Selsey Model Boat Club
S.M.B.C. News
Basic Sailing Rules for Victoria racing are available here
Scamp racing and building info is here
Club Picnic August 2025
It was lovely to see so many club members at this event, there was plenty of wind and sun unless you were under the trees!
Results:-
Steering Competition Simon and Alan joint 1st place, Colin 2nd Richard H 3rd.
Scamp Speed Trial Alan 1st ,Phil 2nd, Simon 3rd.
Victoria Racing Linda and Simon joint 1st, Colin 2nd and Paul B 3rd
Model of the year MTB entered by Richard H
Victoria team Colin Phil Paul B 1st
Linda Alan David 2nd
Simon Richard B 3rd
August Racing
We enjoyed a very pleasant morning it was warm with a light breeze.
I had worked out a race schedule so we could cope with 10 scamp entries but in the end we only had 7, which turned into 6 as David's batteries were found to be flat.
Next Alan was picking up someone else's boat when he accidentally knocked his to full warp speed and it slammed into the island ending up quite a way up from the water!
Now we only had 5 boats and we hadn't even started a race!
Keith kindly offered his scamp for Alan to race instead.
Once we got going we had 3 race winners, Alan, Simon and Linda.
There was one very close race which gave a tie for 2nd and 3rd between Simon and Richard each getting 2 1/2 points; this had a marked affect on the results.
Phil's boat was sounding like a hoover but was going well until it got slowed by a reed around the prop. In the next race he found that his coupling had been well strained and was now broken!
Linda won the day by 1/2 a point, Simon 2nd and Alan beat Richard by 1/2 a point for 3rd.
Many thanks to Colin who was frantically writing down the Scamp numbers as they rapidly finished.
Victoria racing was at a much slower pace but we did get enough wind to sail 7 short races. Race winners were Simon and Linda but in one race Keith was about to finish for a win but went the wrong side of the finish mark and had to go back, Aaaargh...
David did very well and came 3rd overall, just beating Alan by one point, Simon beat Linda by one point too.
Unfortunately David did cause a log jam of yachts by going the wrong way around the orange buoy; he says it won't happen again as he is getting some glasses soon!
July Racing
It was good to be back at the pond racing today with wind and no weed on a lovely sunny day.
Simon’s Yellow scamp capitalised on Alan's misfortune and won every race.
Richard had his first scamp race session and did very well, coming 3rd overall, Linda came 2nd.
Phil's scamp flipped upside down after a small coming together, Paul's also flipped over after possibly hitting a post.
Victoria racing went well, we stayed in the area where there was wind, well done to Linda who came 1st, Simon 2nd and Paul B with an excellent 3rd place.
No rescues were needed and I think all boats finished all races for once!
Pond Latest
The water is now looking much better, we had a successful sail and motor on Weds 9th July with no weed problems, so club events are back on.
May
The clear water and hot weather have produced a massive growth in weed, so much so that model boats are quite likely to get stuck in places which can’t be reached for recovery.
Members are advised to keep models close to the bank.
Steering Competition April
Round 1 was attempted and then cancelled due to severe weed.
A new shorter course for round 2 was used and was successful.
The 2 clear rounds were a masterclasses in ship handling and everyone
had a good time judging by the comments on whatsapp!
1st Alan.-----clear round ---200points in 2min 48 secs
2nd Kev----- clear round---200 points in 3 min 24 secs
3rd Richard---193 points
4th Paul C- --188 points
5th Phil------170 points
6th Peter-----155 points
7th Colin-----140 points
8th Big Paul--140 points time 2days!
Paul B stirred the pond up well.
April racing
It was a great day for yacht racing, plenty of wind from a good direction and some sunshine.
Linda and Simon had some close battles at the front, Linda won 4 races and Simon won 3, Paul B. did well coming 3rd overall. Paul B's yacht capsized at one point but luckily we'd already completed the racing before it righted and got stuck on the starting post!
Keith managed to lead a race for a while and was second for a time in another race. The pressure may have got to him as he fell back before the finishes.
We were getting some long stringy weeds on our keels which I think will be causing us more problems soon, the water is clearer than usual and the level is low, ideal for weed growth!
Peter, David and Paul C all had boat gremlins to sort out.
March racing
Alan did well and won most of the scamp races, Simon’s 3D printed boat did well and came 2nd overall, it had a couple of small bashes and survived!
Phil's Scamp hit a buoy and flipped upside down, luckily it was the last race as the electronics got very wet.
A great turnout for the yacht racing with 12 boats arriving and 11 actually racing.
The wind was from a rubbish direction so it was hard to get a good course and the windward mark was in an area of light wind. Once around the windward mark we had a bit more wind and there was close racing throughout the field.
Simon, Linda and Peter had some good racing at the front and each won a race.
Paul C started the morning well with a close battle with Peter, just arriving at the finish before him, then in race 2 he had a problem and his wayward boat sailed into the reeds, then it got free and sailed on its own back to the steps!
A faulty rudder servo caused this strange behavior.
February racing
What a great morning it turned out to be, cold yes but not as bad as we thought, possibly because we were sheltered from the wind in our control area, or maybe because I had 3 coats on.
There were 5 scamps racing and they circuited so close that there were a few bumps, Ian was involved in some of these in race 1, ending in a crash that made his boat spin and land upside down!
This was eventually recovered and it was full of water, I started the next race countdown, expecting Ian to miss this one to sort out the casualty but amazingly he arrived at the start line just in time.
In race 5 Ian tried to do an impressive double spin but ended up with an upside down Scamp again!
There was a start line incident when Paul turned sharply into Linda's boat and it jumped up somehow smashing Linda's windscreen!
When we checked our boats at the end of racing Linda and Paul found holes in their hulls Well done to Phil who was 1st overall having won 3 races, Linda was 2nd with two wins and Simon was 3rd with 3 second places.
We had 9 skippers racing their Victoria yachts in a shifty Northerly wind, there were patches of no wind and areas of plenty which some found challenging.
Simon won 4 races and Linda won 3, in 3rd place was Colin who had some really good races and was up at the front challenging for wins. Phil had some good races and came 4th.
It was a very enjoyable morning and everyone will be pleased to see that the Black buoy has now been replaced with a more boat friendly red one.
Finally many thanks to Phil who had put down 100 litres of bark to make the entrance safer for us.
January 2025
The pond was frozen for our scheduled raceday, so we moved it to Weds, which had a good forecast, unfortunately the forecast changed and it was a damp windless morning!
We did get to do some Scamp racing, we used a startline and a 30sec countdown, this made it more interesting and we also went around the buoys in an anticlockwise direction for a change. The penalty for being over the startline early was a disqualification for that race, Alan was caught out in race 2 starting on the 1 second count rather than on the horn!
There were a few collisions and one that I caused when I was distracted for a second.
Race winners were Phil, Alan and Simon. Alan hit something and broke his prop in race 3.
