Busy Bosham sailors on the crest of a wave
Bosham Sailing Club held their third ‘Super Sunday’ sailing event for cadets and their Optimists, Toppers and RS Fevas.
This new fast sprint fleet series has gone from strength to strength this summer demonstrating not only the huge demand there is for sailing this summer but also the enthusiasm for this style of racing.
The hugely experienced and efficient family Race Team of Richard, Mandy and Sam Stirrup run three backto-back fast sprint races for each of the four fleets sailing.
Incredibly, they managed to get an impressive 12 races done from their committee boat in the 90-minute high water window in the sheltered pool of Cutmill.
Optimist sailor Oliver, aged 12, said: “I missed my friend’s skateboarding party so I could do today’s Super Sunday – it’s so much fun!”
Typically, 30-40 youngsters aged eight to 16 take part and this was no exception even with the possibility of heavy downpours forecast.
The club also had the honour of Chris Preston, RYA chairman and the Bosham Sailing Club commodore, watching the action.
Paddy Mirams, commodore, said: “The Super Sundays create a fantastic vibe generally around the club, but especially with the mini awards that are handed out after the brilliant race briefing by Mandy Stirrup, assistant race oficer, the buzz in the dinghy park, the smiles on all the sailors as they crossed the finish line and the high speed starts. A very Super Sunday indeed.”
BOSHAM DAY BOAT FLEET
Eight boats from the Bosham Yachting World Day Boat fleet travelled to Cornwall for DB Week 2021.
The event was hosted by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club in Falmouth. The race programme consisted of five points races, a long-distance race and an ‘Opportunity’ race for crews and ladies to take the helm.
All races were held in the very picturesque sailing area of the Carrick Roads.
With the exception of one rainy day, we were very lucky with the weather with light to medium breezes and lots of sunshine.
Racing for the 16-strong fleet was superbly managed by principal race officer Neil Hopkins with and an excellent team on the committee boat and very experienced mark layers.
After an extremely close series, with four different race winners, the final overall result was only decided on the last reach of the last race.
Alastair and Jacqui Seaton secured second place in that race and were relieved to see that their closest rival for the title, Peter Hewitt, only managed to finish in fourth place.
The DB national championships have been held since 1957, and this is the first time that a Bosham boat has won the event.
Bosham also excelled this year with three club boats finishing in the top four places overall.
Overall results: 1 Alastair & Jacqui Seaton, Bosham SC -7pts; 2 Peter Hewitt & Chris Lockett, Poole YC - 8; 3 Mark & Shirley Stanton, Bosham
SC - 9pts; 4 David & Fiona Macfarlane, Bosham SC - 16pts; 5 Geoff & Margaret Pell, Shearwater SC - 20pts. Ladies race winner- Fiona Macfarlane Bosham SC; Crews race winner- Jacqui Seaton Bosham SC.