shearwater magazine april 2012

April 2012

80 Years Young!Congratulations John

The official magazine of theNational Shearwater Catamaran Owners’ Association

President Alan Howland [email protected] Chairman Nigel Stuart [email protected] Vice-Chairman Greg Wilcox 01424 446331 [email protected] TT Co-ordinator Del Williams 01394 248329 [email protected] Assistant Murray Greenhill 01424 425699 [email protected] Public Relations Catherine Howland 07976 601399 [email protected] Measurer Nigel Stuart [email protected] Treasurer Roger Crooks [email protected] Magazine Editor Malcolm Greenhill 01424 425689 [email protected]

Class founded in 1956 Recognised by the Royal Yachting Association in 1959

www.shearwater-asc.org.ukNone of the articles, letters or photographs printed herein must be taken as expressing the opinion of the N.S.C.O.A. or the Editors unless stated otherwise, and no responsibility can be taken for the views or expressions stated in such articles, letters or photographs

Presidents Perceptions

If the Mid Winter Dinner at HISC is to be an indication of the 2012 TT season then we are in for a truly fantastic year. The enthusiasm and camaraderie displayed at that event augers well indeed for a bumper series and, with the anticipated expansion in our fleet, it should be a year to remember.

Already this year the Prout outfit has been purchased and the new owners, James Gibbons and his family, are pulling out all the stops to get the boat put together and on the circuit, hopefully by Minnis Bay if humanly possible. Another newcomer will be “Airflow”, now owned by Nick and Louise, both of whom are well known in the fleet but this year will be seen in quite different roles. Louise will be vacating her customary position on the front end of “Dilligaf” as motherhood coincides with the beginning of the season, leaving Nick to tackle his conversion from wind surfing to sailing under the expert eye of Cap`n Greg, resulting in First Mate Alex taking command of “Foreigner” very ably assisted by Joe Hill on the front end.

With the sad demise of “Sheargar” at last year`s National ( but thankfully not her highly enthusiastic crew ! ) we currently do not have a “ Borrow Me “ boat. However, over the winter the phone lines have been buzzing and with the help of Jo and Fiona and the Seasalter fraternity “New Moon” has been donated to the Class. Plans are now afoot to transport the whole outfit to the outer reaches of the Suffolk coast where she will undergo a complete refit and made available for the next team who want to give Shearwater sailing a try.

These changes however are but a part of the constant evolution of the Class where we try to combine the pleasures of sailing and keen competition within a friendly family environment.

What matters most is you and your family‘s participation and enjoyment of Shearwater sailing and the camaraderie of like minded people.

See you all at Minnis Bay.

Alan.

Sec’s Soapbox Over the winter the committee members and others have been busy organising such things as:-

The very successful Mid Winter weekend at Hayling Island S.C. The challenge of providing a great fun social event at a more economical cost to attendees was a great result.

The TT events for 2012 – as listed in this magazine. Del Williams & Murray Greenhill have worked hard to provide some interesting new venues as well as old favourites.

The 2012 National Championships –as listed in this magazine. Shaun Allen has organised this for a full weeks sailing which is difficult in these times when most clubs will only provide long weekend Nationals events involving hectic and often exhausting racing schedules.

Restoration of the moulds utilising the funds raised a few years ago from current and ex members for this purpose. Our Chairman, Nigel, has tapped into his contacts at work to organise this.

Preparation of the ex Prout boat and trailer donated by The Prout family. Our President ,Alan, has led this project and hopefully this will be a welcome addition to the racing fleet in 2012.

Rescue and restoration of “New Moon” from Seasalter S.C. to be made available as a “borrow me “ boat for new members to try out sailing and racing with the fleet. Alan is also leading this project.

All this indicates a thriving class both on and off the water.

Finally a big thank you to Malcolm Greenhill for producing this magazine.

See you all at Minnis Bay for the first TT meeting of the year and may we all get the wind we pray for!

Roger

FOR SALENew heavy duty laminate jib as supplied by White Sails.