After 5 races the places were Simon 1st, then Phil, Paul, Linda and Alan.
One Victoria race was completed by 7 skippers, at times we had no wind at all, with no improvement in the wind eventually the racing was abandoned, Lindas yacht was stopped by some weed and it ended up in a windless zone, Phil came to the rescue with Paul’s Scamp.
December the weather was bad so racing was cancelled.
November
We only had one scamp race today because there was a tiny collision and Kevin's boat somehow got switched off, and, as usual, the top came flying off, it was in a place where there was lots or wind blowing and despite efforts to push it back it got blown to the western side of the island.
Ian's rescue tug was launched and unfortunately just sat on the launch step stuck in reverse powering continuously ! Meanwhile the scamp was now on the far side of the island stuck in a patch of no wind. Eventually Phil used his scamp to get it close enough for a rescue by Colin and Alan. the race result was Alan 1st then Simon, Phil, Linda, Paul B and Ian
It was now 10:30 so we decided to start yacht racing as some of the skippers were getting cold and bored.
We had 11 skippers for the Victoria racing including Keith who is new to radio controlled yachts and having had only one practice session did incredibly well and had some very good starts too.
The first course was a figure of eight with boats crossing paths in areas of no wind, it was a bit of a nightmare; the racers were much happier when we changed to a simpler rectangular course. Top 4 places were Simon 1st, Linda 2nd, Colin 3rd and Alan 4th.
October Racing
It was cold with a very light breeze, we did manage to do some Scamps and yacht racing.
Well done to Linda who won the Victoria's and Paul B who won the Scamps.
September Racing
In the scamp racing we had 7 boats starting the first race then there was a collision at the first mark, not due to driver error just that the boats had picked up so much scum and leaves on the rudders that they did not want to turn.
Alan's hull got a hole in the side and Paul B managed to get close enough to the reeds that he caught the line from the throw in buoy with such force that it pulled the reel into the water. Kevin's and David's boats stopped completely and this meant that there were only 2 finishers, Simon and Linda.
The reel was just about floating and a couple of scamps made futile attempts to push it closer to the bank. Ken and Linda had a good idea and a weight from a spare buoy was thrown in to drag the whole lot ashore.
We then attempted 2 more races; feathers and debris caused problems again. With only 3 boats left and running late we decided to stop and have a mini coffee break, well done to Kevin our winner for the day.
The wind did fill in and was in a good direction for some great yacht racing. We used a triangular course that was out of the scum and in the wind.
There were still bits of reed about that could ruin your boat speed, the wind was a bit shifty with some flat spots to test the 9 skippers.
We had 5 different winners Alan, Paul, Peter, Linda and Simon; yes Alan was a race winner today with his new boat!
Well done to Richard B who was only sailing his boat for the second time. He did incredibly well coming 6th overall out of 9 yachts; he will definitely be one to watch once he has gained more experience!
We ended up with Simon 1st, Linda 2nd, Peter 3rd and a good result for Paul B coming 4th.
We had a really good turnout today, with club members watching the fun in the sun, well it was sunny in the carpark!
Thank you Paul C for running the races, (he did the last race with my boat and came 3rd).
We held our 21st anniversary day recently, the sun was out and lots of club members turned up to support it.
Blustery winds meant that the Victoria racing was done first thing before it got too windy, 8 skippers did 6 races, it was difficult sometimes when a big gust came through, but it was good fun and only a couple of boats needed repairs.
Teams of 2 were picked and so there was just as much action at the back of the fleet as the front, Linda won 3 races Simon won 3 races and they ended up on the same points, Linda got the days win as she won the last race, Peter came 3rd.
For the teams, Alan and Peter were the winners closely followed by a draw for 2nd between Simon+David team and Linda + Ian teams.
In the last race Paul's Victoria stopped responding and was stuck circling on the finish line, scamps were used to stop it going on the island, but we couldn't push it in, eventually the SMBC Selsey Lifeboat was launched and it was brought to the bank.
Ian did a grand job running the steering competition, It was a good one today as the wind made it challenging, keeping a straight track was tricky enough and picking up a buoy took an age if you got it wrong and had to have a 2nd attempt.
Tony's go was terminated when the tug stopped and refused to steer, After drifting to the bank it was recovered and a small bag of poo was found wrapped around the prop!, whats wrong with using the poo bins provided!!
Model of the year had 3 entries, the result of the public vote was Chris's super model of the Waverly 1st, Nigel's lovely model of a Dutch tug was 2nd and Ian's terrific tug was 3rd.
A difficult course was chosen by Simon for the Scamp time trials, it involved a slalom section that was tricky as it was easy to misjudge the Blue buoy by the island.
Alan came 1st, Simon 2nd and Linda 3rd.
Overall it was a very enjoyable day and great to meet up with new and old members, you will see that Alan who won most of the prizes today, good work and don't drink it all in one go!
Also thanks to Ian for Judging duties, Caroline for scoring, Paul for organising the voting, Alan for bringing the gazebo and Linda for helping me plus handing out the unhealthy prizes!
August Racing
Scamp racing was easier this month as there were less boats, some slight bashes and some marks missed spaced out the fleet. David managed one start before his boat conked out and was out for the rest of the heat.
Well done to Alan who won 3 races, Simon won 1 and Paul came consistently 3rd, Linda's boat was a bit slower than usual, reason unknown.
There was plenty of wind in the car-park but on the pond there were distinct zones, windy, turbulent and light.
Where these zones merged was the biggest challenge, and it was no use watching the yacht next to you as they had their own bubble of wind.
It was difficult at times but good fun as you could catch up with the leaders if you got the right gust.
Simon won 3 races, Linda won 2 and Peter 1.
In one race David’s yacht stalled and ended up stuck on the island, Simon's scamp went to the rescue but got stuck as well! Thanks go to Richard who ran the scamp starts and finishes.
Championship races
We used the right half of our racing zone, the wind was coming through the entrance gap.
Ian got stuck in loads of traffic and unfortunately missed a couple of races queuing around Chichester, we reminded him that as there were 2 discards he could still win the championship if no mistakes were made!
7 skippers sailed 8 races, each race was 2 laps of a course that had a nice long beat from black up to a buoy near the steps, there were the usual patches of no wind and unfortunately Simon's yacht got caught on a plastic bag and picked up a few reeds on the way round too.
Well done to Linda who is club champion again, Peter was 2nd, Simon 3rd and Colin 4th, The seal prize was won by Paul B,
July Racing
We had some great weather, there was enough wind to make the yacht racing enjoyable and the usual surface rubbish had been blown to one side.
As we had 8 scamps, We tried a system where everyone missed out one race, this gave us 4 races with 6 boats in each, the non racing boat races were chosen at random.
There were a few bashes the most violent ones ended up with capsized boats for Ian and Alan, luckily they were able to continue racing. The top three were Simon, Phil, and Linda. David was surprised by how much water had been taken on board until an underwater hole was discovered!
