Dinghy Show 2014

Alexandra Palace 1st-2nd March

 

Ranelagh Winter Open Meeting

A fleet of 9 hardy 12 crews braved a swollen Thames for the first open meeting of the year and they were rewarded with some fine sailing and the Thames Area dinner afterwards. In the race for the Royal Thames YC Trophy, crew Robbie Stewart crossed the line first (closely followed by dad Tom at the helm). The event also included the Thames Area prizegiving for 2013 and the series was won by Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne with 3 open meeting wins (Ed: Correction, Tom Stewart won the 2013 series as there was a mix up in the results). My brief summary doesn't do justice to the snakes and ladders racing on the river but you can read the full report here.
 

Carnac European Event

What’s this all about?
 
I’ve been asked to write a few words for anyone wondering what is going on with all this Carnac talk… about 18 months ago a group of us from the Scorpion fleet were down in Lyme for an open, but with winds topping 30knts we got sent to the pub instead of on the water. With gales and rain outside, and beer flowing inside, conversation soon turned to how good it be to have an open meeting somewhere hot and sunny, namely abroad. Memories from the rest of the evening are hazy but that idea still seemed like a good one in the morning so we did some more investigating.
Carnac YC in Brittany offered to host an event over the May bank holiday weekend at the start of school half term in 2014, perfect for all the families and away from the major championships, but they wanted a guaranteed entry. We figured the best way to do this would be to invite a few more classes to join in the fun. We were looking for fleets with similar needs both on and off the water, partial to a good social and without an established foreign event already running and the 12s seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The class thought it sounded like a good idea too and so did the Merlins, Larks and Enterprises.
With Carnac’s minimum already  reached everything is now go and we just need everyone who wants to come to sign up now so we can plan everything and then turn up and play next May.
What you need to know:

• Dates – 24^th May to 27^th May 2014
• Location – Carnac YC, Brittany, France
• Racing – 1 handicap race on the 24^th, 6 fleet races 25^th – 27^th. The handicap race won’t count towards the fleet racing competition so those who can’t get away early on the Friday before don’t need to worry about ruining their series before it’s begun.
• Socials  – currently in planning still but there will be a full programme and also hopefully some events for during the day for the shore party.
• Getting there – Brittany Ferries are offering 20% off for competitors – book through www.brittanyferries.co.uk/carnac2014 to claim the discount. Most will look to go from Plymouth or Portsmouth with Roscoff, Le Havre, Caen and St Malo all handy options for getting to Carnac.
• Accommodation – It is a popular resort so book early if you can, Carnac-Plage is the place to be rather than the main town. We have a discount at a local campsite and there are some useful links on the event website.
• Cost – £20 + €180. The £20 goes to covering costs here like socials, t-shirts, prizes. The €180 goes directly to Carnac YC and covers all the on the water side of things, free drinks at the reception and prize giving and a free meal.

A quick plea - the sooner you enter the better, unlike other events where past history can tell you what sort of numbers to plan for this hasn’t been done before, so please do it now if you can. We are already over 80 boats and the sooner we know who else is coming the better we can make the event.
More information, details on how to enter, the NOR and all other updates are available online at Carnac2014.org or feel free to email me – tomjeffy@hotmail.com.
 

Upcoming Events

The Thames Area continues on 15th-16th March with the 52nd Hamble Warming Pan event hosted by Hamble River SC on the south coast. This estuary open meeting is shared with the Merlins and Fireflys.

The GUL Series 2014 kicks off with the Burghfield open meeting on 22nd March. The locals dominated in 2013 with Graham and Zoe winning the meeting and Tom Lee and Clare Hunter leading the Admiral’s Cup fleet – will the visitors get one over on the home fleet this year?

The Northern Series also gets going in March with the Tynemouth SC open meeting on 23rd March.

Dates for your diary

• Annandale 12th-13th April - Scottish Championships and GUL Series #2
• Hykeham 26th April - Junior Championships
• Carnac 24^th-28^th May - European Event
• Burton SC 28th-29th June - Vintage Championships
• Pevensey Bay 23rd-26th August - Burton Week 2014 including Burton Cup and National Championships
• King George SC 27th-28th September - Inland Championships

Welcome to New Members

Finally we'd like to give a warm welcome to all those who joined the NTOA in the last few weeks. We hope you enjoy your 12 sailing as much as we do.

Paul Farmery, Kegworth, Leicestershire, N2760  
Chris Day
N3526