BALA News Page

As this is possibly the first communication of the year for those club members that didn't make it to the AGM on Saturday 3^rd February at Hough, I 'll start by wishing you a happy New Year; and to the twenty five or so that did, thank you very much for your time and effort. These sort of events don't organise themselves and are vital for the correct functioning of our Club status. Three of the club Officer stood down, Peter Harrison as Sailing Secretary, Ann Chalmers as Secretary and Helen Crawford as Treasurer, and I want to thank them all for their work in organising and regulating the club. Another big thank you to Robbie Harrison for booking the venue and organising the meal in the pub.

The new Sailing Secretary is Michelle Dowse who will be supported by Chris Morris in a very modern job share type role, and Tim Cannon will shoulder the burden of Treasurer.

Unfortunately the post of Secretary remains vacant, and if it is not filled soon this will have an effect on the efficiency of the club. Most of the secretary's duties can be shared among the other members of the Committee.... there must be someone who has the skill and time that is required for the vital task of taking minutes and emailing them to the Committee after each meeting? Please call me on 07714 205328 if you would like to talk through how you can help.

Some important news for those of you who were not at the AGM is that the club fees are going to rise in 2007. Yes, the increases in membership and boat parking fees are large compared to recent history, but still very good value for at least 16 weekends of racing in this unique location and we have no choice unless we move from the current site.

So Family membership will be £110 and Single membership will be £70. Catamaran storage will £90, but discounted to £70 provided you pay the Treasurer before 1^st May, the fee for a small boat is £70 and a canoe or windsurfer is £40 with a similar £20 discount for payment before 1^st May.

As the club has to pay the rent by mid May it is vital that every club member pays the Treasurer by the beginning of May at the very latest. Please bring your cheque book and completed membership form (available on the web site or from the Treasurer or Commodore) when you bring your catamaran to the club site at the start of the season, which is 10/11^th March.

There is a work party required on Saturday 10^th to refurbish the buoys and get them into place on the lake, as well as some structural work on the clubhouse floor, so please bring your toolkit,overalls and wellies as well as your boat. There will be a pursuit race on Sunday 11^th for the Cobwebs Cup, let's see how many boats we can get on the water!

Thereafter the Pursuit and Handicap racing occurs every fortnight, (the calendar is already on the club website,) so whether you get value for your money is entirely up to you.

There are three days of racing scheduled for the Easter Bank Holiday w/e and another three when we hold our Open Meeting on the first Bank Holiday w/e in May, with the prospect of some really top notch visiting competition.

We have two days of Olympic standard three sail racing tuition booked for 19/20^th May, and a whole w/e dedicated to Juniors training on 23/24^th June, both opportunities not to be missed.

Ann asked me to pen a few words on the F18 Nationals on behalf of the Bala contingent.

Some six days later my fingers are now bending enough to attack the keyboard and provide an account of the event from the back end of my Tiger ( This is a boat and no I have not developed any strange animal fetishes)

I teamed up with Neil Green for the Nationals and prior to this event we had sailed together on just one day. Thankfully this was also a windy day and actually prepared us quite well for what was to come.

I doubt Neil would have offered his services had he known what lay ahead. Ignorance is a wonderful state and allows you to get into situations you are old enough to avoid.

As a holiday proposition, sitting on the high seas for six hours a day would not rate in many peoples top 10 " must do's".

Our tale starts on Friday with our introduction to Hugh Styles ( RYA Catamaran Coach). Hugh speaks a different language; it's not Welsh, English or any other language I have come across. Let's call it Sailish. Sentences are punctuated with terms like Pressure, phases of the wind, race strategy, compass bearing, lay lines and Cunningham (which I am told is safe to use in mixed company.) Using our new vocabulary we set off for some practise races. Applying all we had learnt we obviously got a wind phases wrong, as we started last and finished last in at least the first 32 practise races. I should explain that Hugh likes his courses small, imagine racing inside a tennis count (without the net) Start, windward leg. Windward rounding, launch kite and finish each lap in about 22 sec's!

The training was starting to pay off with a perfect committee boat start a second behind the gun; we were still smiling when he declared a general recall!!!

