UK Cherub - news:2010

E volver

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

E volver

Kevin Ellway's latest design, the E6 Cherub, has started it's progress from CAD to the water. There is along way to go, but in the safe hands of Master Craftsman Paul Croote and Aarvaark we should be seeing a floating object before too long!

Kevin's comments on his new design have appeared in the Forum

Try A Cherub Weekend

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Try A Cherub Weekend

Plugged in

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Plugged in

The Ellway 6 Cherub plug is taking shape in Mr Croote's workshop. More comment in the forum

Released into the wild

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Released into the wild

Banshee Ambulance has been unleashed onto the water. Congrats to Daryl. Read more in the Forum

New boats a coming

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

New boats a coming

In addition to the boats taking shape in the Aardvark stable, here is an update on two others.

Above is Doug's boat a patterson 8 being built at a house in Dubai and below is John's boat, the shell of an E5 being lovingly assembled by Bloodaxe Boats on the IOW.

E6 shell No. 1

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

E6 shell No. 1

Aardvark have started on E6 shell #1. More about this in the Forum

Cherub Traveller at Whistable Yacht Club

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Cherub Traveller at Whistable Yacht Club

Eleven Cherubs travelled to Whitstable for sun and sailing. This was the first of four events that will decide the 2010 Cherub Champion Traveller. The racing was very successfully shared with Musto Skiffs and B14’s and Whitstable’s race management provided true courses and slick turnarounds. The forecast had been for light winds however the fleet were rewarded with freshening force 3 sea breeze on Saturday for the first 4 of the 8 planned races.

The first race was dominated by Andy and Jill peters in Usagi Yojimbo. They were followed by Chris Lunes and Will Lee in ‘Antidote to Panel Games’. There was a close fight on one of the runs for second - forth between Antidote, Phil Kirk and Simon Jones in E-Numbers and Graham and Eddie Bridle in ‘Riot Van’. This ended in a Windward capsize for E-Numbers after Riot Van gave them a blast of Dirty air. E-Numbers recovered quickly and caught and passed Riot Van on the last lap to finish third.

The following three races were won by Antidote but their lead was rarely comfortable. E-numbers scored a second in the second race but was usually third behind the high pointing Usagi Yojimbo. In the forth race E-Numbers, lying second, suffered another capsize and lost 2 places allowing Usagi Yojimbo to take her usual place and Riot Van to take a third. Simon struggled to right the boat and kept falling of the skinny centreboard. Dave Ching and Nick in Shiny Beast were the only casualty on the slick race management having to start each following race less than a minute after crossing the finish line of the previous 3 lapper.

The aching sailors returned to shore for an excellent Whitstable Yacht Club curry.

Day 2 dawned and the wind gods were late in returning. After a postponement the racing commenced in about 6- 8 knots from the South West. Antidote won all of the races but did not always get the best start. This was left to Stu Tinner and Ross Burkin in Ronin starting in clear air to lead the fleet away from the line on at least two occasions.

The lighter conditions gave rise to a number of holes which allowed some gains to be made. The non T-foiled or 97 rules rigged boats Shiny Beast, Born Slippy and Loco Pero were also a lot closer to the front than before. The second race Saw Usagi Yojimbo lead until near the finish where Antidote caught them to take another win. The final race gave Riot Van the opportunity to prove they can do better than 4th. Graham and Eddie were simply faster than all but Antidote and were not even phased by the 90 degree wind shift that allowed kites to be flown on the last beat. In hot pursuit were E-Numbers, Usagi Yojimbo and Tim Noyce and Alex Cramp in ‘Badgers Nadgers’.

The event also saw the welcome return of Davro in a re-furbed The Pasta Frenzy.

The final results found Chris Lunes and Will Lee first, with Andy and Jill Peters second and Phil Kirk and Simon Jones in third. The cherubs enjoyed an excellent weekend of sailing at the friendly Whitstable Yacht Club and went home to rest their aching bodies.

Poole YC Regatta

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Poole YC Regatta

An action packed weekend at Poole Yacht Club with multiple classes and fleets sharing the harbour resulted in some tight course laying in some exciting wind conditions.

The plan was for 3 races back to back, using a complicated outer loop windward leeward with a reach out and back to it. The bottom reach to the finish was a particarly 'interesting' white sailer in decent breeze. The Saturday started with a postponement waiting for the wind. When the wind arrived it quickly built to 12-15knts.

The first race started with most Cherubs on the line, sharing it with the local asymmetric fleet. After the initial beat followed a broad reach to the outer loop. Here was where matters got interesting. This was for two reasons:

a) the outer loop was tiny, about a minute downwind with the kite up b) the outerloop was set right in the middle of the slow boats course, so full of toppers, mirrors and GP14's who were making there way in lines upwind on their opening lap.

Result, frenetic activity, many near collisions and plenty of dramatic avoidance techniques required by all (including swimming for some) In between all of this, a decent race for the lead developed between Usagi and Riot Van. Not far behind there was a good tussle for position between Ronin and Badgers. Ronin showed exceptional pace footing and speeding upwind with Badgers pointing well and nailing some well positioned tacks. Result of race one was Usagi taking the bullet, Riot Van dropped back a bit, with Badgers in 3rd and Ronin 4th.