For the Victoria racing we had 9 skippers and manged to run 6 races.
It was close at the front with Simon and Linda each winning 3 races.
when the wind shifted we had a major course change where we rounded the buoys in the opposite direction, Kevin did extremely well and was battling for the lead nearly all the way round the course, thinking about it this does make sense as where he is from they race in the opposite direction to us!
The top 3 were Linda, Simon and Peter.
Ian had brought along his new rescue tug which he left out on the pond chugging away going nowhere, I think he was disappointed that no one needed recovering, maybe next time it will get some work.
June Steering Competition
June Racing
Wow! 7 Scamps turned up today. we decided to try heats for the Scamps as we had so many boats. We had heats of 4 and 3 boats, with 2 from each heat going through to the final. Alan's scamp was super fast and he steered well to win his first ever race. Overall: Alan first, Simon second and Paul B third.
In the Yacht racing 12 competitors took to the water. The course was set to be in the area with most wind, it was wild at times but on average it was light. There were many reeds floating around and these managed to capture several boats throughout the morning. Other boats got caught by the magnetic Island Buoy, including Paul B who was in the lead at the time. Phil won one race and finished well ahead of the rest of the field. Peter won one race and Simon won two as did Linda. Overall: Linda first, Peter second and Colin third.
Team Relay Racing
We had plenty of wind from a good direction for the relay racing today. There were 3 teams of 3 and each team won 2 out of the 6 races.
Helms had to cope with some big gusts at times, the final points were very close with only one point between each team.
We were pleased with this as we pick the team members for close racing but we did have to slow Linda down in some races, we got her to sail round a distant buoy!
May Racing
Five competitors started the scamp racing but half a lap of surface rubbish was enough to slow the boats right down, and then it was just a matter of trying not to pick up anything else.
The props got detritus wrapped around them but also we found we couldn't steer as well as we would have liked! The boats were revving away but going very slowly as if racing on treacle.
The final results were mainly down to luck, the winners podium happened to contain Simon, Linda and Paul B.
We waited for a while before racing the yachts to allow some of the debris to be blown out of the way. Eight skippers sailed a triangular course in the cleanest part of the water.
There was enough wind for some good sailing but, as Phil found out, there was always the chance of picking up a reed.
Well done to the top 3 who avoided most of the hazards, Simon, Linda and Colin.
Alan had the same points as Colin but Colin's 2nd place breaks the tie, Kev did well in race1 and Paul B did well in race 5.
Peter was improving with each race but a retirement and a D.N.S. spoilt his final score.
April race results are available.
March Racing
There were 5 scamp skippers. Phil's boat has been sorted so there was very close, exciting racing for everyone. We were able to use the Island buoy as it has now been returned to the correct location. There were quite a few collisions; the worst one saw Phil's Scamp rendered motionless with a hole smashed in the side. Linda and I used our boats to push it to the southern side where Alan and Phil recovered it. The off switch was operated by a scamp that crashed over it. Some red paint on the switch gave evidence of the culprit! Another collision ripped off Kevin's top but he continued to race - topless!
If you are on the whatsapp group you will see an excellent video of our scamp racing filmed by Alan.
Race winners were Simon and Linda. Paul B came second overall and missed out on winning a race by a few mm, very close.
Victoria racing was done on the bits of pond which had wind, this meant we had to change the course a few times as it swung around, a few brain cells were exercised to keep track of all this.
We did 6 races and had 4 winners, Simon, Linda, Colin and Phil.
Phil's win was dramatic because he was so keen to stay ahead of Simon that, he didn't tack to avoid the island so he just got through the finishing line and then his boat was sucked into the bank. Eventually his boat was recovered by International Rescue, Thunderbird 44, which almost got stuck there with it. Linda had a big lead in one race only to get wrapped around that Island buoy for a few minutes, she also had to retire from another race because of a reed.
Kev also manged to get stuck on the same magnetic buoy. Well done to the top 3 sailors today, Simon Linda and Colin.
Also thanks to Colin for running the scamp racing.
February Racing
Scamp racing was good fun today, Linda won the first race, then Paul B won the next 3 races, Linda's boat had a broken a propeller blade but this didn't stop her from doing the last race.
There were some close finishes, well done to Paul B who won the day followed by Simon, Linda and Phil.
In the Victorias we had 7 yachts racing, we managed 6 races in variable winds, it was not as windy as forecast and most races were 2 laps.
When we did do a one lap race, it was fun to watch the first 3 boats having such a close battle that they forgot the finish and carried on until I finished in 4th and they heard the chicken!
Luckily brand new members David and Graham, were watching carefully and confirmed the finishing order for that one!
Paul C had a great comeback after a year off sailing, he did well and even won the first race! Linda, Colin and Simon were also race winners.
Ian came along and he really enjoyed the day having not sailed for 5 months.
Top 3 were 1st Simon 2nd Linda and 3rd Colin.
David and Graham had brought along a large warship to test, it was launched by Ian and Paul C, it is very impressive but did a good impersonation of our own aircraft carrier HMS prince of wales, it stayed in port!
January Racing
Here are the results from Sundays racing, we had a good turnout for the scamps with 5 boats in the first race, we were finishing quite close to each other, poor Colin couldn't keep up with us when writing down the results!
We had 3 different race winners, Paul, Simon and Linda. Linda was competing in her first Scamp race, in race 2 there was a small coming together and Linda's boat stopped, once it was rescued we worked out that the on off which must have been pushed OFF in the collision. Cliff had some rudder problems, maybe he hit something but couldn't continue with a wobbly tiller.
Phil and Paul finished all the races, I had a race where I had accidentally turned my boat off on the start line Doh !
After the fun and games we had Simon 1st, then Paul B, Linda, Phil and Cliff
For the yacht racing we had 7 yachts and had to sail in a North westerly shifty light wind, this made it difficult at times and Alan's yacht would drift backwards as the wind dropped.
Paul B was disappointed as his Victoria's rudder shaft was rusted and refused to move. Phil had a range problem that meant his boat had to be Scamp rescued, whilst being pushed back, it was commented that this was the fastest Phil's yacht has ever gone!
Alan was having funny problems in the last race, I saw his boat do a 360 on the spot, then he lost steering and after a rescue Alans rudder fell off just as he picked it up by the steps.
we could see it on the bottom but it couldn't be retrieved with poles, Colin stepped up, rolled up his sleeves and braved the cold to pick it out of the water, it was deeper that he though
so he got his sleeve soaking wet
After the battle against the cold we had Simon 1st, then Linda, Colin, Cliff, Alan and Phil.
Victoria racing was much more sedate, the wind was disappointingly light and the racing was sometimes slow. There were 9 yachts taking part and we managed to do 5 two lap races, I tried to make a race shorter by having a smaller second lap but I had a brain fade and we ended up doing 3 laps by mistake whoops.
Phil won the first race, Linda won 3 races, Simon managed to win one by a few cms, just passing Peter on the line.
