Bartley Sailing Club Blog

The Merlins made a welcome return to Bartley on Sunday with 25 entries for the Silver Tiller event. The weather provided some very exciting conditions with gusty force 4 from an ENE direction with some big bends over the racecourse making the tactics critical.

The compettion at the top was increadibly close with the top 5 boats all showing potential to take the trophy home with very close finishes in all races.

In the first race it was Chris Gould and Chris Kilsby sailing for Bartley who took the win on the line from Andy Davis and Pippa Kilsby from Blithfield in a very closely contended race. Right behind them were Simon Potts and Ally Potts from Burghfield and the first Silver fleet boat of Chris Martin and Sam Bailey in 4th.

After refueling at Tilly's Galley the fleet set off for a grueling afternoon of hiking. In race 2 the fleet were bunched at the windward mark favouring those who had chosen the starboard layline and accounted for the shifts. This time it was Andy Davis and Pippa Kilsby who got ahead (although they were kept honest throughout by Simon and Ally Potts, 2nd) and held out to take the win with Matt Biggs and Becka Jones from Blithfield in 3rd and Roger Phillips and Will Crocker from Burghfield in 4th place.

Entering race 3 it looked like it could be Andy and Pippa's day as they just needed to keep ahead of Chris Gould and Kilsby, but what unfolded was a monumental battle with constantly changing places between the two boats with the Chris' winning by just a few boat lengths to take the race and the trophy. It was just as tight between 3rd and 4th this time with Roger and Will getting the 3rd ahead of Matt and Becka.

The fleet returned to the bar for a swift drink and talk of the days sailing followed by the prize giving.

Full results are on the results page of the website.

Gold fleet:

1st     Chris Gould         Chris Kilsby             Bartley

2nd   Andy Davis           Pippa Kilsby            Blithfield

3rd    Simon Potts         Ally Potts                 Burghfield

Silver Fleet:

1st     Chris Martin        Sam Bailey              Midland

2nd    Rchard Cooke    Russel Hall              Wembley

3rd    Paul Hollis          Paula Mason            Blithfield

Bronze Fleet:

1st     Matt Smith         Jared Lewis             Midland

2nd   Richard Coulter  Louise Leppage      Fishers Green

3rd   Pete Slack           Michelle Evans       Blithfield

Thanks to all the visiting crews - we enjoyed having the fleet at Bartley and thanks to Leanne and the Tilly's Galley crew who had to work hard over lunch to get everyone fed. Final thanks to Mark Reddington for organising the event, Howard Eeles for Race Officer duties and the rescue duty crew who were kept nice and busy all day!

Report by John Ling, Laser Fleet Captain

Four Bartley laser team Headed for Bowmoor for the first of the Wessex Grand Prix series on sat 30th mar

In tough light and shifty conditions 5 to 8 mph good racing finally took place with three back to back races. John took a commanding early lead in the first race and held on till the gun. But at the second mark carnage occurred and Jeremy was right in the mix of it and unfortunately hit the bouy and had to do turns which pushed him down the fleet.

Jennifer had a good start in her first ever travelling event And completed all three races proving to herself 3 1/2 hour racing was possible in one day. This enabled her to take second lady overall for the day.

At the front of the fleet John was not having his own way in race two, and had to battle back from fifth place to finally get through to challenge Neil who already had a second in race one. Neil recalled his first win of the day which meant a match race would take place in the last to decide on the overall trophy.

 At the start of the race three John managed to pin neil in And sail him wide Whilst still managing to get to the Windward buoy Close enough to contend for the lead. Eventually pulling through to win the final race whilst Neil manage eighth although This was still enough For his second place overall.

Bsc Overall results

Jeremy finished 6th and first grandmaster. Jennifer 17th and third radial plus second lady John was overall event winner ( first of the 2019 campaign)

Addition by Simon H:

Ollie and I travelled to Rutland on the Midland circuit with similar shifty conditions and a fleet of 21 with Ollie getting a well deserved 6th place (which could have been 4th but the low points scoring system dropped him down a few spots) in a strong fleet. I made up the numbers and enjoyed my bacon sandwich!

The organisers were keen to advertise the training and Open at Blithfield on 11th and 12th May (same weekend as the Birmingham Velo so a good excuse to get away from all the road closures) - details on their website and flyer on the laser noticeboard in the club house.

Next Mildand traveller event is Earlswood Lakes on 28th April

Next Wessex event is Whitefriars on 6th April

Hi All

Last year we had a working party in March. This did a great job of cleaning the club up which looked a lot better after the event.

This year we used the working party date for the agm, which was good as nobody really wanted to be outside that day. As a result the grassed areas of the club are looking quite long. A couple of club members have been really kind and started to mow the grass etc.