Measured and signed ( 3.34 Square metres ) Used only once.

Will bring to Minnis Bay for inspection if required.

Price :

£200 o.n.o. Alan Howland. 01394 278957

2012 Membership Fees As you know, the Shearwater Class Association cannot function without your support both on

and off the water, or, without your membership fees. We thought it might be timely to remind everyone about what your “Subs” enables your association to give back to you.

· An established Travellers Trophy series held at a variety of sailing clubs in S.E England.

· A superb quarterly magazine with reports on events, articles and pictures of events posted to all members.

· A week long National Championships normally held in August.

· A mid-winter week-end without boats to socialize and banish those winter blues.

· Prizes from our various sponsors and from the Class.

· A web site and dedicated Face book page

· Access to and support from an expert boat builder/ repairer Andy Webb and other boatbuilding contacts within and outside the membership.

· Tips, advice, help with your sailing or boat repairs from people who are passionate and enthusiastic about getting YOU on the water.

· A Committee dedicated to organising current events, promoting new developments of the boat and the continued longevity of the Class.

· Help in buying and selling your boat with free advertising on the web / forum

· The legendary social scene that goes with Shearwater events.

· A family friendly atmosphere with fun people all year round and memories to last a lifetime.

· The use of the class mould to build yourself a new boat. The membership fees pay for storing and insuring the moulds.

So, if you have not already done so, please pay your membership fees to the Treasurer, Roger Crooks by cheque in the post. Even better is to set up a Standing Order (Bank account

details can be obtained from Roger Crooks).

Please note all helms must be fully paid up members in order to be valid entrants to The National Championships.

Full Membership £30 per year

Associate Membership £15 per year

Social Membership £5 per year

Your unwavering support is much hugely appreciated and we thank you in advance for this continuing in 2012.

The committee are all very are all very excited about what the Shearwater Catamaran 2012 sailing year. And with the first TT just around the corner, make sure you are ready to go sailing Shearwater style!

“The Committee”

2012 TT’s Hi All

The finalised dates for the 2012 TT’s have finally been finalised, so here they are.

April 21st-22nd Minnis Bay**

May 26th-27th Pagham**

June 16th-17th Eastbourne**

July 21st-22nd Hastings

August 19th - 25th Newhaven Nationals

September 29th-30th Stone

October 27th-28th Marconi**

**Details of new venues will be found later on in the magazine

Cover Photo

Many congratulations to John Hill, who celebrated his 80th birthday on 25th February 2012.

John has been a stalwart of the NSCOA and the fleet for many years, with brother Cliff as crew, and the extended family participating too. His name is on most of the silverware including the TT trophy, and he was second in the National Championships at Seasalter in 1994. John has continued to travel to away meetings until very recently, and his enthusiasm for sailing Shearwaters has not dulled. He still sails and races his Shearwater “Space Odyssey” at Stone SC, and is an inspiration to us all.

John’s first boating experiences were jaunts on his dad’s speedboat at Stone at 15 years of age. He resumed regular visits to Stone in 1955, after completing two years’ National Service. He and Renee married, and bought a house in Stone in 1966, joining Stone SC in the same year. John recalls shadowing the racing fleet, and cutting corners to ensure an unofficial win! He later developed the much admired starting technique of launching from the beach at the one minute gun.

John’s first Shearwater was number 98, “Honey”, who had one centre keel. “Honey” was kept on the beach at Stone, and was once blown over the sea wall in a storm, requiring extensive repairs. Early sailing experiences involved trips around the River Blackwater with friends and family. John upgraded in the early 1960s to number 1111 “Satchmo” (two dagger boards). He recalls his misadventures during his three attempts to sail to France on his early Shearwaters. On one occasion, John, his brother Cliff, cousin Peter and one other set off with camping gear stored in the hulls, reaching Sheppey at nightfall. The boat had no anchor so a lump of iron was found for the job. Fortunately, the boat was still there and afloat in the morning, but weather conditions had deteriorated – on the trip back to Stone John was seasick, and was clouted by the boom, but all fortunately made it back in one piece! For further nautical stories, see John in the clubhouse!

