2008 Sailing News

18th November - Frostbite report by Jim Williamson

We had our first proper sail last Sunday and managed to get three races in. Nine boats turned out on what turned out to be a very pleasant sail. Three Lasers sailed by Bill Maughan, Luke McGill and a visitor battled it out in all races with the positions constantly changing.

Alan & Adam Henderson and Mike & Caroline Farmer were trying new boats out. Both had swims, but I am sure that they will get used to the new craft. Mike and Caroline seemed to get to grips with things and started to challenge the Lasers on the last race.

The wind piped up towards the end and shifted 60 degrees. Yousef Loutfi, Gary Rutherford and Daniel Rooney found the going a bit tough and headed for home.

The weather suited Richard Purdy, flat sea, steady breeze and only one capsize that I saw. Richard was going like a train.

Let's hope things are the same for next week end.

6th October - another update from Jim Williamson

What a weekend.
The weather on Saturday was atrocious; howling wind and lashing rain which you might have thought would put anyone off.
Not the intrepid cruising faternity; they weren't going to miss the curry run.
Marlin and Charlotte set off but made a minor diversion to Blyth instead of Hartlepool giving them a headsail broad reach and the curry turned into a dinner based on whatever you have on the boat. A good time was had and copious amounts of beer were consumed.

What a difference a day makes. Sunday dawned with bright sunshine a good north westerly and flat seas.
The Cruisers were racing for the Kayll Silver Slaver. This is a joint trophy and we were determined to get our hands on it. Unfortunately try as we could we could not beat Galaxy who I am guessing; subject to ratification of the results won both races.
The sailing was excellent and Carmen Maria turned out in the afternoon and had a great race with Buoy Racer. Both were sailing short handed and chose not to fly spinnakers but were nip and tuck all the way round.
Zimba was well down the fleet, but I suspect that they are now carrying a garden below which is not helping performance.
It was mentioned by my crew that I did not swear at them once. I did not think this was so unusual, however, it is difficult to swear and smile at the same time. Why couldn't the weather be so nice all the time.

The dinghies had a good turn out and got some good racing despite the race officer and safety crew not turning up. Many thanks to Judith Corry, Sam Clow and Angus Corry for standing in.
Young James Corry was seen on the water in his Optimist. Give them hell on the start line James.

The season is nearly over, we are off to RNYC this coming weekend for the Sportsboat Final Fling (weather permitting). Lift out is 25th October and Mast Lift 19th October.
For those with dingies in the compound could we please have them moved onto the grass on or before 19th Oct or taken away.

30th September

The club has just obtained a group MMSI number; this number is used with DSC VHF radio sets and allows DSC calls to be made as a group to those stations using the number.

This feature will be particularly useful for those boats taking part in the Cruising Programme. The 2008/09 Winter programme will be available on the Cruising page shortly.

To meet OFCOM’s requirements we need to keep a record of those boats using the number. For members with a DSC set who wish to use the group number, please contact Alan Dixon giving the MMSI Number and ships call sign, and they will be issued with and be able to use the number.

29th September

Jim Williamson supplied the following excellent report on all the weekend's sailing. If you have email and would like to receive Jim's reports directly please let him have your email address.

What a great weekend for sailing!
Saturday was superb sunshine good breeze and a flat sea. Unfortunately I was race officer but I enjoyed watching the race. Unfortunately only three turned out for the race but here were plenty others enjoying the conditions. The weather suited Hussy who romped away leaving Blazer and Sweet Sixteen battling for position. Eventually Sweet Sixteen took the B Class honours, beating Blazer by 13 seconds over the water after two hours of racing. Not sure what the handicap does to that?
It is a pity more could not take part.

Sundays' Cruiser racing started with a light NW breeze; again the weather was sunny and bright and the sea flat.
Galaxy took the honours followed by Buoy Racer and Stratagem closely followed by Sweet Sixteen. I believe Galaxy had it on handicap.
For the second race there was a better turn out. The wind was extremely shifty and at times turned off, which made things interesting. I got caught out at sea with no wind and the wrong side of the tide which split the fleet. Again Galaxy found the way through and won by a considerable margin followed by Buoy Racer, Blazer, and Hussy. I was left trailing in with Sweet Sixteen, Flush Hound, Blue Max and Zimba.

The dinghy race was the annual up river race. This race requires lots of wind to keep the boats going. Unfortunately that was not to be. But the light wind made it an excellent spectacle for those watching from the Club. With the light wind the places changes constantly Luke McGill breaking through at the end to take first place on the water and on handicap. In second place was Yousef Loutfi in his Feva. Yousef has only started sailing this year so it was a great result for him. A star in the making perhaps. The full results can be found by following the link on the Dinghy Sailing page.