By race 2 the wind had built to 18-20knts. There was a long wait between races during which Usagi and Riot Van practiced for the sychronised capsizing event to be inaugurated at this years Nationals whilst Badgers tried to remain composed by doing some hooning and corners practise. The course remained the same, mirrors etc still present, only with more wind the closing speeds were increased! Racing was again tight throughout for the first couple of laps until mistakes took their toll and caused to spread the fleet out a bit. Badgers used their weighty experience to keep the sails pointing upwards and lead to a clear win. Ronin, Usagi and Riot Van swapped places behind with Ronin generally in front until a particularly viscious gust knocked them down and their dagger board decided it had enough of Ross bouncing on it and cracked. This left Usagi free to finish 2nd with Riot Van a fairly distant third.

The course was re-set for race three giving a longer and clearer outer loop. Only three cherubs started this race, the wind was still fairly pokey at 15-20knts with some nice sustained gusts. Badgers had clearly got over their first win nerves and cruised to have another clear win taking line honours ahead of the local RS800 and asymnetric fleet, Riot Van kept their sails relatively dry to finish second. Usagi completed some vital capsize recovery training (having capsized more in this one race than in 4 seasons of RS200 racing) and finished an even more distant third.

Cherub 2303 (The Cats Whiskers) a 1970's era Forman 4 which has recently been salvaged and brough out of retirement was being sailed in the medium handicap by Noycey's Dad and Girlfriend. They spent the day chasing GP14's playing cat and mouse with them around the course as the wind went up and down, but managed to score 2 easy bullets. This boat will be going to the nationals so we want to get as many oldies there as possible to continue the classic revival.

After sailing the fleet spent the evening sat out on the club patio eating hog roast, drinking beer and generally being merry!

Sunday dawned very windy, after a long postponement waiting for the water to arrive the majority of the Cherub fleet had decided to call it a day and pack up for long journeys home. Badgers was ready for action, but in the end opted out of launching as the only asymetric boat in an effort not to break anything ahead of Thornbury.

As memory serves, the final results looked like this…

1 - Badgers Nadgers - 3,1,1
2 - Usagi - 1,2,3
3 - Riot Van - 2,3,2

Many thanks to all that helped out to ensure all the fleet members had a great weekend, be that providing floor space for resting sleepy heads or assisting with boat transportation (you know who you are )

This weekend see's the travellers series going to Thornbury… looks to be windy again! See you there.

Western Traveller at Thornbury

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Western Traveller at Thornbury

Thornbury Regatta proved to be a popular event with 9 Cherubs turning out.

Saturday dawned bright and breezy. The Westerly breeze made launching tricky and a number of boats didn't make the start of the first race. Cheese and E-Numbers managed to make it to the start on time and had a good race up the first beat. Both boats tacking close to the shore to avoid the fast flowing tide. This was followed by a close reach out into the river then a spinnaker run with the tide. Badgers started late, managed to get passed Cheese into 2nd…. then capsized on the last mark trying to avoid some slow moving Lasers and Europes to let John and Diggers through to take position across the line.

The second race saw 8 Cherubs on the line. The wind had increased making for exciting sailing. To account for the change in tide the race officer had set a different course which was not so Cherub friendly with a spreader mark that meant that some couldn’t hold the kite all the way downwind! Riot Van led initially however The Zuffle, showing amazing pace and why sometimes just having big sails isn’t always the way to go, soon took the lead. Cheese, E-Numbers and Loco had a good race upwind after the start. The first downwind leg was fairly broad allowing for some kite action although the second leg proved too tight for some. After Zuffle and Riot Van, Cheese was a hot third followed by badgers in fourth, who had a coming together with an 800 with no rights… where they went for an unscheduled swim on the last mark to be overtaken by Cheese again!

Ronin, having given up on race decided to sail down river to the Severn bridge. However after 20 minutes of beating, the crew realised the bridge was getting no closer and decided to go for a burn while being chased by rescue boat!

Thornbury put on a good social in the evening with a tasty meal and Steel Band.

Sunday saw lighter South Westerly wind and drizzle. Race 3 started with all the crews on the foredecks and short tacking up the shore to keep out the tide. Riot Van showed better pace in the light airs and led to the finish. E-Numbers initially in second got overtaken by Atum Bom as the breeze freshened.

Race 4 saw only 4 cherubs on the line, the remaining 2 starting behind. With a slacker tide and a slight shift the beat wasn’t so onerous, and a little more wind filled in. Riot Van, Zuffle and Atum all started at the pin end in a bunch with Riot Van getting slightly ahead (courtesy of Davro not being as aggressive as any furball sailor would have been, thanks!) and an amazing tacking battle developed between Riot Van and Atum Bom who did 2 laps with Atum on Riot Vans transom all the way. In the end Riot Van staving off the challenge to take line honours.

