Club Security - Gates to be Kept Closed at ALL times

Members please note: Until future notice the club gates MUST be kept CLOSED and LOCKED at ALL times. We appreciate that this may cause some inconvenience but thank you for your co-operation. If you have any concerns, or for further details please contact Virginia (membership@burghfieldsailing.org) or Sharon (manager@burghfieldsailing.org)

Still not sure what the race format is?? Read on....

1. Decide how many boats you want in your team - no limit
2. Decide how many people you want in your team - no upper limit - but it must be MORE than the natural number of crew in your team’s fleet. (e.g. One Laser and two members OR One 200 + one 400 + one Blaze and six members)
3. Race for six hours! - The only stipulation is that every member of the team must complete at least one lap of the measured course. You should aim to have all your boats on the water all the time.
   
4. The Virtual Distance completed by each boat in the team over the six hours is calculated - Virtual distance is just actual distance, corrected for PY...so reduced for boats quicker than 1000 and increased for boats slower than 1000
5. The AVERAGE Virtual Distance for boats in the team is calculated - This is the Virtual Distance for each boat in the team, added together and divided by the number of boats in the team
6. The Winner is the team with the greatest Average Virtual Distance

So ..... you should try to have ALL your boats racing ALL the time and sailing (as fast as possible)! Because it’s the average distance that’s important. There’s no point having (say) four boats in your team and having one of them ashore most of the time...because then your team average will be the average of three quite big distances - and one very short one!

Enter Now

Sailing & Bar Rosters have been updated

All the auto rostering on the sailing and bar rosters from May - Dec 2018 has now been completed. Many thanks to all those who chose their own duties over the last couple of weeks.

If you have been allocated a date which is inconvenient, please arrange a swap with another member of the same duty type as soon as possible.

Youth sailors will be added next week, in order to give parents a week to start to arrange any required swaps.

If you have any problems regarding the duties please contact Sharon as soon as possible.

Volunteer Requests - VERY Urgent

Unfortunately, due to changes in personal circumstances or work commitments, we have urgent requests for:

Wed 23 May - Safety Boat Helm - volunteer found thanks Andy

If you are available on any of the above dates and could help out please contact the club office as soon as possible.

Members are reminded that: Members are required to complete at least 2 duties per year unless the duty waiver fee has been paid (excludes Wednesday Evening Series). Failure to complete duties and/or arrange a suitable swap, may result in a duty surcharge being applied. It is YOUR responsibility to find a replacement if you will have difficulty attending.

Further details about all volunteer duties can be found on the website HERE

Updated: 22 May 2018 21:00

Nervous Wrecks 2.0 - 2nd June 2018 - ENTER NOW

We’re back for Nervous Wrecks 2.0!

We’ve had a reshuffle, changed the format, simplified the entry and have already started organising the Hog Roast and beer festival. Sail, eat, drink or just come and enjoy the sunshine.

This year it's a team event, 6 hour virtual distance race with afternoon tea and followed by a hog roast, music and plenty of beers!

More Details
Enter Here

2018 Burghfield Youth Training

Following on from the successful training in 2017, the 2018 training is open to all BSC members aged under 18. These Saturdays are aimed at improving racing skills alongside other young sailors. Suitable for all sailors, whether new to racing or experienced on the national circuit. Sorry, but Optimists may not attend these sessions.

Non-members may crew for BSC members for £5 and parents/guardians may crew for under 18s.

Meet rigged and ready for a briefing at 10:00. We aim to finish the day by 16:00.

Currently, dates are:
•Saturday 26th May
•Saturday 16th June
•Saturday 14th July
•Saturday 25th August
•Saturday 29th September
•Saturday 6th October
•Saturday 24th November

We will endeavour to add more dates throughout the year.

Pre-registration online is essential and can be found here.

2018 Open Day - 12 May 2018, 11am - 4pm

Join us for the Burghfield Sailing Club Open Day on Saturday, 12th May 2018, 11am - 4pm.

Free entry and plenty to do for all the family!

Click on the image for a larger version of the poster.

2018 Duty Rosters - Choose your preferred duty date now - Deadline Extended

Many thanks to everyone who has singed up for duties so far...

The sign-up has been extended until Monday, 14th May 2018. At this point, any remaining duties will be automatically rostered.

Members are reminded that they are expected to complete at least 2 duties in each membership year (excluding Wednesday evenings and the Christmas series which are rostered separately and not covered by the duty waiver).

Please sign up for the earlier dates first wherever possible. We have a number of spaces from this weekend onwards across all the duty types, plus members urgently looking for swaps. The bank holiday weekends are particularly difficult to cover so, if you are available to help out sooner rather than later, it would be very much appreciated.

Burghfield Youth Laser Success at Papercourt

Seven young Laser sailors travelled to Papercourt last Sunday (29th April) to take part in the Papercourt Laser Open, part of the Thames Valley Laser Grand Prix Series. It was a great day for Burghfield, with our sailors taking home just under half the prizes.

