No sailing but plenty of fun on the opening day of Pyefleet Week 2014

by Brightlingsea Sailing Club on 11 Aug 2014 Sadly the tail end of Hurricane Bertha put paid to any chance of racing on the opening day of Pyefleet Week 2014 at Brightlingsea Sailing Club.

Race Officers Craig Bond and David Chivers met at 08.30 to review the situation and, although it was sailable at that time, it was clear from the forecast that conditions were going to worsen rapidly and they made the decision to cancel racing for the day. That decision was soon vindicated as the breeze quickly built to a force six and gusting.

Whilst racing might not have been possible it didn't stop the competitors getting together for a good party at the Commodore's Reception. Commodore Alice Davis welcomed everyone and introduced a number of special guests including Mayor of Brightlingsea Vivien Chapman, Deputy Mayor Jayne Chapman and Stephen Chick, Brightlingsea's newly appointed Harbour Master. She particularly welcomed all the visiting sailors who have travelled from as far afield as Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Aberdeenshire to compete. She also highlighted all the good work done by the many volunteers who make Pyefleet Week possible. Vivien Chapman echoed Alice's welcome and thanks and explained how proud Brightlingsea is of its sailing heritage, and what an important place events like Pyefleet Week hold in the hearts this dynamic little town's vibrant community.

A chat with some of the sailors at the reception confirmed that they were in full agreement with the race officers' decision not to race today. In particular the 24 strong Brightlingsea One Design (BOD) and the eight strong Wivenhoe One Design (WOD) fleets felt the decision was the right one, as racing boats of up to 87 years young can be challenging to say the least in over 30 knots of breeze.

The BOD is an 18-foot long, clinker built, three-man day boat designed in 1927 by local designer and builder Robbie Stone. The WODs are another local classic clinker day boat, but are slightly younger having been designed in 1935 by Dr Walter Radcliff and at 14 feet and with a two man crew they are also slightly smaller than the BOD. Both boats have been sailed continuously on the River Colne ever since they were introduced.

This year the BOD fleet has seen some exciting additions in the shape of two new fiberglass boats and the full restoration of BOD C4 Cormorant, originally launched in the early 1930s. The fiberglass BODs were developed seven years ago by builder John Mullins and double Olympic gold Medallist and Dragon sailing legend Poul Richard Hoj Jensen. John brought his many decades of experience as a boat builder, including building BOD C31 Blue Peter in 1962, to the project, and Poul brought his knowledge of the successful transition of the International Dragon Class from wood to fiberglass. With the support of many experienced members of the BOD Class, such as boat builder Malcolm Goodwin, moulds were created and John built three new fiberglass boats that proved to be well matched with, but not faster than, the top performing wooden boats. Sadly John's failing health meant he was not able to build any more boats and in due course the moulds were passed to Brightlingsea based White Formula.

Founded by Tornado Olympic Gold Medallist Reg White, White Formula is now run by his son Rob, and the first BOD the company moulded in 2010 was for Reg himself. Reg had sailed BODs since his boyhood and enjoyed some fantastic racing in C53 White Spirit before his death. Reg's son Mark now races White Spirit to great success and has hopes of victory in the class in Pyefleet Week. Indeed BOD sailing is so firmly imprinted in the White family DNA that Reg's fourteen-year-old grand daughter Georgian will also be crewing in a BOD this week.

The newest BODs racing this week will be James Anderson's C55 Windsprite, which was only launched three weeks ago, and Alan Hick's C54 Storm Petrel, which was launched at Easter. Whilst Alan is a BOD owner of 20 years standing, James is brand new to the class and joins a growing number of local sailors transferring into what is now the most active and competitive racing fleet in Brightlingsea. James also joins a long tradition of family sailing in the class, as he will be racing with his children Fin and Maddie, who are fitting BOD racing in between their Nacra 17 campaigning.

Another exciting BOD addition for this year is C4 Cormorant, which has just been restored by local boat builder and BOD guru Malcolm Goodwin. For many years Malcolm has been spearheading the drive to restore the ageing BOD fleet and introduce the new glassfibre boats. He has owned and restored many BODs over the years including C1 Jean, which he still owns, but which is on loan for Pyefleet Week 2014 to Barry Newman, who is very much looking forward to being back in the boat having owned her the late '70s and early '80s.

Cormorant was originally built for designer Robbie Stone himself, but in 1934 she was purchased by well-known local sailor Ralph Sutton who raced her continuously until 1979 - some 45 years. Cormorant is without doubt one of the most successful BODs ever built and her name appears on virtually all of the BOD perpetual trophies - often more than once. Recent years had seen her slide into a sad decline, but fortunately Malcolm Goodwin found her and undertook a meticulous restoration. He admits he stopped counting when the restoration hours passed the 1000 mark and the boat is truly a labour of love. She was relaunched just three weeks ago, in a joint launching ceremony with Windsprite, and on her first race outing at Wivenhoe Regatta she proved she has lost none of her winning ways. Malcolm and Cormorant are definitely among the favourites for Pyefleet Week BOD victory this year.

The days when classes like the BOD and WODs were thought to be for old blokes with yachting caps and pipes are long gone and many of the boats are sailed by young and very competitive crews like that of Plymouth University Sailing Team member Chris Matthews. Chris also comes from a family of BOD sailors including his grandfather, the doyen of yachting journalists, Bob Fisher.

The WOD fleet has also seen a fantastic resurgence of interest in recent years and we are delighted to welcome the class back to Pyefleet Week after several years' absence. Only nineteen WODs were ever built, but of those sixteen are still within the locality of Wivenhoe, making it one of the most complete classic one-design classes in the country. Malcolm Goodwin has also played a pivotal role in the revival of this class and has helped in the restoration of many of the boats. Like the BODs, restoration is an ongoing story and more WODs are currently in the restoration shed and will be joining the fleet in 2015.

As soon as the weather improves the BODs, the WODs and the rest of Pyefleet Week's 100+ entrants will be out on the race-course and making the most of the great racing conditions that the Colne Estuary has to offer. Tomorrow's forecast remains uncertain with more strong winds likely, however, the situation is quite fluid and the race officers will once again meet at 08.30 in the morning to review the situation. Even if racing is not possible in the morning they may still be able to start the afternoon group and further updates for competitors will be posted at www.pyefleetweek.com and on the official notice board.

Pyefleet Week continues until Saturday 16 August with daily racing for Fast and Slow Handicap, Fireball, Laser, Tera, Mirror, Wivenhoe One Design, Brightlingsea One Design and cadet classes. The racing day is split into two with the classes alternating their start times between morning and afternoon sessions. The only exception to this is Wednesday 13 August, fondly know as Big Wednesday, when there will be a Gold Medal all-in handicap race starting at 14.30.

Further information about Pyefleet Week can be found on the event website or by contacting:

Commodore Alice Davies on Tel +44 (0)1206 306768 or Email bsc.commodore@ymail.com

Vice Commodore Sailing David Charlton on Tel +44 (0)7710 046 865 or Email vcsailing@sailbrightlingsea.com

Vice Commodore House Marianne White On Tel +44 (0)7849 505171 or Email vcentertain@sailbrightlingsea.com