28th September

John Outhwaite and Dave Atkinson took their boats to the inaugural Laser SB3 World Championships in Dun Laoghaire last week and after some nail-biting racing both Baloo (Martin Boatman, John and Carl Outhwaite) and www.liftingsafety.co.uk (Dave Atkinson, Graeme Oliver) made it into the prestigious Gold Fleet for the finals. Baloo finished the event in 11th place with Dave in 60th. Y&Y Reports - Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Overall - Event Website - Results

10th September

Although the Sonata Nationals, won by Dave Boatman, were a couple of weeks ago, the event report has just become available on the Sonata Class Association website. It is a good read and may encourage others to travel to Stangford Lough in the future. Click HERE for the Sonata Class Association Report

8th September

7th September

31st August

28th August

19th August

17th August

11th August

10th August

1st August

29th July

It is a little late but it has been mentioned that the results from the Round the Island Race haven't been reported on this site so apologies and here is the link to the full results ROUND THE ISLAND WEBSITE - in brief, the Sunderland boats all did pretty well. Paul Davis, sailing Ross Hobson's Charleston retired with damage but Cheeky Girl, Tantrum and Diamond all completed the race. Cheeky Girl was the first sportsboat to reach the Needles, she was eventually overtaken by another Melges but after 7hours, 22 minutes and 33seconds racing she finished in 30th place in the Sportsboat class, she was also the 2nd Melges as the first finished just in front in 26th place. John Robertson, sailing Tantrum, which will soon be on its way to China raced for 8 hours, 5 minutes and 49 seconds to finish 13th out of 51 also in the Sportsboat class. Graydon Dawson had the longest day of all racing for 8 hours 50 minutes and 18 seconds but that gave Diamond an overall position of 286th and 32nd in class.

15th July

Many SYC members sponsored the William Riley lifeboat and may be interested to see a couple of pictures kindly supplied by the Lifeboat Station. The Sunderland Echo ran the story as some of the Sunderland Lifeboat crew are taking part in the challenge. Ian Robertson took Southern Star out to provide the escort as the William Riley left the Wear for the next leg of her journey.

Mike Matthews and Tom Steavenson are heading to Ireland for their Topper World Championships - we all wish them luck in their final year as National Topper Squad members. Y&Y event preview

Calling all Junior Members, as we are now a Volvo Champion Sailing Club, we are entitled to receive free training days - yes free training , from a professional coach. We are trying to arrange for the first of these to happen in August, before the Dinghy Regatta, so you will all be clued up for the event. The training available is aimed at members who are 19 and under.
It will most likely happen on a Saturday.

So ... watch this space, and remember you don't need your own boat to take part as there are some club boats available.
Any questions, feel free to ask. I'm around most weekends, Tuesdays and some Wednesdays.

Richard Purdy

A note for your diary .... the Annual Dinner Dance and Prize Giving has been arranged for the 29th November 2008 and will take place at the Marriott Hotel, Seaburn.

8th July

6th July

2nd July

30th June

27th June

24th June

21st June

20th June

18th June

11th June

10th June

6th June

1st June

28th May

27th May

Considering how little sailing took place at Sunderland this weekend there is a lot of news. The SB3 event was dogged by too much wind and too much sea but the sailing that did take place was excellent, the social side was well attended and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had very generous sponsorship from Laser and Harken for prizes, Northumbrian Water supplied bottled water to free of charge so everyone was well hydrated and Thwaites brewery supplied a barrel of beer at a very generous discount for the curry and pint evening. A full report will follow shortly but the Results can be found on the event page HERE. Tees & Hartlepool Yacht Club held their Regatta over the weekend and a feeder race started from Sunderland on Saturday morning with Blue Max, Double Act and Midnight Cowboy taking part. Charlotte also sailed to Hartlepool to enjoy the event. Again, hopefully we should have more details soon. Neal Gibson took his Cherub to the Whit Regatta at Bala Sailing Club, North Wales where the erratic wind made for an eventfull regatta. Y&Y Report and Results. Mike Matthews sailed his Topper in the Club Championships at DRSC on Saturday and took first overall. Y&Y Report Mike then swapped into the 29er with Tom Steavenson to take part in more of the annual Derwent Week racing. Another traveller was Dave Boatman's Blue Tack. They were at Clyde Cruising Club for the Bell Lawrie Scottish Series which turned into a bit of a nail biter with everything to play for in the last race. Another good score saw them take second place overall in the Sonata class just two points behind the winners. Y&Y reports and Results Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Overall

20th May

18th May

10th & 11th May

3rd, 4th & 5th May

The first of the SB3 Grand Prix events took place at Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes this weekend and John Outhwaite's Baloo has laid down a marker for the fleet. It seems that the southerners haven't quite come out of hibernation yet and a handful of brilliant results, including two race wins, put Baloo into 4th place. Let's hope they wake up in time for some fierce competition in Sunderland over the next bank holiday weekend. Y&Y Event Report - CCYC site for full results

Mike Matthews and Ian Turnbull were having similarly successful weekends although both were sailing on inland water. Ian was at Rutland for the opening round of the 18ft Skiff Grand Prix taking the newly named Ronstan UK to 2nd place. They sailed two immaculate races for two first places but a broken jib sheet in race one spoiled their perfect score card. Y&Y Report In a smaller boat but a considerably larger fleet, Mike Matthews is finishing his Topper career in style. Mike was at Grafham for the annual Topper Inland Championships, he was part of a fleet of 240 sailors so he must be pretty happy to finish 14th Y&Y Event Report - UK Topper Class Association site for full results.