Luke showed what he could do by coming 2nd in race 2, very impressive.
The final positions are 1st Linda, 2nd Simon, 3rd Peter, and 4th Phil.
September Steering Comp.
Just four skippers were brave enough to risk the forecast storm to pit their steering skills in, what turned out to be, very tricky conditions. Paul B also came along to ensure fair play.
The wind was quite strong and from the shore so leaving the dock was easy but coming back alongside was next to impossible. Only bow and stern thrusters would have saved the day, but no boat had them fitted.
We ran three rounds which at times, involved motoring around the family of swans. No penalties were lost for these course deviations, although wind did create some challenging steering.
In first place was Colin with 281 points, Kev was second with 263 and Peter and Luke were equal third. Well done to all.
September racing
The weather was gorgeous, warm and sunny, with an easterly wind so it was quite hard to get a good course.
The wind was very light and fluky making the sailing challenging, so well done to all the skippers that took part.
Phil almost got entangled with the trees on the island but after warning shouts he managed to escape just in time briefly hitting a branch on the way ou
July
We had 4 scamps racing today, there was only one collision but the shock of it damaged the battery platform in Cliff's boat so he missed a couple of races. Places were:- 1st Simon, 2nd Ken, 3rd Ian, 4th Cliff
There was a decent wind blowing from the South for the Victorias, there was close racing all through the fleet.
Race winners were Linda and Simon, but in one race Peter had a good lead and only needed to round the last mark and finish when a big gust capsized his boat and by the time he got going again 2 yachts had got past!
1st Linda, 2nd Simon, 3rd Peter, 4th Colin.
June
Here are the results from today's racing, the wind was swinging around so we used 2 courses that we swapped between.
This sometimes caused problems as it was easy to forget which buoys to round.
There were 3 different race winners, Simon Peter and Paul C, floating bits of reeds were a big problem and could ruin a 2 lap race.
Linda and Simon had dressed their yachts with bunting, surprisingly it didn't slow them down!
The podium positions were:- 1st Simon, 2nd Peter, 3rd Linda.
May racing
Thank you everyone for a great morning’s sailing, challenging at times, frustrating at times and three great rescues by Ken with his ‘Winebox’, firstly his Victoria in the dangling brambles on the island, then Colin’s Victoria stuck bow first on the island, finally Ians’ Victoria stuck in the new reeds by the swan’s nest. Well done Ken, of course lots of advice from other members. Great Fun!
well done to new member Alan Hart who had an excellent 7th place in his first ever race!
Peter 1st
Simon 2nd
Paul C 3rd
April
Steering competition
The conditions were perfect with virtually no wind and the water like glass. Well it was, until the power boats started producing some quite large waves! Boats of all types took part, with both Pauls opting to run Scamps, Alan ran his beautifully refurbished cabin cruiser on it's maiden voyage, whilst Peter sailed his wonderful model of the Selsey lifeboat. Colin treated us to some high speed runs with his gin palace, finally Andy showed us just how good he was at steering his Pilot boat.
We had two runs each and the final points score for both was then added together to produce an aggregate score. Paul C was doing very well indeed, until he accidently applied full throttle just as he was coming into the dock at the end of his run. His Scamp landed half way up the step!
Andy won round 1 with a score of 83, which was the highest of the day. Well done Andy. The second run produced three joint winners, Colin, Paul B and Paul C, each with a score of 71. Well done to all of you.
The final placings were, Colin and Andy in joint first with 149 points, followed by Alan with 138. Only two points separated the final three places.
Monthly Racing
Richard kindly volunteered to run the racing for this one.
The scamps were well behaved with Kevin and Phil winning races.
In the sailing Peter, Colin and Phil were all race winners.
Overall, Peter won the sailing and Kevin won the scamping.
March
I had brought along half of the the scamp starting grid as I was refurbishing it, it could only take 3 boats so of course 6 boats turned up!
Cliff did some test running before the race and all was well till the start when a surge of power unscrewed the propeller and his boat was left stationary on the grid.
The 4 races we did had the same finishing order. Phil had finished the last race and then drove into the path of Ian who was still racing so I think its fair to put Phil down for last place in that race. Ian's boat jumped over the top of Phil's scamp and demolished its windscreen!
Positions were Simon 1st, Kevin 2nd and Phil 3rd
Before we started sailing Paul C did a great job using a spare buoy to remove a tree branch that had been stuck on the outlet buoy for some time he also manged to throw the spare buoy into a tree and nearly fell in!
8 skippers raced in a shifty NE wind. At the first mark, near the northern bank, it was particularly bad and was different for each lap.
Colin sailed very well and won 2 races, Simon won 2 and Linda was fastest, winning the other 3 races to come 1st overall,
Simon 2nd Colin 3rd Paul C 4th.
Thanks to Andy who did a great job recording the finishes and watching the start line for us today and thanks to Kevin who did a great job doing the same for the last 3 races.
They both received on the job training and have passed the handwriting test!
February
We finally did the February races after the storms had written off all the other Sundays
In the scamp racing Phil did well with his green machine and Cliff was looking forward to racing his new boat but he found at the first mark that there wasn't enough rudder movement and headed into the reeds! I rescued his scamp and decided to keep my waders on.
Positions were Simon 1st Phil 2nd and Ian 3rd
In the sailing we found the start-line was in a nasty bit of turbulent air, most skippers struggled to get any decent speed up and at times I thought there was something wrong with my boat.
Surprisingly there were patches of no wind so as the wind dropped the course was changed to the windy half of the pond.
Ian got some good starts and ended up with the same points as Colin, the tie eventually broken using the result of the last race.
Phil's yacht got caught on some brambles on the island and my waders were put to use again!
Linda's yacht had a broken shroud which she repaired with string and superglue!
Phil's yacht was not working well after that and he kindly did the results for the last 2 races.
Positions were Simon 1st Linda 2nd Colin 3rd
Reed Clearance 2022
The reeds have been cleared from the northern bank and stacked up on the shoreline this has given us back the space we enjoyed in the past and now we can have good visibility again.
January 2022
The sunny intervals were very welcome today at the pond, the water level was high and got higher as the morning went on.
In the first scamp race Simon's boat was playing up and had a jittering, on off, power delivery which got worse on the second lap with more time off than on!
The bad connection was found and he won the next 2 races, in the last race he picked up a reed and came last again. Well done to Chris who had 2 first places and a second to win the Day.
Simon was 2nd and Ian had 2 second places to finish 3rd.
The wind was in the best direction we have had in ages, it meant we could have a long beat in plenty of wind from the far right of the pond to the island buoy and a long run back from outlet buoy.
6 skippers enjoyed the conditions with some close racing again. Colin sailed very well, his green Monkees hat must have helped . Race winners were Simon, Linda and Colin and the final positions were in that order.
Linda also had a Monkees hat but it didn't stop her from hitting some of the buoys, Simon hit one or 2 also.
