Messages

If anyone is planning on coming but has crew difficulties let me know, one of my daughters may be available.  Both are very experienced Cadet sailors and have crewed 12's and Merlins a lot.

Hi John,
Caroline (my eldest)  might be up for crewing but she's in demand! Let me know.
Regards, Dave
 

Sounds like Mr Thorton won't be along to defend this year - shame!

Don't forget that it's also the final race in the Thames Area, so a last chance to score some points...

We hope to be there in our old Cheshire Cat. With all this changeable weather this year racing on the river has been excellent. A good turnout will help boost the revival of the 12's at TYC. Lovely big silver pot to race for which dates back to 1935 and is one of the oldest trophies in the class.
Dave  N2935

Just realised - it was Nick Lightbody not Steve Lightfoot!

Hi Tony,
I remember this boat but I'm struggling with the details, its a long time ago. Perhaps some others will correct me if I'm wrong...
I think the boat was first owned by Steve Lightfoot who used to sail at Ranelagh> It was designed by Phil Morrison and I believe is a Design-6 or varient. If I remember correctly the original Design-6 was very much a round-bilge shape with no distinct chines - much like Tigress but more so. It was a bit retropective and never went very well off-wind in a breeze (unlike Tigress). I believe Marmite Soldier was to this design but had chines added at some point. I know at about the same time Phil had an International 14 of a similar shape and I remember Ray Sellings giving that boat the added chine treatment.
I do remember this boat going well up-wind. It may well have been a good inland boat but I'm not sure, I don't remember racing it on the river. By modern standards I don't think she will be that fast but if in good condition may make an excellent club racer. I think only one or two of this design were built which should give you an indication.
Regards, Dave

The Cadets had their champs this year at Torquay. I was very impressed with the venue, the excellent club and high quality of race management. Lots to do for non-sailing memebrs of the family too.

Penny Spender was saved and put back into commission by Steve Gent for his son to use a few years ago. It might be worth asking Steve if the boat is still around, his number should be in the book. There was also one at Tamesis, it was there a year ago, the decks were in very bad shape but all the bits where there. Sadly it was the last N12 regularly sailed at this famous old club.
Warlocks always had weight issues and struggled to meet the minimum when it was around 90Kgs! The boats were built by Don Woof, I think his son (Richard) now runs RMW marine on Portland and is building some exotic craft. Dave C

Hi Alistair,
I had the jib halyard break in my Baggy at Salcome a few years ago and with no jib and an awful lot of mast rake it was impossible to bear away. On thing I did learn many years ago was the importance of raising the centreboard after a capsize to shift the centre of resistance back as the dynamics all change when the boat is swamped.
Regards, Dave

Arthur Henderson - Will's younger son (and sometime N12 crew) has just won the Cadet National Championships at Torbay. There are a few N12 and x-N12 son's and daughter's racing Cadets at the moment.
Competition was tough with 97 boats racing - it was a great result and a very popular one. More details at - http://www.kbsuk.com/cadet/events/
Dave C

Hi John,
How about a web-cam on the start-line at SYC?? That would be great for those of us stuck in the office!!
Dave
 
 

Broz,
I agree!! well said. It's not the boat we need to fix/change. My children sail Cadets most week-ends and very few of their pals know what an N12 is! They never see them, they belong tpo clubs where they are not sailed. The merlins have strong club fleets, they encourage the vintage scene and many top helms have a modern and a vintage boat, they are proud of their boats and heriatge but they sail at local clubs and support the class at all levels.
I have just joined a local club to sail my old 12, it's not as exiting as doing a big open with 30 boats and it's not that competivie but it's fun and it's nice to get out on the water mid-week. Last night I crewed for my wife, last sunday I crewed for my 12 year old. We on the water in a beatuiful boat and hopefully someone may think - that's a nice boat, I'd like to sail one. If you don't know about them, rwad about them or see them they might as well not exist.
DaveC

The age-old probllem for the class is poorly supported club racing. Clubs are where new sailors begin and where people see what's on offer locally. If they go to a club and see a fleet of RS200's or GP14's(!) or whatever they will probably end up owning one. If you want to get new 12 sailors in the class then you have to capture them when they come into sailing. The 12 has always been a good open-circuit class and most people who come in to the fleet and stay, get keen and travel, so club fleets suffer. This has been the case since I started sailing 12's 30 odd years ago and yes I am to blame as much as the rest of us!
So, I would argue that there's nothing wrong with the boat so why are always trying to fix what's not broken? I think it's beacuse we can look at the boat and compare it to other classes, then we try and go one better. We will never know how many new 12 sailors were attacted in vs how many were lost  tothe class in recent years when major changes to the rules were passed but I would guess more were lost than found. In a marketing sense it's not about the product but the channel to market and this what the professional suppliers like RS and Topper are so good at.

Hi Alistair,
Rosemary and I may be free from Cadet duties that Sunday so we'll try and get along, in fact we are coming down this Wednesday to see if we can join the club and race on wednesday evenings (assuning TYC will have us!). Will you be there this Wedesday?
Cheers, Dave