23rd April

19th & 20th April

It seems to have been quite an eventful weekends sailing despite the surf on the beach at Sunderland. South Shields Sailing Club held a Monohull Open which Neal Gibson and Billy Maughan took part in, sailing Neal's Fireball. I believe they finished a very respectable 4th. Also on the Tyne, the Tyne Spring Series is now underway. Dave Atkinson has entered his SB3 to make sure he is in good form for the SB3 Grand Prix which Sunderland Yacht Club will be hosting at the end of May. We have also had the pleasure of the British National Topper Squad again and once again everyone seemed to have a good time. They appreciate our great facilities and our easy access to the open sea. We must thank Dave Matthews for his promotion of our club which has encouraged the Toppers to use our facilities for their winter training. A little further south on Saturday Luke McGill took his Laser 4.7 to it's first open meeting. The first round of the North East Youth and Juniors was being held at Scaling Dam.. The conditions were pretty wild but it looks as though Luke already has the measure of the 4.7 bringing it home in 2nd place. Y&Y event report. Further south still and John Robertson is in Hyeres for their 40th Annual Olympic Sailing Week with Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas having a very successful start to their event. They are currently at the top of the leader board with three first places and a third with three days to go. Y&Y event reports Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3

BBC Wear Website ~ 14th April 2008

The following link will take you to a brilliant feature published on the BBC Wear website recently relating to John Robertson and his current Olympic campaign. The article contains some superb quotes from John's father, Ian. BBC Wear Features

Kielder Windward Leeward Open

A few of us were at Kielder this weekend for the Scottish skiffs & windward leeward open.  Over a beer I suggested one of us should write a piece for the website, but there were no takers, so here goes: (Alternatively there is the Y&Y event report)

Congratulations to Billy Maughan (Laser Radial) who finished 2nd in the Windward Leeward open at Kielder Water Sailing club over 12th & 13th April.  Billy was joined by Richard Purdy (Musto Skiff), Neal Gibson with Mike Wilson (Cherub) who were racing in the Scottish Skiff & Cherub Fleets.  Saturday's racing presented mixed conditions, plenty rain with some hail and what felt like an arctic chill.  4 races were run, including 1 long distance race (the infamous dam to dam).  A windy night followed, and by Sunday the rain had cleared up and the sun was out.  Mike Matthews & Tom Steavenson (29er) came along for Sunday's racing, where 3 further races were sailed in light conditions.  After 7 races, final positions were:  Scottish Skiffs: Richard Purdy 26th, Neal Gibson 27th, Mike Matthews & Tom Stevenson 30th, from 35 boats.  Billy Maughan: 2nd, from 6 boats. Thanks to Kielder for laying on another great event, we're already looking forward to going back in September.

Richard Purdy

9th April 2008

Hi guys,
At last Sunderland sailor John Robertson can sleep easier knowing that his place in Team GB at the Beijing Paralympic Games is now official.
The official announcement was made yesterday (Tuesday) and John will lead his team of Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas in the Paralympic Sonar class at Beijing.
The full RYA press release can be found HERE.
Pictures and details of John and his team can be found at http://media.skandiateamgbr.com/fotoweb/
Full contact details for the RYA press office are at the end of the press release.

Liz King
RYA NE Communications Officer

March 2008

LUKE "DEATHROLL" McGILL       ALLAN HENDERSON (below) winner of the Spring Cannon and JIM and JEAN WILLIAMSON (right) in the RS K6 - pictures courtesy of Mark Henman

It is tempting to say that dinghy racing started with a bang on Sunday 30th March as we were racing for the Spring Cannon but people who blew out a mainsail may not find that very funny. There was a really good turnout for the first races of the season but the wind wasn't being very kind - there were some really odd gusts in the harbour coming from all kinds of directions and sadly some boats didn't make it out of the harbour to the race course. Thankfully out on the open sea the wind was a lot steadier although there was one gust which caused Jim Williamson's K6 to expose rather more of her keel than Jean likes to see. Gerry McGill and Eamonn Rooney provided safety cover with Richard Gibson and Phil Lingwood laying the course and covering safety while Gerry and Eamonn were busy. Mark Henman and Sue Gibson performed the OOD duties. The Toppers of Gary Rutherford and Andrew Jopling did actually make it to the start line for the first race but they eventually decided the conditions were just too much for a Topper at the start of the season and made their way back ashore. Luke McGill was a little apprehensive in his new 4.7 Laser as he has never raced the boat before but soon settled down and seemed to really enjoy the racing, it does help when your 4.7 is in close competition with the big boys in the Standard rigs for a lot of the time. Allan Henderson and Terry Hall in Lasers had some really serious racing and a great battle in each race while Jim and Jean Williamson in the K6 tried to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the squabbling Lasers. Richard Purdy found the skiff somewhat skittish and unforgiving in the gusty wind and so did quite a lot of swimming but he stuck it out until the end and earned himself 5th place overall just behind Terry Hall's Laser. Allan Henderson took the overall win after three races with Jim and Jean Williamson in second and Luke "Deathroll" McGill in third. Lets hope the racing and the turnouts are as good for the rest of the season.

