June Footy Open

This months Branston open footy meet turned into a two horse race between Bob and John Meredith. Many of the previous contenders were "no shows" for reasons as diverse as holidays, golf, "me boat is useless" and whatever. The wind was not what was predicted (10 -12mph) as it was fairly constant at 15 - 19mph with several sessions in excess of 25 mph. Bob was having problems with his Kittiwake as it was giving him much grief with steering and pointing into wind; but he must be given credit and much praise for his determination and cheerfulness in the face of insurmountable odds. As he had soldiered on through six rounds, and the wind was increasing, it was suggested that his time in purgatory was served and the racing was called to a halt. Congratulations to the overall winner on the day, John Meredith and a note of acknowledgement must go to Bob for his perseverance and to Ian Apps for being race director on the day. Well done to you all……
Looking forward to attending the next meet myself, as I was the one who had to drag himself away from the lakeside to raise money for a worthy charity on the golf course. Tough call or what?
Next Footy open is scheduled for Saturday 26^th July 2008…. 09.15am arrive for 10.00hrs start. See you at the lakeside and do not forget, if you have never sailed a Footy before, come along and have ago during the lunch break. I’m sure there will be a boat available for you to try.
Peter Hubbard 507 and Lajabless Footy skipper

 

May Footy Open

 The weather cooperated and was kind for the May Footy open. The largest fleet of the season so far with eight skippers registering their boats and enjoying the competitive but friendly racing. Nine races were run in total with the clear winner being Trevor Thomas and the second place going to Andrew Halstead. Our own John Meredith with a steady sailing performance coming a respectable third. The course proved to be particular challenging as the winds where variable and light.

Look forward to seeing more skippers and spectators at the next Footy open to be held at Branston on the 28th June 2008.  09.15 arrive for a 10.00am start.
Pete Hubbard   507 Footy skipper   BDMBC.

April Footy Open

The weather cooperated and was kind for the April Footy open. Considering the conditions that we have been sailing in recently, all the skippers warmly welcomed it.

 Close racing was the order of the day with the top slot being jointly shared between skippers John Meridith with his razor and Trevor Thomas with his own design Footy.

Look forward to seeing more skippers and spectators at the next Footy open to be held on the 31^st May 2008.  09.15 arrive for a 10.00am start.
Pete Hubbard   507 Footy skipper   BDMBC.

March Footy Open

 Despite the atrocious weather forecast of winds gusting to 50mph, five intrepid skippers made up the Footy fleet for the March open event. Messrs Apps being without his 507, which is in for reconfiguration and new sails, was nominated as race official and starter. The weather despite the prediction was acceptable and a 7-race score sheet was accumulated before heavy rain stopped play. The overall sailing was close with skippers finishing 1^st in a race and then last. Just shows how challenging this footy sailing is, the final positions where,
1st was myself with 12pts sailing my reconfigured 507.
2^nd place went to visiting skipper Trevor Thomas with 14pts sailing his own design Mistralett.
3^rd place was John Meridith with 15pts sailing his Razor.
4^th place went to Alex Campbell sailing his Richard Webb design, This was Alex’s first outing sailing a Footy and he agreed that it had been a learning curve and he would be back in April to challenge the other skippers.

Please feel free to come along on race day and see what it is all about, given the opportunity, I am sure that we can arrange for you to try your hand at Footy sailing.  See you at the waterside in April, see calendar of events for details.

Could I also take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Andrew Trewin who has taken the time to advise myself, Ian and John on the new sails and set up for the 507 boats…clearly it works!! 
Peter Hubbard   507 Footy skipper…. B.DM.B.C    

February Meeting

The second of the seasons Footy open Competition took place on February the 23^rd of February 2008 with somewhat more favourable wind and weather to suit the occasion. A full and relaxed ten round competition was held with the overall winner on the day being BDMBC member John Meridith who sailed consistently well through out the day being closely followed and challenged by visiting skipper Trevor Thomas. It must be said that these two skippers where dominant on the day but the rest of us footy skippers will be seeking to correct this at the next meeting which is to be held on 29^th March 2008 @09.00hrs arrive-----start 10.00hrs. Hope to see you all at the lakeside..
Peter Hubbard…  BDMBC ….507 Footy skipper.

The first league meeting of the season got off to what can only be described as a very stormy start.

Four intrepid skippers braved the high winds forecast and attempted to commence racing on what can only be described as stormy waters (see picture). After the first race in which all skippers and their boats finished the course, one of the skippers having taken a lot longer than his fellow competitors to finish his two laps of the course, when he finally crossed the finish line was greeted by rapturous clapping and cheering from fellow skippers and spectators who had gathered at the waters edge expecting to see the little craft sink or be blown into infinity or beyond.(Buzz light year fan)

Following this first race, the sanity of the skippers was questioned and a ruling that they should cease competitive racing for the day was carried by  the race committee. The committee, recording wind gusts in excess of 36mph and average wind speeds of 20mph said, "it was this factor that probably swayed our judgement".

Every skipper agreed that it was worth turning up for racing and that a valuable learning curve had been achieved by all.

Further all said they where looking forward to the next open meeting at Branston on the 23rd February 2008.

Hope to see you there. 

Peter Hubbard  (507 Footy Skipper)