This leaves us in an interesting position in the travellers, 3 open meetings and 3 different winners. Graham and Eddy currently lead on 8pts, with Alex and Tim in second, 4 behind and Andy and Jill Peters in 3rd. Sunderland next…

Results:

Riot Van (9DNS) 2 1 1 4

Cheese 2 3 4 (5) 9

E Numbers 1 6 3 (10DNS) 10

Pasta (9DNS) 1 9DNF 3 13

Badgers 3 4 6 (10DNS) 13

Atum Bom (10DNC) 10DNC 2 2 14

Loco (9DNS) 5 5 6 16

EJ (8DNF) 8 DNF 7 4 19

Ronin 9DNS 8DNF (10DNS) 10DNS 27

Nationals 2010 Countdown - Getting There

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Nationals 2010 Countdown - Getting There

Getting to Largo Bay from any were reasonably south you are looking to get onto the M6 then the M74 heading north to Glasgow. This is generally slightly quicker than going up the east coast, of course if you are stopping off in Sunderland, then ignore the next paragraph.

Going West

Having got yourself to Gretna and the gateway to Scotland, you can now get settled on the M74 heading North and enjoy the breathtaking scenery and the surprising lack of cars on a three lane motorway. Follow the signs up to Glasgow, as you get into Glasgow you should start seeing signs for Edinburgh M8 follow this for a while and when you are approaching Edinburgh you should start seeing signs for the Forth Road Bridge. This will take you onto the M9 briefly and then onto a nice new section of motorway that links you to the A90.

Going East

If you are coming up from Sunderland, there are a few options, before you get to Edinburgh, there is the old favourite of the A1, which consist of sections of dual carriageway winding along the coast between speed cameras, the A697 via Coldstream which consists of sections of dual carriageway winding between speed cameras and hills. Then there is the A68 via Jedburgh which consists of sections of dual carriageway winding between speed cameras and some high moorland. There does not seem to be that much difference between the routes with different people preferring different directions.

The A1 will take you past North Berwick, and you could have another detour to say hello to the RS200's, and if you were feeling brave could launch your boat and sail north West till you get to Largo Bay. If you do decide to drive all the way watch out for the junction where the A1 turns into the A720, it is easy to miss and following the A1 leads you into the centre of Edinburgh, which should be avoided while towing.

All the routes will take you on to the A720 which should be followed round till you start seeing signs for the forth Road bridge, which you should follow You used to be charged £1 to cross the Fourth Road bridge, and admire the rail bridge, however just after they built a new set of toll booths, they decided to scrap the charge and knock them all down. You are now entering the Kingdom of Fife.

Note:- The Fourth Rail bridge could be described as the wayfarer of bridges it is totally overbuilt and despite being in continuous use for over 100 years is still in good condition, they have yet to replace a single rivet in the structure, although they have been painting it quite often. The road bridge on the other hand is probably the 420 it is only about 30 years old and a recent inspection has found serious corrosion in the cables which may mean some major repair work or possibly cable replacement. They recently installed a system that listens to the cables and can detect when individual wires break, from this they can predict the remaining life of the bridge. If you are towing a Finn you can always detour across the Kincardine Bridge, and help extend that life.

Back Together Again

You should now be on the A90 heading North you need to take exit 2a signposted A92 Glenrothes/ Kirkcaldy follow this road for about 12 miles to Kirkcaldy (watch how you pronounce this if you want directions) There you should take the 3rd exit of a roundabout onto the A915 and there should be signposts to Leven initially and to Lundin Links a bit later on.

You are now approaching your destination. Go through Lundin links keeping on the A915, you may want to follow signposts to Lower Largo at this point but you should resist as this will take you down a very narrow road. What you should do is follow Largo Road past the Lundin Links hotel till you are almost through the village and then take a right turn down Durham Wynd. There should be some Largo Bay Sailing club signposts to help you through this section.

This will take you down a steep hill with the sea ahead of you. Ahead of you and slightly to the right is the sailing club but you need to turn left onto main street and towards the Temple. This road turns right then left taking you down to the foreshore. To your left is a large gravel car park which is a good staging post for parking and unloading your boat down to the beach.

Note:- The name Links in a description of a Golf course comes from the old word to describe a useless piece of sandy ground between the fields and the sea. The Links was never used for much except the drying of fishing nets till some board crofters started knocking balls of leather about with sticks, and so the game of Golf was born. The crofters spent so much time playing Golf that the Landed Gentry banned them from playing and took over the game for themselves.

Nationals Countdown - What to do if you are not sailing

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Nationals Countdown - What to do if you are not sailing

The Kingdom of Fife has many attractions, and things to do when you are not sailing. As you come into Fife over the Forth Road Bridge you can stop off at Deep Sea world in North Queensferry and get a look at all the creatures that might take a nip at you if you were to capsize. (Not all of them will be present in Largo Bay). Dunfermline has an Abbey, and a museum celebrating the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, Kirkcaldy has some attractions, however since the linoleum factory closed it no longer smells of linseed oil, it is however the birthplace of the father of modern economics Adam Smith.

Slightly further up the road from the venue is Anstruther, where you can get fish and chips at a well known award winning Chippy, it is also where you can see how they got hold of the fish in the old days at the Historic Fisheries Museum which houses a number of historic boats and models. If you are after some non floating history then further round the coast is “Scotland's Secret Bunker” - an amazing network of secret underground rooms used during the Second World War.

There are a number of nearby castles, including;

St Andrews Castle
Aberdour Castle
Kellie Castle
Scotstarvit Tower

Further round the coast is St Andrews which has a nice Abbey, and some interesting buildings, chic shops, restaurants and cafes. Apparently some game with balls, sticks and sand is played there, sounds strange to me.