SOUTH SHIELDS SPRING SPLASH The raiding party of dinghy sailors from Sunderland have again brought back the silver ware from South Shields despite some tricky weather conditions. This year Neal Gibson took the honours in the slow handicap fleet in his Fireball. The win was especially sweet for Billy Maughan who crewed the Fireball as this was his first open event AND his first event crewing the Fireball. Mike Matthews and Thomas Steavenson finished in sixth place in the fast handicap fleet in the 29er despite missing races due to Topper Squad committments. Richard Purdy finished 11th in that fleet despite the punishing conditions, his top 10 finishes keeping him close on points. Luke McGill and Daniel Rooney began a promising new partnership in the RS200 finishing 8th in the slow handicap fleet. The South Shields Sailing Club site has a brief report and full results.

February 2008

A good contingent from Sunderland are taking part in the annual South Shields Spring Splash again this year, they do seem to be getting younger each year though! Billy Maughan is crewing for Neal Gibson in the Fireball, Luke McGill and Daniel Rooney are also in the slow handicap fleet in the RS200 as are Howard and Phillip Steavenson in the National 12. Michael Matthews and Thomas Steavenson are in the fast handicap fleet in the 29er along with Liz and Dave Addison in the 59er. Click HERE for the full results on the South Shields Sailing Club website

Another boat enjoying a little respite from the British winter is John Outhwaite's SB3 Baloo. John has provided the following report, "Awesome - sunshine and shorts (in February!!)" Says it all really! John has also provided the links to the results and an interesting Ozzy press release

In considerably warmer water but also considerably less wind John, Hannah and Steve finished just outside the medals in 4th place in the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. They are still awaiting confirmation of their place at Beijiing but they are training hard this week with the Australian team in preparation for their next event in St Petersburg in a few days time. Visit their website, Team Oyster, to offer some encouragement or to make a suggestion for the name of their new boat .

Sunderland Yacht Club was well represented amongst the 241 boats taking part in the John Merricks Tiger Trophy which was held at Rutland Sailing Club over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd February. Mark Addison and Ian Turnbull were sailing their Musto Performance Skiffs which must have been quite a handful in the strong wind on a relatively small lake. Mike Matthews and Thomas Steavenson took their Christmas present (29er) to its first open meeting and appear to have been completely undaunted by the huge fleet finishing in 107th place, 22 places ahead of Howard Steavenson. In fairness, Howard had to drive the boys and the boats to Rutland while Tom and Mike just had to get up and sail but they are certainly going to be a force to be reckoned with in the not too distant future. There were other familiar names on the entry list including Graham Vials, the overall winner, Rob Shaw, still sailing an Osprey but now based at Keilder Water SC and Phil Murray from RNYC who recently did so well in our Frostbite Series. The full report is available from Yachts & Yachting and you can link to Tiger Trophy site for the full results.

January 2008

John Robertson is back in Miami with team mates Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas preparing to take part in the Rolex Olympic Classes Regatta. The OCR is a qualifying event for the 2008 Olympics and they are making every effort to ensure that Great Britain is represented in the Sonar class. This year Paul Davis has joined the team in Miami as part of the Tuning Crew and apparently it is very hard work! John has already competed in a warm up event finishing in third place which was pretty good considering that the customs department only released their container of boats on Thursday and racing started at 11am on Friday. They did very well to get one boat set up to race in under 24 hours as they had suffered damage in transit. Keep an eye on their website, Team Oyster, for the latest news.

An incredible start to the 2008 travelling season for Neal Gibson and his Cherub - they have just finished in 6th place at the annual Bloody Mary event on the Queen Mary reservoir! 259 boats were entered, the event was won by Graham Vials with Rob Greenhalgh in 2nd, Simon Hiscocks in 5th and Neal Gibson in 6th. Mark Addison finished in 92nd ahead of Steve Cockerill in 96th place. Hopefully, we will get a report from Neal himself in a couple of days but in the meantime you can link to the Y&Y report HERE

NOVEMBER 2007

Michael Matthews is this year’s RYA North East Young Sailor of the Year and winner of the Trident Trophy. Previous SYC winners include Tom Dawson, Steve Wilson and Paul Davis. Liz King has kindly supplied us with a preview of the copy which will appear in the RYA's NE Bulletin shortly. Click HERE to link to the article and HERE for the RYA NE site.

