Thorpe Bay Yacht Club is excited to play host to the 2009 Laser Pico Nationals. This will be an event for all levels of ability and provided you can sail a triangle course you are most welcome to attend. Do not worry if you have not done much racing in the past, the briefing on Saturday morning will cover all the detail you need to know.

 

Pico’s can be sailed either single or doubled handed and parents are welcome to sail in the event. Please see attchments for the Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions, Entry Form and Parent Declaration.

 

Win a New Pico – If you sail in all 6 races over the two-day event your Pico will be entered into a special prize raffle to part-exchange with a new Pico. It does not matter if you are at the front, middle or back of the fleet, all will have an equal chance to win the new Pico. The draw will take place during the prize giving on Sunday afternoon. The winners must be present to collect the Pico.

 

We have lots of other great prizes and trophies also lined up to recognise the best in Pico racing. If you sail a Pico this is a weekend you will not want to miss.

 

Car Parking

TBYC has ample free car parking and boat storage facilities in the field to the east of the main dinghy park. On arrival you will be given a TBYC car sticker that must be displayed in your front screen in order to get free car parking.

 

Accommodation

TBYC is just a mile along the coast from Southend-On-Sea so has a good selection of hotels and B&B’s. We have listed details of a few local places that are a short distance from the clubhouse.

 

www.roslinhotel.com

www.beachesguesthouse.co.uk

www.premierinn.com – search for their Thorpe Bay Hotel

 

Camping is also available at TBYC and if required please contact us. The clubhouse, toilet & shower facilities and club restaurant will open from the Friday to Sunday, with a BBQ after sailing on Saturday. All this making your stay comfortable and affordable.

 

Southend-on- Sea has lots of attractions making this a great weekend for the whole family. So even if hurricane winds blow out sailing there is plenty to do, including a walk down the worlds longest pleasure pier or perhaps try a visit to;

 

Adventure Island (http://www.adventureisland.co.uk/)

The Sea Life Centre (http://www.sealifeadventure.co.uk/)

Ten Pin Bowling at the Kursaal (www.thekursaal.co.uk)

Odeon Cinema Complex (http://www.odeon.co.uk/)

Plus all the other usual seaside attractions

 

We look forward to seeing you at the Nationals for a great weekend of family fun and sailing.

 

If you have any questions regarding the weekend please contact Shaun Christian or Simon Bown

Shaun: email: [email protected]   

 

Catering facilities and the bar are open to all  – please join in and add to the party atmosphere.  All help and offers of  assistance to provide full safety cover and aid launch and recovery of boats will be very appreciated (the urn will be on the bosuns hut so help yourself to a cup of tea/coffe or to keep you going).

Opening Hours	Main Bar	Commodores Bar	Kitchen
Fri 22nd	11.000a.m. -11.00pm	CLOSED	7.00 pm -9.00 pm
Sat 23rd	11.00 a.m. – midnight	3.00 p.m. – midnight	7.30 am -9.00 pm
Sun 24th	11.00a.m. – 11.00pm	3.00 p.m.- 11.00 p.m.	7.30 am -9.00 pm
Mon 25th	11.00 a.m. – midnight	3.00 p.m. – midnight	7.30 am -9.00 pm
Tues 26th	11.000a.m. -11.00pm	CLOSED	7.30 am -6.00 pm

 

For food in the evenings you can pre-book as follows:

 

Friday 22^nd May – Basket meals avail  7-9pm

 

Saturday 23^rd May – BBQ 7-9pm – if not Nat 12 participant, pre-order from Jo

 

Sunday 24th May – Basket meals avail  7-9pm – Fancy dress competition – theme is linked to boat names or design names listings avail http://www.national12.org/boats/index.php.

Larry and the Streamers Live ‘Sounds of the Sixties’ 8.15-10.30 pm

 

Full menu details available on notice board – sorry I can’t seem create a link to the doc

 

Good luck to all sailors and  hope you have lots of fun and most of all we have favourable weather.

 

Theresa

Congratulations to Kyle Stoneham for winning a windy Sprint Inlands at Grafham this weekend.  Martyn Ellis also had a good result with a 7th, and I was, er, 12th.  I did however manage 3rd in the TT series, of which the Inlands was the final and best attended event. 

