Admirals Club trip to Weymouth 10th - 11th July

For the second time, a number from Admirals Club and the wider club ventured further afield this summer to spend a weekend sailing at the home to the 2012 Olympics in Portland Harbour. The sun shone, the wind was perfect, the setting and facilities at WPNSA fantastic â€" allowing 20 sailors from Burghfield to enjoy two days recreational sailing in Weymouth harbour. Thanks to Syd and Alan Beeton and Barry Baillie and the loan of ERIC, we had our own rescue cover on hand. This made all the difference for those of us with less experience of sailing on the sea and their organisation and help was second to none.

Full report here

Burghfield Sailing Club Junior & Youth Open Regatta 17th & 18th July

Over 30 boats from a number of different sailing clubs across the south took to the water over the weekend of the 17th & 18th July for the first Burghfield SC Junior & Youth Open Regatta. About half the boats were Optimists with the rest split between mainly RS Fevas and Toppers with a 29er and even an Albacore!

The weather for the event was superb throughout the weekend â€" dry with some sunshine and a good breeze that tested the sailors. Nick Martin did a great job as PRO and got 4 races in on the Saturday and three on the Sunday (interleaved with the club racing) and all run bang on schedule. All of the sailors reported having a great time. Those families who took up the option of camping on the Saturday night were treated to an excellent barbeque and a few beers were enjoyed late into the evening (by the parents that was).

Winners of the three fleets were Sam Pearce (Burghfield SC) in the Optimists; Lottie Harland (Burghfield SC) in the Toppers and Anna Prescott (Lymington SC) & Jess Eales (Lymington SC) in the RS Fevas. Sam Pearce also took the prize for the overall handicap winner.

Click here to see a video photo montage on YouTube created by Lottie Harland…

Click here for results…

A little bit of fun during Wednesday evening racing

For those of you who were racing last Wednesday and wandered why George and I were sailing around with a 4ft bowsprit.... it was not so that we could call room for marks early- Honestly!!!

Instead we taped a camera to the end of it and if you want to see the resulting video click the link below or the image and it will take you to the BSC Facebook page. If you are not yet a member of Facebook, why not join and use the medium to catch up with club members and activities. If you cannot see it on Facebook then use the u-tube link below.

Wednesday racing video

utube version

Single handed with stern camera

Jeremy

Laser 4.7 European Championships

Dan Bullock is currently out in Hourtin, France, having qualified for a place in Team GBR for the 2010 Laser 4.7 European Championships.

Dan will be competing against 360, 4.7 sailors from 30 countries. After a couple of days training, measuring and registration, qualifying takes place Monday through Thursday, with the 4 race final series on Fri/Sat.

More Details Here

Wednesday Evening photos

Click the image to the right to see a small selection of photos from the race last Wednesday - 14th July.

Thanks to Clare for the pics! Everybody keep snapping and if you have any that you would like to share feel free to mail them to me or another committee member to get them loaded onto the website.

Oppie Camp 2010

25 Oppie sailors camped out in glorious sunshine over last weekend and enjoyed two days packed with activities.

The two days of Camp this year were marked by the heat wave with more wind on Saturday than forecast to provide some perfect sailing conditions.

And it wasn't just all about sailing, with lots of other activities to enjoy including rocket and raft building. Find out how the sailors (and their parents!) got on... and make a note in your diary to book a place next year.

Optimist European Championships (2 - 10 July)

Burghfield junior sailors Fraser Woodley and James Taylor are currently in Poland competing at the Optimist European Championships.

With 7 races sailed so far and a couple of days to go in the championships, Fraser (counting four top 10 results) is lying in 21st position (1st GBR sailor) and James is in 62nd also counting a 5th in race 7.

Further details can be found here or you can follow the action on Twitter

Youth 420s at Flanders Regatta (4 - 9 July)

Sailing in some testing conditions at the beginning of the week, resulting in a number of repairs, Burghfield's 420 sailor Issy Hamilton sailing with Hannah Jones is currently in 10th place on day 3 of the popular youth regatta. Also, Chris Taylor & James Parker-Mowbray are in 24th and Robert Baddeley & Benjamin Brown are 36th.

