Latest News and Events.
Scottish Championships.
On the 17th September, Geoff will be joined by Will "The Hat" Brooks and Neville Herb for the last road trip of the year to the frozen North...Well Helensburgh actually. They will be going to the first Scottish Championships and the GSS North Clyde Regatta have agreed to give the SB3 a start if they can muster more than 8 boats...Well at the last count it looks like nine...So Geoff will be booking them up at the end of the month....
Rescue Boat Sunday 20th June.
Well as Geoff did not get his water fix on Saturday as it was too windy to sail and the tide was out, he decided to do another rescue boat. Well along with Dan they rescued 1 Mirror, 2 Fireballs and took a load of pictures. The wind started at about 20K, and the racing from the committee boat was exciting to see by the end of the afternoon the wind had dropped considerably. So go HERE to view the pictures. A great job by Adrian Gibbons as PRO and his team in setting a course in what must be said was not the easiest of conditions. The BODS even looked quite fast and the Merlin Rockets were out in their normal mass.
Rescue Boat Thursday 17th June.
Well over 20 took to the water last night in the Thursday evening pursuit race. Craig Bond was very proudly sailing his daughters Mirror with a TB4E sticker on the back and Ben Eeles in his Mirror was also seen with the one as well. The weather was quite windy and the Mirrors managed to hold off the fleet of Bods (Brightlingsea One Design) until the last five minutes. Phill Rust won in his Bod with Rob White following closely behind. There was a strange moaning sound of OUCH...OUCH...OUCH coming from a Laser then Geoff realised that Danny Willet was sailing a Laser and realising that...Yes they do hurt..Rosie and Roger did well in the Fireball and the Contender capsized (of course). A great night out and if Geoff got too close then he says sorry. The only complaint was from Phil Rust and his crew but hey they were winning the race (Thursdays is fun night we thought) and he wins the grumpy old man prize for the night. So please go here for some pictures and feel free to right mouse click and save them...
Morgat Eurocup.
Well after the boys drove for 10 hours from Calais to Morgat in the battle bus with the only problem being Russ insisting on trying to tow at 75mph and having to stop for fuel they arrived to be greeted by the sunshine and a gentle breeze.
Well Friday dawned and the guys set off with the 20 other Laser SB3's that had rocked up to Morgat. At the end of day one they were 18th after being a bit frustrated with the light winds.
Upon waking on Saturday the guys were greeted to 20+ knots winds and rain. They sailed 4 races and had results of 10,9,10,9 and were now lying 14th overall.
The racing on Sunday was back to the light stuff and despite "softening" up the rig, they ended up the day with a 15, 11, and 7 and were now 12th.
Monday and the boys were a bit demob happy and got an 11, and last in the last. Despite this they ended up 13th overall and were very happy with this. They feel that with the level of competition and the different wind strengths then this is a great result....
There were some fantastic pictures taken at the event. A young guy called Quentin Dural is HERE also Pierrick Contin HERE The shots from the helicopter are great.
Rescue Boat 22nd May
Step aside David Bailey...Mitchell Bond is in the house. As the boat is packed away and ready to go to Morgar next week, Geoff decided to do the rescue boat for the sailing club. Mitchell Bond asked to come along and armed with camera out they went. The weather was fantastic and Geoff placed the boat and the pictures that Mitchell took are amazing. It was a pursuit race with Millie Newman and Jessica Rust won in their Mirror second was Dan and Peter in their Merlin as they overtook Sarah and Rebecca Bines in the last 20 seconds. A great afternoons sailing was had by all and there are 168 pictures to look at so go here and if there are any that you like, please feel free to take a copy....Thanks Mitchell for your help and for taking these great shots....
Rescue Boat 3rd May.
Well as their was no SB3 sailing today Geoff decided to do rescue boat, and what a day to choose. Only 12 boats braved the conditions and. Geoff drove and he had Will Bridle handling the cameras. The guy is a natural and the shots that he took are FANTASTIC.. The shots of the Tornado are great... Pity about their capsize and mast breaking though. Will was called on to help with a very tricky rescue and was a great help with ensuring that we all got home safe and sound.. See you soon Will.. OK so go here and see the great shots that Will took.
Mirror European Champions.
Well they came... They saw... Then they so very nearly conquered. When you get, guys as motivated as them but the wind picks up and you are 58 Kilos lighter than the next boat then the elastic band upwind was always going to be stretched... But what a release downwind. The guys went around the top mark in 4th position every time in the 3 lap race but by the bottom mark they were 2nd...This is where they finished. Geoff was over the moon and cannot compliment their tactical skills at spotting lay lines and gybing angles look at the video on the video page...Not very windy at the start... But these guys ROCK.. They even kept the kite dry!!! The did ALL the tactics and called ALL of the tacks and gybes... Geoff wanted to wimp out at some stages and gybe away from the shore... They kept saying "keep going" and they called it perfectly...
Will "The Hat" Brooks...Onboard for Morgat.