If you are in the mood for some more nautical history, then a bit further round the coast and across the River Tay Dundee has a wealth of old boats (no longer including the Ashes unless anyone wants to take the remains home for a visit) Ships that still exist in Dundee include;

The North Carr Lightship the only remaining scottish lightship.
The 46 gun friggate Unicorn
Captain Scott's ship Discovery that was built in Dundee for his expedition to the Antarctic]]

Finally, if you fancy a bit of gentle hillwalking, the East Lomond is about 10 miles from Largo, is suitable for smallish children upwards and has fantastic views of the whole of Fife and the Forth and Tay estuaries from the top. Rather more challenging is the West Lomond. After a trip up either, stop at the village of Falkland (after which the Islands were named), and enjoy a sandwich or a pint in the cobbled streets. If it's raining, a trip to Falkland Palace is worthwhile. Now a National Trust property it was a Royal hunting lodge and has lots of interesting history and lovely gardens.

Nationals Countdown - The Gathering

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Nationals Countdown - The Gathering

Largo Bay Sailing club has started welcoming the Cherub fleet with 7 boats greeted by some sunshine, and some wind. The early arrivals were not so much for the compettative advantage, more to get a good place at the Bar, Carpark, Members Gardens (Delete as appropreate)

Nationals Countdown - The Incoming

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Nationals Countdown - The Incoming

The Cheruby Gathering continued today with the arrival of another three boats having arrived by the afternoon, including the very shiny new E6 Eleanor which looks set to dazzle the fleet. The beach is starting to look busy. The Largo Bay Sunday Club racing took place in a lumpy F4-F5, although none of the Cherubs had managed to complete rigging till all the club boats had got back in, and the wind had dropped a bit later in the Afernoon a few Cherubs ventured afload, including Phil and Carol in Pocket Rocket, The Strathclyde Keelboat Squad in The Flying Kipper, Dave and Nick in Shiny Beast, Tim, and Kate in The Cats Wiskers.

Nationals Countdown - The Testing

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Nationals Countdown - The Testing

T-1 and the Largo shoreline is starting to resemble a festival. Kites replacing the bunting and thankfully the drone of power tools from a couple of days ago is becoming a faint memory (except the odd zip of a cordless drill). All the teams for this year’s nationals have now arrived in Largo and almost every team launched today for a “shakedown”. The atmosphere on the beach was constructive, with Cherubs launching in bunches in to an interesting breeze. The first group off, Shiny, Badger’s, Pocket Rocket and Eleanor, for her debut sail, were shortly followed by the squadron of Ronin, Loco Auntie and Riot van. There was gentle wind with random strength and direction. Maf even managed to snap some footage - with a video upload to follow. E-J's crew unveiled their latest mainsail with some Banksy-esque graphics. Some even managed to sail with dolphins, boats were weighed, sails measured and and the general buzzy buzz about town is looking forward to tomorrow's fun.

Largo Bay Nationals - Day 1

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Largo Bay Nationals - Day 1

The Nationals kicked off with sunshine, and a light southerly wind. The morning saw some last minute bimbling in the sunshine, then sails started to appear on boats, and the tension rose before launching. Race officer Gordon McGeorge had briefed the competitors about the course, the sailing area and the all important rocks which are best missed upon returning to shore.

Race 1

The Committee set a short course, and despite the light conditions got the first race away on time. The wind had moved from 185 degs to 170 degs during the prep phase so the windward mark had to be moved accordingly. Antidote to Panel Games with new owners Chris 'the scrote' Lewns at the helm got a good start towards the favoured left end of the line, and kept the lead for the rest of the race, with Usagi Yojimbo in second, and Shiny Beast close behind. There were a few points where the wind dropped below 5 Kts, and the stopwatch got up to four minutes before the wind picked up again. Further back there was a good battle between the 97 rules boats with places changing at most marks. Will Lee and Beth Barnes in borrowed Born Slippy had a good start and were first of the 97 rules boats to the top mark, very closely followed by Phil and Carol Alderson in Pocket Rocket who then took the lead on the downwind leg. These two swapped positions again up the second beat, but Phil and Carol pulled out over the rest of the second lap to finish first 97 rules boat by a whisker.

Race 2

The start of the second race was again light and many boats stalled out on the start line, this resulted in chaos at the pin end Riot Van had a coming together with Loco Perro and Antidote, with Antidote getting away. It all sorted it out with with Usagi Yojimbo getting a clear start and holding on to the lead till the end of the race. The Flying Kipper also did well out of the start and were second boat to the windward mark despite not having much sail area, compared to the other boats around them. Antidote to Panel Games were buried at the start and spent the whole race pulling back place after place to finish second. Shiny Beast had a very speedy second lap which got them another third place. In the midfleet there was a small rig battle between The Flying Kipper and The Pasta Frenzy with the Pasta getting ahead on the downwind but being retaken each beat, ending with a close fight to the finish, with kipper just edging ahead.

Frolics

The Commodore gave a speech welcoming the sailors and introducing the Provost of Fife Frances Melville, who gave a short speech welcoming all the competitors, this was followed by an international buffet, to fill bellies ready for the rest of the evening activities.

