Spring Series 7 Sunday 27April 2008
John who normally races the lovely Swan 'Flyover' was on the beach as Race Officer and with a forecast F3 from the south rolling up the beach he decided to use his imagination and set us a rather novel course. Based on windward-lewardish loops we were in for lots of corners demanding the best from the crews.

Well that was the plan but just as we left the lock and headed out of Shoreham Port the rain arrived and the wind died, so the fleet spent the half hour before the race doing a lot of very damp bobbing about. Eventually the wind filled in, but rather than coming from the South it arrived from the East.

The first very short leg to the East mark was now a beat and I think we got round just behind Moonlight Saunter, but we picked up a gust and sprinted past to windward. Below us BoJangles flew her asymmetric and powered past whilst ahead of us and in the lead Graham was helming Ella low and fast to keep his chute pulling. A few minutes later David Skinner found his boatspeed and Moonlight went past us to windward. Ella was round number 1 first but we managed to sneak around the inside of BoJangles as she gybed (the picture on the right was taken as Bojangles gets past).

Downhill BoJangles had a bit of a tussle with Moonlight which we tagged along with for a while, until BJ got clear away and their asymmetric came into play. At number mark 4 we were about 50 metres behind Moonlight and with the wind shifting North we stuck to our #1 on the beat down to the East mark. The wind was constantly shifting and I managed to over-sheet and stall, falling off to leeward and into bad air off the back of Moonlight. Footing off for speed we got Barda back in the groove and by holding our tack until close to the rocks off the Eastern harbour entrance, we managed to sneak past mark 6 just in front of Moonlight, a position we held as the wind starting going light approaching 4.

Once round we gambled that the wind would stay in the East and flew our fluorescent yellow Code Zero. My goodness that sail is bright - even on a dull day it makes it feel like the sun is out. The wind was dying on this leg and went through a few 180 degree shifts. I felt the pain of the slower boats a leg or so behind who must have been going nuts as the fickle breeze span windex's through full circles.

With boat speed registering on the GPS a around 1 knot this leg down to 6 was purgatory and with virtually no steerage I only just avoided clipping the mark as we turned back out to sea and mark 1.

Picture right: Steve, Rob and Maggie who was out on Barda for the first time.

At this point the wind simply stopped. Half an hour later we'd moved perhaps 50 metres and decided it was time to put the pasties in the oven. Twenty minutes later the pasties were getting almost ready to eat and.... there was a hint of a breeze. Was this the famous 'pre-breeze' invented by Nigel all those years ago? Ghosting in from the South West now came ripples on the water and Barda started to lift her skirts. By the time we rounded number 1 we'd managed to gobble down hot pasties and she was hissing along close hauled at over 6 knots.

Rounding 1 behind BJ and Ella we set our big spinnaker and had a lovely run down to the East mark, closing on Ella all the time. With a spiffing kite drop we came onto a close fetch for the line and crossed just behind Ella and 89 seconds on corrected time behind BoJangles with Derek taking 1st place under IRC with ourselves in 2nd and a promising 3rd from J24 Major Clanger.

It was a great day out on the water and a fitting end to the 2008 Spring series at SYC (Barda ended up coming 2nd overall under IRC).

Full results of the 2008 Spring Series can be found by clicking here >>

Spring Series 6 Sunday 20 April 2008
Once again Shoreham confounds the forecast rain and the fleet fills the main lock under blue skies and a benevolent force 3 from the North. On Barda spirits are high even though there are just four of us on board - Daff and Pete are still pretty much newbies so I predict there will be some vocal enouragement being spread from both myself and Jason. The race is set for a very civilised 11.10 start and the RO has obviously decided that we need to stretch our legs on such a lovely April day with a long 12 mile course.

By the time the gun goes there's quite a bit of East in the breeze and just for once I wake up in time to pull a good start and we lead the fleet over the Lancing Line and make it to the East mark in front. Being short-handed Jason is unsure about popping a kite for the next leg but I put my foot down and we eventually get the mid-sized reacher up - not a pretty hoist and MoJo sails over the top of us. At number one it really goes bad and the drop puts the kite in the water and Jason whimpers a bit with one arm now longer than the other.

