RS Feva - Burghfield Sailing Club

Feva Nationals, 2009

Gale force winds and blazing sunshine set the scene for an exciting RS Feva Nationals in Weymouth over the late May Bank Holiday weekend. (at least we had the sunshine !) With 72 Fevas on the water, numbers were only slightly down on 2008 and many new teams were sailing this year including a strong new contingent from Torquay. After some Easter training at Burghfield there were several BSC sailors competing. Established squad sailors: Amber and Jamie Brown, Callum Ellis, Chris Taylor and Kat Colvin were joined by newcomers Matilda and William Dolin, Rafaella Quinton, Robert Baddeley and James Taylor.

After a few false starts, racing eventually got under way on Saturday and 3 Qualifying races were completed, defining the Gold and Silver fleets. At the end of the days racing the top 5 places were all National Squad boats (last year and this year) plus one Adult boat, with the top slot held by current World champions Tim Gratton & Chris Taylor. Ashore, stress levels were running high as parents were treated to a large electronic display of the course area with individual "boats" blinking their way around, courtesy of their on-board GPS trackers. Alas, course marks were initially not fitted with GPS trackers, necessitating some imaginative visualisation of events by the spectators ! Nonetheless, this was swiftly ironed out and the "real time race track" facility certainly offers excellent addition entertainment to a Regatta. (the data was also helpful in resolving a case of mistaken identity for one of the boats on the finish line)

Expectations were low in terms of breeze for the Sunday and so it proved. After a day spent shuffling around Portland Harbour with the weak gradient wind locked in combat with an indecisive sea breeze, one race eventually got under way for each fleet. Snakes and ladders were out in force with consistent breeze lanes at a premium. Mark roundings were particularly "risky" too, with large raft-ups arising. But... as the overall results were updated, there were only minor changes at the top and Chris & Tim remained fleet leaders. More to play for on Monday.....

Well, not really... An early morning westerly wind rapidly transitioned into a gradient Easterly, causing yet more havoc for the race committee as they tried hard to keep up with the rotation of the breeze! With the course all laid, the wind duly phutted out and the Fevas were sent ashore yet again.. An attempt was made around 3.30pm to start a race in the "new" Southerly, but this swung 30' just before the start and after hoisting an AP the race committee sensibly decided to can the day. On cue, the remaining breeze instantly disappeared, leaving a glassy calm, allowing for an excellent long distance ooching race back to the shore !

It could have been worse.. the Fireball National Championships which were running at the WPNSA concurrently had not completed a race by Monday evening despite a lengthy jaunt into Weymouth Bay on the Sunday !

BSC boats managed a 6, 12, 24 in the Gold fleet, with the Baddeley / Taylor boat taking the highest position. Chris Taylor, crewing for Tim Gratton from HISC won the national championship for the second year in a row.

Full Results...

RS Feva Grand Prix- 12-13 April

EVENT INFORMATION:
Time of Briefing: Saturday 12 April 11.30hrs.
First Scheduled Start Times:
12.30hrs Saturday;
10.30hrs Sunday.
Scheduled Number of Races: 3/day.

Entry fees: £25.00, please pre-register below(N.B. payment not required before the event)

Catering will be available over the weekend and an additional supper has been arranged for early on the Saturday evening for participants and parents.
Could entrants please use the link below to register for the event and include during registration whether they would be interested in participating in the supper on the Saturday evening.
Please would all competitors unload their boats from their road bases in the car park as no vehicles will be allowed inside the inner compound

Pre-entry is now closed. If you wish to participate in the event please just turn up on the day.

Directions to the club can be found here

Past Events

Nationals, 2007

66 RS Fevas turned up in Whitstable on a grey windy 26th May morning, for the 2007 Sekonda RS Feva Nationals. Among them were 3 Burghfield SC boats; Jake and Dan Bullock, Amber Brown & Robin Raniero, Chris & Jamie Brown.

The conditions on Saturday were boisterous, with a F5 Easterly against the tidal ebb. Whitstable YC managed to get in 4 races which stretched many of the young competitors stamina during the day (it was also quite cold).

Two general recalls for the first race meant that the black flag came out and stayed out for most of the regatta. Sea conditions were quite lumpy and most crews reported paddling depths inside their boats when going upwind!

Downwind, the gusty conditions created some spectacular surfing and the odd submarine incident.

Sunday dawned as the opposite weather condition, in defiance of the various forecasts from the met gurus. WYC again managed to get 3 races off, despite the first race of the day being abandoned. In these conditions, a clean start and zephyr sniffing was everything except for the final race of the day where a stiff Easterly appeared, bringing up all those boats that had banged the left side of the beat.

Ashore, the Caribean evening and Disco soon got under way and bets were being placed as to how many Feva's would make it to the start line on Monday morning !! In the end, this was academic as the stormy conditions of Monday morning (25-33kn onshore, huge seas) meant that no racing was possible and the prize giving duly took place in the WYC marquee.

Barry Parkin and his 8 year old son from Hayling SC dominated the results and deservedly took 1st place overall, with the BSC boats bringing in 16, 35, 47 places overall.

A hugely enjoyable regatta and I for one will be there in Rutland for the Inlands !!

Results...

RS Feva Inland Championships, 2006

Burghfield Sailing Club was proud to hosting the RS Feva Inland Championships for the second year in succession.

Results, photos and a full report are now available from the links below.

Full Report...
Photos...
Results...

Gold
1st	Nathan and Anna Ackroyd
2nd	Phil and Josh Sparks
3rd	Rob and Georgina Cage

Silver
1st	Ben and Nathalie Irons
2nd	Jake and Dan Bullock
3rd	Issy and Sophie Hamilton

Download the full Notice of Race

If you have any questions, please .