Bartley Sailing Club Blog

Boat blown over

Dear members

Due to extreme weather conditions boats on the boat park are falling over due to not being strapped down .

Dear members, 

Lots of hot snacks available from the galley this weekend, including home made soup, hot pastries, breakfast menu to choose from also salad sandwiches ready for you to just grab and go.

Fully stocked bar is also open if you don't fancy risking the weather 🌪🌪

See you soon Dee 

Finally an account from Megan in the Laser 4.7s and Millie in the RS Teras:

I loved my time at the RYA regional junior championships at Grafham water. I went there to see where I am in comparison to other laser 4.7 sailors in the country and I also loved having fun with some of my greatest friends. In the past, I have attended many events in my Rs Tera sport and pro but for the majority of these events, I have travelled with my family. I love doing this very much but it was so nice to see familiar faces at the hotel and on the water during and between races. I got such a boost of confidence from doing this event and I just wanted to briefly outline my experience at the competition.

   I arrived at the premier inn on Friday night safely with my boat, Millie’s boat and, much to Harrison’s relief, his boat. I could hardly sleep that night- I was excited and nervous for the next day. I ate breakfast with Harrison, Cecily and Millie on Saturday and then I went to Grafham water. I rigged up and got changed. After a short briefing, I sailed off to the start line and then got to know the ways of the wind. We started racing promptly. I did not have such a good day of racing- I came 46^th in the first race, 51^st in the second and 38^th in the 3^rd race (out of 66). I was determined to do better the next day, particularly because I’d let my biggest rival, Harrison, slip past me in 2 of the 3 races! After the first day, I was 50^th, just below Harrison and close to Josh.

   The next day, I did some great racing. The wind was perfect (stronger than the day before) and I ended up 2^nd around the windward mark in the 1^st race! I was amazed and, of course, delighted! I went on to overtake the boy in 1^st place before leading the race around the 2^nd mark!!! I went on to finish the race in an incredible 14^th place after losing a few places downwind and on the second beat. I did not do so well in the other 2 races (56^th and 61^st) but I just really enjoyed my last few moments sailing in a big fleet with my Bartley friends in planning conditions. Overall, I finished 48^th feeling happy about the weekend yet sad that it was all over.

   Over the course of the weekend, I think that I learnt some very valuable skills- how to raft up (thanks to Harrison), golden syrup, maple flavoured, with pancakes is great as a sailor’s breakfast, never eat muffins on the morning of a competition if your name’s Cecily and, aside from the other things I have mentioned, never give up!

   I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to my Dad for taking me and helping me, my Mum for supporting me, Marie Allen and Kerry Webb for also supporting me and Kerry again for taking some great photos during the weekend. Last but not least, I would like to say thank you to Cecily, Josh, Harrison and Millie for being so supportive and funny and providing me with great competition throughout the weekend. It is sad that event had to end but we can look forward to future competitions. Go team Bartley!

And from Millie:

I really enjoyed the weekend because of all my friends and family were with me and it was just generally an extremely fun and jam-packed weekend full of enjoyable sailing. There were 4 girls in the RS Tera fleet so 1 of us wasn't going to get a medal so we were all fighting for a place in the top 3. On the first day I was 3rd girl then on the next day I moved up to 2nd. Overall we had a great time with muffins and golen syrup, maple flavoured. Thank you very much to all of the Bartley sailors who came and made me have a lot of fun and thank you very much to my family for taking me. It was definitely worth it!

Briefing at 10.30 followed by 4 races. Current forecast - light southwesterly, beautiful sunshine, and plenty of water in the reservoir after the rain on Saturday.

We are hoping for a strong turnout so why not pop down to watch proceedings over a breakfast, lunch, or a swift half from the Bar.

Best of luck to our Bartley Solo sailors.

John Ling won the Cotswold Open with Richard taking a strong 6th place (and Robin doing what I would have done looking at the conditions and exiting stage left to go and watch some paint dry...)

However - just to prove that it is possible to get ahead of John, here is a photo of Richard in the lead before a full on mugging by the chasing fleet.

Only 9 more days until the Bartley Laser Open and Midland Traveller series finale. Make sure you get to the club for a practice tomorrow!

Last time we heard from Theo and Josh, this time it is Cecily and Harrisons turn...

First from Cecily:

Last weekend I went to represent Bartley in the RYA East Zone at Grafham Reservoir along with four other guys from Bartley; Josh, Harrison, Megan and Millie. I took part in the Regatta Course in a topper that my dad and I borrowed from K20 and cleaned up. It raced very well, and although on the first day my results weren’t the best, on the second day, with a stronger breeze I had some good battles with the lead boy and lead girl and I came 2nd girl, and 6th overall for the weekend. Not bad for my first time sailing a Topper!

The facilities at Grafham were very nice, and everyone was helpful and friendly. The coaching was very beneficial, which was proved by my results on the second race. All of the coaching was really helpful because it built on my previous knowledge, and proceeded to make my performance the best it could be. I particularly improved in my race starts. My first regatta was definitely exceedingly important and has incited an aspiration to go again, hopefully in the championship fleet, and to secure a medal if not. It was also really marvellous to have Bartley Sailors together as that helped everyone’s performance as we had support and a really good time together with many laughs over the weekend.