Largo Bay Nationals - Day 2

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Largo Bay Nationals - Day 2

Thursday morning greeted the Cherub fleet with clouds heavy rain, and very little wind, this cleared through the morning and we were all glad that we were not over the water in North Berwick where there seemed to be a rain cloud stuck all morning. The rain cleared away as the boats started to rig, and just as the first boats launched a nice wind arrived from the East.

Race 3

With a good size course set and good breeze the race got off to a clean start with Chris “the Scrote” Lewns in Antidote getting a clear start accelerating away from everyone like they had an outboard motor, they stayed in front till the end of the race. Atum Bom had a better time in this race being much more suited to the breeze and managed to claw there way to 3rd position despite there customary rubbish start. Andy and Jill Peters had their best race of the day managing to miss seaweed and unauthorised swimming to finish 2nd. There was close racing between the 97 rules boats, with Will and Beth in Born Slippy, Phil and Carol in Pocket Rocket and Davro and Matt in the Pasta Frenzy swapping places regularly throughout the race, Born Slippy had the edge up wind, with the others catching down wind, it ended with Pocket, the Pasta and Born slippy finishing with about 20 seconds between them.

Race 4

The course was shortened a bit for race four as the breeze had dropped to a tricky intermediate with loads of crouching on the trapeze, with occasional twin wiring, it was a tricky decision whether to hot it up down wind or to soak. Chris “the scrote” lewns lead the way around the corse again, closely followed by Paul Croute and Tim Unerman in Atum bom, Graham and Eddie in Riot Van got third after a good ding dong with Andy and Jill Peters in Usagi Yojimbo coming in third. Badgers Nadgers had a good race fighting with Ronin swapping places on most legs. Badgers had the ability to point, Ronin had mastered footing and flying but on this occasion the result was pretty similar in round the cans pace. Badgers just pipped Ronin at the finish for seventh. The 97 rules boats again had a good race with plenty of swapping places up wind and down. Despite horrific spinnaker pole problems on the vintage symmetric rigged the cats whiskers managed to keep ahead of the flying kipper who were struggling to tame the turbo tango! Various problems arose with the demon pole during the race mainly down to tims poor knot tying, if you cant tie knots tie lots! At one point when the halyard was wrapped round the bow and the pole was stuck up in the air due to the spinnaker down-haul block being stuck under |tims sparkly new D1.5's Kate decided it would be much better if Howard concentrated on where they were going and she sorted out the issue!

Race 5

Stu Tinner and Ross Burkin (the gurkin) sailing Ronin stormed through the fleet to get their best nationals race result to date with close fought race, just 20 seconds behind Graham and Eddie Bridle in Riot Van . Chris (the scroat) Lewns and Tom Pygall were racing ahead and while initially Atum Bom was tussling with Ronin and Riot, they pulled out into a comfortable second place. Dean Ralph and Simon Jones have started to show some of the potential of their new E6 Eleanor with a fifth place. Usagi suffered an unfortunate capsize early in the race but then showed their class and sailed back through the fleet for a respectable finish. The boys in Cheese showed that they had the skill to cope with breeze to consolidate their high flying results on day one and finished a solid 8th. Andy and Jill swapped sailing for swimming and had fun showing the Cheeseheads an E5 close up (John has an E5 in build).

Series

After five races the front end of the fleet looks like:

Position	Boat Name	Sail No	Crew Name	Points
1	Antidote to Panel Games	2699	C Lewns T Pygall	4
2	Usagi Yojimbo	3202	A Peters J Peters	9
3	Atum Bom	2688	P Croate T Unerman	13

The Frolics

Back on shore the class had it's AGM, which was followed by a pub quiz in the Raylway including a special Cherub themed round, which had only a few questions on boats, but loads on fat flying babies.

Largo Bay Nationals - Day 3

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Largo Bay Nationals - Day 3

Largo Bay Nationals – Day 3

Friday looked more promising when everybody got out of bed. A moderate to fresh south-westerly was building. The fleet was joined by some more classic boats, including 2631 “Groovejet” sailed by Neil and Megan Cardno and 2533, sailed by Brian Irving and his father – his first time ever in a sailing boat!

Race 6

Will Lee and Beth in Born Slippy pulled off a port tack flyer and was well up the fleet at the Windward mark, he managed to keep ahead of the rest of the 97 rules boats finishing eighth. Ben Butler in Slippery when Wet tried to follow but was a little way behind an was forced to tack off. Chris Lewns and Tom Pygall in Antidote to Panel Games consolidated their lead on the series with another win, with Riot Van taking a flyer on the final beat to take second from Atum Bom who finished third. John Hamilton and Digby Still in Cheese Before Bedtime had a cracking race to finish fourth. Eleanor pulled back from a poor start to get up to third at the windward mark demonstrating its potential as a pure boat speed weapon, they then popped the kite and accelerated away from the boats around them, only to swim on a gybe and letting about five boats through. Ronin also started 5mins late for the start of race 6, but caught up to a credible 7th, just behind Shiny Beast.