John, we congratulate you on reaching 80 years of age, and hope to see you sailing at Stone for many years to come.

Roger

On a beach in Italy

This beautifully maintained Shearwater Mk1 is still going strong in Italy. It was thought to have been exported to Italy new, before being

‘transported’ to Australia and laterly back to Italy. If anyone can pinpoint the year of

manufacture or knows anything of its history please contact [email protected]

1212

My Mid-Wife Crisis!!!So there I was, sat back on the sofa half

empty glass in hand, paper crown on my head and Kate slumps down next to me and says “I‘d like to have a go at sailing the shearwater and doing the TT’s …..”

I scanned her face to check she wasn’t winding me up, or that she was about to pass out in a drunken stupor – No, she still looked like she was in charge of all her marbles…..A hundred thoughts flew through my mind and I probably should have said “that’s nice dear, let’s talk about it when I’m sober” and gone back to my cosy, post-christmas dinner haze. Instead, the adrenalin had started pumping and I was instantly alert and said “Great – Are you sure? “ and when she said yes I went in search of my IPAD to search on the website to see if there were any boats up for sale……

Despite pushing out a plea on the Shearwater Facebook page I discovered that there weren’t any boats available. However, after asking around and nudging people to test the waters at the winter gathering Alan Howland contacted me to say that the Association had a couple of new (a bit of poetic licence?) hulls available if I was interested.

The hulls have some interesting nobbly bits in the gelcoat that look suspiciously like water damage from being left outside and unloved for a number of years and that’s it. No fittings, no sails, no launching trolley, no box on the trailer but I know, with a bit of love and attention (..and a tonne of cash!!!) this legacy will fulfil the potential that the Prout brothers had imagined when they pushed out one last set of hulls from the moulds before passing them on.

In my dark moments of despair I do wonder what I have done! This is normally after searching the internet for a set of blocks, cleats, eyes, ropes that I can afford without the need a second mortgage but this is definitely a labour of love - so what price do you put on love?

We are just getting going and the further in we get, the less likely it looks like that we will be ready to hit the water by our deadline of May but with a little help from the guys in Hastings we may just do it.

As to why Kate set me off on this labour of love? She says it’s because the Shearwater crowd know how to party, are a great ‘family’, and have fun on the water. My, slightly cynical, take on it is that I have now reached my mid-forties and my wife is keen to channel my impending mid-life crisis into something she can live with – not sports cars or other women, but in filling every spare minute I have chasing the dreams of my first love – Sailing! Fair enough I guess…but it does feel a little odd having my mid-life crisis mapped out for me by my wife.

So there it is - welcome to my mid-Wife crisis and despite having no time to write as well as hold down a full time job, get a new boat fit for racing and do all the things that all families have to do every day I will keep a diary of our progress and share it with you……

Looking forward to seeing you all again on the circuit.

Jamie Gibbons (An ex-Sinner) P.S. – Even when we get this thing afloat I still have to teach Kate how to sail!!

That was how it started….It is now March, it’s late, I have just finished 10 hours at work and further 2 hours in a borrowed garage trying to work out what jigsaw bits I need to make two virgin, glass fibre hulls into a lean mean racing machine. Alan was very helpful when I went to Felixstowe to pick it up - and I have lots of bits to get me going including a trailer with cups that are too wide for the boat to be in class, a main beam that no-one makes anymore, requires stiffening and no mounting brackets to bolt to the hulls.

Hmmm, nice jugs!

MWD 2012

Nigel!, you’ve got a bogey up yer nose

At last - Alex has overtaken Greg!

Don’t worry Rob, it’s definitely legit’

Teachers Pet!

Reuben in line as Murray’s next crew?

