BRISTOL SAILING ASSOCIATION

Newsletter March 2008

Contacts:Gordon Ogden (Commodore)01275 462473

Jock Playle (Secretary)0117 973 8855

Jane Jenkyn (Treasurer) 01275 880318

Marion Brown (Social Secretary)0117 952 0434

We welcome new members Antonia Pemberton and Graham Constable. Graham, along with Steve and Anita Freestone who also joined recently, sailed with Gordon on “Spellbinder” in March.

Future Trips

1.1Alan Howells will skipper a long weekend to France/Channel islands from Gosport on the catamaran “G & T” starting on the afternoon of Thursday June 5th and returning on Monday 9th. This is now fully booked. It will cost £172 per person, including fuel and gas. Will those going please send a deposit of £50 to the Treasurer, Mrs J R Jenkyn, Edgecliff, 12 Marine Parade, Clevedon, Bristol, BS21 7QS.

1.2Chris Watts has a provisional booking to charter a Jeanneau SO40 from Guernsey for a week beginning Friday September 5th. With flying from Bristol this would cost about £350 per person. At present we have three people interested; unless we have three or four more by the next meeting on April 15th this will not go ahead.

1.3Cowes – St Malo Race. Alan Howells would like to do this again this year. The race starts on Friday 11 July, so a charter from about Thursday 10th – Tuesday 15th would be needed. Alan needs several more crew, with experience and stamina for what can be a demanding sail, for this event. Will anyone interested please contact Alan (0117 944 2618).

1.4Penzance Around Scilly and Back (PASB). This event is run by Penzance Sailing Club. It is a long weekend of not too serious racing and cruising, with an overnight race from Penzance to the Scilly Isles on Friday July 25th, cruising the islands on Saturday, a race around the rocks on Sunday and a day race back to Penzance on Monday 28th. At the March meeting up to 14 members said they were interested, potentially two crews. We need to firm up on this if we are to consider seeking boats to charter (Plymouth or Falmouth?).

1.5Bill Thomas is arranging a charter in SW Ireland from the evening of Wednesday September 10th – Sunday 14th. Including return air fares from Bristol to Cork and airport/marina transfers, it will cost about £230 per person. The boat will be a Dufour 40. There may still be one place available, to be confirmed at the meeting on April 14th.

1.6As well as for Ireland, September seems to be the month for Mediterranean sailing this year. Gordon Ogden will skipper a week’s charter in late September, in a boat suitable for four couples. There may be a vacancy for one couple, unless Chris Watts’ proposed Guernsey charter is cancelled, in which case it is fully booked.

Phil Steele would like to skipper a Med, possibly Turkey, charter also in September. The dates are flexible – depends on what the crew want, says Phil. Will anyone interested please contact Phil, tel. 0117 961 6588.

1.7Most of the club skippers are available for weekend charters. At present we have none arranged, so it is up to you to ask for them when you would like one. Please raise it at a monthly meeting, or contact me so that it can be promoted in a newsletter.

1.8Yuri McPhedran, a Phoenix YC skipper who sailed with BSA last year in the Fastnet race, has offered spare places on weekend and midweek trips he is doing (Solent sailing from Haslar). He has space for one person on the early May Bank Holiday (Sat 3rd – Mon 5th), and two spaces on each of May 12/13 and June 23/24 (both midweek Mon/Tue). These are all on the new Elan 341 “Firebird”. He also has spaces on a week sailing on “Spellbinder” on September 15th – 21st. Mid-week crew changes might be possible. Will anyone interested in any of these please contact me (Jock) and I will put you in touch with Yuri.

1.9A week’s charter to France / Channel Islands has been requested for July 27th – August 1st. Will anyone else who would be interested in this (including skippers) please let me know, or raise it at the next meeting.

2.Announcements

2.1Proposed Rule change. Gordon announced at the March meeting that the committee had considered the growing problem of late payments and cancellations for trips, and was proposing changes to Rules 17 and 19. These changes, and the reasons for them, are given in full in the notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting to precede the April monthly meeting which is included with this newsletter.

3.Recent Trips

A summary of all trips reported at meetings is given here, or a full report, if available. Members reporting at a meeting are reminded that a full version of the report should be provided, either written or emailed. If this isn’t available, then only a short summary will be given in the newsletter. Full reports will be included with the next newsletter following receipt.

There were reports from the three-boat Solent charter on the weekend of February 23 – 24, skippered by Jeff Birkin, Dave Lloyd and Phil Steele. We are grateful to Phil for stepping in as skipper at the last minute, replacing Bryan Thomas who was unable to go due to a family bereavement. Claire Turner gave a report on a Solent trip the same weekend on “Lady Emma”, part-owned by Becca Hayward and sailed by an all-BSA crew. Jane Jenkyn reported on a midweek sail on the PYC yacht “Spellbinder”, skippered by Gordon. All these reports follow.

Trip on Nordic Mist, skippered by Jeff Birkin

Trip on Les Affaires Les Affaires, skippered by Dave Lloyd

Trip on Les Affaires Les Affaires Soeur Jumelle, skippered by Dave Lloyd Phil Steele

Trip on Lady Emma, skippered by Becca Hayward

The crew, skipper Gordon Ogden, Keith Fisher, Sue Fowle, David Ekinsmyth and myself, arrived at Gosport at 5pm on Sunday, in time to see the three weekend charter crews before they left for home.

Spellbinder had had some winter maintenance including a new engine and we were the first crew to take her out, so hoped it would not give us any problems.

There was thin ice on deck early Monday morning, but the sun was up by the time we left the Marina. We had a super sail, winds 5/6, behind us and went up the Beaulieu River to Bucklers Hard where we tied up for lunch. High tide was early afternoon so we sailed down stream and then to Lymington Yacht Haven Marina – cost £27. It started to get cold on the water after 4pm, so it was nice to be all moored up by 5pm, electricity on for the heater, drinks and nibbles out for happy hour before going ashore for a meal. The Fishermans Arms, about 20 minutes walk, was an excellent choice. Their specials that evening included Bouillabaisse and freshly grilled skate, both delicious.

Tuesday, another good day for wind and weather. Making for Bembridge, we had an excellent sail through the small boat channel between No Mans Land Fort and the Isle of Wight. It is an interesting pilot exercise, entering the river and going upstream to Bembrodge, where we stopped for lunch. We then sailed across to go to Chichester. Again the charts have to be looked at carefully to negotiate the channels in Chichester Harbour. Here it was necessary to use the motor. David used to keep his boat up here so was able to point out all the points of interest as well as the hazards. We moored at Northney Marina – expensive at £39 for winter, but good facilities.

Wednesday morning we waited for the tide and tied up for lunch in the harbour before going into the Solent. In the afternoon we had a strong wind behind us and sailed over the submarine barrier through Portsmouth Harbour and up to Fareham Reach in the sunshine. There is so much of interest to see in the harbour as well as avoiding ferries that wanted to cross our path. So it was 5 o’clock before we finally tied up after 3 very good days sailing aboard Spellbinder.

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