Race 7

With black clouds building over Methil Race 7 started after a general recall, Ben Butler in Slippery when Wet had a less than successful start and mounted the committee boat, fortunately no damage was done, apart from pride. there was a good breeze and a massive northerly shift for the first beat with Atum Bom, Usagi Yojimbo and Riot Van arriving at the windward mark at the same time. Riot Van had problems with the hoist but were soon sorted by super crew Eddie. The fleet charged down the first run together with some place changes in a down wind drag race, although everyone was mostly still together at the leeward mark which gave a congested drop area but really got the blood pumping. Ronin had considered a port tack flyer at the start, but bottled it at the last minute meaning they were spat out the back and were bounced over to the wrong side of the beat. Having sailed through the fleet after a poor start “the idiot with the stick” in Antidote to Panel Games managed to drop it in on a gybe which left them in fourth place at the end of the race.

The wind dropped, shifted and became patchy towards the end of Race 7 Ben Butler in Slippery when Wet, noticed that the right hand side of the course had more wind so stayed on that side and benefited from a good shift that let them reach into the finish past about four other boats who were floundering in the slop with very little wind to get a ninth place. The wind continued to drop and swing around, with some of the late finishers hoisting spinnakers on the “Windward” leg.

The race finished with a first win for Atum Bom, Usagi Yojimbo second and Riot Van 3rd, leaving all to play for on the final day.

Race 8

In a good call from the Committee Race 8 was postponed till tomorrow due to a lack of wind.

Position	Boat Name	Sail No	Crew Name	Points
1	Antidote to Panel Games	2699	C Lewns T Pygall	5
2	Usagi Yojimbo	3202	A Peters J Peters	11
3	Atum Bom	2688	P Croate T Unerman	11
4	Riot Van	3204	G Bridle E Bridle	15

Largo Bay Nationals - The Final Day

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

Largo Bay Nationals - The Final Day

Long-promised: There was wind. All morning the white horses were visible all over the race area with dark patches passing downwind suggesting exciting rides to come. Antidote to Panel Games was in the lead and to lose it had to finish below third place in all three races, and Atum Bom had to win all three. It was windy and a change in conditions like this can bring a real change in fortunes.

Race 8

An even line got the fleet away cleanly in weather windy enough for there to be tack-derived swims for Antidote. Despite their speed and tactical expertise they were only able to pull back to 6th place. Atum was soon to capitalise and stretched away to win. There was a band of heavier air offshore so pretty much everyone did bear-away hoists and headed over there to engage warp-drive. The spectators on the shore enjoyed the blasting and the the occasional swims (including a notable full cartwheel from Cherub Dæmon). many sailors chose to drop early and reach in to the mark to use as much of the stronger airs off shore as possible.

Race 9

Here the wind had gone round more northerly, and was continuing to go right, so the hard-right hitters on the beat came out on top. Downwind there was the issue of standing on to the bigger breezes, or gybing left for the favoured shoft. During this races both approaches saw gains at different times, though the major skill for good speed was preventing the sails from being completely immersed. Conservative actions from Antidote brought them the win and the nationals and they went in to celebrate and nurse their broken bodies.

Race 10

More of the same - To secure second place Atum needed better than 6th or thereabouts. This they did by winning, placing Usagi Yojimbo in 3rd and Riot Van in 4th.

Post-race blasting made sure everyone was properly knackered before going ashore.

Frolics

The prize-giving dinner and wind-down allowed everyone to congratulate Chris Lewns and Tom Pygall on their win of the Simpson Cup (awarded this year for the 59th time). Other prize winners included Jill Peters (Silver Teapot - first lady), Eddie Bridle (First Junior), Beth Barnes (Second Junior), James Hamilton and Digby Still (Nick Mason Trophy - Best improver), Phil and Sarah Kirk (Prix d'elegance - Best looking boat), Dean Ralphe (The Ashes - worst breakage), Nick Pratt (The Spanking Paddle - most disreputable off-the-water behaviour).

It will be four long years before we return to Largo Bay for what is now a traditional Cherub pilgrammage. We were pleased that the number of builds is up, as is the number of nationals attenders. Perhaps it is the thill-factor, perhaps it is the fun-factor, but Cherubs, now and every year since 1951 have been putting indelible smiles on faces of young (our youngest competitor - in a classic boat from the 1960's - was 11) and old alike.

Next year is 2011, the 60th year of Cherubs. There will be a special nationals at a venue with loads of Cherub history and many other events celebrating that the best things are often found in the smallest of packages. See you there!

