Latest News
RS200 Nationals - Mounts Bay August 2024
The 200 nationals returned to Mounts Bay in Cornwall after a gap of 8 years, and the huge fleet of 129 boats were treat to an exciting week of mostly windy sailing. Former 200 fleet member Edd Whitehead sailing with nephew Thomas had a flying start and looked to be in a very good position even going into the final day with a 5th place as a discard and an extra discard coming into play, however Ben Whaley and Lorna Glen had turned in some super consistent results and put themselves into contention. In the end it came down to the last race with Ben/Lorna 2nd in the final race to take the title. Edd has come close on several occasions but as the current 400 National champion I don't suppose he was too upset, especially as it was a Parkstone 1-2, brilliant. Congratulations to Ben and Lorna, I know this will have felt very special to them both. Full report on Y&Y below:
RS200 Nationals 2024
Bowmoor Open Meeting 29th June 2024
A first visit to this club for the SW Circuit in 20 years, and it was a very warm welcome. On a lovely sunny day, in light and shifty winds, Duncan and Lorna Glen found their way through the holes and shifts to pick up 3 straight bullets in a row, meaning they could discard a 3rd place in the final race and still count only wins, great performance and a full write up can be found below:
SW Open Meeting Bowmoor
RS Sailing 30th Anniversary Regatta Hayling Island 17th/18th May 2024
Congratulations to Ben Whaley and Lorna Glen who took part in this multi-fleet weekend event, and came out as winners of the 36 strong 200 fleet. 4 wins and a 2nd place was a very dominant performance from this super talented team.
Bristol Corinthian Open 13th April 2024
Duncan and Lorna Glen made the journey to the first open of the SW Tour this year, and in a fleet of 25 boats they took 1st place in a very closely fought 4 race series, with the last race crucial to their success. Great start to the season, results and report below:
Bristol Corinthian Open
Open Meeting Round Up 2023
Ben Whaley/Lorna Glen had a stellar season, their pre-season commitment to preparation paying off big style with wins on the South West Tour at South Cerney, the Inland Championships at Grafham, finishing 2nd at the Spring Championships, 3rd at the RS Southerns and a superb 3rd overall at the Nationals. That led them to win the overall title for the Rooster Championship National Tour. They finished off with a fine 3rd place in the Endeavour trophy, where Parkstone 200's were strongly represented, in particular by the Glen family. Duncan and Kirsten Glen were also winners of the Parkstone Open to top off a fine year for the family!
RS200 Spring Championships Bristol Corinthian March 2023
2023 season got underway with a 2 day event at Bristol Corinthian, 4 races each day. Parkstone were represented by 2 boats, Edd Whitehead/Anna Horackova taking the win on the last race of the 2nd day from Ben Whaley/Bella Fellows, in a fleet of 18 boats. Edd is leaving the 200's this season to sail a 400 (expect he will be just as quick in a 400), while Ben has a new boat and is joining the fleet to sail with Lorna Glen (expect they will be near the front of the 200 fleet also). Great start to the season, report and drone footage here:
RS200 Spring Champs 2023
RS200 Inland Championships Grafham October 2022
What was already a great year for the Parkstone 200 fleet, Lorna Glen and Ben Whaley, just got a whole lot better. Ben and Lorna triumphed at the Inland Championships and in doing so add their names to an illustrious set of former winners. For Ben this comes on the back of a great performance at the Nationals and at the RS Southerns where he was crewing for Niki Birrell. This time, as helm, and with Lorna as crew they smashed the first day and then had a very solid second day to take the title. For Lorna it has been a stellar year, a fantastic performance at the Nationals with Duncan, winning the Youth Champs with Eve, and now the Inlands, wow. And under the radar I see that Duncan and Lorna also won the recent SW Tour event at Exe with a clean sweep of bullets, leaving them 2nd overall in the series going into the final event at Chew. Congratulations to you all, bravo.