I should add the training day started calm and built up as the day went on. Our bear away's started to resemble U631 on a crash dive. This should have been a warning of what was to come, but ever the optimist we believed the forecast which promised light winds building as the weekend progressed ( YES).

Saturday saw 38 F18's sitting on the start line for race 1 in conditions that could best be described as bright and breezy. After the usual postponement and delay hostilities began at about 1.00pm ( hour late). Using all our new tricks we put our race strategy into practice and with ten secs to go decided we should sail over to the start line and see what was going on. Sure enough 25 boats all seemed to want the same piece of water, so we waited and slotted past the committee boat a sec behind the gun with a perfect view down the line. This became our starting strategy for the entire event, only going badly wrong when I pointed out to Neil that a port start was required in one race ( which was right) the only problem was that 37 other boats disagreed leaving us like " Billy no mates" pointing the wrong way.

Race 1,2,3 all went in a blur of kites, launches, beats and more windward starts. We were starting to get the hang of this F18 stuff and the increasing wind seemed to suit us. For some bizarre reason we managed to arrive at the windward mark with the leaders in race 3, but some poor downwind tactics soon had us back in our place, only to catch up again the next lap. This was to be our moment of glory finishing 10th. I should mention we were not the only Bala boat taking honours in this race. Justin and Gwen Heap finished 8th in the same race, Pete Findley and Andrew Walker 17th in the second race and Mark Lawrence and Stuart Pearson 28th in race 4.

This pattern continued through Sunday with long days, lot's of sitting around riding waves while course changes were made.

Monday dawned wet, grey and windy and just got worse. Getting to the start line proved to be a problem for many competitors. The two mile kite reach "did for" more than a few crews and the rescue boats started a very busy day. Once out on the start things were still not looking good. The waves were quite large and just sitting around waiting for the start was not easy. Try bearing away in a force 5 from zero miles an hour to 20+ in about three boat lengths, while trying not to hit any of the other 25 boats sharing your parking bay!

We ended up being the only Bala boat to complete all three races on Monday. In fact we were the only Bala boat to complete any races on Monday! Justin and Gwen exploded just in front of us in a ball of white water as the Infusion made a dive for the sea bed.

Our most memorable experience on Monday was getting too close to the leaders in race 2 at the windward mark. We had over-stood the mark and approached on Port at speed. The leading 10 boats were leaving the windward mark on starboard nose to tail with kites being launched. Just to make matters even more interesting the other boats were beating up on starboard. So we had a choice, thread the Tiger through any available hole at 20+mph while missing two converging lines of boats or go head to wind and watch them sail by. With seconds to spare we saw a Tiger get his kite jammed on the launch and took a chance to sail in front of him praying his kite did not fill.

Yes you are starting to get the message that this was a windy regatta. With arms six inches longer and blisters popping out of our gloves we launched the Tiger once again.

At first we thought it had calmed a little but just as the race started the wind changed gears and started to build. I am told the highest recorded wind speed in race 2 was 27knots ( Force 6+)

We adopted a simple race strategy, keep the mast pointing at the sky. It worked most of the time but we suffered some serious nose dives with very little of the boat visible for most of the down wind legs. Suddenly those expensive foot straps became excellent value. I would suggest we had approached or just passed our heavy weather sailing ability during race 2. The gybe angles became ridiculous. If you failed to gybe after exiting the windward mark you would not be able to make the down wind gate, essentially you were on a downwind run, but the boat still considered this to be a reach such was the apparent wind.

Well Neil and I managed 22nd which we were delighted with given the standard of competition. Justin & Gwen got 29th, Pete and Andrew 32nd and Mark and Stuart 37th. Mark and Stuart got the prize for the best capsize, with Stuart being ejected out of his sailing boots while in the straps during a pitch pole!

You also have to understand that F18 is becoming a semi-professional racing fleet. The average age of the leaders is around 22, the second placed helm ( Chris Rashley) has just turned 17! Most of the top 10 places are dominated by RYA team GBR sailors or ex-Tornado champions. It is also fair to say the event became something of an endurance event in terms of time and effort required on the water.

Autumn 2006 Newsletter

Dear All

The nights are drawing in, only two weekends to go (7&8^th and 21^st&22^nd October) and then the Final Fling (Saturday 28^th October), so make the most of it, there are vital points to be won! It has been great to see so many members participating in racing this year, 26 entries in one race at the Club Championships has to be worth mentioning, I’ve not seen a signing on sheet run to two pages in my time at the club.