More regatta news here

Prize giving

There will be a prize giving for the Frostbite and Spring series racing on Sunday 4th July over lunch. In addition there will also be the prize giving for the KGFS plaque and Ladies Rose bowl.

The prize giving may cause the afternoon race to start a little later than usual.

Laser training at WPNSA during Optimist Nationals and over the summer

A number of Optimist and Topper sailors move to the Laser 4.7 and/or the Laser Radial and so may be interested in some training being run by SailLaser based at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy over the summer months.

SailLaser are running a 5 day Laser race training course and some Laser demos alongside the Optimist Nationals (which may be particularly useful for families where a younger sibling is sailing in the Optimist event) between 26th and 30th July. There are also three Laser 4.7 training sessions on July 18th, August 29th and September 19th. Click on the relevent links above to find out more about each. You can bring your own boat or use a SailLaser boat for the course and the training sessions.

Sign up now for the 2010 Burghfield Junior & Youth Open Regatta 17th - 18th July

Burghfield Sailing Club is organising a Junior & Youth Regatta that will take place over the weekend of the 17th and 18th July 2010. The event is open to all sailors under 18 years old (on the 17th July 2010) of all abilities sailing any mono-hull dinghy (single or double handers). It is an open event and so as well as all our own junior Burghfield sailors we look forward to welcoming junior and youth sailors from other clubs around the country.

The event format will be two days of racing. It is planned to have fleet racing for Optimist, Topper, Laser4.7 and Feva and a handicap fleet for all other boats (if there are enough boats in any other class, then a fleet may be formed). On the Saturday there will be a series of races followed by an evening barbecue with entertainment. Sailors will be able to camp on-site overnight (tents, campervans or caravans). On Sunday there will be a further series of races followed by prize giving. A variety of prizes will be awarded based on boats, ages and abilities.

More details are available here. We ask that you please pre-register using the link on that page if you are considering attending this event so that we can plan for numbers and ensure everyone has an enjoyable weekend. More information about the event will be sent to all pre-registered sailors by e-mail over the coming weeks.

A new initiative - Novice Sunday Racing

Want to join in Sunday club racing but you feel a little bit intimidated by the competitive nature of the sailing? If the answer is yes.... then read on....

Novice racing on Sundays:
To help members who want to race on Sundays we are starting a new initiative during the afternoon race (when it is a bit quieter).

Identify your boat with streamers on the mast and boom (available from the race office) and head out on the water! The more experienced racers keep an eye on you, give you due consideration on the water and will help you out with any questions etc you might have.
Do remember that racing rules apply, and asking others will help you get to grips with them quickly!

Most of all.... have fun, because that is exactly what racing is all about whilst at the same time, rapidly improving your sailing skills!

See you on Sundays,

Commodore

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me or

Burghfield Blast 2010

Last Sunday, June 13th, saw a very successful running of the Burghfield Blast. This event is a large number of very short races, only possible with a very quick turnaround between each start.

The sun shone (well most of the time), the wind blew and over 50 competitors started the day, broken up into the 4 normal class starts. Mark Cooper and his team set the courses and kept everybody on their toes, completing 3 sets of races before lunch and 4 sets after lunch; 28 starts in all!

The course was a specially set trapezoid with most races including an outer loop. This format gives the flexibility to set the shorter (no outer loop) course for the slower boats or as the wind drops. Each race was around 14 minutes for the fast boats and 16 minutes for the slow handicap.

The racing was very tight, often with less than a second splitting the boats once handicap was applied. The tightest result was in the lasers where Mark Sollars edged out Roberta Hartley by just one point.

Our next step is to persuade the competitors who normally go home at lunch to stay. This event is just once a year and well worth staying for.

Full Results...

Burghfield Topper sailor selected for RYA Team GBR to compete in Irish Nationals

Lottie Harland has been selected to join RYA Team GBR at the Topper Irish National Championships at Carlingford, Ireland, taking place on the 2nd â€" 4th July 2010. The squad of 12 junior sailors (8 boys and 4 girls) was selected following two national indicator events during April and May which each had a turnout of over 200 sailors.