With Chris being stuck in the States for 2 weeks on a 2 day business trip he has had to pull out of the Eurocup event at Morgat...After an initial panic, Geoff made a call to Will...He said yes instantly and the TEAM from Rutland are back together for this great event. Just to put Will's commitment into context...He will drive for 8 hours from Falmouth to Dover and then join Geoff and Russ there for the trip to Morgat...Much respect fella....We know that both Geoff and Russ are very excited to have you onboard again and as Will said "This is Sea sailing and you don't get 50 degree shifts out there"...The man is really up for this...
B14 and 29er Open meeting.
The TB4E camera was in the hands of Craig and Jayne Bond this weekend. Some interesting pictures. Despite the tide going out for most of the day and the wind being somewhat "fickle" the racing was very tight at the top. Please go here to the TB4E Camera for some far away shots and even some shots of old Smacks and a Brightlingsea One Design...OH and some B14's and 29er's especially if you are related to Jayne....
Rescue Boat 11th April.
Geoff volunteered for the rescue boat for this Sunday, and armed with camera in hand our intrepid reporter set forth. Well what started out as a nice sunny day soon turned into a bit of a "rescue" mission. With one of the rescue boats with a faulty radio and Geoff on his own, he soon realised that he would have to take pictures another day. it seemed that the Fireballs had decided to park up at the entrance to the Colne with 2 capsizing and putting their masts in the mud..one crew even parted company with the boat and had to be towed back by Andy large with the crew hanging off the transom...A bit of outside assitance we think but it did look fast...Good job fella. Chris Matthews was crewing his 29er with Chris Rust helming and they finished and then Geoff was joined by Chris Matthews on the rib and helped Geoff bring in a Fireball...he then disapperared over the side and went to the aid of a Mirror and helped them in. Sarah Bines was teaching people to sail or was it swimming...the camera never lies.... Alex Button was spotted steering his fathers cruiser out of the creek...way to go Alex...Boom stickers for you Mirror later this month. Please go here to view the pictures TB4E Cam.
This Easter weekend saw the guys at Rutland for the Inland Championships. Russ and Geoff were joined by Will Brooks from Falmouth. The wind was golod on Friday and the guys got a 3rd 5th and 3rd..So a great start. Saturday came around and the wind was a bit more fickle..The first race saw the guys CROSS the fleet on port at the start to finish 4th, this was followed up by a 6th and a 10th...then disaster...whilst in the lead the wind shifted 50degrees and they ended up last. Sam Littlejohn was second to last and could be quite clearly saying " What is going on I don't understand it"..Which put a smile back on the guys faces... Sunday and it was the windiest day of the Championships..The guys got a 4th in both races and ended up 5th overall.
Thanks must go to Rutland for organising a fantastic event and they got all the races off very quickly and on time.
The rescue boat was given the TB4E camera and they took over 600 pictures. The results of which can be seen here TB4E Camera there are some really good shots. Please feel free to download any pictures that you like.
Well the guys were out on the water last Sunday. Their new middleman Paul Ross was on board for the first time. This guy is a big packcage and weighs in at 14.5 stone...But the strength of the guy is amazing and he is the lightest member of the crew as far as moving around the boat goes. Paul comes to the team with a vast array of dinghy experience and will be sailing in Pyfleet Week and he has already booked his place for the Nationals in Brighton.
The guys will be out again this Sunday and then packing the boat away for the Inlands at Rutland.
The most exciting news is the 49er Campaign.....No the guys are way too old for one of those...However there are a couple of future sailing rock stars at the club in the guise of Chris Matthews and Ed Gibbons. We have decided to try and assist in any way we can and we are proud to announce that isyte.com have weighed in with some much needed sponsorship. Please visit their site as they are REALLY good at what they do.
The guys will be going top the Eurocup event next May in Morgat France and we have just learnt that Geoff has already booked the accommodation...Now, that's what we call planning.
The race last weekend is one the guys are really going to want to forget...from the camera that only recorded getting the sails up!! to going aground in front of the Sailing Club, to getting the kite twisted, to NOT having a beat, they could not have beaten a match box in a drifting race.
All the sailing that they do in Brightlingsea is as far as they are concerned "training" for their next big event that will be the Inland Championships at Easter in Rutland.
The "Battle Bus" has been purchased in the shape of a silver 2006 L200 Mitsubishi Warrior, Geoff has even managed to get the number plate TB04 EGO for it. The main reason for buying it was the 22" wheels which Geoff loves...although we wait to see how they will handle towing!!
Geoff has returned from a very successful weekend in Ostend at the Tri Nations SB3 Cup event. Geoff was given the opportunity to steer John Outhwaite's SB3 with his son Carl for this event. The team managed to finish in the top ten in ALL the races, that they did and they won the last race on the Friday afternoon, despite Geoff losing his glasses, for the last two races. The tactical awareness of John and his ability to read ANY situation and get the boat to where it had to be was in Geoff's words "outstanding". As for Carl, his handling of the main and the kite was the best Geoff has seen in a long time in what can only be described as "trying conditions"