The Annual Dinner Dance and Prize Giving was held on Saturday 10th November at the Marriott Hotel and a very good time was had by all. The details of the trophy winners can be found on the various sailing pages but other awards were made by the Sailing and General Committees and by our Commodore, Mr Fred Atkinson. Service Salvers were awarded to Paul Davis and Eamonn Rooney for their committment to training and to Sam Clow, Billy Maughan, Luke McGill and Gary Rutherford in recognition of all their help in many areas around the club throughout the year. The Vaux Rose Bowl for Sailing Achievement was awarded to John Outhwaite for his successful year sailing the SB3 around Britain and Europe. The Commodores Trophy was awarded to Paul Davis for his co-ordination of the sail training program. Marion Elliott was presented with the Committee Trophy as a gesture of thanks for her many years of service with the administration of the club.

Commodore, Fred Atkinson, presents trophies to Marion Elliott and Paul Davis

OCTOBER

The weekend of 20th and 21st October saw little wind at Sunderland, little wind at Carsington and even less wind at Northampton. Mike Matthews was taking part in the final round of this years' Topper Nationwide Series at Carsington. Mike finished 25th out of 123 boats over 5 races, this means Mike has finished in 18th place overall in the complete Nationwide Series which saw 308 Topper sailors taking part, so well done Mike. Paul Davis and Mark Henman were at Northampton Sailing Club for their RS300 Inland Championships. Unfortunately they only managed one race so the event has been re-scheduled for December. Y&Y Reports - Toppers - RS300's

Having finished 5th overall in the Laser SB3 Grand Prix series 2007 John Outhwaite’s Baloo, driven by Martin Boatman and crewed by John’s sons Nick and Carl, recovered from their runner’s up position in the Inland Championships at Ullswater, to retain their title of Scottish Champions at Granton over the weekend of 6/7 October; a good end to a good season. Y&Y Report

SEPTEMBER

Congratulations to Mike Matthews who has just been awarded a place on the British Topper Squad. Also comiserations to Mike who came so close to winning the Topper Class in the North Zone Championships held at Notts County Sailing Club over the last weekend in September. Mike finished day one in joint first place on four points each counting two wins and a second place. Sadly, the breeze failed to arrive on Sunday and the tie was broken on count back and as Mike had finished second in the last race sailed, the gold went to Hugh Brayshaw. The RYA website has the preliminary Zone Championship reports Day One - Day Two.

Sunday 23rd saw the annual running of the "Up the River" race in conjunction with the WBA. Due to shipping movements and the potential lack of wind further up the river caused by all the new developments the turning mark was just past the Monkwearmouth Bridge and sure enough it was in a wind shadow. This was quite a surprise as it was blowing so hard in the harbour that Sam Clow, Gary and Billy Maughan decided it was more than they were happy with and they headed back to the beach. Richard Purdy had a great start and led to the first rounding mark but once into the confined space of the river he must have thought they had a point. Paul Davis took the lead and held it to the finish but Martin Ibbott and Mark Henman pushed hard with Martin taking the win by 7 seconds on handicap. Luke McGill worked very hard in the sole Topper eventually overtaking Ken Cameron's Flush Hound which secured him third place. The Topper definitely looked more comfortable in the river than Flush Hound but Ken and Ron battled on gamely and probably put in as many tacks in two hours as they would normally do in two weeks. The results of all the Special Race Days can be found on the Dinghy Page.

Paul Davis - RS 300	Richard Purdy - Musto Performance Skiff	Luke McGill and Ken Cameron
Flush Hound	Flush Hound made it to the finish before the rain	Martin Ibbott - Laser
Mark Henman - RS 300	Paul and Luke surfing the waves	Luke overcome by a wave

Tees & Hartlepool YC was the venue for this year's Sonata Northern Championship on the 22nd and 23rd September. To date, there is no ofiicial report but in short, after day one Steve Goacher's Eric the Boat was leading with Dave Boatman's Blue Tack in second and Alex Stephenson's Sonic in third. Alison and Graham Kirkham's Storm in a G Cup and Dave Matthews' White Magic were also taking part but their positions are as yet unknown. Sadly Storm dropped her mast in Sunday's high winds and White Magic decided discretion was the better part of valour and also headed for home but at least they all live to race another day.

Bill Ward has kindly supplied and entertaining account with picture of the recent Northumberland Muster which became known as the Yorkshire Rout. You can read it HERE

The Laser SB3's held their Inland Championship in the slightly less glamorous setting of Lake Ullswater over the weekend of the 15th & 16th September. Sunderland Yacht Club were very well represented by Balloo (John Outhwaite), Muttley (Neal Piper) and wwwliftingsafety.co.uk (Dave Atkinson). Balloo, helmed by Martin Boatman tied on points with the Ullswater boat of David Clarke but when racing was abandoned due to the dangerously high winds David Clarke took first place on count back. Muttley finished in 3rd position. Y&Y Report -

Graeme Oliver and Mark Addison have ended their summer on a high note in Carnac, France where they finished in third position in the 18ft Skiff European Grand Prix. Graeme and Mark are crewing Gill Wet & Wild in an event where Pindar Radii was dominent but only 4 points separated the next five teams going into the last day. Y&Y have full reports and pictures. Day One - Day Two - Overall

The Toppers were great fun - see the results and read PRO David Matthews report here, photographs will be added soon.

