Chairmans Update Feb 2008

With all the festivities well behind us its now time to start thinking about the up and coming Contender season, and you’ll be pleased to know your BCA committee have been flat out organising another fun pack calendar for you all to choose from.

As usual, first up is the Dinghy Exhibition at Alexandra Palace (Not Crystal Palace as I said in my e-mail!) which takes place over the weekend 02/03 March. We will be having our normal stand and one of the boats on show will be Simon Mussels brand new Bonezzi – what better opportunity to come and criticise the way he’s fitted it out! The other boat will be Gary Langdowns "old" boat (must be nearly 2 years old now so getting on a bit in Garys book). This is actulally for sale so if you want to grab yourself  a well sorted fast boat, nows your chance. As normal we are after volunteers to help set up, man and dismantle the stand. This is always a good laugh and as helping with the stand gets you free entry to the show, why not make it a date and volunteer now (Don’t worry if you have never been involved before, there will be plenty of show veterans about to lead the way). All volunteers please contact our Secretary This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it who is organising the rota.

Then over the weekend of 15/16 March its time to dust off the old girl and wheel her down to Datchet Water for the first TT event of the year. This is always a great event and, as before, we will be holding an on-shore tuning session in the morning (before the first race). This is where the likes of  “Inland Champ” Matt Aston,  “TT holder” Gary Langdown and “winner of most things at some point” Stu Jones step down from their pedestals and bestow their knowledge on us lesser mortals. Joking aside, this is a great opportunity to pick the brains of some of the top UK Contender sailors whilst they throw a tape and a rig gauge at your boat. So, particularly if you are new to the class or in your early seasons, come on down to Datchet and get this years yachting off to a great start.

The rest of the TT programme is available on the web site  so while you’ve got your diary out you might as well write in a few more weekends before the other half nabs the dates for a visit to the in-laws. In fact this year is a good year to do as many TT events as you can since we have introduced a new scoring system which includes discards so you don’t have to do quite so many events. The new system should open up the possibility of winning and, as if that not enough, whilst not juggling babies (Congratulations on number 2 Ben),  Ben Holden is working hard to secure some sponsorship for the event which will hopefully result is some good prizes. The first 5 boats in the series will be put in a hat and the one drawn out will receive the prize. This will then be repeated for places 6-10. So, you don’t have to be a sailing God to be in with the chance of winning something. Get those TT event in your diary!

Talking of Holdens, Uncle Tim has now confirmed the arrangements for the 2008 National Championships which will be run under the burgee of  Pwllheli Sailing Club, Gwynedd, North Wales, LL53 5YT. The event will start on Saturday 10th May and finish on Tuesday 13th May. The briefing is set for Saturday 10th May at 1300 hours, with the first race at 1430 hours. Full details on the web site. This is a great sailing venue so get it on the list.

After an absence last year the Contender training event is back, but with a different format. We are holding 3 separate 2 day events across the country on the same weekend of 19/20 April. These events are being run by Contender Sailors for Contender Sailors and are aimed primarily the bottom 2 thirds of the fleet (although all are welcome!).  The events will be as follows: Weston: Run by Keith Paul, Burton: Run by Team Holden, Porthpean: Run by Stacy Bray.

This training will be FREE to all BCA members and will include both on the water and off the water sessions. To get the most from the training you need to at least be able to sail a Contender around the race track. If this is to be your first season in a Contender, or you are a little rusty, I strongly recommend you come to Datchet for some tips and then do Oxford for some practice. The training doesn’t want to be your first sail of the year!   We do need to get an idea of numbers for these training events so if you would like to attend please can you e-mail me direct This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it telling me name, boat number and chosen venue. More details on start times etc will be published nearer the time.

This years World Championships are in Canada and we are hoping to get a UK container out there. It promises to be a good event; certainly those who went last time recommend it, and with the dollar as it stands it should be pretty cheap once you’re over there. If you are considering going Tony White is the man doing the organizing so drop him an This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

That’s about it for now – see you on the water Nick Grace

BCA Chairman

GBR 700