There were lots of good starts and it paid sometimes to actually slow down a bit and tack behind the pack to be the first one on port tack.
Phil was having a few problems with his yacht, first a flat battery and finally a pulley came undone, he stayed on to do the results, so thanks Phil!
October
Today we used the starting grid for the scamps, It has been modified by Richard, so it will now fit in a car.
It saved lots of time because the boats weren't being blown by the wind. Paul C had not charged his batteries the day before so only had the charge from this morning this gave Simon a chance and he won the first 3 races, Paul changed batteries and won the last one, Ian was 3rd overall and Cliff came 4th, the only collisions were between races!
For sailing the wind was SW and gusty, the average wind was not too strong. Control could be lost for a moment in the gusts but 7 skippers sailed well and no yachts needed rescuing. There were 3 different race winners, Simon, Paul and Peter. In order to do well today you had to be on the right tack for favourable wind shifts, the trouble was you couldn't tack when you wanted to when there were other boats around you.
We managed to complete 6 races and stopped in time to miss the 20mph stuff forecasted for 12:00
Simon 1st, Paul 2nd, Peter (with the same points as Paul) 3rd, Linda 4th, Chris 5th, Ian 6th and Cliff 7th
September
First the Scamp Racing. This was dominated by Paul C with his Grunge Boat. However, whilst on demonstration to a potential young member he hit the Swan Buoy and he flipped over. The engine continued to rev indicating that batteries and motor were OK. Eventually the transmitter was switched off and the motor stopped. Simon donned his waders and traversed the top of the pond to rescue the stricken boat. Amazingly, having connected the battery lead up the motor burst into life.
Subsequently at home I think the battery has had it, I charged it for about 4 hours and the battery was red hot. Watch this space.
The Victoria Yacht Racing was the equivalent the Lewis Hamilton second to last pit stop today, it was slow!! We managed two races before tea break when Grunge performed, and one race after tea. The last race was delayed because the fleet were spread far and wide, unable to get to the start line. When on yacht got to the line another drifted away and so it went on. In all three races one or two yachts managed to get away whilst the rest banded together to form intimate groups whilst rounding various marks. Weed was used as an excuse but on returning to the dock side the yachts were lifted out to find, no weed. (well, may be one or two yachts did have a little weed).
Three yachts finished on 6 points with Paul B finishing a credible 4th place. See results page. I think some sort of count back decided the final places?
Poor Phil could not repeat his success of the club championship racing having had dire day and Colin was not up to his normal standard.
15th August
Well done to our new club champion Simon, who won by one point.
Linda was 2nd and Peter came 3rd.
Phil won the new Seal prize.
August
A good days racing, this kicked off with 3 scamps at 3 different speeds, Paul C won 3 races with his warp speed boat which was for once, controlled very well, Simon came 2nd with a high speed boat and cliff 3rd with a speed boat.
We tied black ribbons on our yachts to remember the lovely Harry Stead who died recently.
10 skippers raced from a control area near the launching steps, this worked well as we could see the course and hear any hails for "room at the mark" or starboard!
Linda was back in action and did well , she won 2 races, Simon won 3 and Peter, who was having problems with his radio gear won 1 race.
There were some good starts and in the first race Nigel did very well sailing in second and sometimes first place for the first lap, but lost out when he had to sail through one of the windless zones.
Paul B had an excellent second place in race 2 and came 5th overall, Peter came 4th, Paul C had a run of 3rds and came, obviously third overall!
Linda 2nd and Simon 1st
July
The Scamps were ready on the start line for their first race when a family of coots suddenly appeared with several young ones. So no Scamp racing; maybe next month the babies will have grown or flown.
For the Victoria yacht racing there was plenty of wind about but, unfortunately, our tree lined pond provided too much shelter and many parts of the water were totally calm, creating a doldrums effect.
8 skippers did well in the difficult conditions with some quite close racing.
Colin L had set his boat up well and was very quick downwind, he won the last race and came 3rd overall.
Ian had a couple of good races coming in 3rd on two occasions.
We got to coffee break to find Cliff's yacht caught up on the overhanging island vegetation, Paul C volunteered to use his scamp to push it back out. However, his scamp seems to have a very coarse throttle and Paul lost control so you can guess what happened next!
I put on my waders and got to the stranded scamp, the rudder and prop were still attached but the prop looked like a cabbage, having been run onto the barrier at a high r.p.m. !
In one race Paul C was watching and 'sailing' the wrong yacht (well it looked like his yacht)! He suddenly realised that his boat had been sailing itself and was aground, stuck on the island. The trigger happy scamp was dispatched a second time and happily the yacht was successfully recovered with no cabbages in sight.
Paul doing a self rescue
Overall it was close at the front with Peter winning 2 and Simon winning 3 of the 6 races. Most skippers sailed very well despite the flukey wind and many seem to be making positive progress.
Final Results:
Simon 1st, Peter 2nd and Colin 3rd
June Relay Races
With 8 skippers it seemed a good idea to have 2 teams of 4 yachts, Simon did the team picking and we were off. In race 1 Peter got a very good lead which made Paul C take some risks, this didn’t work as he hit the same buoy twice. The rest of team B did a great job catching up and it was a very close finish but team A kept their lead. Actual finish is shown below with Ian, in team A, just crossing the line ahead of Linda.
In race 2 Team A had the initial lead but Paul B managed to get ahead and the lead was then held giving an easy team B victory.
In the deciding race team A had the lead for 3 laps and on the last lap Ian’s yacht stalled slightly and Linda sailed to the nearest part of the line. After a photo finish Team B were declared the overall winners.
Phil hiding behind Team B’s secret weapon, Dudley.
Well done to everyone; there was some good tuition and as always unhelpful banter!
June Racing
After over a year we were back on the water with both Scamps and Victorias
There were only 3 scamps so no crashes but a few marks were hit and Ken managed to miss-out a mark or two, this could be because his boat was so fast!
well done to Ken who finished 1st, Simon 2nd, Paul C 3rd.
For the Victoria yachts the wind was light but 9 skippers managed to keep going using the bits of pond that had some breeze.
There were some good starts so some of last weeks training must have sunk in!
Paul B had a brilliant race 3 which he led for a lap, eventually finishing in 2nd place
The racing was very close and you can see in the results there were only 2 points difference in the first 4 places.
Well done to Simon 1st, Peter 2nd, Paul C 3rd, and Linda 4th.
Thanks to Dick for helping with the results.
May 2021
On the 30th the club held a practice racing session, this included tuition from Simon and Linda on making a good race start. The main points were :-
1) Importance of being on starboard tack during the final countdown.
Starboard boats must keep their course when a port boat approaches this is to avoid both boats turning the same way and crashing.
2) Realising that on the same tack the windward boat must keep clear.
3) Use the countdown time to measure where your boat should be with 10 or 15 seconds to go.