The big news is from Southampton - another Honda RIB is coming north, the WBA have won the U13 class! Luke put up a great show in his first year in the U16's finishing in 5th place, we had better start getting planning permission for the next new boat house as on current form we are going to need it sooner rather than later. RYA site for first report

John Robertson is sailing in America right now with Hannah and Steve, chasing an unprecedented THIRD world championship title. Unfortunately things aren't going all their way and they are really having to work for every place. Your can read their diary on the Team Oyster website and leave your comments to encourage them or go to the Skandia Team GBR website for the full story and the link to the latest results.

Tynemouth Sailing Club hosted the final one day event in the Topper Northern Championship on Saturday 8th September. Unfortunately it was another event where the wind only teased the competitors. Mike Matthews, fresh from his adventures in Italy, was taking part and finished second in the first race. As only two races were sailed there was no discard so consistency was very important and overall Mike finished in fourth position. Y&Y Report

The Musto Skiffs have also been holding their National Championship, this year at Lyme Regis Sailing Club. Mark Addison was the only Sunderland representative as Richard Purdy was taking part in an open meeting at Kielder Water Sailing Club where he won the Asymmetric class. The Skiffs ran a buddy system and Mark taught his buddy, Ivar, so much that Ivar finished higher than Mark but they did pick up an award for the best buddy pairing. Y&Y Skiff Report - Richard was joined at Kielder by Neal Gibson sailing his new Cherub with Mandy Hindle crewing. Graham Kirkham and Daniel also took part sailing the RS200, hopefully a fuller report will follow. KWSC Report

The RS300 fleet are in Hunstanton for their National Championship, the weather is hot and sunny, the socials brilliant, the fleet very friendly and helpful, the accommodation great and within walking distance of the club but the wind just isn't playing the game. Day one was OK, day two didn't happen and day three didn't start until 3pm and now they are facing a first race start at 8am on the final day. Mark Henman is concentrating on perfecting the art of riding his bike along white lines in the road as even his slim build is too much for the light winds while Paul Davis claims to have become an expert wind spotter, apparently it is very easy to see wind when you are sitting in a hole surrounded by it! Y&Y Reports - Day One - Day Two - Day Three - Overall

Taking place a little further afield is the Jersey Telecoms Regatta where Graydon Dawson's Diamond is making her presence felt in the Quarter Ton Class. The regatta enjoyed a near perfect first day so lets hope the high pressure system sitting over the UK doesn't spoli the party. Y&Y reports - Day One - Day Two - Overall

For those who haven't had enough of sailing for a few days, Royal Northumberland Regatta took place on the 1st and 2nd September, sadly it was a little too windy for the Sportsboats and they only raced on Saturday. Sunderland was represented in the Sportsboat class by Shearwater (Jim & Jean Williamson), Muttley (Neal Piper) and Cheeky Girl (Mike and Caroline Farmer). Cheeky Girl brought in a "guest helm" in the shape of Mr Robbie Storrar, they sailed a great race but sadly were scored OCS and with Sunday's racing being cancelled they were unable to make up the lost ground. Shearwater, however, won Saturday's race and thus the class. I am sure Jean will be pleased to go back to work after sailing Roker Regatta, the Sonata Nationals and Blyth Regatta back to back! The White Sail class was also won by a Sunderland boat, Gordon Spencer's Double Act with Blue Max (Jimmy Carter), Flushound (Ken Cameron) and G-Spot (Roger Bacon and Anthony Miller) in 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively. Link to RNYC site for report and complete results and Y&Y for their report

AUGUST

Last week Sunderland Yacht Club hosted the Sonata National Championship, Dave Matthews has produced an official report (and pictures) for Y&Y mainly concerned with the sailing. However, there was a lot of activity both on and off the water which may also be of more local interest. The Championship was won quite convincingly by Steve Goacher's Eric the Boat with Dave Boatman's Blue Tack in a comfortable second position. Blue Tack also picked up the David Thomas Family Trophy, for obvious reasons, as well as the Seajet Trophy for the winner of Race 8 and the Leyland DAF trophy for second overall. Sonic (helmed by Paul Davis), Stratagem, Kallista and White Magic also picked up daily prizes with Sonic also collecting the Royal Tay Discovery Trophy (best under 23 helm) and The Medway Trophy (best helm from host club not in top 3). Stratagem were the favorites for the Medway Trophy having held off Sonic's challenge all week but Jim Williamson very kindly chose to spend the last day of the event lifting visiting Sonata's out whilst Sonic went racing and consequently collected the trophy. Kallista also collected a trophy that she really didn't deserve, it was the Rock Bottom Trophy for the best grounding or mistake. There were other nominations but the sideways spinnaker hoist on Kallista was deemed the favorite, the crew responsible was suitably ashamed and elected to send his son to collect the trophy on his behalf! I am sure Kallista was much more deserving of a "best turned out" trophy had there been one. Alison Kirkham of Storm in a G Cup also collected a special award of a babygro and hat with the Sonata Nationals logo for the most pregnant helm!