The squad will travel to Ireland for two days of coaching followed by the three day event. For Topper sailors this is the only international event in the calendar that the RYA selects and supports a squad to compete in and so is something that many of the junior Topper sailors aspire to.

Burghfield Sailors take prizes at Burton Week- Home of the N12 Nationals

Congratulations to Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne who have regained their title as National Champions in the National 12 class, and also took the win in the much Coveted title race- 'The Sir William Burton Cup'. They managed this hard fought achievement even though in the first gybe of race one which was held in 25knts of breeze, both of the wings of their t-foil rudder snapped off!

They were quick to replace the rudder with a production one from P&B, which put them straight back in the running. It was not, however, an easy win as after the final race they were tied on points with last years' winner, Jo Richards, who designed Graham and Zoe's boat, and it was their three race wins over the event that gave them the overall title.

In addition, the good works of other members of the BSC N12 fleet ensured that we again retained the Team trophy awarded to the sailing club with the best top three boats in the championship. Caroline Martin was also awarded top lady helm Trophy and Nigel and Chris White the Joe Yorke trophy.

Perhaps the least coveted trophy is the 'Burton Brick' awarded to the most entertaining event of the week and it is with pride that Steve Norbury and Andy Hill bring this honour to Burghfield this year for the succession of incidents they had with their boat over the long weekend!
For full reviews and results: Click Here

Burghfield Sailors win RS Feva Nationals

Robert Baddeley and James Taylor were crowned RS Feva National champions after winning both races in the finals series on the final day of the Feva Nationals at Hayling this weekend.

In a 120 boat fleet which included many ex-national champions as well as a large number of talented and well schooled youth sailors and across a range of conditions, Rob and James went in to the finals series with a lot to do but managed to hold their nerve in testing conditions.

Burghfield was also represented by Amber and Jamie (30th - gold), Matt Hill and Joe Reeve (8th silver) and Matilda Dolin and Paul (41st silver).

More Info...

First breeding oystercatchers in Berkshire spotted at BSC

The first breeding pair of oystercatchers in Berkshire were confirmed on one of the islands at BSC this week.

The first June recorded sighting in Berkshire was as recent as 1986 and since that time they have commoner throughout the year but the vast majority of birds appear in ones and twos and only stay for a few days at a time.

Members of the Theale Area Bird Conservation Group visited the island and ringed the birds this week. More details here

Burghfield Toppers at Parkstone

Eight of our Burghfield Topper sailors were at Parkstone Yacht Club (Poole Harbour) on Sunday 23rd May for the fourth event in the increasingly popular Topper Southern Area Traveller Series which consists of 11 events over the year. A very sunny day and clear blue skies with a reasonable breeze resulted in an record 48 boat turnout taking part in four races.

Burghfield sailors had a great day with six of our sailors in the top 15. Matthew Stephens finished an excellent 2nd place (with one race win to his name). Lottie Harland was in 3rd place (and first female and again with one race win). Josh Stone finished in 8th, Katie Barraclough 10th, Thomas Goodbourn 12th, Lucy Barraclough 15th, Adam Stone 19th and Ella Nicklin 32nd.

Currently Matt, Lottie and Josh are lying in the top five for the series - but there are still seven events to go! For more information about the Topper Class and open events click here...

RS Feva National Championships

Four Burghfield crews will be competing at the RS Feva Nationals this Bank Holiday weekend at Hayling Island. With over 100 boats entered, the Burghfield group of Robert Baddeley & James Taylor, Amber & James Brown, Matilda & Will Dolin and Matt Hill & Joe Reeve will all be looking for top finishes. Good luck guys...

Optimist Inland Championships

Burghfield SC was again well represented at this years Optimist Inland championships held as usual at Grafham Water. The weather was kind with mainly 10-12 knots from the North / North west.

The shifty conditions favoured the pond sailors and the PRO accepted the fleets offer to teach them a starting lesson, issuing 25 black flags and 16 OCS, the term 'negative sag' being used on several occasions.

Read More...

Optimist Selection Trials

After two weekends of hard fought competition the teams for the Optimist Worlds and Europeans have been decided. As in previous years Burghfield Sailing Club has been very well represented at this the highest level of Optimist Sailing in the UK.

