http://southwestsailing.com Weekly Guide To Sailing in South West England and Beyond Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:25:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It is very easy to write about a subject you enjoy, as the words tend to flow quiet easily if the topic is of interest. Sailing in Falmouth is very special as the sailing waters are exceptional with little commercial traffic and thanks to the efforts of South West Water ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/11/16/mylor-magic/ The 49’er fleet gathered at Grafham Water last weekend for the Inland Championship and some 24 boats assembled for a seven-race one-discard regatta. On Saturday 4 races were completed in cold blustery conditions with the wind gradually increasing throughout the programme to reach 30 knots in some gusts. Truro’s Andy Walsh having ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/11/14/49%e2%80%99er-inland-championships/ 30 intrepid sailors set off at Sunday lunchtime for the start of the 6th edition of the Vendee Globe. This really is the Everest of the Seas with 41 of the 60 sailors who have sailed around the world non-stop achieving the feat whilst competing in the Vendee. It promises to ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/11/12/vendee-globe/ It is a source of bitterness for me that the proposals to redevelop the Watersports Centre into a sailing academy some 8/9 years ago failed to get off the ground. Many would say get over it – it is history move on but in writing about sailing on a weekly ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/11/08/cornwall-in-the-doldrums/ Just to underline the comments above some 10 Cornish sailors made the trip to Carsington Sailing Club near Ashbourne in Derbyshire last weekend to take part in the Laser Inland Championships. All 3 Rigs were represented although the forecast may have reduced numbers across the board with cold strong winds on ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/11/06/laser-inland-championships/ This weekend sees the start of the 6th edition of this incredible round the world yacht race and I wish I could be there to watch the start on Sunday. Some 30 Open 60s will provide an unforgettable sight with an estimated 300 boat plus spectator fleet. Best hope of the ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/11/04/vendee-globe-2008/ November 5th besides being Guy Fawkes Day is also the anniversary of a victory for the dredgermen of the Truro Oyster Fishery over Truro Corporation in a legal dispute over the laying of oysters along the foreshore. The Truro Oyster Fishery is an area defined by the Truro Oyster and Mussel ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/28/the-silver-oyster-race/ I am a fan of the NMMC and the incredible effort the staff put in to keep the museum alive and interesting throughout the entire year. I receive numerous e-mails during the year outlining plans for both young and old at the NMMC and confess the ingenuity and planning that ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/25/award-for-nmmc/ Taking advantage of the northerly breeze Pete Goss and his crew on Spirit of Mystery slipped away from Newlyn on Monday night en route to Australia. Spirit is a replica of the original Mystery a 37ft Mounts Bay lugger, which left Newlyn on the 18 November 1854, bound for the Australian ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/23/spirit-of-mystery-heads-to-australia-from-newlyn/ I have always had faith in the Falmouth Oyster Festival as possibly one of the best food events to be found anywhere in Europe if not the World. It is such a unique event inextricably linked with the working boats and the oyster punts and of course our wonderful Fal ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/21/oysters-r-us-%e2%80%93-the-best-yet/ Sunday saw the Victory Inn at St Mawes host the victory cup races for working boats. In lovely conditions of sunshine and a force 2/3 breeze both B and C classes enjoyed tight racing. The course of West Narrows, Black Rock provided a stiff challenge with a strong flood tide pushing both ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/06/victory-cup-races/ The weather is a topic of conversation dear to the heart of nearly every Brit and sailors are no different with the too much wind and rain ruining the peak sailing months of July and August. Come September of course and the reverse is the case with the RYA Zone championships ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/04/rya-zone-championships/ The inaugural Laser SB3 World Championships concluded last Friday and the event held at the National Yacht Club in Dublin attracted some 135 entries. Winner was Geoff Carveth and his crew from Hayling Island Sailing Club from Craig Burlton 2nd, Mike Budd 3rd, Tim Fells 5th and ex-Restronguet sailor David Lenz ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/02/laser-sb3-inaugural-world-championships-2008/ The Torrey Canyon is a named etched in the history of shipwrecks off the Cornish coast as the first major super tanker disaster to spark a major environmental crisis. The Torrey Canyon piled onto a reef off the Scilly Isles in March 1967 at a time when such a disaster was ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/10/01/the-torrey-canyon/ After the disappointments of the round Britain solo attempts by Hilary Lister and 16 year old Jonny Moore I am delighted to report that Jack Daly sailing Padiwak a 1985 vintage Corribee Mk II has finally made it back to Ramsgate the port he left on 21st June. Daly celebrated his ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/09/30/solo-success/ Couldn’t start this week’s column without a word about Pendennis Shipyard’s impressive 20th anniversary celebrations at the Monaco Yacht Show last week. Just how do you impress the rich and famous at one of the world’s top superyacht gatherings? Toby Allies of Pendennis Shipyard organized a show stopping, head turning moment ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/09/30/style-councilors/ The Tornado World Championships are being held this week at Takapuna Beach in New Zealand and Cornish interest is centred on Andy Walsh and Tom Phipps and their crews in the 51-boat fleet. Walsh and his crew Ed Barney after 4 races have had their usual maddeningly inconsistent regatta. On the ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/02/28/tornado-worlds-at-takapuna-beach/ Weymouth Sailing Academy hosted the first of two Olympic Class regattas organized by the RYA and a compulsory event for all RYA Olympic Development and Transition squad members. Fleet number across the classes were small but as usual racing was competitive with the RYA coaches and staff present to monitor progress ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/02/28/olympic-classes-spring-regatta-weymouth/ If all this talk of Olympic sailing has wetted your appetite for improving your racing performance this season then Windsport International are hosting the annual Dart 18 2008 Teach-in. Your host and main coach will be cat guru Brian Phipps and two weekend training sessions have been arranged. On the 19th-20th ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/02/28/dart-18-training-weekends-at-mylor/ Truro Laser sailor James Tilley is the RYA Champion Clubs Liaison Officer and the programme originally launched in 1997 has just under a revamp and major relaunch via a new web site at www.rya.org.uk/vcc. The site offers a multitude of best practice tips, downloads and case studies of some of the ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/02/28/volvo-rya-champion-clubs/ Mylor’s Tom Phipps is about to compete in the Tornado World Championships at Takapuna Boating Club in New Zealand. This marks his second appearance in the Tornado Worlds having contested the 2007 event at Cascais in Portugal. Phipps together with crewman Marcus Lynch will be hoping to improve on Phipp’s showing ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/02/20/taking-on-the-world/ As a child fishing and fishermen always fascinated me and one of the first fishermen I encountered was Teddy Harris down at Percuil. At the end of the beach at Percuil was a small shed, which housed the local branch of the Duchy of Cornwall Oyster Farm and Teddy worked ... http://southwestsailing.com/2008/02/13/the-renaisance-of-the-oyster/ Well not quiet Rio but Salvador in Brazil with the departure this Saturday due from Le Harve in France. That is the plan for two West Country sailors Alex Bennett and Ifor Pedley in their new Open 40 Fujifilm as competitors in the Transat Jacques Vabre. Fujifilm is a brand new ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/31/flying-down-to-rio/ Cockwells Modern & Classic boatyard at Ponsharden have just launched their Pilot Cutter Polly Agatha at Mylor Yacht Harbour. The design is similar to that of Peggy a Cutter built by the Rowles family of Pill in 1904 in Bristol and still actively sailing in the Bristol Channel. It is a ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/31/polly-agatha-pilot-cutter-launch/ This week I have to start with bouquets all round to those involved with last weekend’s Oyster Festival. It was attended by around 27,000 people and although size and numbers don’t always make for a great event the Festival was superb from Thursday right through to Sunday. Clarissa Dickson Wright kicked ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/26/fantastic-oyster-festival/ The Cornwall Offshore Group Series (COGS) held their annual prize giving at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club last Saturday night. This was the 7th annual awards event for COGS and a bit like the Oyster Festival is steadily growing in popularity with local sailors and sailing clubs. The existing 7 member ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/26/cogs-end-of-season-prize-giving/ The third and final RYA ranking event took place at Weymouth last weekend and it brought further success to Andy Walsh and Ed Barney in the Tornado class. The pair went into the weekend tied on points with the other two leading UK Tornado crews McMillan/Howden and Wilson/Bulkeley. McMillan was on ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/26/final-rya-ranking-event-and-results-overall/ Just to underline the almost constant use the RYA Sailing Academies the Optimist Class returned last weekend to the Weymouth Academy for the End Of Season Regatta. The Class held their National Championships at the same venue in August and must have been slightly taken aback that a record 338 youngsters ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/23/end-of-season-optimist-regatta-weymouth/ The J24 Fleet visited the Royal Western Yacht Club for the annual Autumn Cup and more precious points for the World Championships in Italy next year. A 14-boat fleet contested the event with 9 visitors joining the Plymouth regulars for a 7 race 1 discard series held over the weekend of ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/23/j24-autumn-cup-at-plymouth/ Gul has been a successful Cornish watersports company ever since I began writing this column some 10 years ago. It is astonishing