The racing was organised by Richard Gibson (PRO) and David Wheldon (ARO) with Sheila Harrison as chief recorder assisted by Carol Maugham and Ian Oliver. Sheila volunteered for three days but was having so much fun she stayed on Southern Star for the entire week and Star is not the most comfortable place to be. Carol was new to the race team but she must have sailing genes as she was still smiling at the end of the week. John Outhwaite was the primary mark layer, ably assisted by Keith Ellison. Keith somehow got roped in to lifting Sonata's at the beginning of the event and thereafter never quite escaped. Billy Maugham spent much of the week assisting John before replacing Paul Jameson on Sonic when Paul had to return to work in the middle of the week. Luke, Gary and Sam all sailed during the event on Kallista, White Magic and Stratagem respectively but they were also a great help to the running of the event. The boys started their days by getting the RIBS ready to go out and running a water taxi service for the Sonata sailors, after racing they returned the sailors to shore before parking some RIBS in the Marina and then helping Keith with refuelling and washing down the others ready for the next day. In the evening they still had sufficient energy to help around the club collecting glasses and clearing tables.

The excellent evening entertainment was very popular with the fleet and started with an electronic horse racing night on the Monday. This was organised by Pauline Matthews and was great fun but there was only one significant winner apart from the RNLI to whom the profit was donated. It is surprising how exciting it is to win £1.50 from a 50p bet! A quiz night was organised by Alison Kirkham, she even arranged sponsorship from Plumbing Trade Supplies for the prizes. Naturally the teams took the quiz very seriously but Alison had devised a very clever and varied set of questions which had something for everyone. This was the only time during the week that Team Eric the Boat (with a stowaway from Blue Tack) were actually beaten, and then it was only by a narrow margin, but no-one would have expected a White Magic team being the ones to beat Eric.

The Galley laid on a curry to go with the quiz as well as pie and peas for the horse racing night and a delicious three course championship dinner on the final evening of the event proving that they can cater to all tastes. The Galley Team were superb starting with breakfasts and packed lunches each morning and only finishing when the last hungry sailor was fed in the evening. Gail and Eileen also provided a sterling service in the bar.

The event photographer was Ian Oliver who has a fantastic set of photographs and if you get in touch with Ian he may have a photograph of your boat at a very reasonable cost.

Link to full results

ROKER REGATTA Richard Purdy has written a report and supplied some photographs which can be found with the full results by clicking on this LINK

Lake Garda was the venue for this years Topper World Championship so Mike Matthews has been enjoying a little Italian sunshine. Unfortunately the legendary wind failed to live up to its consistent reputation and whilst the sun and the resort facilities were brilliant the sailing could have been better. Still, it is not everyone that gets to spend a week of their summer holidays on Lake Garda. Y&Y reports - Days 1 & 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Overall

The 18' Skiff Nationals took place recently at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. Ian Turnbull was sailing Base 1 and Graeme Oliver on Wet n Wild. Unusually Wet n Wild had a better event than Base 1. Y&Y have full coverage including photographs. Day 1 - Day 2 - Overall

ROKER DINGHY REGATTA

RS300 Fleet report posted on Yachts and Yachting and the MPS Fleet report on the MPS site

Did someone say this took place in August? With the benefit of hindsight, the weather on Saturday was acceptable and this allowed PRO, Graeme Kirkham, and his team to get two good races in and ensure we had a Regatta. The Musto Skiffs were the first to start with the Asymmetric Handicap fleet and Ian Trotter (DRSC) provided a masterclass in skiff sailing showing why he is a serious contender for the title of World Champion. John Evans (DRSC) and Richard Purdy (SYC) gave chase but the outcome was never in doubt. It was the same scenario in the second race. The rest of the Asymmetrics had a much more closely fought battle with the RS500 of Wayne and Deb Fletcher from Scaling Dam taking the first race from Gregg Liggins (Rutland) and Mandy Hindle (Newbiggin) in an RS800. Race two was even closer but Jackie and Jaemi Gebhard (DRSC) hit their stride and took the win from the Fletchers with Aileen Ludlow and Mike Farmer in third.