Congratulations to all those that took part but in particular to Josh Voller who made the Worlds Team, one of a team of five and a trip to Malaysia in December and James Taylor and Frazer Woodley who are in the European Team and off to Poland in July.

Robert Baddeley missed out on the Europeans by one point and is 1st reserve but will be part of the GB team at the French Nationals this summer.

South Zone Burghfield Sailors Scoop 2010 Eric Twiname Shield

It was the RYA’s South Zone team, which included some of our Junior Burghfield sailors, that walked away basking in the winners glory as the pretigious 2010 RYA Eric Twiname Championships came to a close on Rutland Water last weekend. Following the bitter disappointment of last years competition, which saw the South miss out on victory after a tie-break situation, this year they clinched the overall winning Zone crown in emphatic style.

Having endured testing high winds and driving rain on Saturday, the concluding Sunday brought with it more favourable conditions for the 325 competitors with the sun coming out of hiding and the wind speed dropping from 20 to 10-15 knots.

Burghfield sailors were represented in a number of classes. In the Toppers, 13-year-old Matthew Stephens was lying second overall after the first day, having notched up back-to-back fifths in the gusty conditions. Matt finished the competition top South Zone Topper sailor with an excellent 10th place. Katie Barraclough in a Topper finished in a strong 37th place in her first ETs. In the Optimist Class, Joe Woodley finished 23rd, again in his first ETs and in the Feva Class, Matilda Dolin and Will Dolin along with Matt Hill and Joseph Reeve represented the club. Matt and Joseph finished in 7th place whilst Matilda and Will after a good first day were unfortunately were not able to compete on the second day.

Full details can be found here...

Jon Emmett Training

14 Boats took part in the Jon Emmett training day which turned out to be excellent fun.

In the morning we worked on starting techniques using a tiny start line and a looped none stop starting sequence which created a scrum style pile up which was not for the faint hearted.

The afternoon was spent doing running starts focusing on tactics and techniques.

The day worked out well and I look forward to seeing some of our new learnt skills on the water.

Thank you for all your help

I would like take this opportunity to say thank you to all those who gave up their Saturday yesterday to help run the Open Day and make it the big success that it was, even though the conditions were by no means at their kindest. I had wanted to thank you all personally yesterday but inevitably it was a busy day and I did not get the chance.

Though it was cold, with a Northerly wind blowing, the rain held off and we had a steady stream of people wanting to try out various boats. I am pleased to report that whilst the number of visitors who came to the event was down on last year (unsurprisingly in the conditions) the proportion of those who joined was very healthy.

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome those who joined the club and we look forward to seeing you on the water very soon. If you have any queries at all about the Club please do not hesitate to contact Pat, our office manager using:

or myself using:
.

Commodore

Wednesday evening racing video

Click on the image for to have a look at some video footage taken of last Wednesdays race (28th April) Sorry about the shaky camera work!

Testing conditions at Topper Inland Championship

The very popular Topper Inland Championship was once again held at Grafham Water Sailing Club over the 1st and 2nd May. Burghfield SC was well represented with 6 Topper sailors who joined the 250 other sailors in a fleet comprising junior, youth and handful of adult sailors from across the UK.

Very light and variable wind on Saturday meant that although the fleet launched no racing was possible. Sunday dawned the complete opposite though with strong winds and rain. The fleet launched into a very cold F5 on-shore wind and completed three back-to-back races in winds gusting to F6. Despite numerous retirements from the fleet, the Burghfield sailors battled on to complete all of the races with only one of our sailors retiring due to an injury.

Lottie Harland came home with a well deserved trophy for 27th place overall. She also collected trophies for 2nd place under 15 year old and 3rd place female helm. The other Burghfield sailors were closely grouped together in the top half of the fleet with Thomas Goodbourn finishing a very strong 84th, Adam Stone 88th, Matthew Stephens 90th and Katie Barraclough 113th. Lucy Barraclough was unfortunate to suffer an injury after the first race causing her to retire.

A full report can be found on the Topper website and results are available here...

Challenger Open 2010

Lots of sun but not much wind was the background to the 2010 Challenger Open. 6 races were completed over 23rd and 24th April.