Kyle’s achievement is all the greater for the fact that his boat is by no means new and neither is his sail.  It all goes to show it’s not the equipment, it’s the person on the tiller.  It’s a fact that Kyle regularly goes out after work and PRACTICES – upwind, downwind, tacks, gybes, 360 degree turns, and starting.  He also thinks about what he does and why he does it.

All in all, it’s been a good year for the Thorpe Bay Spint 15 fleet, with two titles and a growing reputation on the circuit.

A very big “thank you” to all who contributed to the success of the Sprint Nationals this weekend, for which we had 61 entries.  I have been overwhelmed by comments such as “as good as any Nationals we’ve ever had”, “marvellous facilities”, “friendly atmosphere”, “great organisation” and – perhaps most important of all – praise for our Race Officer Phil Crawford and his team for their efficiency and good judgement.

Not only that, but we have a champion in the making – Kyle Stoneham, who finished fourth.  Mark my words, his name will be on the Honours Board before long.  Martyn Ellis should also be congratulated for finishing a very creditable 12th and winning the “most improved helm” award.

In 2008, the Sprint 15 una-rig National Championships are being held at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club, in the warm waters of sunny Southend-on-Sea. It is a special year for the Sprints because 2008 is the 30th anniversary of the boat and it is also the 60th anniversary of Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.

We have every reason to celebrate. Not only do we have a versatile boat, we continue to have strength in numbers. Being such a significant anniversary, a big entry is in prospect. This is a fitting tribute to all those that have contributed to our growth over thirty years.

It is also fitting that Thorpe Bay is hosting these Nationals. TBYC has a fleet of 24 boats and has become a major club for Sprints. It is good to be recognised in this way, especially as there is going to be a high local entry.

A special programme of events has been planned, as you will see below. We are celebrating our 30th anniversary and encouraging the younger sailors to take part by offering free entry to Sprint 15 Association members who are under 23 and in full-time education provided they pre-enter. Continue Reading »

The Hornet is a fast spinnaker and trapeze dingy and the class usually get 30 or so boats at their National meeting.

The Hornet National meeting this year is on 10th to 15 August 2008 at Stone SC on the Blackwater ( only 45 minutes drive from Thorpe Bay).

If anyone is available and interested in crewing with me for that week, please contact me on:

Graham Dare 07946 413923 or [email protected]

A big thank you to all those who assisted with the Finn Nationals this weekend. 

A number of people took a day’s holiday on Friday to ensure things ran smoothly.  Yesterday we had the added ingredient of a particularly strong onshore breeze making launching and recovery a tricky affair for boats with fixed rudders. 

Particular heroes were Samantha Husk, Robin Foster-Taylor, Barry Duce, Paul Farrell, Keith Persin, Kevin & Lesley Iles, Theresa Ryall, Martyn Ellis and Glen Ratcliffe, all of whom at times were neck-deep assisting Finns launching or catching them before they hit the beach.  Many others helped with trolleys and hauling boats over the shingle.

I would also like to pay tribute to all those who responded to our emergency with slick efficiency.  I’m pleased to say I saw him later in the day looking much better than he was when he was brought ashore.

A big thank-you to all involved in the running of the Finn Nationals,without your support we couldnt run this type of event.

Thank you

Spratty

Please either go to youtube.com and type “pico nationals 2008” into the search box or click on the link below and you should find 25 short videos that I took during Saturday’s racing. The videos are in sequence, so the best place to start is shot 1.

Hope you enjoy.

Martyn

Video link to Pico Nationals 2008 at TBYC

Pico Nationals 2008 Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.

By Mike Thomason 23 June 2008

Thorpe Bay Yacht Club hosted the 2008 Laser Pico Nationals over the weekend of 21^st and 22^nd June with varied conditions for the 46 entrants from around the UK with an age range of 7 – 54.

The event attracted sponsors from The Laser Centre, Wet Suit Outlet, Yachts & Yachting and Henry Lloyd.

This is the third year the Pico Nationals have been hosted (2007 Gurnard) and already the fleet turnouts are exceeding all expectations for this amazingly versatile dinghy equally suitable for children and adults. This year the Nationals were sailed as a single fleet with handicapping for different sail and crew arrangements.

Fresh winds and a lumpy sea greeted the starters for this year’s Championships and although the conditions were not idyllic – there was an abundance of enthusiasm and competitiveness from the younger crews.Three races were scheduled for each day in the broad uncluttered expanse of the Thames Estuary overseen by professional race officer Alan Willis and equally supported by Sally, Linda and Lisa.

