2012 Winter Newsletter

You can now see the latest Burghfield Sailability Newsletter online by clicking here.

Latest Newsletter

You can now see the latest Burghfield Sailability Newsletter online by clicking here.

Photos of the RNLI/Sailability Charity Challenge

You can see some images taken of the Sailability boats at the RNLI/Sailability Charity Challenge by a member of Burghfield Sailing Club at sportography.tv.

Tony Lawton talking about Sailability on BBC Radio Berkshire

Here's our own Tony Lawton being interviewed on BBC Radio Berkshire about his life and Sailability. The Sailability section starts at about 27 minutes into the programme.

Tony on BBC Radio Berks by TonyLawton


Click the orange button to play.

Challenger Open: a view from the leadboat

Friday 6th May saw 11 Challengers out on our lake at Burghfield for the Challenger Open, to be held over 2 days. The weather was gloriously sunny and the wind, as usual, very fickle and shifty. Even the course itself seemed unpredictable as the race officers changed their minds about it as soon as everyone was on the water for the first race.( I was impressed with all the sailors who came prepared with pens and arms to write on!)

This time I was not buddying a sailor but helping in the lead boat. Having to stay ahead of everyone for at least the first lap of every race meant I had a great view of all the goings on behind us. During the first race Graham’s bright green sail was the first to follow us. Graham seemed to know where the wind was because he kept his green sail up front and the gap behind him got bigger and bigger. Who needs a lead boat? I thought. So I watched the fleet behind him. So many wind shifts meant 11 Challengers quickly spread out over the entire course and positions kept changing constantly. I noticed some tactical manoeuvres to push competitors away from marks, almost like a chess game. Graham came in first quite comfortably. The next race, after a quick lunch, had the same course and even though Graham came in first again, though only just, the race itself was very different. A lot more competition and Val making everyone at the front work very hard! Some of the manoeuvres were amazing to watch. Tactics seemed to play a big part in sailing, at least among the fast fleet.

The race officers decided to change the course for the last race and send everyone around the whole of the lake, almost from one end to the other. The wind had picked up quite a bit. Big surprise at the start line: I saw Graham stall his boat! What happened? He’ll catch up, I thought. The race was on between John Draper and Val, who seemed to do opposite things, John staying west, and Val going east , around an island. Which was the better choice? Eventually Val just managed to get ahead at the windward mark, and then caught a wonderful breeze which carried her far ahead all the way down the lake and even round the next mark. That evening, at a wonderful dinner at the clubhouse I found out that she hadn’t planned to go round the island but was forced to by Judi- it backfired!

Saturday’s weather started with heavy clouds after some strong showers during the night, but the sun came out later on. It seems to be the norm that the race officers change the course the minute everyone gets on the water after the briefing. This time I came prepared with a pen! There was more activity on the lake due to the sail training centre, but the officers managed to set a nice course using almost the entire lake. The wind seemed to be more steady at first, but there were a good few islands and shallows to negotiate. One race in the morning, a helpers’ race at lunchtime ( 4 helpers went out), and then two more races, back to back. I was amazed how the positioning changed, just by the fleet having to beat, or go round an island, or both! I couldn’t always follow all of the moves since all of the challengers were spread over the whole of the lake. One memorable move was an almost perfectly synchronized turn round a mark by Graham, Val and John, who were racing neck on neck. All three boats turned at the same time, like water ballet! A wonderful performance, and in front of the clubhouse!

The last race started with a surprise: Patrick and Judi in the lead round the first mark! Very closely followed by Graham, Val and John. Watching them as they followed us to the next mark was brilliant! All 5 so close together! But as soon as they rounded that mark they spread out, as if they wanted to flee from each other as fast as possible! The next mark was to wind, with an island in the way. Due to having to beat, negotiate an island and probably trying to outmanoeuvre one another all 5 were very much spread out as they came round that mark, and their positions had changed completely.

Watching all this made me realize just how much the unpredictable winds , islands and shallows make racing on our pond a gamble and also a kind of chess game, like when two boats are trying to outmanoeuvre each other and a third one sneaks up and has the last laugh. The only surprising consistent element in all this was John Draper. No matter how often his position throughout a race changed- he always came third across the line! So even though Val rightly said at the prize giving that you can never be an expert on our pond because no two races are ever the same, we have got an expert in coming third!

Heike

Photos thanks to Simon Smith ( who was also the Senior Race Officer for the Day). More photos of the day from Simon (and larger versions of photos here: Burghfield Challenger Open 2011 photos

If anyone wants a large, high quality version of an image for personal use, let Pat or Jay know which one, and Simon is happy to provide a non watermarked version for printing.

New online donations

With help from the Berkshire Community Foundation an online donation facility has been set up for Burghfield Sailability at http://localgiving.com/charity/burghfieldsailability

Donations made via the website can benefit from GiftAid, so for every pound donated, Sailability receive £1.20. Please therefore bear the website in mind if you or anyone you know is considering making a monetary contribution, although the purpose of this is to let you know it's been set up, not a begging note!

First Sailability session of 2011 - Apr 14th

Picutures and videos from the first Sailability session of the year.