to consider that Dennis Cross founded the Company back in 1967 some 40 years ago as a result of him wishing to carry on surfing at Fistral during the ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/23/gul-%e2%80%93-a-west-country-success-story/ The 11th annual Falmouth Oyster Festival takes place next week with Celebrity Chef Clarissa Dickson Wright joining a very select list of top quality chefs to open proceedings on Thursday 18th October. Previous distinguished operators in the culinary arts to grace the event include Rick Stein, Aldo Zilli, Antonio Carluccio and ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/16/the-11th-falmouth-oyster-festival/ I recently attended the Sail for Gold Regatta at Weymouth and met up with Peter Walsh proud father of Andy Walsh and commiserated with him over Andy and Ed Barney’s narrow failure to gain selection for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Tornado Class. Peter confirmed that Andy and Ed would ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/16/rya-olympic-classes-national-ranking-series/ It wasn’t quiet like the Battle of Hastings but for 4 girls battling for Olympic selection in the Laser Radial fleet it was a fair old tussle. Charlotte Dobson, Andrea Brewster, Lizzie Vickers and Penny Clark have been told they are the short listed quartet for Beijing and a decision will ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/16/lasers-at-hastings/ The RYA Team15 Championships were set up by the RYA to attack a perceived weakness in the wind surfing discipline by young sailors in the UK. The idea was/is to get more youngsters wind surfing with Team15 sailors specifically being 15 or under and accordingly strengthen the GBR Team in wind ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/16/rya-team-15-championships-at-rutland-water/ The Royal Cornwall Yacht Club hosted the inaugural Laser SB3 Class Championship in 2003 for a state of the art new dinghy or probably more correctly three- man sportsboat - the SB3. This is a fast and exhilarating three-man sportsboat designed by Tony Castro who’s CV includes the Cork 1720 an ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/04/laser-sb3-the-final-solution/ Restronguet hosted the South West Zone Championships for promising young sailors drawn from sailing clubs all over the South West keen to start on the RYA sailing skills programmes and join the various training squads. The Zone Championships were held a seven venues around the Country and attended by RYA Regional ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/04/the-rya-south-west-zone-championships/ The Cornwall Offshore Group’s prize giving and annual dinner will be held at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club on Saturday 20th October. All competitors are welcome and full details can be found on the COGS website. www.cogsracing.org.uk http://southwestsailing.com/2007/10/04/cogs-prize-giving-and-dinner/ Last weekend the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy hosted the 2nd Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta the only UK Olympic Classes International Regatta and an annual event in the calendar in the run up to 2012. There are 11 Olympic classes in the programme for Beijing 2008 and Weymouth hosted 9 ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/27/weymouth-sail-for-gold-regatta/ Last weekend Poole Yacht Club staged the Poole Junior & Youth Regatta and Cornwall was well represented by strong contingent of Restronguet Sailing Club Juniors. 6 races were held with 3 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday with 5 races to count. In the Laser 4.7 fleet James Grant dominated counting ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/27/restronguet-youngsters-shine-at-poole/ Visitors dominated the Dart Grand Prix meeting held at Pentewan last weekend with victory going to Alan and Fiona Kernick from Stokes Bay from Andrew and Clare Round (Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club) and Cedric and Jane Winter (Restronguet). 6 races were held with 3 sailed on Saturday in a delightful sunny ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/27/dart-18-grand-prix-at-pentewan-sands/ It was announced at the Southampton Boat on Friday that Ben Ainslie was to be the Skipper and Helmsman of the TeamOrigin the British challenge for the 33rd Americas Cup to be staged in Valencia in 2009. Ainslie has pursued a dream of helming a British Americas Cup boat for several ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/21/ainslie-on-course-to-create-history/ Some 300 of the World’s best sailors have assembled at Weymouth for the Sail for Gold Regatta, which started yesterday and runs through until Sunday. This is an event for the Olympic Classes and will become an annual event in the build up to 2012. Naturally enough using the Proposed 2012 Olympic ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/21/sail-for-gold-regatta-weymouth/ This weekend the Laser Radial and Standard fleets held their 2nd Qualifier for the 2008 World and European Championships. 