See the MBW War Canoe race on Youtube here.

Check out the final of MBW first Yacht Tournament on Youtube here.

Maylandsea Bay Week 2011

Sailing Report

What a fantastic week it was with some very competitive racing and plenty of incidents. Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to all those who helped make the sailing successful.

Dinghy Fleet Racing

Top of the dinghy fleet was Chris Grice/Mary Jeffrey (novice crew) in Kestrel  408. Chris got off to a flyer with three first places on day one, but was not to win again all week. Our welcomed visitors from Broadwater Sailing Club, David and Sandra Wilson in their Graduate 2974 took two second places. On Tuesday when the wind blew up to force 4 Paul Gray/Katherine Wilkinson Kestrel 1408 took 2 wins, avoiding barges on the way. On day three with racing out of the creek to Mundon Spit and light winds suited the Graduate, David and Sandra posted the their first wins of the week. The last two races on the Thursday would be critical to the top three places; Paul Gray won the penultimate race with Chris Grice second – he now could not be beaten. The Graduate slipped up with a 5^th place ultimately to be discarded. The Graduate did what they had to do to take the second place overall on count back and win the last race, with Paul Gray third.

Behind the top three a group of Lasers battled it out and the Queen Mother of Lasers was Karin Grice beating Steve Wright by 1 point. The mid field was a mix of Larks, Lasers, Kestrels and Xenons. The Lark fleet was won by Sally Gray/Gail Raven in Gray Goose from Tom Dawson and ED Iffla in Lawling Lark after filling the boat with mud and bending the rudder like a banana on Tuesday.

Head of the Creek and Crews Race

At the end of the week the fleet was sent up the Creek and it paid not to be first to navigate through the islands to reach the buoy in the last lagoon. David and Sandra Wilson in the Graduate won the Sapphire Cup from Peter Dyson in a Laser Radial.

The Crews Race was combined with the Head of the Creek race and Alex Anning won helming a Xenon with Uncle Andrew.

Sandhopper Fleet

Four Sandhoppers raced on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday having a race a day. No one could get near John Primmet and Kevin Whittle in Wild Gull. The commodore Phil Spillane with Geoff Walkley tried hard but could only finish second.

Pico and Short Course

Matthew with his mum Julie Batchelor took the honours in the short course fleet, with a series of first and second places but only after only finishing 3^rd in the first race. Charlie Wright was the main rival with 2 wins. With strong winds on the Tuesday the heavier two man Picos fared better with Ben and James Thame and Sarah Dyson with Ben Grice each picking up a second place behind the Batchelors. In the light airs of Wednesday was all about concentrating and short tacking out of the tide to Mundon Spit. Matthew got away early on but was hunted down by Bea and Eva Delap who finished a close second. On the long broad reach back to the club from Mundon spit against the tide Charlotte Wright took top spot followed by the Batchelors and the Thame brothers. On the final day of point series racing normality returned with the Batchelors winning ahead of Charlie and the Thame brothers.

Charlie Wright for the third year running was the top cadet helm finishing second overall in the short course fleet consisting of 13 Picos and a Topaz Uno. The under 27 Trophy winners went to Lauren Grice and Honor Derrick who finished 5^th in the short course.

Head of the Creek and Crews Race (short course)

Another battle of the Picos. Ben and James Thame stayed ahead of the field to beat Beth Wilkinson (aged 6) who was helming with her father. Beth Wilkinson picked up the very large Cadet Crew shield.

The first non cadet crew home was Nick Hiett with his future wife with Emma Gray in an RS Feva – he was obviously listening to “she who must be obeyed”.

Oppies

A small group of younger children aged 8 were towed or sailed around in the Oppies. Progress being made as the week went on but they do love a capsize. On the last day in cold wet windy conditions Callum Wright, Rosie Delap, Beth Wilkinson and Joe Grice were untethered to reach and tack around the bay.

Endeavour

Vicky Broomfield in her first year of sailing was awarded the Endeavour shield for her consistency and improvement as the week progressed.

Paul Wilkinson

Maylandsea Bay Week 2011

If you wish to see the progamme of events for 2011 it can be Downloaded here.

Maylandsea Bay Week. August 14th 19th.

A big thank you to Paul and Katherine Wilkinson, John and Teresa Giles, Neil and Gail Raven and Paul and Sally Gray the MBW Committee for organising a fantastic week for all the participants.

Read the Sailing Report in MBW News here.

All the MBW Race Results can be viewed here.

A thrilling end to the race everyone was waiting for after a week of sweat and tears, and possibly a bit of sabotage.