Yachts and Yachting Inlands Report
RS200 Youth Championships Carsington SC September 2022
Congratulations to PYC sailors Eve Kennedy and Lorna Glen on winning the Youth Nationals, and in doing so becoming the first all female team to have won the trophy. Has been a great year for Lorna following a super performance at the Nationals and at St Mawes earlier in the year. Full report and results on Yachts and Yachting:
RS200 Youth Championships
RS200 Nationals Hayling Island SC August 2022
A record 182 strong fleet on one start line, madness it seems but somehow it worked, the long first beat and shorter second perhaps helping to create some gaps at the marks. 3 Parkstone boats representing the fleet, and they all had a great week. Niki Birrell went very well at the Southerns with Ben Whaley, so they teamed up again, and had a fabulous set of results including 4 top 10 finishes, coming 11th overall. Duncan and Lorna Glen also recorded a top 10 result and finished 33rd overall winning Duncan the title of 'Grandmaster'. Karen Oldale sailing with Jo Hewitson finished 42nd overall, and won both the 1st Ladies Helm and 1st Ladies Team titles. Full report and video below:
Y&Y Final Report
RS200 Nationals Video
RS Southern Championships/SW Ugly Tour 16th/17th July 2022
40 RS200's sailed up to the top triangle in glorious sunshine and a nice 10-15kt breeze on Saturday 16th July. 4 races were sailed on the Saturday and 2 on the Sunday, expertly managed by Bryan Drake and team, so much so that we were back ashore on Saturday before 4pm, plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine on the balcony and the free ice cream courtesy of Mr Whippy. Niki Birrell and Ben Whaley had the flake on top with a superb series finishing 3rd overall, with 4 PYC boats in the top 10. Doesn't really get any better than that, report from Y&Y:
RS Southern Championships
South West Ugly Tour: St Mawes 21st/22nd May 2022
Duncan and Lorna Glen made their now annual trip down to the Cornish coast to this fine event, and once again put in a sterling performance. Last year they were tied for 1st place but lost on countback, this year they were 3rd overall, but only 1 point behind the winners. Report on Y&Y:
SW Tour St Mawes
South West Tour: Exe SC Saturday 18th September 2021
Two Parkstone boats made the trip back to the venue for the Nationals for a 1 day open, with Edd Whitehead/Chris Baker taking 1st place and Duncan and Lorna Glen in 8th place in a fleet of 23. The result leaves Edd in 2nd place overall in the series, just 1 point from the lead, and Duncan/Lorna in 4th place overall and still in with a good chance to podium with one event still to go on the 23rd October at Chew Valley. Full report on Y&Y below:
SW Tour Exe 2021
Poole Week: Sunday 22nd - Friday 27th August 2021
Poole Week was blessed with sunshine the entire week, however the high pressure meant winds were in an arc between North West through to South East, tricky conditions for the race team and the sailors. 6 full days of racing were held with no races lost, 15 RS200's entered including new members to the fleet Matt and Laura in 975, a big welcome. Georgie and Dan Vickers won with a day to spare, with Dave and Jan Pointer in a very solid second place, and completing the family theme Peter Loretto and daughter Lucy finished 3rd with a fine finish on the last day.
South West Tour: Parkstone Saturday 24th July 2021
The SW Ugly Tour sponsored by West Country Boat Repairs returned to Parkstone on a day which started with rain, something unheard of during the recent heatwave. The rain quickly subsided, however the wind did also, meaning a painful wait ashore was endured by the sailors while Bryan Drake and race team sat in the top triangle checking the windspeed. The sun came out, ice cold drinks were dished out to keep everyone cool and hydrated and eventually the breeze came, only enough time to fit 2 races in, but everyone especially those that had travelled were grateful for that. Super performance by the Parkstone team with 3 of the top 5 places, including Richard and Lila Edwards 2nd overall. Ice lollies as we tallied off were a fab (no pun intended) addition to the post race treats, followed by a BBQ and beer/Pims in the sun, it all turned out nice! Report on Y&Y below:
SW Tour Parkstone 2021
South West Tour: St Mawes Saturday 22nd May 2021
Duncan and Lorna Glen made the long trip down to Cornwall for what was scheduled to be a 2 day event, but with forecast bad for the Sunday, was shortened to 1 day with extra races. The venue looked amazing and they put in a fine performance, finishing 2nd overall on countback, the result coming down to the final run of the last race. Report from Y&Y below and a super drone video of Race 1 also:
South West Tour Open St Mawes
Drone Footage of Race 1
RS200 Nationals Torbay August 2019
Parkstone were represented by 3 boats at the Nationals this year, with Karen Oldale sailing with Jo Hewitson finishing 21st in a fleet of 104, and in the process winning the prizes for 1st Lady Helm and 1st All Ladies Team. It was a tough week with plenty of wind and waves to test the stamina. Full report, results and video on Yachts and Yachting below:
RS200 Nationals Report