5 races were held with 2 raced on Saturday in a very light 5-knot Easterly breeze and 3 raced on Sunday in an 8/10 knot Westerly. In the Radial fleet Laser Maestro Jon ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/21/lasers-paignton/ 27 boats assembled for J24 Nationals at Parkstone last Thursday for a four day 8 race 1 discard series. Light winds prevailed and for the umpteenth time Stuart Jardine and his crew sailing Stouche emerged as the National Champions. Stouche counted 3 wins and was never out of the top 10 ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/21/j24-nationals-parkstone/ Last weekend saw the St Mawes Sailing Club and the St Mawes Hotel host the St Mawes Harbour Race for the two Working Boat fleets. In addition the St Mawes Harbour Company in conjunction with the St Mawes fishing fleet staged their 2nd Fishing Festival on the Town Quay. The weather was ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/21/working-boat-harbour-races/ Don’t forget this weekend sees the St Mawes Fish Festival and Working Boat Harbour Race this Saturday and the Falmouth Greenlawns Harbour Race for Working Boats this Sunday. The weather forecast is fair and so both events should be spectacular. http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/diary-dates-2/ I am delighted to report that Plymouth has won the right to host the 2008 Transat after a close bidding battle with another UK City after the organizers decided to invite offers to stage the regatta. Offshore Challenges the organizers felt that Plymouth was not committed to running such a prestigious ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/the-transat-2008/ It is hard to believe but already a year has past and this weekend sees the start of Southampton Boat Show with Press Day on Friday and General Admission from Saturday until the following Sunday. The Show is launched by the arrival of HMS Bounty a replica of the ship made ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/southampton-boat-show/ If it’s autumn then once again it is the annual selection trials for the UK Laser teams for the 2008 World and European championship events. The first weekend in September saw Pwllheli host the first of these qualifiers for both the Laser Radial and Standard fleets. Conditions were good with a ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/lasers-pwllheli/ Weston Sailing Club on Southampton Water last weekend hosted the Tornado National Championships with 10 races scheduled over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As usual the best-made plans in sailing largely depend on the weather and although there was plenty of sunshine there was precious little wind and as a result Friday ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/andy-and-ed-win-tornado-national-champs/ This weekend St Mawes Sailing Club are hosting the St Mawes One Design Championships and hopefully a fleet approaching double figures will provide a competitive edge to a fleet, which does appear to be in the doldrums at present. Saturday 15th September sees St Mawes hosting the Harbour Race for Working ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/diary-dates/ Some stories just take your breath away and this one is truly astonishing. An Ethiopian man living in London last week received a phone call via a GSM/Satellite phone from a distant relative who was on board a large Zodiac inflatable some 64 miles off the coast of Libya. On board the ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/an-amazing-true-story/ Further to my piece last week I heard some disquieting news about the Cutty Sark, which apparently before the fire last May was to be enclosed in a bubble and used as a disc style restaurant, entertainment centre and promotions venue. I have not heard whether the Cutty Sark is to ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/hms-carrick-update/ The 49’er and 29’er National Championships were held at Llandudno Sailing Club at the end of August and several Restronguet sailors traveled up to Wales to try their hand at skiff racing. The 49’er Nationals can be star-studded affairs depending on the whereabouts of the British Olympic Squad who as it ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/racing-roundup/ Despite the absence of Jonathon Money and Phil Badger two of the major protagonists in the Sunbeam fleet this year’s championship held last weekend proved to be close and exciting with a 3-way battle for 2007 title. Slight favourite after a clean sweep of Falmouth was Caprice skippered by Lennie Trenoweth ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/09/13/caprice-retains-falmouth-sunbeam-championship/ In 2003 I wrote about the fate of HMS Carrick and some 4 years on little progress has been made and the threat of either her break up or sale to Australia remains.Likewise the Cutty Sark a well-loved sight in Falmouth before the War is also in desperate need of ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/08/29/hms-carrick/ Last Saturday Portscatho hosted its annual regatta and blessed with marvelous sunny weather some 80 entries were received for the sailing events. Sadly the breeze refused to kick in until late afternoon but with 15 windsurfers, 12 Picos, 7 Ajaxes and 6 Working Boats plus a myriad of handicap dinghies it ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/08/29/portscatho-regatta/ Fowey Week this year was not helped by the weather with strong winds reducing fleet numbers on the passage race to Falmouth on the Sunday and the return to Fowey on the Monday. No Ajaxes made the trip up to Fowey from St Mawes as Tuesday also proved to be a ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/08/29/fowey-week-2007/ Friday sees the start of the Falmouth Sunbeam Championships hosted as usual by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. I expect the entry to number around 12/14 boats with a wide-open championship in prospect. Last year Lennie Trenoweth sailing Caprice won and so should start as favourite this year however assuming attendance Verity ... http://southwestsailing.com/2007/08/29/sunbeam-championships/