The Fast Handicap boats shared the second start with the RS300 fleet and the Fireball of event sponsors Sam and Ian Kelly (Staunton Harold) managed to stay close enough to the Osprey of Viola Scott and Alec Mamwell (Keilder Water SC) in both of Saturdays races to score two firsts. The Phantom of Alex Stephenson and the Laser of Mike Wyngard had their own competition with Alex taking both of Saturday's third places. Alex Summerfield's RS600 (Staunton Harold) was the fastest boat on the race track but as a newcomer to sea sailing he lost out to the slower boats in the big swell. The RS300's were particularly close, often with only feet separating them and the winner being the one who got the best surf down the waves. In the first race Paul Davis (SYC) took the win from Tom Keen (Sheffield Viking) and Ian Smith (Craven SC) with Mark Henman (SYC) and Dave Redpath (St Mary's Loch) in fourth and fifth. Paul and Tom swapped places in Race 2 but the others held their positions.

The Slow Handicap fleet had the final start and the Mirrors of Luke McGill and Philip Reed (SYC) and Philip Benn and Peter Sedgwick (Ripon) refused to let Mike Matthews (SYC, Topper) get away and with less than a minute separating all three after a forty plus minute race Philip and Peter took the win from Luke and Philip with Mike in third. The Europes of Valerie Ludlow (Port Edgar) and Brian Finnie (Forfar SC) took fourth and fifth. The RS Feva's of both Billy Maugham and Gary Rutherford and Michael Walton and Grant Edmundson were forced to retire during the race. In the second race experience gained over youth as the Europes of Valerie Ludlow and Brian Finnie took the top two places with the Topper splitting the Mirrors to take 4th place. Graeme Edmundson, sailing a Laser Pico with son Marc, was starting to feel the cold by now and so they had to retire from Marc's first Regatta.

The weather was very much worse on Sunday and despite sitting out in Seaburn Bay for over an hour the OOD could not convince himself that it was safe to take the fleet to sea so a course was laid, with difficulty, between the piers in the hope that the wind would moderate. Unfortunately it continued to blow dogs off leads and a few people decided they would prefer an early finish to a fight with the elements. Many more however chose to launch but it was not pleasant racing and the course was shortened as soon as it became clear that very few people were enjoying the experience. Richard Purdy made a valiant effort in his MPS but a fast boat in an enclosed space in high winds wasn't a great combination and he had to retire. Jean and Jim Williamson's RS K6 was relatively untroubled by the conditions and won the race though Jean did say she would have liked another keel below her just to be sure. The RS200's of Steve Gibbon and Tom Rolland (Keilder Water SC) finished in second with Jackie and Jaemi Gebhard in third and David Graham and Daniel Rooney in fourth.

The Fast Handicap fleet was soon much reduced with only the Fireball and the Paul Davis (RS 300) making it to the finish. Paul said he knew he was the first RS300 and didn't know what was happening behind him so he was determined to finish after putting in so much effort to reach the leeward mark. (He had tacked up and down the river for some time being unable to bear away to reach the mark).

The Slow Handicap fleet actually looked to be having fun, Philip Benn's Mirror was the only boat to fly a spinaker and Mike Matthew's grin could just about be seen from the club house as he screamed around the course. Unfortunately the rudder on the Mirror gave in and Mike took the win. Hopefully such a blast will have given Mike a good boost as he is now on his way to Lake Garda for the Topper Worlds.

Musto Skiffs				Asymmetric Handicap Fleet
1st	Ian Trotter	DRSC		1st	Jackie & Jaemi Gebhard	RS200
2nd	John Evans	DRSC		2nd	Wayne & Deb Fletcher	RS500
3rd	Richard Purdy	Sunderland YC		3rd	Steve Gibbon & Tom Rolland	RS200
RS300's				4th	Aileen Ludlow & Mike Farmer	RS200
1st	Paul Davis	Sunderland YC		5th	Greg Liggins & Mandy Hindle	RS800
2nd	Tom Keen	Sheffield Viking		6th	Martin Boatman & Neal Gibson	Cherub
3rd	Ian Smith	Craven SC		7th	Jim & Jean Williamson	RS K6
4th	Mark Henman	Sunderland YC		8th	David Graham & Daniel Rooney	RS200
5th	Dave Redpath	St Mary's Loch		9th	Michael Wilson & Corinne Ellis	RS800
Slow Handicap Fleet
1st	Mike Matthews	Topper		Fast Handicap Fleet
2nd	Valerie Ludlow	Europe		1st	Ian & Sam Kelly	Fireball
3rd	Luke McGill and Philip Reed	Mirror		2nd	Viola Scott & Alec Mamwell	Osprey
4th	Philip Benn & Peter Sedgwick	Mirror		3rd	Alex Stephenson	Phantom
5th	Brian Finnie	Europe		4th	Mike Wyngard	Laser
6th	Hayley Ash	Laser Radial		5th	Alex Summerfield	RS600
7th	Graeme & Marc Edmundson	Laser Pico
8th	Billy Maugham & Gary Rutherford	RS Feva
8th	Michael Walton & Grant Edmundson	RS Feva

Roker Dinghy Regatta Photo Gallery