SW Tour/GP/SEAS Open Sat July 13th 2019
A triple header of an Open meeting, representing the two largest regional tours and the National Circuit, all encompassed in a 1 day open meeting out in the bay. There were some clouds (yes actual clouds) when competitors were rigging and then sailing out to the bay, raising a few eyebrows from the visitors. But in line with tradition, the sun soon same out and people suddenly were way overdressed. Bryan Drake and his fantastic race team wasted no time in setting a course and getting us going. With the wind from the North (NW to start gradually swinging to N), the wind off the land meant shifty, patchy and generally complicated conditions. Some top teams found themselves further down the fleet at times than they are used to, so consistency was going to be key. Maria Stanley, racing in her first event in the 200 since winning the Nationals last year, and sailing with all round superstar Alan Roberts, took the win in a close battle with Alistair Norris and Helen Summersgill. Owain Hughes and Poppy Husband were top Parkstone boat in 4th place, an excellent result in a top quality fleet of 41 boats. 17 Parkstone boats represented the home fleet, which is one of the reasons the class love to come to Parkstone. Our beautiful location, top race management and fabulous club house are others, but the BBQ and free beer and Pimms are definitely an attraction too, it makes the event one for racing and socialising, and after 6 hours on the water in the sun the fleet definitely needed rehydrating. Next on the SW Tour is the double header weekend at Exe and Starcross, we are hoping to get a 'Parkstone on Tour' group to go to those two events and have a big social in the middle.
Report from Yachts and Yachting
Photos in the Parkstone 200's Facebook Page (see link on this page).
2019 Season Preview
The season kicks off on Saturday 13th April, before that we have our class dinner and prizegiving on Saturday 30th March at the club. Really great that we have Irene and Donna joining us from the Ladies fleet, let's hope that is the start of a trend. A big welcome back to the fleet to Will Storey who will no doubt be straight into the mix at the front, expecially as he will be sailing Stewart Bowen's super tuned boat 1652. Also welcome to Libby Courage, joining us from Poole YC and who has lots of 200 experience. Martha and Jez Nicholls joined us late last season, so look forward to their debut on the race track this year. New Class Captain Owain Hughes has lined up 5 mini-series for us, plus we have the National GP Circuit coming to town in July for a 1 day special out in the bay. Nationals are at Torbay, perfect for an August family holiday, and we are hoping to do a Parkstone 200's road trip to the back to back opens at Exe/Starcross in September, with a big social in the middle. Poole Week does not clash with the Nationals, so that should mean a good turnout and great racing as we had in 2018. Not long now people, start dusting down your boats (or a bit of weeding in Mike and Caroline's case).
RS200 Nationals 20th-24th August 2018: WPNSA
Parkstone had a fantastic representation at the 2018 Nationals, with 11 boats heading down to Portland for the RS Games. Light winds and a very high standard fleet meant that individual boat results varied dramatically race to race, depending on small margins. Edd and Emma however opened up with a race win and a 3rd to lead overall after the first day. Day 2 however didn't go so well for Edd, nor many of the Parkstone teams, discards were pretty much fully used and the pressure was on. However, day 3 dawned and we were finally sent out into the bay to race. Owain and Poppy had their best day of the regatta with a 5th and a 9th, Edd and Emma a 2nd and a 7th. Dan and Georgie were keeping it pretty consistent and quietly moving upwards (not an easy thing in a fleet where they were finishing boats on average every 3 seconds!). Day 4 and finally the wind came, two great races in the bay brought Edd and Emma to within 1 point of the championship leaders. A final day showdown was on the cards. Forecast for the last day was full on breeze and rising, so an early start and racing in the harbour ensured both races went ahead. In the first race Edd/Emma led all the way round with overall leaders Maria/Rob hot on their tails, meaning that going into the final race they were level on points. However, those day 2 big scores were hanging over Edd. Pre-start match racing ensued, and Maria was able to push Edd down the fleet, despite a final run charge by Edd and Emma gaining 40 places, it was not enough. Brilliant performance though and what drama. Dan and Georgie exceeded their expectations and placed 7th, sensational. It was a Parkstone 10-12 with Sam Whaley in 10th showing great credentials in a double hander, ex Parkstone 200 sailor Josh Flack in 11th, and Owain and Poppy in 12th (tremendous comeback from where they were after recording results in the 50's and 60's in the first 2 days!). It was a tough week, more psychologically than physically, with such close intense racing. The results do show that we are lucky at Parkstone to have such a great fleet to race amongst, the standard is not that shabby!