Typical gusty, shifty conditions prevailed at Papercourt, keeping sailors on their toes and eyes out the boat, looking for the pressure.

In the 4.7 fleet, David Calder dominated the morning’s races, taking two bullets, (even beating some of the Radials), but had to leave at lunch, leaving the top spot to play for in the afternoon. Oli Woodley and James Barrett battled it out in the afternoon, with a first and a second each.

Moving up a rig, the Radial fleet was closely contested between Douglas Calder and James Hall (Papercourt), each counting two firsts and a second, with Calder narrowly beating Hall on countback.

For some of Burghfield’s sailors, this was their first experience of an open meeting and a special mention goes to Henry Allen and Alex McCorquodale-Cruise.

Many thanks to Mark Stevens, Connie Stevens and Douglas Calder for coordinating this trip and briefing ‘Team Burghfield’.

Burghfield Results:

1st Radial: Douglas Calder
8th Radial: Connie Stevens

1st 4.7: Oli Woodley
2nd 4.7: James Barrett
3rd 4.7: David Calder
4th 4.7: Henry Allen
6th 4.7: Alex McCorquodale-Cruise

2018 Open Day - 12 May 2018, 11am - 4pm

Open Day Prep
Believe it or not Summer is here and things are starting grow at a pace.
So the grounds are ready for; grass cutting; bush scything; nettle culling and so on. With only a couple of Working Parties before the Open Day we are looking for additional volunteers to help tidy the grounds and present the Club at its best. We are also looking for help with the club dinghies and powerboats to ensure they are ship shape!

Dates are:

• Fri 4 May
• Sat 5 May
• Fri 11 May
• Sat 12 May

So if you can spare the day or half day on these dates please let us know.

Challenger Open Meeting - 4/5 May 2018

Burghfield will be hosting the Challenger OPen meeting on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th May. The event is supported by Burghfield Sailability, but if you are free on either/both days and would like to help out it would be very much apppreciated. Help is need on the water - rescue helms / crews and also on shore for launching and recovery of all the boats.

Please contact if you are available to help.

If you are helping and would liek to stay for supper on Friday evening (£14 per person) please contact the club office as soon as possible.

Online Entry

Wednesday Evening Pursuit - Starts 25 April

Come and join one of the most popular Wednesday Evening Race Series in the country!

More Details about Wednesday Evening Racing

Don't forget to sign on,check your class and personal handicaps and order supper!

Due to a slightly lower entry last year and a number of regulars unable to compete this year due to cahnges in work commitments, we are looking for a significant number of volunteers especially later in the series.

Maybe you don't want to sail but you'd like a chilled evening at the club - on the water and then enjoy a drink and supper with friends? Maybe you'd be prepared to complete more than one duty this series? If you are available to help, we'd really appreciate hearing from you. Either contact the club office or volunteer directly on the Wednesday Dutyman roster.

2018 BSC Members' Powerboat Refresher Days - Additional Dates Added

Following consultation between the Main and Sailing Committees the Club has decided to run a series of Member Powerboat Refresher days.

The aim of the refresher days is to ensure all club members acting as safety boat helms are aware of current best practice, current club policies and procedures, and also have the opportunity to practice and improve their boat handling skills through a set of supervised on water scenarios and experience in each type of club powerboat.

Safety Boat Helms
All safety boat helms completing duties at the club during racing or training (including but not limited to Oppie Club, Youth/Junior Training, Fleet Training) will be required to complete a refresher course. Reluctance/failure to complete a course, may result in members only being permitted to carry out safety boat assistant/alternative duties in the future.

Safety Boat Assistants currently holding a valid PB2 certificate
If you would like to be considered for Safety Boat Helm duties, or would just like to practice your helming skills, please sign-up for a refresher day.

Senior Race Officers
Please sign up for a refresher..

The days will be run by the Andrew Simpson Sailing Centre on behalf of the club and will primarily be "on water" refresher days. The course is likely to include some additional tips and techniques relevant to club activities that may not generally be covered in a standard PB2 course.

Further Details, Current Dates & Sign Up Here

Bank Holiday Series - 3&4 - 7th May 2018

More about Bank Holiday Races

• Usually each Bank Holiday from Easter Monday to the end of August there are a couple of races held.
  
• Tend to have fewer people racing than on a Sunday or Wednesday, so the water is not crowded.
• A good opportunity to swap helms or crews, to try new ideas, or to gain more experience.
• Normally the Bank Holiday Races are Pursuit Races. With a 100-minute race in the morning (start at 11:00 = finish at 12:40); and a 70-minute race (start at 13:50 = finish at 15:00) in the afternoon.
• The races held count towards the Bank Holiday series results.

Burghfield Race Formats - More Details