On the beat from 1 to 5 we are matching MoJo (pictured before the start) and pull away from the rest of the fleet taking advantage of the 5-10 degree shifts. With a bit more on the runners/checkstays we sharpen up the pointing and depower the the flat cut Number 2 enough so that we can cope without our usual complement of bodies, though in the puffs I have to feather up a little. Approaching 5 the VHF gets quite loud with a dive boat warning us he has divers down. So here's a dive boat out on a Sunday that sets up shop close to a racing mark emblazoned with SYC and acts surprised when the sails on the horizon come his way... incredibly as we all wiggle around and delay kite hoists to keep clear, I watch him put two more divers into the water. What a clown.

Anyway with our big runner now up and pulling we head offshore chasing MoJo who is gybing her assymentric downwind. We are still in 2nd on the water and hold that through a slow gybe for 4 and the next long leg west to number 2 other wise known as Beechams (picture shows BoJangles leading Chiron from Beechams).

Ella and Highland Daughter seem to claw a bit back on us on this reaching leg, but with the boatspeed rarely dropping below 9 knots all the way it's a very nice place to be. We get a clean drop and tack round Beechams feeling pretty good....WHACK. I can't remember the last time my head came in contact with a low flying boom and for a while I can't really remember my name either. A few minutes later I sharpen up enough to realise we are on the wrong side of a shift and punching tide, and a few minutes after that I call a tack right onto a big header. And so it went for the next 10 minutes as I sailed Barda to the back of the fleet. It was one of those days when every time you tack the wind rolls round to make you miserable - we chased one header for 40 degrees, expecting it to roll back. It didn't so I tacked, and it rolled back. Listening in the bar later everybody seemed to have problems off of Lancing so I'll take this one on the chin and blame our shabby result on my bumped head!

Well done MoJo who showed us the way home and to Steve and Tracey Thomas who sailing Truant double handed got 2nd on the water...impressive stuff.

Spring Series 5 Sunday 13 April 2008
At last a Sunday morning full of sailing promise with an F3-4 from the South West forecast . Not only do I find myself with a full crew but we are also honoured with a guest appearance from Jill Stevenson who has decided to leave her Mo Jo tied up today. So with a dream team aboard we head for the race track where Derek and Martin are waiting with a new course.

Off the start I manage to put Barda exactly where I had said I didn't want to be, which was late and smothered in dirty air off of the larger boats. Wiggling our way towards the West mark we suffer with poor boat speed, but by carrying on West for a few boat lengths past the now crowded West mark we find ourselves with a clear wind on the reach out to 1. We manage to get past Flyover here and go through the drill for a bear away set with our large kite. Apparently Jill puts Jason off at this point by "looking at me" and we suffer a good 10 minutes downhill under white sails only whilst Jason fixes the mess. Finally get the kite up and find enough pace to get a few places back. Paul on Chiron has an even bigger nightmare with his bright red kite getting out of control and they fall behind as we manage a fairly smart drop gybe round 5. We are now pretty much hard on the wind with Devils Advocate sniffing our stern and both Ella and Truant out in front. We'd tweaked up the runners and checkstays earlier and manage to get the weather gauge on both of them, though by sailing low and free Devils Advocate get through below us.

Leaving 1 to Port we are still chasing Truant and Ella for this fairly short white sail reach, though Steve on Truant doesn't gybe round 4 immediately which lets Ella get the lead followed shortly by us. Barda is now picking up waves as we chase Ella with the kite up and we slowly close the gap, but not enough to get past. We get away with a clean drop on 6 before starting the beat to the finish past the harbour entrance and along the beach. We creep closer to Ella but once past the harbour a squall laden with hailstones heads us and we find ourselves dropping closer to the shallow inshore water off the beach. Ella and ourselves tack out at the same time - the hail making it painful to see where we are going. We both tack for the finishing line with Ella getting over first and both of us tacking for deeper water as soon as we clear the line. Behind us Truant touches bottom just after finishing and poor old Devils Advocate not only hit bottom, but the impact launches their anchor and all the chain over the side at the same time. Anchored on a lee shore on a falling tide is not a great place to be so the Devil retires gracefully and motors into deeper water.