The Final Fling is both a stand alone race on Saturday 28^th for the warm blooded mammals among us, as well as a celebration meal and club prizes presentation ( provided last years winners can find and polish up all their perpetual trophies!) before we hibernate until the icy blast of Spring….Please send your cheques (£16.95 per head for adults, children’s price for carvery £4.95 each; menu choice to be made on the night! ) to Ann Chalmers at 101 Meadway, Forest Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 9RE. We’re back at the recently refurbished and doubtless more atmospheric Plas yn Dre on the High Street in Bala town, with exclusive use of the upstairs function room and bar after dinner.

The other job that weekend is to prepare the clubhouse for the winter and bring in all the racing buoys. Please bring your dry suits or wet weather gear even if you do not plan to sail, and useful tools, many hands make light work and you never know what the weather will be like at that time of year. The water pipes in the club house will need to be completely drained, meter readings taken, the buoys and all car tyres neatly stowed behind the fence and the site cleared of all evidence of the club. That means not a boat is to remain on site after 31^st October, and I can not state strongly enough how important it is that you plan your various boat and caravan trailing operations to achieve this; our landlord Ieuan Roberts will get grief from Snowdonia National Park Authority and he will have to remove the offending boat from his land as he sees fit…..

The next major event of import in the club calendar will be the Annual General Meeting on 3^rd February at the same venue as last year (Hough Village Hall, nr Crewe) which suits most people. The committee posts of Secretary, Sailing Secretary and Treasurer are due for re-election, if you are interested in ensuring the future of your club please contact the current committee members for an outline of the duties involved.

The club relies on the tireless work of its committee members to make things happen for the majority of the membership, there must be a large pool of untapped talent and energy among our recent membership increase, don’t be shy, it’s the best way to find out who is who and expedite change!

Siimon Houlder

Commodore

Latest Club News

Dear Bala Catamaran Club members, old and new, apparently it is spring and as I write it has hardly sprung, but Easter will hopefully see the first sails up at Bala and even a race or ten take place. The clubhouse has a fresh coat of paint inside, and all the buoys are in place, so let’s make this first weekend and the Easter Cup (Monday 17^th April) a worthy start to the season and see off the winter blues! Bring your bikes and kites too, just in case the wind gods have other ideas…

Thank you to every one who made it to the AGM on 4^th February in Hough, all club members should have their copy of the minutes by now, if not, does the Hon.Sec. have your email or snail mail address? (contact Ann Chalmers on: - ann@bananacat.co.uk) The meal in the pub after was most enjoyable, thank you Robbie for organizing that.

When you roll up at Bala, please search out Fred Paddock , (or even better before that, contact Fred on: - padspock@yahoo.co.uk ) our Bosun, who has shouldered the responsibility of trying to keep the fleet in order on shore as well as on the water. Ensure your boat is tied down to a deep, angled ground stake (or two) and if you are on the shore line, that the bungs are out of both hulls to allow them to flood if the lake rises when you are not there. Park trailers under trees, where boats with masts up cannot be sited, and ensure that all parts of your trailer are secure from theft with wheel clamps or locking nuts, and tow hitch locks.

Also please heed Dave Park ’s advice on caravan parking as we have more members than ever to fit onto “our” field, there will be more detail on this shortly in the Yearbook.

Only one week after the Easter w/e it was planned to have a training w/e for all three sail classes, but some feel this is too many consecutive w/ends so early in the season. We still want to provide this opportunity to improve our racing skills with the help of a top coach, so keep checking the website and Clubhouse notice board for an update.

Then the Big Event, the Open Meeting. As this will be a round in the F18 Q series we can look forward to some competitive sailing from a hot class of travelling sailors, so Bala Catamaran Club expects that every man (and woman!) will do their duty both in competition on the lake and in hospitality on shore. To help us in this task, I have arranged a Hog Roast for Saturday evening at £8 a head (and hopefully a catering van for the rest of the w/e) so you can enjoy yourselves and be helpful hosts. Volunteers are especially welcome at the very beginning and end of the three days, as we set up the visitors facilities and tidy up afterwards.