4) If you are going to be early recognise this as soon as possible and slow the boat down by heading up to wind, knowing from point 2 that other boats have to keep away from yours, then when ready if possible bear away slightly to get speed up for crossing the line
5)If the wind is very light, stay close to the line at all times.
6) If there is a recall the skipper should let the sails out, slow down and allow the other boats to pass before turning back for the line.
Practice starts and a short race was run for groups of 4 yachts then 6 yachts and finally a race with all boats!
June 2020
On Sunday 7th Dudley 2 was launched for its maiden voyage , Simon was very pleased with his lockdown project, it has many 3D printed parts which help to keep the weight down. He reports that there are no leaks so far and it’s quite fast on the water !
March
We managed to do some scamp racing, Phil provided all the entertainment in his first race session, it all happened in race 3 where he rounded the island buoy a bit too fast jumped over the barrier and stopped, I was thinking I was going to have to get the waders when Phil just powered the boat back over the barrier, amazingly the rudder was still attached but then it slowed right down, it crawled back to the steps with smoke coming out and a very nasty smell.
Ashore Phil found the motor was burning up, the battery was quickly disconnected before any flames appeared welcome to scamp racing Phil!
Simon 1st Chris 2nd and Colin D 3rd
In the Victoria's 5 skippers had a battle against a strong gusty SW wind, we tried to use the island shelter for most of the course but after a couple of races we changed the course to avoid the devilish turbulence around the gorse buoy that Colin D didn't like!
The racing was extremely close for 1st and 2nd and also 3rd and 4th,
Linda 1st, Simon 2nd Colin L 3rd
February
At last we were able to do some racing and it was enjoyed by all (except Colin).
Scamps were looking promising with 5 boats at the pond, 3 actually got launched and started a race but only 1 finished the race, the others ran out of power for some reason. Lets hope more boats make it to the finish line for the next race day!
Victorias, 10 skippers came 9 yachts made it to the start line there was plenty of wind with some big gusts coming through to add to the excitement.
A good start was essential and a big lead could be obtained on the first lap if you got it right, problem was that the favoured end was sheltered by the Island so sometimes it didn’t work out.
We could see the gusts coming across the water and, fortunately the uncontrollable moment’s didn’t last for too long.
On Paul B's yacht the string on the jib boom broke, which for some reason caused a complete collapse of the rig, it ended up looking like a set of damp bagpipes!
Phil did well in the first races but had to stop after getting tangled with a couple of yachts then lost sail controls
Colin D had no luck, his transmitter problems meant no Scamp or Victoria racing.
Peter was every impressive and won 4 of the 6 races to win the day
Simon won the other 2 to come 2nd
Paul C's Yacht was struggling but eventually he got it tuned for the conditions, coming 3rd
Chris had a good 2nd place and came 4th
only one point separated the next 3 places for Colin Ian and Phil.
Modeller of the year 2019
The entries were again of a very high standard, Peter won with his lovely model of a bermudan ketch, Chris’s Waverley paddle steamer and Richard’s miniature Gambier Bay aircraft carrier were joint second, thanks to Paul for judging this year.
Peters winning ketch
Gambier Bay
Waverley
Now is a good time to start building something yourself and maybe enter it later in the year!
January 2020
We had a really good turnout for yacht racing with 12 yachts starting. Unfortunately there were only 2 scamps.. so no scamp racing.
The weather was unkind as squalls and showers kept coming in, giving flukey wind for the yachts and a wet time for the racers. It was so wet that Phil and Colin D went home during the half time coffee break. Everyone else sheltered as best we could and ate the lovely gooey chocolate cake that Ian had baked specially.
The racing was close as usual with 3 different race winners. Paul B had his best result in the race after coffee and cake, finishing 3rd The start was difficult as the wind usually dropped with 20 seconds to go, leaving most of us floundering. There were a few lonesome reeds floating around to trap the unwary and also a few underwater obstacles got in the way.
Report was written by Linda as Simon has hurt both his wrists. He did manage to win the racing though! With Peter second and Linda third.
Boxing Day Medal Race
There was just enough wind but as usual there were some large zones with none.
10 skippers battled with the lack of wind plus the extra difficulty of a couple of very boggy bits of grass to walk over.
The racing was very close and a big lead could easily be lost trying to cross the dead zone.
Linda brought some quality streets for everyone, Chris said one of them tasted of sherry, he then had quite a few of these, maybe this is why he crashed into Linda a couple of times! One of these collisions jolted Linda's yacht and all power was lost. Luckily it was recovered during coffee and chocolate break and was just a bad connection.
George and Kevin came along to watch, give out advice and eat chocolates!
Phil kindly offered to do the starts and finishes, he got very cold but did a great job, no you don't get a medal for it!
As often as not it was down to the last race to decide the places, Peter already had 2 wins, Simon 1 win and Linda 1 win, Colin had been sailing consistently and was also in with a chance, Peter had a good start and got a big lead, Simon and Colin ate into that lead and were getting closer, Peter then caught a reed on his keel and was out of the running, Simon managed to get an overlap on Colin and water for the rounding the last buoy, all he had to do was cross the finish line but that meant crossing the dead zone again to get there, they both headed for some wind by the island and Colin just pipped Simon on the line to win the last race.
Well done to Colin D who won the Gold medal with some good sailing in the fluky wind
Simon and Linda both got 10pts, Simon won Silver on count-back and Linda received a Bronze.
Other places were: Peter a disappointed 4th, Paul a muddy trousered 5th, Chris with a bad foot 6th.
New member Nigel finished every race and came 7th, a great start to Victoria racing.
Xmas Prizegiving and buffet
Another great event this year, Simon used his P.A. System so he could be heard without shouting!
The prizes were very smart mostly black on glass trophies.
The prizes were presented by Louis wife Pat, she later told us how much Louis used to enjoy his trips to the pond, whatever the weather.
We had a delicious buffet, thanks again to Gerry, afterwards Simon and Linda ended the evening with some ukulele songs from the 60’s
December
There was a tie for first place in both the scamps and the victorias, each skipper had identical scores so it was all down to who won the last race.
Kevin's scamp has a new motor and was fast enough to win 2 races, but unfortunately not the last one!
In the last Victoria race at the finish, there were just inches between the first 3 yachts, Linda won it even though she was in 3rd at the last mark!
The overall results were very close indeed as there was also a tie for 3rd place and only 2 points separated 5th, 6th and 7th places. Close racing from all.
Final yacht places, Linda 1st; Simon 2nd; Peter 3rd; Paul 4th
It was good to see Ian back at the pond, he managed to finish all of the races.
Tim did another good job scoring, there were quite a few close finishes to call.
November 3rd
Today was so different from gale force 9 Saturday, where had all the wind gone!
Scamp racing was close between Colin D and Chris they must have touched a few times, Kevin was puzzled as his boat sounded fast on the bench but had no go when on the water.
Cliff had a fast boat but it couldn't turn tight enough to get around the course!
