YachtsandYachting.com Forum Members Open at Broxbourne Sailing Club
by Mark Jardine 16 Oct 2012 11:32 BST
13-14 October 2012
Prestart on Saturday during the YachtsandYachting.com Forum Members Open at Broxbourne © x1testpilot
Nobody knew how the inaugural forum open meeting would go, the venue was new to many of us, most of us had never met face-to-face and the range of boats entered was diverse. In the end it was one of the most fun sailing events that I can remember.
On the water Dan Holman in his Punk was dominant – so much so that Maxibuddah was heard commenting that the Punk should have its PY looked at (yes, that is a Phantom sailor complaining about a Portsmouth yardstick!).
Racing was held on tight courses with legs going to every corner of Broxbourne lake. This kept the fleet within 'banter range' at all times – the sailors may have been off the forum for once but the chat continued as normal! I was kindly loaned a D-One by Suntouched Sailboats – a great fun boat to sail and very comfortable with the high racks, but hard work with the constant kite hoists and drops on a small lake!
A great feature of the event was the 'boat swap' race. During the first three races on Saturday, everyone chatted about their various boats and had a go in someone else's boat to see what it was like. This proved a great success and was a pretty unique chance to trial a boat in a semi-formal racing environment. I got to have a go in the Punk – as beautiful a boat to sail as she is to look at and sporting a very innovative under-deck mainsheet system.
An excellent dinner was held at Broxbourne Sailing Club in the evening with jovial chat and banter. This carried on until the club members who were running the bar said they really had to get home and lock up the clubhouse. With the stragglers not keen to venture outside into a now freezing night just yet, pondmonkey put forward the plan of taking a bottle of rum, some coke and a glass full of ice to the gents changing rooms (which were still accessible by a coded door) to continue the evening's festivities. While this was fun at the time, it was universally decided in the morning that it wasn't such a good idea...
Sunday dawned windless and the cold campers shook the ice of their tents, sleeping bags and beanies to enjoy excellent bacon (or egg) butties and coffee in the clubhouse.
A cold and windless Sunday morning during the YachtsandYachting.com Forum Members Open at Broxbourne © maxibuddah
A fitful breeze did arrive and three more races were held. Places were always changing as gusts (and complete holes in the wind) came and went leading to even more on the water banter than on the first day!
As first events go this was just about perfect. The racing was competitive but definitely focused on having fun rather than winning at all costs. This gave the whole event a fantastic relaxed atmosphere. Rodney and Sue from Suntouched Sailboats did a fantastic job in organising the event and at short notice and organised a selection of excellent prizes throughout the fleet including Sandiline vouchers & goodies, bottles of wine for all and three copies of Clive Eplett's 'Club Sailor: from Back to Front' book. Broxbourne Sailing Club was hugely accommodating to us - the club members and staff gave us the ideal relaxed setting.
Will this type of event happen again? Without a doubt.
Quotes after the event: (read more on the forum thread)
X1testpilot: "Thanks again to all for a great event - I loved trying other boats - racing a Finn (thanks Nick) and having a go in the Punk - (thanks Daniel it's a great boat - very slippery hull, but surprisingly stable - what's not to like!). And dinner was great too - yum!"
Ruscoe: "Well what a weekend. It signified the start (and end) of my Olympic campaign! Loved sailing the Finn, but i can't cope with a man Rodney's age beating me. So i quit."
iGRF (in reply to Ruscoe saying he should get a Punk built): "I offered him a really great deal, fair exchange, it for the V twin he designed for me ;-)"
Maxibuddah (Phantom sailor): "It looks like Dan's punk is the bandit boat of choice."
Pondmonkey: "best rule observation... someone borrowing Peaky's Blaze, hits nigh on every buoy on the 4th race Saturday... but it was 'only the racks, and they don't count'."
iGRF (in reply to Thunder Road's post mentioning his Babysham cocktail): "We'll be going to the high court, seeking an exclusion order, get an injunction preventing you from being within 200 metres of a bar and its operating devices."
Rodney: "Count how many 1664s I have had as the evening progresses. I lost count after 6 pints."
Neptune (replying to a photo of pondmonkey during the post-dinner drinks): "Why is James in fancy dress?" (we're still not entirely sure why...)
Fraggle: "Was a great weekend, fun sailing and social. I never thought I'd end up drinking rum in the gents changing rooms!"
Rockhopper: "Wish I could have completed the whole weekend's sailing but my little daughter comes first and she tells me on the way home that it was a great fun event too so much praise from a seven yr old too."
Pondmonkey: "I think it would be hard to top Broxbourne's hospitality..."
Redders: "Great weekend, many thanks to Rodney and Sue, Broxbourne SC, and Mark Already looking forward to next year!"
iGRF: "So all in all the best dinghy event I've been to so far, it was what I imagined they would be like, they're not, this was a bit special sailing with friends you may be physically meeting for the first time but feel like you've known for ever. Sailing, drinking, bantering on and off the water, a great time."
Full results can be found on the Broxbourne Sailing Club website
(scored using Spray EasyTimer / www.sprayeasytimer.com)