On May 20^th & 21^st we plan to run a Juniors Weekend, and I want to float the idea to all Dart 16 owning club members that they could contribute by offering their rugged rotomoulded racing rafts and give the next generation a chance to compete in one class! There are enough Dart16s in the club now, so give me a call (07714 205328) and say “Yes” (and save us the Topper hire fee!).

Please note that the Saturday series pursuit race (27^th May)and Sunday handicap racing (28^th May) will take place at the start of the half term holiday week, so hopefully more people can participate before packing up their boats for the annual trip to the briney at Abersoch.

One month later (24^th&25^th June) we will be hosting the Catapults Enduro event, but shouldn’t we give the infamous Wine Walk a rest until the following year, when they will return to celebrate their 25^th anniversary with us? I’m sure there is an equally entertaining idea out there, let’s hear it now so it can be organised……

Over the August Bank holiday w/e (26^th to 28^th August) the F18 National Championships are to be held at Pwllheli, it’s not often the Nationals are so close to our base, this will be a great opportunity to add our fastest growing classes to the racing fleet and show them what Bala Catamaran Club members can do!

Enough already I hear you cry, you’re more than half way through the season! Just one last reminder, your subscription is due by the beginning of May and has been held to the same very reasonable cost as last year, so send those cheques to Ann Chalmers with your up to date contact information before the month end.

Well the summer seems to have come and gone in its usual blur. Lot's of activities and events have happened at the club over last couple of months.

I must start by thanking all those members and friends who made the "Wine Walk" the huge success it was this year. Without doubt everyone who attended had a great time. This event coincided with our Catapult Travellers Weekend and the feedback we got from the Catapults was fantastic. They had such a great time they want to celebrate their Associations 25th anniversary at Bala during 2007 and hope to turn up with 25 Catapults to celebrate. They also want a "Wine Walk evening" after all their members voted it the best social they have attended.

Our junior weekend in late May went really well with a noticeable improvement in sailing standards across the board. Congratulations to James Walker (1st) Kate Green (2nd) in the junior cup event. It got quite windy in the final race and lot's of capsize drills were evident.

Not an old imperial measurement but a Scottish Sailing Race held in July. An "Inch" is the Scottish description of a small island and the Four Inch Race is a 32mile long distance race around four small rocks in the Firth of Forth.

Bala were well represented in this event. Chris Morris & Mal Philips ( Inter 20) Mal Ling and Chris Cooke ( F18) and Ian Kirk and Jon Jenkins ( F18) made the long trip to Edinburgh.

Coinciding with the G8 Summit, security was more than tight and our sailors were monitored by police on the Forth Road Bridge. Ian Kirk was surprised to receive an award on behalf of the police for recording the fastest time under the bridge, clocked on a police radar Gun at 23mph! If only he could get it going that fast on the lake. I heard lot's of "hard luck" stories and "if only's".

It seems Chris Morris was first boat around the windward mark suffering a sail blow out down wind. Ian Kirk and Jon were becalmed while holding a huge lead. I understand they finished 4th on handicap which is a great result.

Many thanks to Ann Chalmers and Fred for acting as support team at this event and also the Nationals.

Late August saw the cream of the F18 fleet assemble at Worthing for the Nationals. One might have been forgiven for mistaking this event for a European Championship. With more foreign voices evident than a trip to France.

Bala was once again represented by four strong entries: Peter Findlay and Andrew Walker, Ian Kirk and Dave Watkins, Justin Heap and Gwen, Mal Ling and Chris Cooke.

It soon became evident that competition was going to be very tough with the arrival of the Nissan Hobie Team piloted by a variety of European and National Champions from across the channel.

For those who arrived on Thursday Hugh Stiles held an excellent training session and I understand everyone that attended learnt loads.

The races became quite predictable as the European Hot Shots won race after race leaving the Brits to take up the lower rankings.

Justin, Peter, Ian and Mal finished in that order in the mid to lower half of the fleet. Despite the results this was a good performance given the competition.

I understand the F18 Nationals are to be held in Pwllheli next year so we hope to see a major entry from our growing F18 Fleet.

As we approach the end of the season we have a few reminders to issue and events to announce.