Paul C got cross when his scamp refused to work properly, not even making the start line, maybe it was the new cooling fan causing interference?
Simon had a clean sweep, Colin and Chris ended up with exactly the same points so it was down to who won the last race, Colin 2nd Chris 3rd.
During Yacht racing we had a visit from David Campbell James, the Olympic sailor, he was a bit confused as all he saw was Linda's Victoria going round and round chased by a scamp and Paul's yacht, not the sort of racing he was expecting!
There was not much wind about and when we got some later in the morning it poured down with rain, that wind suddenly went and we had to shorten the course twice to get the end of the race over with.
We were lucky to get the 4 races done, Due to electrical problems Linda used Simon’s yacht for the last 2 races and managed to do well coming first, Peter despite picking up a reed came 2nd, Paul C was 3rd.
thanks to Paul C for this excellent photo.
Team Relay racing October.
The teams were well balanced so we had quite a few close finishes, there was wind on most of the pond so a nice big course was set. We had 11 people and needed 4 teams of 3 so Colin D ended up doing lots of laps as he had to go round twice each time.
It was very close and the last race was crucial for the results, Paul B sailed well, with encourage ment from team-mates Simon and Richard he came from 3rd to 1st and won the competition for the red team. Team Linda, George and Kevin were just one point behind to come 2nd.
Once again everyone enjoyed the day.
October
A very windy one today with the gusts being the main problem.
4 scamps set off on race one only to find the outlet buoy was missing whoops, so we went round willow instead which was OK till Cliffs boat went wide and hit the row of posts, it was stuck going round and round
Simon managed to slowly push it back with his scamp but we noticed it was getting lower in the water, when we eventually got it out it had a big hole in the bow.
The Victoria's coped well with the conditions most of the time, a few giant gusts caused some submarine-ing and sometimes when you wanted some wind it disappeared.
Phil had a couple of good races coming 3rd in each, Colin D also got a 3rd place, It was very close between Linda and Simon, they held the top 2 slots in each race, Linda winning overall, Simon 2nd and well done to Colin L for coming 3rd closely followed by Colin D in 4th.
Paul's yacht had a problem so he kindly did the race officer duty.
September
Racing was very good, we had a great turnout too with 8 Scamps and 10 Victorias.
Scamp racing was chaotic with so many boats, we had to stop one race as the swans had come over to the island buoy to find out what all the noise was about.
There was a lot of floating debris which ended up wrapped around our props after each race, even feathers were found to cause problems!
After winning race 1, Kens boat had a loose prop-shaft and Colin's boat lost all motor drive, both boats retired from the rest of the session.
Paul C's grunge was fast but once again was almost uncontrollable, it acquired a hole in the side from one of the many collisions, luckily above the waterline.
John was very pleased to have a fast boat again
Somehow Simon managed to win 2 races and Paul won one.
Overall Simon 1st, John 2nd, and Paul 3rd.
Victoria races had 3 different race winners and was all about getting from one windy bit to another through the dead zone where anything could happen!
Ian proved this by getting his yacht stuck near the island at the start of a race, it must have been there for a few minutes, once free he got some good wind managed to sail past everyone and come 2nd!
Poor Colin L, he was doing very well after coffee with a second and third place and was in with a chance for a win on the last race, he just had to cross the finish line, Simon was close behind and decided to take a big chance and sail to the end of the line coming very close to the island, He even had to get past the debris that stopped Ian earlier, and managed to just beat him to the win!
Colin came 4th overall, not many points away from Peter who came 3rd, Linda was 2nd and Simon 1st.
Paul C didn't get on very well with the swing rig today, if you want one it may still be in the hedge where he threw it!
Once again big thanks to Tim for recording the race finishes and watching the line, the scamps were finishing so fast that sometimes Tim couldn't write fast enough!
Rescue Tug
Here are some photos of Richards tug which has a special device fitted for rescues.
On the day these were taken, it was windy and a new members boat, an RG65, went fast aground at the shallow end of the pond. Diligent was launched and collected the boat without difficulty.
August
In Scamp race 3 George's scamp had a coming together with Kens which resulted in 2 neatly cut slots in the side of George's scamp which quickly let in loads of water.
Ken's metal prop was very good at cutting through balsa but the force on the motor finally ripped out the mountings, no more racing for Ken!
George's boat was fixed up by Ken and the last race had only 3 boats due to Cliff's drive system failing.
In the last race, with Paul's scamp "Grunge" slowing, Simons boat thought It would cadge a lift on the back of it which worked very well, it looked like a tandem scamp until his boat was shrugged off when it was time to turn for the mark. Even Grunge can be beaten with the help of some reeds round the prop!
Well done to Paul who won easily with 3 first places, Simon 2nd and Ken 3rd.
Victoria racing was very good, the south easterly breeze was providing a big stretch of steady wind across the pond, the only problem was the first mark was on the edge of this and sometimes there was no wind there.
In one race Linda was leading and stopped near that first mark and watched the whole fleet sail past her, Simon also had a similar experience arriving at the buoy in 2nd place and leaving in last!
As the morning went on we found that the only fast way to get round was to stay in the wind and come in with speed on port tack with momentum taking the yacht round and then back into the wind.
There were 4 different race winners, Bill, Paul, Simon and Linda and there was close racing across the fleet.
Paul raced his swing rig yacht which is very well made but unfortunately is not class legal as the boom diameter is greater than 9.5mm at the main bearing.
There were many reeds floating about that could ruin a race, Peter managed to find a lot of them and this is reflected in his score.
Final positions 1st Simon, 2nd Paul, 3rd Bill, 4th Linda.
Tim Kinross, who used to be a member and raced regularly, has rejoined the club and did an excellent job of watching the start line and recording the finishes, It was such a great help for us all
and we hope he can do it again next month.
July 22nd
Richard and Simon were on the water today in Richard’s dinghy to sort out the racing marks.
The 2 blue buoys were recovered and repositioned, one to the south to be called “Willow” and one near the island north face to be called “Gorse”
The cord to Island buoy was shortened to try to stop yachts getting caught-up on it.
Outlet was moved into more water so it can be seen easier.
A replacement Reeds buoy was deployed.
Swans nest buoy was stuck fast and was moved eventually after great effort.
Steps buoy was moved away from the encroaching reeds, again it was a big struggle to get this one free from years on the muddy bottom.
Richard did lots of rowing and the strong wind made it difficult to manoeuvre at times but it was worth it so that we can use the pond more effectively.
July 17th
The inter-club open meeting was originally going to include Phoenix M.B.C. but they had been having low turnouts for their Victoria races and couldn't get a team together.
The event carried on with Selsey and Dell Quay S.C. sailing with a total of 13 boats.
The wind was a light southwesterly which slowly increased as the morning went on. There was a big battle at the front between Peter, Bill ,Linda and Simon each sailor winning races, Race officer Paul kept the morning running smoothly, the only problem was the reeds were so high it was a job to see the start line! A couple of yachts got caught up between races and again the reeds were so dense it was hard to untangle them. Colin D had a very good day and sailed well to come 5th overall.