Over 50 photos here, thanks to Simon Smith. Thanks also to all the organisers, helpers and the race team.

Admiral's Club 2010 Programme of events is now available

The time has come for the AC to emerge again from hibernation for the season. We have a great new programme for 2010 with some new events as well as the old favourites. So get down to the club, throw off the cover and spruce up the boat ready for a fun start on Saturday 1st May 2010 with our annual Treasure Hunt.

Full details of the Programme can be found on Admiral's Club Events Page.

No need to book, nothing to pay, just turn up, rigged and ready to sail at 1.30. Meet up in the bar after every event. Look forward to seeing you. For further information, or if you have any queries, contact:

RYA Squads Update

Following a sucessful performance at the RYA Youth Nationals recently held at WPNSA, 420 sailor Issy Hamilton together with crew Hannah Jones (Stuanton Harold SC) have been selected for the RYA National Youth Squad.

Wednesday Evening Pursuit, 2010

The personal handicap Wednesday evening race series is the most popular race series offered at the club, and one of the biggest dinghy race series running in the country. With over 1000 entries over the 18 races held last summer it really is a fantastic evening and it is not only about racing.

After each race many competitors stay for the meal afterwards and the socialising is as great as the race itself. If you have never raced before, are new to the club, or have previous experience, this is the series that is just unmissable. A great way to split up the working week, the personal handicap system in place ensures that all, whatever their ability, have a great chance of doing well.

Race 1: Wednesday 21st April

More Info...

Burghfield at the Youths

11 sailors associated with Burghfield represent 3 classes: Dan Bullock and Katie Russell in Laser radials, Kat Colvin, Issy Hamilton and Chris Taylor in 420s, Amber and Jamie Brown, Luke Burywood, Callum Ellis and Ed and Art Romano in 29ers.

The week started off in marginal conditions at the top end of the scale and finished just below marginal at the other end with no racing on the Friday. Well done to everyone who competed.

More Info...

Wednesday Evening Racing - one not to be missed!

With the start of the Wednesday Evening Series less than two weeks away, we will, as usual be running an introduction to racing evening at the club the week before which includes the option of a meal midway through the evening.

The Wednesday evening pursuit racing series is a very special race and is by far the most popular event on the club's calendar. Designed to encourage those who have not raced before to give it a try, whilst still being a great challenge to the more experienced racer it is little wonder that last year we saw over 1070 entries to the event over the 18 week period which it runs.

So if you are new to the club, or have just not tried racing before, we would highly recommend you come along to this series and start with the introductory talk next wednesday (7pm-14th April 2010)

Please use the link below to find out more about the evening and to book so that the caterers can have an good indication of numbers.

wednesday evening racing

Fancy Trying out the newest Single hander on the market...?

BSC RS 100 DEMO DAY - 1st May 2010


For those who keep track of the dinghy market, you will already have heard of the RS 100 and its recent launch. Over 160 boats have already been ordered and they are now starting to appear on the water.

The RS 100 is a singlehanded asymmetric dinghy designed for the racer in mind. We as a club are very lucky to be able to offer you the chance to try out this new dinghy. RS will be doing a Test sail day of the RS 100 at the club, exclusively for club members on Saturday 1st May 2010. If you are looking for a new single hander why not give this one a go.

Test sails are only availabe by pre-registration and there are a limited number of spaces available so book your slot early! You will be contacted by RS to confirm a time for your trial sail.

Click here to book your test sail

A great start to the N12 season

Last Saturday saw the start of the GILL series for the National 12's here at Burghfield, and though entries were slightly down (due in large part to the forecast of light winds) the competition was, as ever in this fleet, fierce.

But this year in the 12's there are new things afoot, the latest hull and winged foil developments are now making their way into the fleet and the event was the first time that two of the the all new P&B 'Dead Cat Bounce' design took to the water, having only recently been completed.

To find out what happened why not read more

Optimist World and European Selection Trials

Congratulations to the Burghfield sailors who have gained a place at the 2010 Optimist World and European selection trials.

This event takes place over two long weekends in April and May the results of which decide which sailors represent GBR at the Worlds and Europeans this year.