Many thanks to Heather for the photographs

MWD 2012

Gottle of geer

Here endeth the lesson Amen

Del sails with Grace?, that’s not what i’d call it

You might be laughing now, but.......

Big sis and little bro?

Many thanks to Heather for the photographs

Ah....Ah....Ah....Choooo! Bless you

My name is Ken Arkley a one time dedicated Shearwater sailor at Runswick Bay Sailing Club just north of Whitby in North Yorkshire where I was for a time the Sailing Secretary.

I was hauling satellite TV cables through the loft (as one does) when I came across Shearwater Magazines and bits of my winning Shearwater stowed up there.

Later, casual googling found your web site and, I was delighted to see, a very active Association.

From early 70’s to 80’s I spent a lot of time racing Shearwaters. First Staagaza no 1582 a weighty glassfibre craft and then in 1976 a quick new state of the art “Butcher” boat Scatsophenia no 1897 – see pics. At that time Runswick bay had a very active fleet of Shearwaters - almost 20 at its peak. We raced off the beach out into the North Sea which could be quite rough at times. The bay is surrounded by high cliffs which can make it quite tricky in light and heavy offshore winds. Most of the historic pictures on their web site are mine at http://www.rbbsc.co.uk/ . There you can see Shearwaters going through their paces over 30 years ago - including Staagaza hurtling along - three up - under new ownership.

We had such great fun racing these development class craft. There were one or two that had the rigid deck between hulls and even one early one which had a huge single central dagger-board. Quite a handful launching in the surf! In those days the Shearwater was King of Catamarans with a few also-rans and, of course its big brother the Tornado. The spinnaker was introduced in the early 70’s and prompted a debate about how wise that was. However it did provide for a more versatile rig in open waters and light to moderate conditions.

It certainly gave you something to do on a long downwind leg. It was never really successful at Runswick Bay because it was usually better to be

able to instantly exploit the expected windshifts from the cliffs.

I moved away from the area in 1981 and when I returned in the second half of the 80’s the Club had gone over to the dreaded plastic Dart. For me the end of an era but not before collecting some silverware! By then I had gone on to charter yachts in UK and then the Med and did not follow the trend. Today I do a different sort of sailing along in Kilo Foxtrot Victor (KFV) (see pic of similar) and a once yearly men-only yachting trip to the Scottish western Isles.

I was wondering whether you may be interested in having these Shearwater magazines if you do not already have them. If so I will send them to you

They date from April 1973 to April 1978 when it seems to have been incorporated into “Racing Catamaran” which I have from then on ‘till spring 1982.

The April 73 edition has a letter lamenting the arrival of the spinnaker!

I have also attached an article I wrote that’s in there somewhere called “Bottoms Up – The Art of the Capsize!” – the draft of which I found with the magazines.

Written over thirty years ago I guess nothing much has changed!

And finally – surprisingly I still have winning 1897 - all in pretty well pristine condition. Stored in garage rafters/lofts for nearly 30 years. She really needs a good home and to get to windward again in a good breeze and can be virtually given away for those purposes. Any advice gratefully received

Fair winds and great sailing to you all!

Ken Arkley

Scatsophenia 1897

New TT Venues for 2012

Minnis Bay. April 21st & 22nd.

Minnis Bay Sailing Club, Hengist Road, Birchington,

Kent CT7 9QP

Telephone: 01843 841588


Pagham Yacht Club. May 26th & 27th.

Pagham Yacht Club 1 West Front Road

Pagham West Sussex

PO21 4SY Telephone: 01243 265025


Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club. June 16th & 17th.

Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club Royal Parade Eastbourne East Sussex BN22 7AA

Telephone: 01323 720 715


Marconi Sailing Club. October 27th & 28th

Marconi Sailing Club Stansgate Abbey Farm,

Stansgate Road Steeple, Southminster,

Essex, CM0 7NU

Telephone: 01621 772164

Three out of the top five in the Shearwater Nationals used Suffolk Sails spinnakers.

Congratulations to Shaun and Clare

shearwater magazine april 2012

Documents