RS200 Nationals Report
RS Summer Championships 23rd/24th June 2018
The Summer of sun rolled on, with another glorious baking hot weekend. Saturday afternoon brought in the sea breeze, so the 42 RS200's that had made the journey were treated to 4 races in the bay, not quite planing conditions but full hiking and great racing. For the first time we had an on the water jury boat and that seemed to have the desired effect of making the mark roundings a lot cleaner than they often have been. No black flag needed either all weekend, and only 1 boat suffered the U flag, quite a change from normal racing at these events. Sunday, with the earlier start, was always going to be a risk, and the sea breeze did not materialise in time, so sadly racing was canned. Congrats to Maria Stanley and Rob Henderson who won the event against what was a top class fleet (over half the top 20 from last years Nationals were here, plus previous National Champs James Peters and Jo Wright). Georgie Vickers and Lucy Macgregor were top Parkstone boat in 5th, Owain and Poppy were runners up in Silver Fleet, and Tony and Josh were winners of Bronze Fleet. Full report on Y&Y:
RS Summer Champs
SW Ugly Tour Open 19th May 2018
The event is clearly on the slide, only 47 boats this year instead of the 48 last year. Still more than double the turnout of any other 200 event this season, it's still going pretty strong. Sunshine yet again, but only a light breeze, just enough to get the full 4 races in. Congrats to Edd and Millie finishing 2nd overall, and special thanks to all the volunteers that once again made it a fantastic afternoon. Report now up on Yachts and Yachting, with the Tottens featuring on the cover shot:
SW Tour Open 2018
Event Photos from Adrian Whaley
2018 Season: Reasons to be cheerful
Start of the 2018 season is not too far away now, and it looks like it could be a cracker. New clubhouse just opened, the RS Summer Champs coming to Parkstone in June, return of the South West Tour, new boats in the fleet thanks to the growing popularity of the 200 with youth teams. With a host of Olympic talent already in the fleet (Niki Birrell, Hannah Mills, Nick Dempsey, the Whaley brothers Sam and Ben), plus the established gold fleet sailors, competition at the front will be even more intense this year. An additional mini series has been added to the schedule making 5 in total, plus a Nationals on our doorstep that looks like it could be epic. Great time to be sailing a 200 at Parkstone. It all kicks off Saturday 31st March with the Easter Series. Anyone interested in crewing should contact Class Captain Dave Pointer, as our crews list is being updated ready for the new season. Before that we have the Class dinner and prizegiving in the new clubhouse Saturday 24th March.
Winter Series Latest
Fantastic conditions for the Winter Series so far has made for some of the best racing of the season. Empty harbour and full on planing conditions have brought plenty of smiles to the 200 fleet! AGM/Curry scheduled for Wednesday 22nd November, planning for 2018 season is well underway with two big events already lined up - the RS Summer Championships will be held at Parkstone on the weekend of 23rd/24th June with all RS fleets racing on 3 courses out in the bay, plus the South West Tour will be back at Parkstone on the 19th May for their flagship open event. Next season there will be more focus on linking up with the Youth Fleet where 200's are now popping up, plus Poole YC who have a startup 200 fleet also.
Summer Series Ends
Summer Saturday's finished in style with a blast around the harbour, perfect 200 conditions, and the preceding week with the final mini-series of the year. Congratulations to all the series winners, and the individual trophy winners too (Big Saturday and Big Wednesday). During the course of the season some new boats have joined the fleet, which has been great to see, and the link up with the Youth Fleet has worked well with some new boats in the Youth Fleet and crewing opportunities. Looking forward to Winter series next, a tie up with Poole YC (RS200 mini series on the 14th October), and Parkstone boats performing well at the remaining open meetings (congratulations to Edd and Karen who won the most recent open at Starcross on the 30th Sept - report below from Y&Y)
Starcross Open
2017 RS200 Nationals Tenby/ Poole Week
A fleet of 100 boats enjoyed the sunshine at this pretty seaside town in Pembrokeshire, with 7 Parkstone boats representing the fleet. Highlights of the week included Georgie and Dan's fantastic 3rd place in the final race of the event, Niki Birrell sailing in a dress (punishment for trying to put Kate's boots on thinking he had shrunk them in the wash), Sam and Jade as trolley angels saving us from the longest beach walk ever, Noah in his Nemo outfit, free ice creams on day 3, and the Parkstone team BBQ. Edd and Millie came an amazing 4th overall, Georgie and Dan made the top 20 (bragging rights to Georgie), Owain and Mari one place back in 21st, and Stewart and Jack picked up 2nd place in Silver fleet with 23rd overall. Meanwhile, Chris and Alice Bailey look to have dominated Poole Week in the RS Fleet, winning 10 of the 13 races. Well done everybody!
