club regattas

[oldmanofthehills]

Well my Cornish club has a cadet section and races so children not excludes altogether. Some might judge that choosing academic education over outdoor pursuits is a poor balance for life, so may some compromise is possible, however it is true that the Bristol Channel offers less opportunities anyway. However I regard the BC as very safe compared with many coasts just challenging. Certainly there is no actual problem in taking a deep keeled boat to dry out in a mud berth and I cannot see what damage it could possibly do. If you want blue water and rocks you need to be in Plymouth area and indeed I have one boat down there,

We have noticed the young in the UK dont seem so keen to sail, but the young go online for fun and avoid much activity we thought normal. Further the tendency for people to buy bigger, faster and more expensive boats, and keep them in marinas and apparently believe this is essential, is hardly encouraging for young adult in their 20s who thus are led to believe that small old boats which they could afford are inadequate. Higher incomes and more plentiful ports seem to make other places such as Denmark different but thats hardly useful from Cardiff Bay

 

[Birdseye]

Proposed dated for the CDYC Regatta is the 22nd and 23rd of June with a 11 mtr tide and Hw at 11am so an easy sail for the Down river clubs to make it!As said the mud is deep by the Club side pontoon up to 11ft so deep keels sit upright with mast top halyard tied to the pontoon! The lady in question was not put off sailing with the over generous mud pack!View attachment 75351

You can be assured of a warm welcome and skippers get a free beer! ............usually!

And as they were in the 1950s Regatta with stylish sailing gear!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkHvKPVndNE

What a wonderful photo! How on earth did she clean up with the facilities there are(nt) at CDYC?

The last creature I saw covered in pill mud like that was our springer and that was a hose down job.

 

[Birdseye]

Hi Anna!

The end of WW2 was when sailing for the masses first appeared in the Britol channel. Before that it had been a rich mans hobby often with paid crews. So when it did start for the ordinary man its was mostly using old wooden boats like ships lifeboats converted to sail. Maybe some dayboats as well. There were no clubs so we built them ourselves - it was the only way we could go sailing. You still have that ethos at clubs like NUSC, a club with extensive but basic facilities all member built even down to the heavy boat lift.

Why am I telling you this? Because what you see now is a slow changing environment with many members clubs using mud berths and a few commercial marinas. The mud berths are inevitable - with the tidal rises we have, it is way beyond the finances of a group of enthusiasts to build marinas with locks and retaining walls. So the marinas are in the obsolete commercial harbous for the main part and many club moorings are in the soft mud of the "pills"..

All this governs the attitudes of sailors in the channel. For really nice facilities, you need to go to the south coast. For warm facilities , somewhere other than the UK. The people you meet sailing here are those who for work or other reasons live here. We dont have many people from outside like you or like I was in the 90s.

When I first started sailing here, my son was 14 and my daughter was 12. Sailing in the channel was our social life as "incomers". We got to know large numbers of fellow sailors in ports around the channel mostly through going to other clubs regattas and functions. And at the end of the year we often went to other clubs dinner dances. None of this fits in well with the modern style of parking a boat in a marina and not even knowing who owns the boat parked next to yours. Times are changing.

So yes, sailing here is more primitive than in the "soft south". Its also less crowded and a damn sight cheaper. And yes we are changing which is the cause of my original post. Its just that we are a bit behind the times. Not always a bad thing to be.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

What a wonderful photo! How on earth did she clean up with the facilities there are(nt) at CDYC? The last creature I saw covered in pill mud like that was our springer and that was a hose down job.

Fortunately there was a work party and hose to hand. The Navigator (notnearlysooldwomanofthehills) got chilly washdown, and needed warming up at her late lunch at the MA. She thinks it may even have improved her complexion though I thought it flawless to start with. Hasnt put her off from visiting St Pierre but has a deep appreciation of the limitations of the whale backed boat with defective guardrails, which someone had brought through the Kennet & Avon canal from London with a view to restore.