So a fairly exciting day out for all, made all the better learning that team Barda has won the IRC class and scored 3rd under PY. Well done everybody! More pictures are posted in the gallery which can be found by clicking here >>

Spring Series 4 Sunday 6 April 008
Full of enthusiasm team Barda arrives on the boat ready to make the 10.00am lock to watch the clouds roll over from the North bringing a few flakes of snow that quickly turn into a thick blanket. Within an hour the boat is covered and along with most of the other skippers I decide that the decks are too dangerous to race.

Like a skating rink underfoot and with the wind forecast to increase to a solid force 4, the vision of somebody going over thr side in a blizzard seals it for me and we pack the boat up...again.

The race is officially postponed for an hour in the hope that the skies will clear and blue skies will reign again, but it just doesn't work out that way with Alan Saunders as Race Officer unable to see the length of either start line through the heavy fall. Can't believe the poor liuck we are having this season. When will we get a chance to do some racing? Grrrgghh!

Spring Series 3 Sunday 30 March 2008
Team Barda is on the beach today as I’m race officer for the day. In the early hours I listened to an enthusiastic south westerly driving rain against the windows, so it is with some surprise that Sunday brings a gentle 12 knots of breeze from the same place coupled with high broken cloud - a lovely day for sailing. By the time we arrive at the beach to set up the start the swell has dropped and I decide that after the loss of all sailing last weekend with the ‘regatta that wasn’t’, I would set a longer course than usual. A few of the boats come from up the river but with the tide flooding there is plenty of time before they have to head up the Adur.

We have 11 boats on the line and they get away cleanly at 13.10 from the Old Fort Line. Mojo leads the pack around the west mark, tacking around the west mark for the beat out to sea and number 3 with a run back to west.

By now Truant is out in front by a long way and basically keeps on extending her lead right through to the finish, getting home in front of Mojo and Bojangles. Olivia Anne has a problem with her spinnaker halyard and has to send someone up the mast to get it down, whist the spinnaker problem aboard Devils Advocate is that they don't have one! This is the first time out for Devils Advocate, the new Ramus boat with a guest appearance aboard by the entire Highland Daughter crew.

(Picture; Truant romps across the line to win on the water and on handicap)

After the leading three boats have finished the wind swings to the west making the rest of the fleet tack up the beach which is a shame as up until then we thought the slower boats were going to make a great showing on handicap. This was a long race by club standards but what the hell...it was a lovely day to be on the water.

Back at the club house we posted the results (click here >> for the main SYC website for the result details, but Steve Thomas and Truant get 1st under both PY and IRC) and got down to the important matter of helping Dave Ramus celebrate his birthday - I do recall Dave ringing the bar bell and standing all a drink, but to be honest things get a bit hazy after that.

Not the Sussex Regatta 21-23 March 2008
For days now I’ve been watching the storm coming in and it was no big surprise when the race on Friday was cancelled. We’d already started unpacking the boat so we just put the kettle on for a cup of tea talking about how we’d go about the racing on Saturday.

Well the force 6 with massive gusts from the north didn’t go away and once again Robin, the Race Officer, called off Saturdays racing. Went down to Brighton Marina with Karen to do some boat shopping and whilst in SMR Marine learnt that a couple of Brighton boats had set out for Shoreham that morning only to turn round and come straight back in - I don’t blame them. After a great lunch in the marina I dropped back at the boat and fitted the uprated vang system from SMR along with some new stern lines. It was as I struggled to glue a new neoprene gasket round the leaking partners that it started to snow. Later went to the Regatta dinner - eat too much and drank even more.

Sunday and Robin had planned for up to 4 races - however the regatta website showed the news with all racing postponed, possibly until June. Totally fed up, I hid in the garage all day stripping an old gearbox.