The sailors are;

RS200 & RS 400 video

Over recent weekends I have been playing with some video at the club whilst not being able to sail. Learning a few editing skills here is the result if you want to have a look and see why the 200's and 400's can be exciting boats to sail at BSC.

Click the image to link to the video.

Excellent racing at Burghfield Topper Open

On Saturday, Burghfield SC hosted 32 Toppers sailors (with ages ranging from 11 years old to adults) from around the south in the first open of the 12 event 2010 Topper Southern Traveller Series. After a damp start the rain stayed away for most of the day and with the wind gusting between F3 and F5 all the sailors had to work hard to complete the races.

Lottie Harland from Burghfield SC won the event convincingly by taking two bullets and a second place (discarding a 5th place). In 2nd place was Dan Druce (Hawley Lake Sail Training Centre) and in 3rd place was Josh Stone (Burghfield SC). Matt Stephens (Burghfield SC) finished a strong 5th giving the club three boats in the top five places, a great showing from our junior sailors.

Our other established Topper sailors of Katie Barraclough, Adam Stone, Lucy Barraclough and Thomas Goodbourn all competed well and were joined by two of our newer Topper sailors Hugh Cherkas and Richard Cowdrey taking part in their first open event.

Full results can be found here... and some photos found here...

A Great Success

We had 51 boats on the water yesterday for the Commodore's cup, a fantastic turnout. Though the wind was a bit light and shifty to start with it filled in throughout the day and allowed our race officer, Chris Martin, to set three good courses.

Congratualtoins to Graham Camm and Clare Hunter (N12) who won the event in a close fought contest with Rob and Jan Martin (RS400). Both were equal on points but Graham and Clare won it by taking a bullet in the final race. Not bad considering it was their first time in a boat since November!

At the same time the club held the RS Vision open meeting and 8 boats came to join the party, some from considerable distances away. It is great to know that Burghfield draws the best turnouts for this class and we look forward to them returning again next year. Well done to Dan Jaspers who took the event with 3 bullets.

Burghfield Sailing Club on Facebook

The club now has a new page on Facebook.

If you have a facebook account please become a fan of the page so that we can spread the word about the club. We are particularly wanting to use facebook this year to help promote the Club's Open Day on the 8th May so the quicker we can get fans joining the page the more effective the advertising for the event will be.

If a large number of members become fans it could also become a great way to organise getting together at the club or arranging for a crew if you are short,

Please help us to promote our fantastic club to potential new members so that we can continue to offer sailing and socialising for all!

Click the image to link to our Facebook page.

Commodore's Cup - Sunday 21st March

This years' Commodore's Cup is due to be held this coming Sunday. Format for racing will be three races, race 1 at 11am with race 2&3 back to back after lunch. There wil be a single start for all fleets so make sure you get to the start area in plenty of time.

In addition the Club is welcoming the RS Vision's to the club for their first Open of the year. They will be racing the same course as the club fleet though will have their own start.

Lets look forward to a repeat of last weeks spring weather with sun and wind!

Optimist Easter Sailing Course

The Optimist Easter Sailing course is back in 2010 at Burghfield Sailing Club.

Don’t get bored... Join in the fun and improve your sailing skills over the Easter school holiday break.

Whether you are wanting to hone your skills or have just recently learnt to sail, this coaching is tailored to your skill level.

RYA qualified, IOCA experienced instructors will coach a maximum of 8 sailors each, giving ample time to improve individual skills. We will be working towards IOCA grades, however children who are active on the circuit will also be catered for.

The 4 day course will run on Tuesday 6th to Friday 9th April 2010 and is expected to cost £150 for the four day course.

Places are limited and are on a first come basis and are bound to go fast, so click here now for more information and to download and complete the registration form...

Optimist Race Coaching Dates 2010

A number of Race Coaching days are planned for Optimist sailors who have started racing or achieved their IOCA grade 3.

Chris Witty, an experienced Optimist Coach, will lead the sessions. Chris and his team will provide bespoke training in small groups of five sailors per coach.

Initially, two days are planned: Saturday 20 March and Saturday 24 April. The cost for each session will be £25 per child.

Further information and application form (.doc and .pdf versions) can be found here...