End Of Season Dinner will be held at the Bala Lakeside Hotel on Saturday 29th Oct. Ann Chalmers is very kindly organising it and I am sure she will be in touch soon with menus and timings. Can we please have all this years trophies back to Peter Harrison in advance of the Dinner.

We need one or two volunteers to shut down the clubhouse and tidy the site on the Sunday following the Dinner. We also need volunteers to bring in the marks and ensure that the markers are in place so we don't loose the ground tackle.

It is a condition of our planning permit with Snowdonia National Park that ALL boats and trailers are removed by 1st Nov. This is not flexible and any boats left endanger the operation of the club. Please, please make arrangements to remove your boat by this date.

Yes Bala does have a tide. It usually comes in about mid Oct and washes up onto our field. Last year we had lots of problems with boats floating away and banging into other boats. Check your tie downs, remove your bungs to keep your boat where you parked it, make sure no sharp objects are sticking up waiting to receive your hulls when the water recedes. Keep am eye on the weather forecast and be prepared to come down if floods are predicted. Hopefully we will be lucky this year.

Finally as the season comes to an end I would just like to thank all those members who have helped me during my third and final year as commodore. Personally I think this season has been about the best the club has had in terms of active sailing, social events, new members and getting the kids involved. It all looks good for 2006 when I can join the great sailing public and complain about the toilet rolls running out!

I know it's hard to get excited about sailing when the wind is blowing 50 MPH and Carlisle is under-water but our sailing season is not so far away.

Many thanks to those members who made it to the AGM on Feb 5th, the location was excellent and thanks must go to Roz Harrison for arranging it. Several items were discussed and a copy of the minutes is enclosed for those who were unable to get there.

We have some interesting events planned for 2005. To start with we expect a huge turn out for our Open meeting on the May Bank Holiday Weekend. After a rest of 15 years the Dart 18 Travellers Circuit once again includes Bala in it's 2005 series. The Darts should provide about 25 boats which when added to our normal 25\30 should give us a "bumper entry". As always this provides a challenge in terms of catering and accommodation. We have coped with 40+ boats before and with your help I am sure we can do so again. If we can give the Darts a great TT event we should be able to keep them coming each year. As usual I am begging for any help we can get, Rescue, BBQ, odd jobs, signing on, preparing food, getting shopping, signs, anything you can offer.

We have a few social events planned starting on the "Cobwebs Weekend" of 19th March. No details yet but expect food and drink in same shape or form.

Our working party is planned for Sat March 12th. I don't expect a huge amount of work but on the current list is.

A big thank you is owed to Charles Jones who has transported the Club Rescue Boat, had it serviced and repaired and looked after it over the winter. The Boat had new steering fitted this winter.

We have our Junior Weekend planned for May 21\22. (Subject to boats) This is a great chance to get your kids on the water and enjoy a casual BBQ on the Saturday.

Following the success of our family Bike Ride last Easter we are planning a similar event on Good Friday March 25th. This year we are hoping to arrange a ride at Coed Brenig, which is about 30 mins away from Bala on the A470. More details nearer the time.

Once again the club will be making tracks to Abersoch w\c 28th May for the week. Everyone who comes along seems to enjoy the week, either sailing, cycling or just sun bathing. Anyone who wants to book can do so. Quote Bala Catamaran Club the site is the Deucoch Campsite 01758 713293.

We have confirmation that the Catapults will once again be joining us on 25\26th June for our Long-Distance event and Saturday BBQ. Any help would be appreciated.

Back by popular demand. For those who missed ( or just can't remember) this event. We will be running the "Wine Walk" on Saturday 9th July. This is a great evening and you can get involved without too much effort. More details nearer the time.

The sailing calendar for 2005 has been produced and we have accommodated those who had a preference for a given date. OOD duty is really not too hard, can be fun and teaches you things you forgot or didn't know.

At the end of the day everyone relies on the OD turning up for his or her duty. It's really no fun to drive 100 miles early in the morning to find out the OD has not turned up. Thankfully 2004 was a good year for attendance, lets ensure 2005 is even better.

Check the Race Calendar, make a note in your diary and make arrangements with someone to swap if you can't make it. We have a new sailing Sec, Pete Harrison. Please let Pete know if you have arranged a swap. ( 01270 843392)