Gallery

Results

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Helm	Crew	Club	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Race 10
1	2699	Antidote to Panel Games	Ellway 5	C Lewns	T Pygall	Whitstable Y C	12	1	2	1	1	1	1	4	6	1	20
2	2688	Atum Bom	Slug	P Croote	T Unerman	Chew Valley	15	6	7	3	2	2	3	1	1	2	1
3	3202	Usagi Yojimbo	Ellway 5	A Peters	J Peters	Queen Mary	21	2	1	2	4	7	20	2	2	5	3
4	3204	Riot Van	Banshee	G Bridle	E Bridle	Brightlingsea	27	5	4	4	3	3	2	3	20	3	9
5	2676	Shiny Beast	Paterson 7	D Ching	N Pratt	Poole Y C	32	3	3	8	5	6	6	6	3	4	2
6	2645	Cheese Before Bedtime	Dog	J Hamilton	D Still	Draycote Water	45	7	5	6	10	8	4	5	4	6	8
7	2683	Pocket Rocket	Appleby 1 (97 Rules)	P Alderson	C Alderson	Largs	67	8	12	10	11	11	9	13	5	7	6
8	2694	The Badgers Nadgers	Daemon	A Cramp	T Noyce	Roadford Lake	67	15	9	9	7	10	13	8	7	10	7
9	2698	Ronin	Bieker 1C	S Tinner	R Burkin	Whitstable Y C	68	12	10	7	8	4	7	20	8	12	20
10	2660	The Pasta Frenzy	Pasta Frenzy	D Roe	M Kiddle		72	13	11	11	6	9	10	7	20	14	5
11	2674	Born Slippy	Slug (1997 Rule)	W Lee	E Barnes	Whitstable Y C	75	9	13	12	12	20	8	12	10	8	4
12	3208	Eleanor	Ellway 6	D Ralph	S Jones	Whitstable Y C	77.5	10	14	5	9	5	5	9.5	20	20	20
13	2685	Loco Perro	Big Issue	T Kiddle	S Clarke	Stokes Bay SC	81	4	6	13	13	13	12	11	9	13	20
14	2657	Slippery When Wet	Dog (97 Rules)	B Butler	P Kirk	North Staffs	103.5	11	15	14	14	14	14	9.5	12	20	20
15	268	The Flying Kipper	Dog (97 Rules)	B Howett	N McLeod	u.Strathclyde	106	14	8	15	16	15	16	17	13	9	20
16	2303	The Cats Whiskers	Forman 4 (Vintage)	H Noyce	K Wester	Roadford Lake	114	16	16	16	15	16	15	14	11	11	20
17	3206	Exultant Juilation	Ellway 5	R Trim	H Trim	Thornbury	127	17	17	20	20	12	11	16	14	20	20
18	2631	Groovejet	Paterson 4 (Vintage)	N Cardno	M Cardno	Derwent	155	20	20	20	20	20	20	15	20	20	20
19	2644	Suicide Blonde	Bistro	J Watts	N Poole	Great More	160	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20

UK Cherub Inlands 2010 - Queen Mary SC

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

UK Cherub Inlands 2010 - Queen Mary SC

The Inland Championships this year will take place at Queen Mary SC in West London, on the 9th and 10th October.

The NOR and SI's are here: NOR SI's

UK Cherub Inlands 2010 - Report

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

UK Cherub Inlands 2010 - Report

The weather gods certainly smiled benignly on the Cherub Inlands at Queen Mary SC with warm temperatures and an increasing breeze over the two days culminating in a couple of quite full on final races. On Saturday three races were held in a reasonably steady 8-12 knots of breeze.

In race 1 Andrew and Jill Peters in Usagi were first around the windward mark but succumbed to an early capsize letting Graham and Eddie Bridle in Riot Van lead for the majority of the race. Usagi though was slowly catching and overtook Riot Van on the last leg to win. In race 2 Usagi led from start to finish with Dean and Simon in Eleanor getting a good second, Riot Van finishing third. In race 3 a slightly increased breeze suited Stu Turner and Nick Pratt in Ronin and they took the win by a boat length from a fast finishing Usagi. Davro had finally emerged from a post Ministry of Sound sleep and posted an excellent 3rd in the Pasta Frenzy. The first 97 rules boat for the day was Phil Kirk and Tom Kiddle in Born Slippy.

On the Sunday the Cherubs had their own start on the club racing course giving QMSC members a close up view of the fantastic 05 rules cherubs complete with their masthead asymmetrics, twin trapezes and t-foils (there are a couple of great second hand boats available on the class website!) Overtaking the RS400’s who started 5 minutes ahead showed the turn of speed these 12 foot skiffs can produce given a decent breeze.

Normal service was resumed in the first two races with Usagi taking 2 firsts and the Inland Championships for the second year. Each race was hard fought with in particular Eleanor and Ronin also leading for significant periods of the racing. The increasing breeze was making for some challenging corner turning and the QMSC sailors were getting some spectacular cherub action to watch. By the final race the wind was upto a good force 4, firmly into Pasta territory. Riot Van and Ronin duelled for the lead but Dave and Maff in Pasta were never far behind. A race ending capsize by Ronin freed Riot Van for certain victory, however the thrill of riding the days biggest gust downwind meant Riot Van over stood the finish and had to drop the kite and reach across. This opened the door for The Pasta Frenzy who, showing a mean turn of speed themselves, blasted across the finish line to take the win. Adem and Chris in Monkey Magic showed some good boat handling to stay the course and claim third.

Many thanks to QMSC for arranging such superb conditions and for the excellent race management.