All in all, it was an amazing experience that taught me crucial lessons, and a lovely weekend with really nice people and I had a great time. If the opportunity arises again, I will definitely want to do it all again.

 

 

Cecily by her reconditioned Topper!

Cecily leads the race on day 2

 

And from Harrison:

 

My build up to the Regional Champions was very busy, every Tuesday evening, Wednesday evening and every Saturday I was out practicing for the regatta. Although I put in lots of hours, my primary goal there was to have fun, learn new things, and do what I love with my friends. We got to the hotel on Friday evening and after an anxious wait for my boat to arrive with Simon, Megan and Millie, it was time for some sleep. As probably mentioned we had a 66 boat fleet in the 4.7s which was an ‘experience’ considering the biggest fleet of lasers I’ve ever sailed in is at Bartley on a Tuesday night. I coped well and it was a chance for me to learn how to put training to practice and learn how to cope in a huge fleet. Overall it was a good weekend, everyone was supportive and was great fun and we all helped to put Bartley on the map for the Juniors- they better watch out next year for our Bartley Team!

 

Harrison sets off to the start line

 

The Laser fleet in action

A few of our juniors participated in the RYA Junior Regional Championships at the weekend - each has written a short blog of their experience to share with you. We hope you enjoy reading them. The first 2 are Theo who sailed at Northampton in his Optimist and Josh who sailed in his Laser 4.7 in his first National competition.

Firstly from Josh who is a Barnt Green sailor who is with us while they wait for the water levels to rise:

I went down to Grafham water not really for the competition but for the experience and the chance to get to know some of the junior sailors at Bartley Green a little better. I can happily say that I have rarely been in the company of more supportive and friendly people. They guided me through loading by boat into the car all the way to shouting friendly banter on the start line. For someone who has always raced at a club it was a shock to be sitting on the start line with 66 other laser 4.7s, but I felt in my element and enjoyed every single second. I hope to go back and see if can improve on my disastrous score. But the only way is up and with the facilities at both Barnt and Bartley Green I'm sure I will improve at least a little!

Enjoying the company at the Premier Inn after a hard days sailing

Dressed up and ready to go - team Barntley!

The second account is from another Barnt Green sailor who has joined us at K2O this season - Theo in his Optimist:

At the Midlands RYA Junior Regional Championships at Northampton SC there were 10 different fleets. I was at the top of the second most competitive racing fleet, the championship Optimist fleet.

Even though we only had nine sailors, it was still very competitive racing. I had had a lot of training, including the Optimist Nationals, the pre-Nationals training, K20 every weekend and Rockley in the holidays. On the Saturday the weather wasn’t the best. We had a load of wind shifts and the wind kept on suddenly disappearing, but the Sunday was way better - we only had to move the course once and I won two races so that was a great day of racing. Me and Dilara Soyer (from Draycote) were fighting for first and second place in most races and she ended up getting first overall and I was second. I also earned a Values prize for respecting the rules because I did my turns straight away when I hit a mark and still won the race.

My two friends, Ben and Shay, who have done some sailing at Bartley as well (hooray!) were in the fun onboard fleet that was for people who hadn’t done any racing before which is great for beginners. Next year hopefully they will be in the main fleet!

Well-done to the eastern tribe of Bartley sailors who went to Grafham. Thank you to Bartley Sailing Club for training us to be awesome sailors.

Theo

Theo in action...

Ben, Theo, and Shay - good sailing, great friends - what could be better!

Good luck Josh, Harrison, and Megan in the 66 strong Laser 4.7 fleet, Theo in the Optimists, Millie in the Teras, and Cecily in the Toppers!

With the event in the Midalnds attracting over 100 sailors and the Eastern area attracting over 200 sailors it promises to be quite a weekend.

The K2O convoy sets off along the A14 tomorrow night - give us a wave if you see us!

Hello to all Saturday racers. Last week I noticed that the calendar was showing an earlier pull forward of race times than is usual. This will be corrected shortly, however in the mean time for your information the races will remain as:

11.30 Handicap 1

13.00 Pursuit

15.00 Handicap 2

Up to and including 13th October when the light starts to fade.

Apologies for the confusion, I don't think it had any impact last week as I waited for everyone to get on the water who had turned up to sail.

Best regards

Simon / Sailing Committee

Level 2 power boat training spaces available for last course of the year, 21 and 28^th Oct

It is essential that we have as many members as possible who have the skill and experience to drive the club rescue boats safely.

It is a requirement placed on us that all safety boat drivers have L2 powerboat qualification. We are proving this training "in house", so that members can gain this qualification without the cost of a commercial course, or attending another centre.

We have spaces on the next course being run over the 21 and 28 Oct 2018. The course costs £30 to cover club costs.

To book your space, please contact Dave Jones via or phone:  07887406585