If you need any more information please contact Gareth Hughes or e-mail

A review of Mike McNamara's talk last night

A very warm thanks was given to Mike at the end of last nights superb talk by the fifty or so clubmembers and visitors alike who attended.

Mike provided an outstandingly enjoyable evening and gave us all a very detailed and sightful look at how our sails and rigs should be working. Both funny and intuitive, he entertained us throughout the evening and has left, judging by the responsess heard so far, everybody dwelling on the thoughts of how, not only set their sails and rigs better, but also to make more effective tactical judgements.

It should be very interesting to see how this affects (and hopefully improves) our sailing in the future.

After such a succesful evening we are now eagerly awaiting the next talk by Steve Cockerill on the 7th April. The booking form is now available and with the success of this talk I am sure that we will once again not be dissappionted by Steve's insights into sailing!

More Details and to book click here

Autumn Series 2009 Prize Giving

Prize giving for the Autumn Series 2009 will take place this Sunday (28th) over lunchtime. Appologies for the delayfrom last Sunday's intended prize giving, but inclement weather left little time over lunch for the awards.

Hardy Burghfield Topper Sailors Compete at Snowy Rutland

Six of the Burghfield’s junior and youth Topper sailors set out to compete in the Topper Winter Regatta on the 20th/21st February at Rutland Sailing Club. They joined over 180 other junior, youth and a few adult Topper sailors from all over the country to dust off the cobwebs and put their winter training into practice.

The weather was cold with fickle winds on Saturday which meant only two races were completed before the sailors were glad to be ashore. To everyone’s surprise Sunday morning dawned with a few centimetres of snow. Nevertheless most sailors managed to get to the club and sailing got under way, again in light winds, and a further two races were completed.

Josh Stone finished in the prizes with an excellent 16th overall. Lottie Harland was 52nd, Matt Stephens 62nd and Adam Stone 109th. Unfortunately Ella Nicklin didn’t manage to make it back to the club on the Sunday suffering a minor car accident in the snow, and Katie Barraclough met with the same fate trying to get there on the Sunday having missed the Saturday returning from holiday.

Full results can be found here...

RS600 Winter Championships

Not to be outdone by the travelling RS200’s, 50% of the Burghfield RS600 fleet travelled up to Grafham for their winter championships. Although the turnout was a relatively modest 12 boats the competition was tight enough that places were always uncertain until the finish line. Without the benefits of the thermos flask spotted on some of the 200’s the weekend was pretty cold but great fun.

Showing the benefits of all the short tacking/ boat handling practice at Burghfield Mark Cooper was able to make the most of the shifty conditions to post a consistent set of results to finish 3rd overall, a welcome change from the normal handicap positions.

RS 200 Winter Championships

Five boats from Burghfield made the trip to Grafham SC for the 2010 RS 200 Winter championships last weekend, which accounted for just over 10% of the 47 boat fleet that entered.

In bitterly cold conditions some of the Burghfield contigent really showed the benefits of their winter racing at the club by posting some great results on day one of the two day event against top boats from across the country.

In particular Ian sharps and Ellie Martin took a bullet in race 1 and not to be outdown by their daugther, Caroline and Nick Martin followed suit with a race win in race 3 ensuring they were first to the very welomce warm showers!

read more

So what do Burghfield Sailors get up to?

Well, some but perhaps not all of you know, that we have our very own Olympic hopeful at the club. Ally Martin has been a member for many years and grew up on the lake sailing oppies alongside other members. Since then she has gone from strength to strength and has been heading the direction of the Olympics for many years.

On the introduction of the Womens keelboat Match Racing format, Ally teamed up with Lucy Macgregor and Annie Lush and they have been Striving to reach the top of the world rankings.

And now they have achieved it!

A little over a week ago they were in Miami and had not lost a single race in the run up to the final. Though they did not fair quite so well in the final, with lady luck throwing them some cruel blows, this did not stop them from achieving both second place overall at the event, but more importantly, put them firmly at the top of the world ranking table.

With the event over, Ally briefly dropped into the club last weekend on her way out to Palma to continue training.