Simon, Bill, Linda and Peter at the front of the fleet.
At the end it was very close with only 2 points covering the top 4 places, Peter and Bill were tied for 1st place, but on count-back Peter won the day, Bill (DQSC) 2nd, Simon 3rd, Linda 4th Colin Dean 5th Peter Matthews (DQSC) 6th
The inter team results were Selsey 104 points and Dell Quay 169 points so well done to all the winning Selsey sailors.
Thanks to all the skippers who’s contributions raised £43 for the Selsey First Responders.
Full Results click here
July 14th
We had a great mornings racing with a light Northerly wind and lots of boats.
The scamp racing was good fun with the usual crashes and Cliffs boat in the reeds at the first mark!
I think as we hadn't had a race for a few months we were not so good at rounding the marks, Simon especially as he twice missed the mark that he had put out earlier and Kevin also had the same trouble!
There were 3 different winners, Kevin won his first race of this season, Ken won 2 and George won one.
Placing's were Kevin 3rd, George 2nd, and Ken 1st, well done Ken!
Victoria racing was intense with Bill, Simon and Linda battling at the front with Peter in the mix too, the points were so close that we couldn't decide who had won till the numbers were computed.
See more photos of this event in the Gallery page on this website.
Paul B had a great result coming 5th overall just beating Michael who sailed consistently, Paul B was up near the front in a couple of races, also Kens Yacht was impressive with its new sails and set-up, its a shame he had to leave early to sort out a power-cut.
Linda and Simon's yachts had colourful soft jibs that looked like spinnakers down wind, they were useful today as the wind was very shifty and non-existent in some places.
Paul C did a brilliant job as race officer for the morning you wouldn't have known he was in hospital a week ago, well done and a great help.
Placing's Peter 4th, Linda 3rd, Bill 2nd, Simon 1st, it was very close!
Love your parks 22 June
The club put on a display for the Saturday event Including scale power and sail craft plus some fun racing. We were there for the whole day which was very enjoyable.
Special thanks to Richard for bringing his fleet along plus Ian and Peter displayed some impressive craft as well.
We let Bill from men in sheds have a sail as he was getting bored!
June
A superb days racing was had by 10 skippers, there was plenty of wind blowing from left to right across a large part of the pond.
The diesel generator was not running and the pond level was up enough that no rescues were needed.
Unfortunately Chris did not complete many races due to a problem with the deck sagging and water leaking in. Chris showed that he can do well with a decent boat claiming a 2nd place using Georges yacht, lets hope this inspires Chris to get his Victoria spruced up!
Ian's yacht was slowly falling apart but was quickly repaired each time.
It was nice to see Kevin come out of hibernation and visit the pond!
Colin Lambert and Colin Dean did very well coming 4th and 5th respectively, only one point between them.
Linda's second and third places gave her third overall
Simon won 3 of the 7 races to come 2nd
Peter was unstoppable claiming first place with 4 wins in a row.
A big thank you to Phil who did the finishing for us.
May this race was postponed till the 12th as the pond level was too low
It was a nice surprise that the pond had filled up slightly and we could race around some of it.
7 skippers were ready to race on time but we had a small delay whilst Linda's yacht was rescued having run aground near the island buoy.
We decided to miss that one out and the swans nest buoy so we could steer clear of the island shallows.
The wind was easterly and there was the usual wind shadow from the trees and generators. We managed 4 races of 2 laps, it was hard going but good fun was had!
Thank you to George who helped out with the start line and scoring duties, He was going to put a row of number 20's at the top of the sheet until I pointed out that he didn't actually bring a yacht!
Well done to Richard who won the last 2 races and today's event, Simon second and Linda third
April
There is a problem with the water level of the pond, the monthly competition was postponed to 21st due to debris and un sailable parts of the pond. Our theory is that the water table has been lowered due to the pumping during the work in Beach Road and water has been leaking out of the pond into the surrounding ground.
With the debris cleared team relay racing went ahead on 14 April, this time we had
3 teams of 3; the results were very close, and everyone enjoyed the competition.
The low water level played its part as the Blue team were about to win a race and
a gust sent a yacht into the shallows by the island where it ran aground! RESULTS
Red team 1st ,Yellow 2nd and Blue 3rd
21st April
There were ducklings and baby coots about so we didn't run the scamp racing.
The light easterly breeze was difficult to sail in, It was very trying as there were patches of no wind and the starts today were tricky too! The lack of water meant some yachts ended up aground on the island, Kens rescue boat was used for a few recoveries until unfortunately Linda managed to get it locked onto one of the metal stakes so Simon had to wade out and get it back.
The results are Peter 1st , Simon 2nd and Chris with a very good 3rd place,
The next 3 skippers had the same points , Paul C 4th Colin 5th and Linda 6th on count back.
Hopefully for May's event we will have more water otherwise we will have to run a hosepipe overnight!
March
On the third attempt to run the March Sunday races it was still windy, but because it was sunny we thought we would have a go.
Scamp racing was different this week as we had to avoid an obstruction so we used the steps buoy as the first mark and went anticlockwise around the rest, John had fitted his old spec. motor and proceeded to win all 4 races, Simon's scamp however did not like it, there was a terrible noise as the cooling fan worked loose and rubbed on the universal joint. Then in race 3 It jumped over a mark and broke a propeller blade. It was raced with only one blade in the last race and was quite fast, maybe this is a new way to go faster! Cliff's scamp was fast but needed to be better controlled. George was looking forward to winning the scamp racing again but found out that he had left the transmitter on all night, Maybe he was too excited about the first Grand Prix to remember.
Nasty gusts were coming through but there was enough time gust free to do some yacht racing. Peter coped very well with this and shot off and won 2 races, Simon was close but only won one. Linda's yacht was determined not to race, it hit the post by the steps and broke the jibsheet, once repaired it then had another problem, going round in circles, somehow the rudder linkage had come off the tiller. After fixing this it was about to be launched again when the main sheet come untied, then we noticed that there was something big and heavy moving inside. The main servo mount had completely broken off from the hull, time for a major refit!
Chris enjoyed the conditions, and only had to repair the jib once to come 3rd
Ian was 4th and could have had a better score but just as he was rounding a mark a big gust came and sent him the wrong side of it, unlucky. Despite the sun it was very cold, George had the sensible idea to stop after the first race to go home and warm up.
Paul B was even more sensible and kept his boat in the car!
Thanks again to Caroline for doing the finishing for us, it was so gusty that the chair we put out for her kept blowing over!
January 2019
After the very sad news that Louis Phillips had passed away we decided to remember him and show our respects by tying black ribbons on our yachts during the mornings races. Louis won club member of the year in 2017 for the time and effort he gave to starting and recording club events which he had been doing for many years.
Louis will be sorely missed.
Louis watching the start line at a club race back in April 2016