myself for over 15 years I had forgotten just how close the racing gets and how you can never relax for a second in order to keep your place in the pack, as the next boat is never far behind you. But this for me personally is what it is all about, and I am sure others would agree.

Results are always up to date at  http://results.sail.org.uk/2012/sn_a_series.html

The offer is still there for anyone who wants to be a part of or watch the supernova forum we have for B.S.C.  Just drop me an email at stuart@sail.org.uk and I will happily add you to it.

I will sign off for now and not mention the word Supernova for at least 2 days.

Don’t forget Wednesday night racing starts this week!

Thanks for reading and see you on the water!

Stuart.

Just wanted to make sure everyone is up to date on the menu we run on a Sunday as it is not just the specials.

As you know pre ordering helps us to get the food out as soon as possible.

Also, please feel free to offer sugestions as we want to continue to offer the widest possible selection.

See you soon,

Anne and the team.

table menu’s 2012

Over the winter the Supernova fleet grew to such an extent that there are now 22 boats at the club and has just been granted full fleet status with the benefit of its own start so the starting line-up this season is Supernovas followed by GP14’s, Handicap, Slow Handicap and Juniors.

Sunday the 25th was the first day of racing for the 2012 season and a turnout of over 30 boats was greeted by clear blue skies and light winds from the southeast. As anticipated the Supernovas had a good turnout with 13 boats taking to the water and having some very close racing. The Fast and Medium handicaps have been combined this season so it will be interesting to see how the RS 200/400’s fare against the always competitive Graduates over the next few weeks.

For the younger members of the club, junior registration takes place this Friday and we are expecting another year where 60+ juniors take part in the Friday night coaching and training sessions.

Lancaster University are based at Bolton SC and this year the Race Team have qualified for the Finals of the University Team Racing Championships and will also be taking part in the “War of the Roses”.

As always the club has a full program of activities scheduled on and off the water and these include the usual new members’ event, RYA courses, class open meetings, On-board days, together with the GP14 youths to be held in November. The Diamond Jubilee will be celebrated on the water with a Sail for Gold event on Saturday 23rd June (with the Summer Ball in the evening) and Regatta day in support of the RNLI on the Sunday.

We expect a very busy but rewarding season to celebrate our Jubilee year.

+ More photos on Dennis’s Gallery