From now to the Olympics we will be keeping a close eye on how Ally and the team progress and have dedicated a page on the BSC site to this.

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30th Jan: Solos on tour 2010: Richard Willetts takes the glassware.

On Saturday 30th Jan two Solo helms from BSC kicked off the Solo open season with a trip up to Graffam Water for the winter championships. 58 boats took to the water for three back to back races in cold but manageable conditions. Paul Bristow made up the numbers as part of his continued learning curve and Richard Willetts had mid fleet positions in the first two races followed by a superb 4th place in Race 3, having battled for the lead with the top solo helms in country.

Richard's great effort was rewarded with glassware for 1st place in the veterans series. The next major event, the spring championships in April, will hopefully see more BSC solos travelling.

Race report on the Solo class association site here

Junior Topper coaching - parent/sailor evening Tues 9th Feb at 7:30pm

We are planning a Topper parent/sailor evening on Tuesday 9th February, starting at 7:30pm in the clubhouse for all current parents/sailors of Toppers and those sailors thinking of transitioning to the Topper (perhaps from Optimists/Oppie Club) and who are interested in receiving coaching at the club. In fact any parents/sailors with any interest in what is happening at the club regarding Toppers are very welcome.

The aim of the evening is for you to all meet each other and we will review what has been happening with Topper coaching to date and discuss what sailors want through 2010. The success of any programme very much depends on understanding needs and putting in place a plan around the available resources and so if you have an interest in Topper coaching for the junior sailors I look forward to seeing you.
For more details and to register your interest click here...

Topper Open Coaching - Burghfield SC 27th February

The 2010 Topper Southern Area Open Coaching days are now published and available to book. The first of these coaching days will be held at Burghfield Sailing Club on Saturday 27th February and is an excellent opportunity to get in some early season coaching, whether you are an experienced Topper sailor, just transitioning to the class or have recently started sailing a Topper.

These coaching days are very popular within the Southern Area and places are limited so do make sure you book now to secure a place. Burghfield members must still complete a booking form to attend the coaching at the club on the 27th February and places will be allocated on a first come basis.

For more details and to download the booking form click here...

Racing- Sunday 24th January

Hopefully good news!

Though there is still ice on the lake we are planning on trying to set some racing this weekend
Yesterday there was ice covering around 60% of the lake but we are hoping that today's mild weather and winds will break it up quickly. With this in mind we are planning for racing to go ahead on Sunday but a final decision will be made based on the conditions found on the day.

If nothing else we can all have a bacon sandwich in the morning courtesy of Kieran and Antony!

Frustration starting to mount

I am sure, just as I am myself, that people are starting to get serious withdrawal symptoms from the recent lack of sailing. Unfortuantely, the lake still remains stubbornly frozen, and though the thaw is underway, the 3.5 inches of ice that covers a large proportion of the lake is, as yet, refusing to significantly break up.

Rain is forecast on Saturday, and this will probably increase the speed of the defrosting, but I doubt it will speed it up sufficiently to race. With this in mind, I'm afraid that all racing is once again cancelled this weekend so the frustration will have to last a little longer.

Please note that if you are coming to the club over the weekend that the driveway is still very difficult to negotiate and the main car park has yet to be driven in so still has a full covering of snow.

Jeremy

Snow & Ice stops Sailing

The club, as you might expect, has a good layer of snow over it at present, the lake is 3/4 frozen and when combined, this does not make a good receipe for sailing!

The driveway is currently impassable with a normal car as it is under a good 10 inches of snow so if there are any members with a 4x4 who would like to do a bit of snow flattening so that people can actually get their cars up the drive, it would be much appreciated.

With the current forecast of cold weather set to continue all sailing is postponed until further notice. If you would like to check the website regularly I will give you an update as to when sailing will resume as soon as it becomes apparent.

Jeremy

Waitrose support Sailability

We are delighted that Burghfield Sailing Club Sailability is one of the charities being supported by Waitrose in the Oxford Road, Reading, during January. Waitrose give customers a green token every visit to put in the bin for their selected charity.

The greater the number of tokens, the greater Sailability's share of £1000 at the end of the month, so please help us to benefit as much as possible from this opportunity by shopping at Waitrose in Reading this month.