Spring Series 2 Sunday 16 March 2008
Our first race of the year starts with bad news. New crew Pete can’t make it as he’s on call at work and we’d not got the message from Jack Ramus that he too was working. With everybody else away on holidays that left myself, Nigel and Jason to get Barda round the course - three handed on a boat with a symmetrical spinnaker and runners means we were going to be busy.

Wind was from the North and laden with rain, which was nice. Steve Thomas on the beach as RO chooses standard course 3 and with the wind building to a solid 4 with gusts to 5/6 we elect to put a reef in the main to match the #3. Off the start we hear three boats are over the line... I assume we are one of them and spin around (Bathstore on the radio sounds a lot like Barda...bugger). We’re now in catchup mode and chase after the fleet heading East towards the Southwick Sewer Mark. Next leg is out to sea and close to dead downwind to mark 4. We fly our brand new lightweight running kite for the first time and make up a bit of ground, though with the shifty breeze I play safe and we go a little too far east. J92 Mojo in front has a minor broach and the SB3 Bathstore races off in the wrong direction to the East where she crashes out and retires.

As the breeze builds we are definitely suffering from a lack of weight on the rail but pick up a healthy shift heading back inshore on the beat which puts us back in contact with the leading pack of Mojo, Ella and Moonlight Saunter, though Flyover is right on our tail as we head back downwind. Rounding the mark Neil on Kingfisher loses both sheet and guy on the drop and discovers that he can’t go to windward with a spinnaker streaming horizontally from his masthead - wish we’d had a camera! Turning the corner at the Southwick mark again we hoist a slightly smaller kite and take off at over 9 knots leaving Flyover bobbing. Only MoJo is still sporting a kite and gets into a very big broach that we later learn sees one of Jill’s crew over the side and underwater (no harm done though and he is scooped back aboard as MoJo cames upright).

Once around 4 again we head east towards mark 3 and make up a little more ground on the pack, though in the gusts I am having trouble keeping Barda on her feet. Much trimming of the vang helps but without being able to trim the headsail through lack of hands, the slot closes and we nearly round up a couple of times. Around mark 4 we are back on the breeze into the beach and the East mark, which we over-stand by miles... my fault again. David on Moonlight goes west first and hits the mark perfectly. The wind close to shore is now dropping off to around 10 knots so with a reef in the main and the #3 up we are suffering and can do little to stop Ella from getting past us...and we finish in 4th under IRC, which three-up on our first sail of the year isn’t too shabby.

Saturday 15 March 2008
Nigel came down to the boat on her mooring for a couple of hours to help me give her a scrub. Spent the day with a jet washer and various chemical cleaners getting months of grime off the decks.

Thursday 13 March 2008
Ben balances Barda on a plank so we can get to the bottom of the keel whilst he rushes off with the boat lift to launch and recover as many boats as he can on one of the last big tides before the Sussex Regatta. We are splashed just after 2pm and motor off down the river. Engine feels great, no leaks from any of the new hull fittings or the shaft seal and the new prop doesn’t fall off. Jason and I have grins all over our faces as we con Barda through the big lock and back onto our mooring. Haven’t been here since last November so we stroll up to The Schooner for a couple of pints in celebration.

Monday 10 March 2008
The biggest storm of the winter so far arrives with 50 knot gusts rocking the house.

Ben the Bosun was supposed to have had Barda hanging in the slings so we could get at the bottom of the keel. No chance of that as the Beneteau 40.7 Rafiki in the car park is wobbling around in her cradle and needed support.

(Picture: Barda in her new livery just about ready to be 'splashed' at last).

Spring Series 1 Sunday 9 March 2008
With the bottom still unfinished we missed our original ‘splash’ date so spent the weekend working on the boat rather than racing.

With our launch booked for the 13th in time for the next race this is a race against time, so when Nigel discovers that the internals of our morse engine control have dissolved over the winter and spirits sink again. I spend a few hours in the workshop bodging the morse control and refitting the result, which will need treating with kid gloves and an early replacement.

Out on the water Neil Prescott with his team aboard Kingfisher clean up with a win under both PY and IRC - a great result for them and well deserved.

(Picture: Kingfisher races for the line).

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