Results and Reports:
RS200 Nationals Results
Poole Week Results
SW Tour Open 15th July
An amazing turnout of 48 boats this year, the largest fleet for a South West Tour Open ever, with a large and strong home fleet representation. Pete Loretto and team did a great job running the racing in the top triangle, 4 races in 15-23kts of wind. Top boat yet again, and red hot favourites now to go on and win the Nationals, Matt Mee and Emma Norris - they have won this event so many times now we could almost name it after them. Edd and Millie at least took one race win, and there were top performances from a number of Parkstone boats, Owain Hughes/Ian Mairs in 5th overall being a standout. Shore team had to go order more food for the BBQ, noone predicted a turnout quite that big, but there was plenty of beer and Pimms to wash away the salty spray. Great work Team Parkstone! Report from Yachts and Yachting below:
South West Tour Open Report
2017 Spring Series Ends, Summer Starts
Summer Wednesday series kicked off on 28th June with a wet, miserable evening, after a couple of weeks of glorious sunshine, a reminder that the English Summer is not guaranteed. Big Wednesday trophy has been put on hold for a week. The Spring Wednesday series came down to a nailbiting finish with Edd/Millie locked on the same points as Rich/Paru, a straight shoot out for the trophy, in which Edd/Millie came out victorious. Spring Saturday's won by Georgie and Dan in an almost equally close battle with Karen and Jo. As predicted, the hot favourites for the team trophy (see below) delivered, but only winning by a single point on the final race of the series, an extra dimension to the competition.
Elsewhere, a great turnout of Parkstone boats at the RS200 Summer Champs in Hayling, with 5 PYC boats in the top 20, in a fleet of over 50. We had a link up day with the Youth Fleet in June, giving youngsters at the club a chance the experience the fun of 200 sailing, more to come on this as we develop the ties with the stars of the future. July looks a busy month starting with the second of the mini-series, then Poole Regatta and in the middle of the month the SW Tour Open meeting in the Top Triangle.
Fantastic to see new teams joining the fleet also, most recently a big welcome to Olympic medallists Hannah Mills and Nick Dempsey, and with luck some new Youth teams soon!
2017 Spring Series Latest
24 boats have made appearances so far, with Wednesdays averaging over 15 and Saturdays just under 9. Girl Power has been the dominant theme with Karen and Georgie helming to 6 wins between them from the 9 races completed. Saturday 13th May was the first of the mini series and did not disappoint, classic mini series breeze and a great turnout made for some fast, frantic and frankly knackering racing. The windward mark was as ever not for the faint hearted, and the downwinds a blast, most came away unscathed with the exception of poor Pete and Juliette who had a tangle with a post (the post won). Team trophy is shaping up nicely with the pre-season bookies favourites (Edd/Millie, Stewart/Roy and Mike/Caroline) leading the way. Great to see some new boats out on the water, 356 (Gerry and Andy) and 1313 (Ben and Adrian).
2017 Season
Class dinner and prizegiving at the club on Saturday April 1st at the club, link to photos from the evening: RS200 Prizegiving Dinner
Not long to go till season gets under way. Calendar is filling up nicely with dates lined up for the mini-series, an open meeting, and 4 training dates confirmed. Some have started already, the SW Tour kicked off at Bristol Corinthian on 18th March, with gusts of 33kts it was no gentle introduction. Great result for the Parkstone teams, Edd Whitehead/Karen Oldale 2nd, Pete Eyre/Ian Mairs 6th and Owain Hughes/Jade Bowen 7th, link to the Y&Y report: Bristol SW Tour Open Report
2016 Winter News
We are well into the Winter Series now, 12 boats have been out racing with 4 separate race winners and we have not missed a single race due to conditions. The final race of the Winter series is on the 18th December, and there will be a class dinner at the club to end the season.
