Emma Nettleship Regatta - no P&B Sunday 11th September

6th September 2011

This Sunday is the Emma Nettleship regatta, which is a day's racing only open to the club's young sailors. Emma sailed at Bough Beech in her teens and twenties and was a massive part of the club. Sadly, she was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. Her parents were keen to continue support the youth sailing at the club and therefore in rememberance of her, every year, Bough Beech hold a race solely for the youth members.

There are four races in the day, and you need to participate at least three to be counted in the results. The first two are run back-to-back in the morning (approx 30 minutes each - first race starts at 11:30 - would suggest you arrive at the club around 10:00 - 10:30) and two slightly longer races in the afternoon (targeting 40 minutes each).

The start is separate to the other racing on the day and therefore will be similar to what we did at the last P&B. If you can be there, it would be a great opportunity to do another club race as well as supporting the club's rememberance of Emma.

P&B will therefore not run on Sunday, but Richard will be at the club - feel free to approach him or any of the organisers with any questions on the day. Unfortunately, Fleur and I will not be there - we're at a wedding this weekend - but feel free to get in touch with any questions.

Sailing Week 2011

27th June 2011

Bough Beech's Sailing Week is happening 8th-12th August this year. It's a full week of tuition, with groups allocated based on ability at the start of the week, and a good opportunity to really develop your skills and formalise some of the things you've been learning through P&B.

The session is run by Ali Moppet, so please get in touch with him (training@boughbeechsc.org.uk) with any questions about the week

Forms are available for download here:

Booking form

Medical form

Parental consent form

KSSA New Racers Event

6th June 2011

KSSA is hosting a New Racers Event for young sailors new to racing but who can sail comfortably around a triangular course - should be ideal for the P&B Intermediates Group

This event is ideal for young people that have recently started racing or would like to start. Individuals should be able to comfortably sail a triangular course. The day will consist of a regatta with coaching both on land and water from some top local coaches. The event is being run simultaneously at both venues, and sailors can attend whichever is nearest. Boats will be available to hire at both venues, sailors or parents should get in touch with Sam Rowe from the RYA (kent.onboard@gmail.com) to secure a boat.

Click here for the flyer with more details.

A few updates...

17th May 2011

A few quick things based on some the conversations we've had with you over the last few sessions

Other sailing sessions

The club provides safety cover on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year, I know that some of with your own boats have mentioned you'd like to get out on the water a bit more often than during the sessions and there's nothing at all to stop you simply coming down and going for a sail at the weekend.

There's safety cover provided, but obviously no instruction, so it's probably not something to do on a very windy day (and I'm not sure it makes sense for the beginners group yet), but when conditions are sensible it can be a lot of fun, especially if there's a few of you sailing together, and for the intermediates in particular the way to improve your sailing now is simply a question of getting time on the water. Try to set yourself a goal for the session - "today I'm going to go out and practise my tacks", "I'm going to sail all the way upwind, to practice my beating", or organise a race between a few of you.

The lake is normally pretty quiet on a Saturday, but there is racing on the Sundays which is worth steering clear of (if you want to know where they'll be, look at the whiteboard in the garages which shows the race course for the day). Parents - for the first session it could be worth finding the Officer of the Day who can let the safety boat know you're out so that they keep an eye out for you. Fleur and I are at the club most Sundays to race our own boat, so you may find us there - feel free to drop us a line to see if we'll be down.

Weather

In the context of the above, it's worth always getting a weather forecast before you come sailing on your own. I'm a big fan of Windguru (full site here - detailed & customisable). A quick summary of the live Windguru forecast is embedded in the site (see the link on the left, or click here).

As a guide, a force 2-3 (<10 knots) is ideal to go out on your own, though most of the sessions we've had so far this season have been more in the force 4-5 territory... There's a useful guide to wind strengths here.

Toolboxes

Firstly, I found a very handy Oppy rigging tips guide here.

For those of you with your own boats, I know some people were asking for advice on toolboxes & spares. My thoughts on a few useful bits to consider are:

A sharp knife with a shackle key

A lighter (ropes fray when they're cut, so use a lighter to melt the end and stop this)

Some electrical tape & duct tape

Some 3mm rope (most of the control lines on your boats will be this thickness, plus you'll want to tie in bailers, etc)

Oppies tend to get through plenty of sail ties (normally 2mm rope)

A couple of spare shackles

Clevis rings - these tend to get bent or lost

Bobbles - useful for stopping the ends of rope disappearing

Spare bung (obviously not for oppies)

Bailer (probably oppies only) - available online, or you can make a pretty effective alternative from an empty 6 pint milk carton!