Race 1 started cleanly in a steady force 4 on the flood tide. James French (Gurnard) made a clean break from the pack and was first round the top mark followed by Dan Henderson with new crew Max Duce (TBYC), then Natalya Eyre and Ben Warrington (TBYC) and Alex Farrell (TBYC). After much jostling with the top four James French pulled back into the lead to take the win by 16 seconds on this traditional triangle sausage course.

Race 2 saw the bulk of the fleet right on the line at the start with 2 crews being OCS and pulled back by the race officers. Racing was tight all the way to the top mark with few rule infringements. James French had a comfortable lead on the top mark from Mark Harrison, Andrew Paterson, Natalya Eyre and Dan Henderson when James capsized on to the mark whilst bearing away. Despite a rapid recovery and taking a penalty turn, James was overhauled by the top pack on the reach to the gybe mark. On the next upwind leg and with a freshening breeze, Dan Henderson changed up a gear, got into his stride and pulled into the lead to take the gun by 14 seconds from Andrew Paterson.

Race 3 with the Thames Spring Ebb in full flow saw some interesting tactical changes on the start. To start at the committee boat end or the pin down tide was the question. The fleet was divided as this is where all up weight became critical on the Pico with the heavier crews opting for the up tide end and tacking straight off onto port. The lighter crews on the pin made excellent progress to reach the top mark in a tight bunch with the opposing group. 10 boats rounded in quick succession led by James, Dan, Andrew and Natalya. Shifting wind saw the top 5 fighting all the way down wind to the leeward mark with Dan inches behind James at the turn. On the final beat to the finish Dan and Max took the win by 2 seconds on corrected time from James.

The overnight positions gave Dan and Max a 2,1,1, with James 1,4,2, so all to play for on Sunday.

Sunday with 3 races scheduled – bright, sunny and a constant 30mph on the TBYC on line weather station gave Alan Willis no choice but to cancel the second day racing much to the relief of the competitors and safety boat crews.

Dan Henderson and Max Duce were crowned as the Pico 2008 National Champions, with James French runner up followed by Natalya Eyre / Ben Warrington in third, Ben Green in fourth and Mark Harrison who scored a consistent 5,5,5 in fifth.

The Wight Cable Cadet Cup (first under 15) was won by James French and the Designers Cup was won by Peter and Rupert Snow.

The Isle of Wight Trophy for first youngest with a combined age of 18 was won by Finlay Cullender and Alex Thomason.

Generous equipment prizes were awarded to the top 8 by Wet Suit Outlet, Henry Lloyd and Laser performance.

Prize giving culminated with Simon Ogden from Laser Performance pulling out the winning raffle ticket and presenting a brand new race sport Pico to an amazed Tom Harrison.

The weekend again proved the Pico to be an exceptional racing boat – great for learning tactics and capable of being raced in varied wind strengths by light and heavy weight crews for competitive racing.

A fantastic time was had by all on and off the water. The Pico class are a very friendly bunch – noted by not a single protest being made for infringements which made the protest committee redundant.

Our thanks to Shaun Christian for his fantastic skills in organising and running the Nationals. Thorpe Bay Yacht Club which excels at hosting these events, the race officers and spotters, Tony Clarke and his support crews, Howard Hawkes for acting as beach master, our sponsors and never forgetting of course the cadet mums for supplying us with home made cakes and hot chocolate.

Top 10 results.

Pos	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Net Pts.
1	Dan Henderson	Max Duce	TBYC	2	1	1	–	–	–	4
2	James French	–	Gurnard	1	4	2	–	–	–	7
3	Natalya Eyre	Ben Warrington	TBYC	4	3	4	–	–	–	11
4	Ben Green	–	Gurnard	6	6	3	–	–	–	15
5	Mark Harrison	–	Gurnard	5	5	5	–	–	–	15
6	Alex Farrell	–	TBYC	3	10	8.5	–	–	–	21.5
7	Isabel Duce	Athina Duce	TBYC	9	8	7	–	–	–	24
8	Peter Snow	Rupert Snow	TBYC	12	13	6	–	–	–	31
9	Mark Petty Mayor	Olivia Petty Mayor	TBYC	14	7	10	–	–	–	31
10	Tom Harrison	–	Gurnard	8	12	13	–	–	–	33