Our AGM was held on the 9th November, at which we elected a new Class Captain for the 2017 season, Dave Pointer. 2017 is lining up to be another good year, we have a date confirmed for the SW Ugly Tour to visit us on Saturday 15th July, and we will have our usual mix throughout the year of club racing, mini-series and training events. The team trophies we kicked off this year (Spring and Summer) were a big hit and we will be running those again in 2017, the Gold-Silver-Bronze rankings are being calculated as we speak, and the draw will happen at the class dinner and prizegiving.
Finally, it was a great result for Edd and Georgie/Karen at the RS200 Winter Champs at Weymouth 26th/27th November, finishing second overall to Olympic star and current Endeavour champion Ben Saxton sailing with Izzy Hamilton. Report on that event below:
http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/193392/Lennon-RS200-and-RS-Feva-Winter-Championship
Poole Week and RS200 Nationals 2016
These events took place in the same week of August, with great performances by Parkstone boats at both. Congratulations to Poole Week winners Stewart and Jack who won the RS Fleet ahead of Owain and Jade. Meanwhile at Mounts Bay in Cornwall, in a hugely competitive fleet of 97 boats, Edd and Kate were top Parkstone boat in 11th place, one place ahead of Karen and Jo (Hewitson) on countback. Dan and Georgie improved on last year to finish just outside the top 20 with solid results all week, with Andy and Kate just behind.
Magine Marine National Circuit Open 16th/17th July 2016
Great turnout of 38 boats for our second open meeting of the year. 2 days out in the bay in glorious sunshine, 3 races per day ably managed by our very own Peter Loretto (thanks Peter, well all apart from Black Flagging me in the first race). Congrats to Matt Mee and Emma Norris who, as they did in our first open, claimed the win in fine style, despite Emma being ill all weekend and barely able to climb into the boat. Matt and Emma return on the 23/24th July to run our fleet training, hopefully in better health!. Report of the Open on Y&Y:
Parkstone GP Open 2016
Mini Series 25th June 2016
Many thanks to Dan and Georgie for running the training morning, and then the mini-series in the afternoon. Bright sunshine, winds from 15-25 knots and 13 RS200's racing, fantastic day.
RS500 Nationals 2016
Congratulations to RS200 fleet members Edd Whitehead and Karen Oldale on becoming RS500 National champions, held at Lymington Town SC the weekend of 18th/19th June. Edd swapped his 200 for the weekend with the owner of a 500, and with minimum on the water prep time with Karen rocked up and won the trophy. Peter Eyre and Ian Mairs had a storming last day to come through to 4th overall, very commendable. Video of the event, which was part of the RS Southerns, below.
SW Tour Open 14th May 2016
Club is hosting 2 open meetings this year, the South West Tour regard the Parkstone open as their 'flagship' event, and we did not disappoint. Glorious sunshine again, a great shore team welcoming the 20 visiting teams with the now traditional bacon rolls and tea in the yard while people rigged. 36 boats completed 4 races in the top triangle in a shifty and variable North wind. Former National Champions Matt Mee and Emma Norris came out as winners, as they did last year, with great consistency in the conditions. Back ashore for BBQ and beer, what more could you want. Report is now up on Yachts and Yachting, with photos courtesy of Sailing Scenes.
Y&Y Report on Parkstone Open
Class Dinner and Prizegiving Saturday 12th March 2016
Congratulations to all the trophy winners presented at at the class dinner on Saturday evening, including the holders of this years 'Swimmers Cup' Mike and Caroline. Draw for the Team Trophy was also made and there are some cracking Gold/Silver/Bronze combinations, everyones tip was the combo of Rich/Paru, Stewart/Roy and Shaun/Marie, but time will tell......
