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Harbour dues and boat parking fees are normally wiaved for our open meetings.

The under 18's Blinkhorn Cup race was a real success this year with six 12's on the start line, all helmed and crewed to a very high standard by some very small sailors.  We held the race in the early evening after the main days racing and picked a sunny day with a steady breeze.  The combined age in most of the boats was about 25, which all bodes well for the future of our fleet.
 

I bought Zippy from Fran at the end of the October 2008 open meeting in Salcombe.  Although we'll never be up to Anthony or Fran's standard the boat has transformed our club racing results and felt quick from day one. 
Zippy by name, zippy by nature.

Based on entries posted, this thread and the local boats I can count 16 boats......plus all those we don't know about who just turn up.
The forecast looks rather pleasant and the tides are nice and small, so it should be a good weekend.

I put a double bottom into N3291 (a Design 8 ) last winter and I sailed it pretty intensively at Salcombe last season and there definitely is a performance advantage over a single floor boat.  The extra foam and glass put 3291 a couple of KG over-weight but that is irrelevant compared to our previous habit of carrying ten times that amount of sea water around with us.  The advantage is there in choppy conditions, but much more so on very light days when self bailers don't work.  With the double bottom we can roll tack very aggressively without worrying about shipping slops of water....previously we used to finish light wind races barely afloat short tacking to the finish line...  The double floor is bonded to the hull and so the stiffening effect will also be there to a similar degree as for a new boat. 
Having said all that, even with a carbon rig, new sails and a double bottom the boat is still slower than a Foolish, particularly on a reach, planing slower and later.  The double bottom closes the gap but doesn't make a 20 year old boat fully-competitive.  I can see the merit in updating the definition of 'old' to include converted double bottoms.  A 20 year old boat would probably not be considered competitive even in a one-design fleet.
I lost out on a nice Gill T shirt at last years Salcombe Gill event under the earlier Admirals Cup definition and was quite relaxed about it until I realised that,to add insult to injury, the 'first Admirals Cupper' T shirt went to one of my boys instead!  Perhaps the revised rule might encourage more people to retro-fit double bottoms, although the amount of work involved is very high price to pay for the chance at winning a T shirt.
Simon Ballantine N3431  (the kids are sailing 3291 this year!)
 

I've just built three Topper racks at Salcombe YC...see the attached drawing.  Total cost was about £300/set and it took me less than a day to make three sets.  All you need is a tape measure, a 9" grinder and a couple of steel cutting discs and an Allen key to fit the Keyclamp fittings.  The dimensions shown on the drawing are minimum dimensions for Toppers.  The height spacing and overall width needs to be increased for anything larger such as a Pico.  The racks I made are for long term winter storage, not day to day use, hence I made them rather high to stack as many boats as possible into a limited space.  The drawing shows No.8 sized tube and fittings (scaffold pole size) I used No. 7 sized tube and fittings and I would recommend going down to No.6 size for better economy, particularly if you build them a little less high.

There is clearly a need for growth in the class and in BW attendances.  There is little growth to be had from the same old faces who make up the top 30 BW places and substantial growth can only come from new, club-level sailors (like me).  

The suggestions to incorporate much more coaching in Gill events and BW are exactly the encouragement I would need to attend these events.   Not much fun going to the trouble of moving my boat off the beach at Salcombe and spending a few grim hours on the motorway to sail on a gravel pit in the midlands, only to be thrashed by the whole fleet and learn nothing new.  

Grazz's suggestions are excellent.  I do not think that the exact subject matter is all that important...there is so much to learn and content will depend on who is doing the coaching / weather / venue.  

From my perspective, coaching should play an even bigger part in Gill and BW events than grazz suggests.   My ideal BW format would be for 2 days of intensive coaching, followed by a 4 day race format, which itself incorporates coaching and briefings.  That way I would still be getting something out of it, even if I didn't win the Burton Cup.

We should have 3 boats coming out from Salcombe to meet you half way.  Give me or Norman Brown a call the night before to confirm and agree times.

I would love to come across to Burton Week, but I can't take the week off work.  I'm pretty sure I'll be there next year, though.  If I came across just for one day would I be able to go out in one of the safety boats and pick up some tips?

I've recruited at least one more 12 to sail out to Start Point to meet you, Derick.  I'll ask the others on Saturday.

I won't be at Burton Week, but I will sail out from Salcombe and meet you half-way.  We have no club racing on Saturday 4th so I will try to get our 12 fleet interested in an informal race to the lighthouse.  I am sure we would be able to organise some sort of safety cover too...

At this time of year the journey from Brixham will probably be quicker by sea than by car.  

Hope there's lots of interest.

Had a very similar experience a few weeks ago on a fast reach when the centreboard suddenly rode up, the boat skidded sideways and we didn't!  

I have noticed this effect too, where a gust hits, the boat takes-off and there is a sudden reduction in heeling moment.  I  had put this down to the boat suddenly accellerating onto the plane, changing the apparant wind direction and strength so I guess sheeting in the main may be the answer.

It was that way when I bought it last year.  

I've just re-rigged mine, so the layout is clear in my mind....
The wire shroud terminates abot 6" above deck level, with a single block fixed to the end of it.
A short wire is fixed to a strongpoint on the side-deck and passes through the above block, down through a hole in the deck and terminates a few inches below the deck with a single block attached to it's end.
A length of rope about 2' long is fixed to a strong point at the foot of the CB case, passes up and through the above block and returns a few inches back in the direction of the CB case.  This rope has a double block attatched to its free end.
So far you have a 4:1 cascade.
A much longer length of rope is tied to a double becket block fixed at the foot of the centreboard case, up through the double and so on to create a 4:1 purchase.  The rope leaves the lower double block, goes vertically upward through the top flange capping of the CB case, round a turning block and through a jammer fitted to the top of the BD case.
The 4:1 cascade acting on the 4:1 purchase gives 16:1.
You have to play around with the various lengths of the ropes and wires to get the maximum possible length of travel out of the system.
Each shroud is rigged independantly.  
A similar arangement for the forestay tension is rigged along the base of the CB case, coming up through the CB case flange to a similar jammer.

One of my two boys will be very pleased to crew for you.  We sail at Salcombe and the boys crew for me in N3291 when my wife Karen doesn't want to, (ie: when its cold or windy!).  They normally race  in the Junior handicap, but can be prised-away by the promise of beating Karen and me in the 12.  They are both about 5 1/2 stone.  Tom is 12, Peter is 10...take your pick.

Thanks for all the help,everyone.  It's great to get lots of slightly different perspectives and I feel alot more confident as a result.  The mast is now starting to look like the right shape.