If anybody has any time to help cut the grass, clear the driveway edges or weed the patio then that would be really appreciated. Saturday is due to be really light winds so if grass cutting seems more appealing there is a lawn mower at the club that runs on the same petrol as the club safety boats.

Its in the cage if you need the code please call me 07973 951 255.

We seem to have very large areas of grass so if everybody could do a little bit we can soon get it sorted.

Many Thanks

Steve

Bartley looks forward to welcoming the Merlin Rockets to the Silver Tiller event this Sunday (and a few who will be around on Saturday to get some practice in). The notice of Race and Sailing Instructions are on the website in the Open Meetings area. Tillys will be open as usual to provide food for all at great prices.

Just a few reminders - the clocks go forward an hour at the weekend so make sure you are not the crew that arrive at the start line an hour late! It is also Mothering Sunday so bring your mothers along to watch and enjoy the food in the club house :)

The boat park at Bartley was a little empty this weekend as the Supernovas travelled to Cotswold S.C. and the Streakers and Lasers went to Tamworth.

At Cotswold Mike Gibson came 2nd with Steve Hawley 3rd, Chris Hawley 6th and Garry Butterfield 8th in a fleet of 34 - a fantastic result for the club.

At Tamworth Debbie Degge took the gold for Bartley and even had time for a brief capsize in the second race (although nobody was quite sure how when you look at the conditions!). Well done Debbie, another great result.

In the Lasers I sailed from one hole to the next to end up 8th in a fleet of 22 - not my finest hour! Megan tried a Radial rig for the first time and managed a creditable 19th and more importantly won the chocolates for youngest helm. The journey home was quite a feast...

If you have any tales from the Opens please let me know at  and I will happily post them for you.

Just a quick note to let members know we are opening the bar up this Saturday, so if you fancy a crafty one after sailing we'd love to see you.

We have a few volunteers helping to run the bar with me, they are:

Marie Allen, Chris Bownes, Steve Ward, Simon Hardiman, Tony Cliff, Herr Commodore and Nick Eaves.

We will have the basic essentials to begin with (but we will have beer and wine!), and will build stock levels up based on demand for our services. So.... let us know your thoughts as we develop over the coming weeks.

See you there!

Greg Pace

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Thanks to all our members who attended the AGM today and for the valuable Q&A seesion that followed giving us some good suggestions to ponder and plan. It is the generosity of our members in terms of the time and effort that are  put in that makes the club such a success so thank you for all you do and keep up the great work!

Unfortunately the wind was howling through the shrouds and up-ending dinghies being readied for transport (I hope your Supernovas are OK for next week) so the end of series regatta had to be cancelled forcing us all into the clubhouse for the Winter series prize giving and an early lunch at Tilly's. Here are just a few of the photos taken (thanks to Jennifer Foort) of the AGM and the prize winners. 

The prizes await their winners                                       The Treasurer talks through the club finances

The various fleet, junior (well done Harrison) and series winners get their prizes (and Dan keeps on top of the arm wrestle challngers)

John Ling takes all 3 Saturday Winter Series Trophies - a first for the Club - Well done John! (But look out behind you - there is something coming up the hill!)

The weather gets the best of us for the Regatta...

Don't forget that it is the Annual General Meeting at 10.00 this Saturday morning followed by a Q&A session with the Club Committee. If you wish to know more about the running of the club this is the event to attend.

The AGM is followed by the End of Series Regatta. This is a 'stand alone' regatta of 2 Pursuit races both of which count. The first race is at 12.30 and the second at 14.30.

At roughly 16.30 there will be tea and some cakes in the club house whilst the prizes are awarded for the Regatta and for the Winter series races.

As always there are the perpetual cups for the series winners, regatta winner, Junior series and regatta winner, and Novice series and regatta winner, with wine for the top 3 overall, the coverted 'Bartley Winner' mugs for the top 3 per fleet, and some extra goodies as hand outs. But remember; you have to be there to collect your prize or it gets recycled for next time!

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

If you have held a Level 2 powerboat certificate for at least a year, you are eligible to take the safety boat drivers course.

The course is designed to teach you how to assist or perform rescues of various craft e.g. single and double hand dinghy, canoes and wind surfers.

Dave Jones has one course for 2019, taking place on 6^th and 28^th April and currently has two vacant places. The cost is just £30 for club members, none members can be considered if holding a valid certificate.

If you want to book or know more, please contact Dave at or on the following numbers: Land: 01216025328 or Mob:  07887406585

On a separate but linked note - congratulations to our new Powerboat level 2 graduates who had to battle the choppy conditions at the weekend to gain their certification - this group really had to earn their award!

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Foort