Dinghy Racing: May 1st

The Helford River Sailing Club is starting Adult Dinghy Sailing every Saturday during the summer season beginning at 2.00 pm on 8th July.  The start time will alternate between 2.00pm and 10.00am depending on the tide. Our aim is to attract new members to the club by offering an opportunity to Try Sailing a Wayfarer or our new Drascombe Lugger with an experienced club sailor.

All existing club members with or without dinghy experience will be most welcome to join us. Most importantly we need to build up a list of experienced sailors and safety boat crews who are able to help.

This will be promoted in the West Briton as an opportunity to “Try Sailing” which, as you know, has taken place for many years and with great success on Tuesday nights.

If you would like to take part or want to help, please email Angie Watson at [email protected]

Thank you

So the results for this year’s dinghy racing are sorted!!
Well done everyone it has be quite a year and anything but normal!
The main thing is we got out sailing and had fun, so a big thankyou to everyone who has helped and taken part it has been quite a learning process for us all….
So the results

Summer series
1st Tim Laws
2nd Freya Skingley
3rd Duncan Skingley

Autumn series
1st Phil Philpott
2nd Duncan Skingley
3rd Lily Butler

And 2 special prizes

Lily Butler for being the only junior to win a race and in fact she won 2 in the end !! Well done!!

And Bob Shepherd for sticking with it despite not being in a great boat and often bringing up the rear but always with a smile, well done !!

Spring Weekend Series Sunday 28th June 2015 : Pursuit SW, Wind S-W 4-6 

In Pursuit of Happiness

Andy Biggs had a huge grin on his face as he had been just been thrashed by the 4.7s, and taken part in one of Helford’s best pursuit races of the season. Deciding his relative – the garrulous Gallic Hugonaut – should have a good workout before Sunday lunch, race officer Roger McDonald set a course that ran and reached in the odd 25+knot shifty gusts down river; strained sinew and shrouds on the gallop upriver.

First off, Beccy Kestin and Beks Hosking popped out of the Narrows in their 4.7’s planeing downwind in the big gusts; by the time they both rounded Toll Beccy was clearly well ahead. It wasn’t until a gust caught Beccy between Committee & Toll turtling the 4.7 that young Beks Hosking finally pounced and stayed at the head of fleet with Beccy snapping at her ankles to the end of the race for their 1-2.

A little stumble at the first hurdle and our chatty Hugonaut chum slipped to the back of the Laser queue; where, despite huge efforts, his loaned Laser scooped up water as if a Canadair. This flightless canard however was for sinking – and came last; not by much as the entire fleet were within seconds of each other.

So it was for the remaining Lasers to wait for the slightest error or favourable gust to gain advantage. Phil Philpott’s slowish start on his third Laser outing soon turned into a display of confident seamanship; the throttle opened 110% when Biggsey cuffed Central and turned a 360 penalty into a pirouette.  

Team Hosking & Brooks were out on their first date. Despite loose head prop Brook’s fight with the wet spaghetti in the front of the Laser 2 there was enough ballast & brains in the rear to hold the craft flat on the long beats and upright on the reaches to tease a third within seconds of the finish.   

Results 1st R Hosking, 2nd R Kestin, 3rd A Hosking

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Safety Boat: R McDonald

  

The Dinghy Regatta was a great success and a big thank you goes to everyone who helped on the water, back at the Club providing great food and hospitality and above all, the sailors.  … more