Results are under the sailing>results tab on the QMSC website

Sailwave Results

SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Total	Nett
3202	QMSC	Andrew Peters	Jeraldine Peters	1	1	2	1	1	(8.0 DNF)	14	6
3204	Brightlingsea	Graham Bridle	Eddie Bridle	2	3	(8.0 DNC)	3	4	2	22	14
2698	QMSC	Stu Turner	Nick Pratt	3	4	1	2	5	(8.0 DNF)	23	15
3208	Whitstable YC	Dean Ralph	Simon Jones	4	2	4	4	2	(8.0 DNC)	24	16
2660		David Roe	Matt Kiddle	(8.0 DNC)	8.0 DNC	3	7	3	1	30	22
2655	Datchet	Adem Ikibiroglu	Chris Rust	(8.0 DNC)	5	5	5	7	3	33	25
2674	Thornbury	Phil Kirk	Tom Kiddle	5	(8.0 DNC)	6	6	6	4	35	27

E-Numbers Launch

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:21:58 +0000

E-Numbers Launch

E-Numbers Takes to the Water

On the 23rd and 24th of January the latest Elway 5 cherub ‘E-Numbers’ successfully sailed for the first time. Even in the 4-5 knots of wind on Saturday she felt quick, balanced and stiff. She was joined on the water by sister ship ‘Exultant Jubilation’. After 2 hours of beating, spinnaker reaching, some cautious tacks and gybes the inevitable happened. Splash! ‘Gosh the water’s cold! Time to go in maybe!’ E-Numbers had behaved well. Almost everything appeared to work and be in the right place. The sails looked great and nothing creaked, groaned or broke. A few tweaks were required. The trapeze lines were a bit long and the T-foil control line needed some elastic.

After a splendid curry with Team E.J. both boats sailed again the following day. Eventually a nice force 2-3 filled in and both boats were off. Atum Bom was already on the water waiting. With the extra breeze E-Numbers took off and hared rapidly across the lake. A moment was taken to pull on the T-foil which brought the bow back in the water. With the weight back she drove along even faster and felt more settled. The boat was enjoying this but helm and crew were having to concentrate quite hard to keep everything together. After a few tacks the kite had to go up for the sleigh ride back down the lake. Again a little caution was used to complete the run with a gybe and without swimming. Later a careless bear away capsize made the decision to stop for lunch. A second on the water session gave an opportunity for Roland to take some photos.

This has been a successful weekend from which to build skills and confidence. Both crews found it very rewarding to sail the boat that they had built. A big thanks must go to Paul Croote and his Crew Ed for hosting E-Numbers and E.J. at Chew Valley S.C. and Roland for catching us and helping on shore.

2010 Bloody Mary

Congratulations to Pete Barton for his 4th place in the Bloody Mary in what was undoubtedly a great display of grit and resilience in atrocious conditions. Boat Preperation is important for any Regatta, and here is Pete's description of how he winterised his Cherub for the Bloody Mary.

Ice bimbles - CODE WHITE alert

Picking up my boat last Thurs in snow and midday sub zero temps, with no let up in the forecast the severity of our conquest dawned on me. We had had big problems keeping the boat going with ice forming last year in light winds. This year with similar temps but stronger wind and therefore more chill, the ice problem was likely to be bigger with us also having less spare hands to deal with it. I momentarily contemplated quitting but decided it would be more fun to try to up our game instead (plus I think I had managed to psych Ben to the point of no return!).

The conditions were going to take out a lot of the competition for various reasons which would open up opportunities for is if we could keep ourselves in the game. Its a renowned tough event. A win is a win. Valid even if it is only because you are the last men standing, perhaps more so.

A quick call to Pete Conway who won the BM in the 70's, in the days of real winters, gave some moral support. He won in a Moth spending the race looking at his cockpit drains, timing the rate at which they were slowly freezing up. Pete is in his late 70s and took line honours in his Asy Int Canoe in the snow at Lym today.

The CODE WHITE mission was conceived.

1) Spray covers over kicker & T-foil cleats. Last year with ice forming they became fairly unusable quite early. With heavy duty plastic (DPC membrane) and duct tape we kept spray and wind chill off the cleats.

2) Last year just sailing out to the start a film of ice formed on the racks. This year I added extra mid rack foot loops and ridged 'footstops' of pro grip to racks & gunwales (2cm wide, 3 thick = 6mm)

3) Spray deflector for jib track. Last year it froze up and often Roz had to kick the jib across and it led to a capsize 40m from finish. This year heavy duty plastic (DPC membrane) duct taped to foredeck and angled forwards deflecting spray & wind chill to keep track ice clear.

4) Extra secondary spinnaker haly cleat at mast base. Last year towards the end of the race after 7m of wet rope was hoisted thru it it became a block of ice and would not cleat which is a bit of a show stopper. So I attached this 'emergency' cleat just off the direct line for manual use, just in case.

5) Have you tried to buy salt in the last few days? Near impossible! We prepared a bucket of very, very salty water and soaked spin haly, kite, main, jib sheets before launching. We took salt out with us with a hope of a quick sprinkle at 2min to go but we were preoccupied.

6)We took de-icer sailing with us. As it turned out it was too full on to fully spare one of us for spraying but I did manage a cheeky spray of the stbd trap kit whilst 1 wiring downwind.

Were these efforts successful? Yes, definitely. Some other boats had problems and we didn't on any of this. The mods probably cost 1kg total, no big deal.

The one place I missed was the trapeze kit. I had a spate of precariously dropping to the knots on port. Ice forms on the string due to wind chill and goes into the cleat. Next time I would maybe cover them in bike tyre inners with just the cleat jaws showing.

So the ice didn't get us a but ultimately the 25k gusts did. Our Cherub handling was not up to it and swims led to more swims. But if it had been a more manageable 14-16k our preparations meant we were there ready to be counted. We gave it a keen shot and are very happy with our achievement. As far as big days out go it beat drinking Guinness at the boat show and was possibly cheaper and better for me. Next year…