2016 Dates
Check out the Sailing Calendar link for all the 2016 race and training dates, including all the Open meeting dates for the National and South West Tour's. We are hosting 2 Open Meetings again this year, the SW Ugly Tour returns on Saturday 14th May (4 races back to back in the top triangle followed by BBQ and beer in the yard) and then over the weekend of July 16th/17th we will be hosting the National Circuit (2 top days of racing out in the bay). 4 Mini Series scheduled in April, May, July and September), 5 training dates across the year, plus all the club racing and the open's to choose from (the Nationals are at Mount's Bay, the Southern's at Lymington), then there is Poole Week, Poole YC Regatta in the top triangle, Bart's Bash and of course all the social's. It all kicks off with Easter Series (26th-28th March) before club racing begins Saturday 16th April. Wednesday's are going to be epic this year I expect, with so many hot new line-ups, and the Spring series begins 20th April. And this year we introduce the team trophy, who will be the first winner of that, teams to be drawn before the series commences. You might be waxing up your ski's right now, but then it will be time to polish those hulls....
Winter Series 2015
The short (and warm) Winter Series came to an end with a fantastic finale in 18-25 kts, Rich and Paru winning the race and series, there might be lots of new contenders appearing, but it was the founders of the fleet who once again showed their class. There was, however, very little to separate the top four, and with some new helm/crew combinations for next season it promises to make for a great battle at the front. With so many new teams joining this season, and the promise of some more next, the racing (and indeed socialising) right across the fleet should be fantastic. See you all in the New Year!
2015 Summer Saturdays End
Summer sailing came to an end on the 26th September with 'Big Saturday', two trophies to be decided on this final day. 12 boats competed as teams of two for the Big Saturday trophy, and also individually for the Summer Saturday series. Team Chris/Lindsay in 1230 and Tom/Amy in 855 took the Big Saturday trophy for the lowest combined score. Ian and Jade in 878 were crowned winners of the Summer Saturday series, making it three years in a row that Ian has picked up this trophy. Good to see Bruce and Katy at the club on the day the 'Moyes Mug' was won, hopefully they will be fit and racing again next season.
2015 Mini-Series Finale
Dan and Georgie Vickers win the overall mini-series trophy on the final day of the series, pipping Ian and Jade. Classic mini-series conditions (18-20 knots) saw 11 boats racing on Saturday 12th Sept, with guest stars Jon Gorringe and Nikki Bass winning on the day, only 3 points separating the first 4 places over the 6 race series. Thanks to Pete and Alice for running the racing.
Poole Week 2015
Epic Poole Week by all accounts, not one for the faint hearted. Congratulations to Stewart and Jack for toughing it out and coming home with the Poole Week trophy, some great reports of the racing on Yachts and Yachting, with the winning 200 team featuring on Thursday's report of the race day in the Bay:
Big thanks to Chris and Alice Bailey for hosting the Class BBQ at chez Bailey Sandbanks on Wednesday evening, hopefully some pics of that soon.
New Teams for 2015
A big welcome to Ben and Sophie who have just joined the fleet in sail number 601, to Pete and Juliette who have also just joined in sail number 825, and to Stuart and Jill in 1336. Ben has 'previous' in an RS800, so no doubt will be making a rapid rise as soon as he and Sophie get to grips with the boat, Pete and Juliette are relatively new to it all but while not flying jets around the world have been getting some experience in one of the club Feva's and Pete crewing with Tony. Stuart has been doing some crewing in the fleet and Jill learning the skills in the Ladies Pico's. Great to have you join us.
SW Ugly Tour Parkstone 15th August 2015
What a superb day that turned out to be. 30 boats racing, sunshine all day, a great event made all the better by the fantastic shore team of Michelle, Sally, Amanda and Rachel who made our visitors so welcome and looked after us with tea and bacon rolls, and then the BBQ and beer after. As the report on Y&Y said, "If Carlsberg did Opens....". Report and pics on Y&Y at link below, and more pics and a fab video (very professional I must say!) courtesy of Georgie, all on our Facebook Page.
2015 RS200 Nationals at Abersoch
Well done to all the PYC boats that competed at the Nationals, in what looked like some pretty testing conditions at times. Top PYC boat were Nick and Alice who improved all week to only just miss out on a top 10 place, and just pipping Edd and Kate who finished 13th. Also improving all week were Andy and Karen in their first Nationals together, who climbed the ranks to 18th overall by the end of the week.Tom and Amy had a solid week including an 8th in the opening race, and Dan and Georgie at their first Nationals had a great week finishing in the top half of the fleet, with Niki (in various boats) and Sarah in 40th. Video montage of the event well worth viewing, some great shots of Andy and Karen in 1490, some great close up of Tom and Amy, and Edd and Kate appear for about half a second.