2011 Season Starting

15th March 2011

From the 17th April - P&B is back! Hopefully you're all dusting off your sailing kit ready to take to the water again for what should be another great season.

Groups

There will be 3 groups this year; Barracudas (Windsurfing), Beginner Sailing, Intermediate Sailing. In addition, some parents are running informal topper racing sessions on a Sundar morning. Please do get in contact if you are unsure which group you should be in, however as a guide:

Barracudas (Windsurfing) - Anybody who wishes to join in with the windsurfing should contact Chris Bishop who will give you all the information you need. Due to numbers, you will need to sign up to a few sessions.

Beginner Sailing - This group encompasses all those under the level of Stage 2. Oppies tend to be the boat of choice for the group and will again be run by Fleur. We will be running 2 'intakes' into this group to avoid too much repetition, these will be in April / May & September. Please get in contact to sign up. There will be a maximum of 12 in this group for each session.

Intermediate Sailing - For anybody of Stage 2 standard or above, the group with be run by Matt again. The boat of choice varies quite a lot although predominantly Terras and Toppers. For anybody who is more advanced but would prefer not to race, please also feel free to join this group. This group will be limited to 15.

Racing - some of the topper parents are organising a racing group for this season, running on Sunday mornings. The basic sailing needs to be good, at Stage 3 standard or above (i.e. confident round a triangular course, confident sailing upwind and controlling boat speed).

Session detail

As before you'll need to sign up to in advance on the website (www.boughbeechyouthsailing.co.uk), if you are not currently registered, please visit the website and follow the instructions to create a login, it is very easy. We will open the website bookings one by one through the year, after the previous session is over. Last year we find a lot of the summer session were fully booked very early so please ensure that you sign up in plenty of time. If you are unable to make the session, please ensure the booking is deleted to make room for someone else - due to problems with absences last year, we will be keeping an eye on it. Please keep in mind your frustration if you are unable to attend due to the session being fully booked to find somebody else doesn't turn up.

Sessions begin with sign-in at 2pm sharp so please try to arrive by 1:30 and get changed immediately so that we can get started on time. Please ensure that you sign in your children with Fleur, and help to get your boat out. At the end of the session, please ensure that all children remain with the instructor unless told otherwise. This is for 2 reasons: firstly so we can keep track of everyone and secondly to ensure that all boats are packed away. Again any help would be greatly appreciated to put boats away. Finally, under club rules, parents must remain at the club during the session; if this is impossible for you, please get in contact with us to discuss.

Finally, please be aware that until May, ALL children must be wearing wetsuits due to club rules. If you need to purchase one, you can often find them cheaply in supermarkets along with aqua shoes which are a great addition. Please make sure they fit snugly; a loose fitting wetsuit may last longer size-wise but is completely useless if not in contact with the skin. We can provide buoyancy aids where needed. Finally, please remember that even in the colder months, the sun is strong on the water so please always ensure that sun-cream is worn.

If you have any questions, please do get in contact;
Fleur (fleur@boughbeechyouthsailing.co.uk)
Matt (matt@boughbeechyouthsailing.co.uk)

Look forward to seeing you on the water!

Fleur & Matt

Message from the Rear Commodore

Please see the message below from Richard Hudson re duties...
We will be putting a note up and getting emails, etc, out about the start of the new season in the next couple of weeks

We at Bough Beech very much support P&B and must give a big thanks to Matt & Fleur Bryant for once again offering to organise P&B's this year and to act as principle instructors. In recognition of this the Club have organised that a dedicated RIB be used to enhance children's safety when afloat during the sessions.

We look forward to another excellent season and welcome all children and parents for what we hope will be an exciting and rewarding time for all.

For all parents that are full members of the club we must continue to advise that the BBSC committee are continuing to raise the profile of duty attendance throughout the membership. Therefore please ensure that you have either completed, confirmed your availability for duty, or successfully swapped your duty prior to booking children in for P&B sessions this season.

Thank you,

Richard Hudson
Rear Commodore BBSC