Bosham Classic Boat Revival at Bosham Sailing Club
by David Edmund-Jones 12 Sep 2014 08:31 BST
6-7 September 2014
58 entries from 20 clubs descended on Bosham SC at the weekend to contest the 2014 Classic Boat Revival.
A large contingent arrived from Brightlingsea SC on the East Coast to try their luck against their southern counterparts. Their journey was not in vain as they walked away with the top 4 places in the Medium division, Chris Mathews and his crew in Rebel taking bullets in all three races sailed. Doing a similar horizon job with a trio of second places was Alan Hicks in Storm Petrel.
The team of 5 Brightlingsea One Designs had threatened to make the journey south since the event was first started in 2011 but this is the first year that 'Team Captain' Fiona Brown from Emsworth (and Brightlingsea!) had managed to get all her ducks in a row. By getting the beautiful Brightlingsea One Designs to Bosham, she created history, this being the first time the BOD's have ever been away from their home waters in over 80 years. A remarkable feat in itself.
Top local boat in the medium fleet were Will and Mandy Henderson from Itchenor Sailing Club in their Firefly, Gigi.
The Fast division was also won by a visitor who travelled from Blithfield Sailing Club in Staffordshire to take the top prize with a very consistent 1, 1, 2, scoreline. Tim and Rebecca Male sailed their beautiful Merlin Rocket, The Flame, to beat local Bosham boat Finola 2, a National 18 sailed by Paddy Mirams, Richard and Mags Watney.
Three good races were held on the Saturday, whilst the wind gods did their best to thwart PRO Nick Fox's efforts on the Sunday. He did manage to get one race away for the Fast division, but sadly the other fleets had to be content with swimming and informal diving competitions whilst waiting in vain for the wind to pick up, but sadly this was not to be.
The Slow fleet, all local, sailing from the Cobnor line, gave RO Stuart Martel similar headaches in waiting for some wind but managed to get 3 races in on Saturday but eventually had to abandon on Sunday with zero breeze...with Izzie Lee in her Scow, Happy Bunny cleaning up.
The Concours d'Elegance prize this year went to Chris Turner from Hayling Island SC in his immaculately prepared 52 year old Fireball No. 6, 'Six Of The Best'. A regular competitor at the Bosham Classic Boat Revival event, Chris beat a number of beautifully restored Merlin Rockets and a 57 year old Enterprise that came all the way from Yorkshire to compete.
Fast division - 21 starters
1st The Flame - Tim & Rebecca Male (Merlin Rocket) - Blithfield SC
2nd Finola 2 - Paddy Mirams, Richard & Mags Watney (National 18) - Bosham SC
3rd Phantasy 2 - Simon & Brenda Hoult (Merlin Rocket) - Hayling Island SC
4th Tinkerbelle - Richard Stirrup, Jono Prosser & Dave Hall (National 18) - Bosham SC
Medium division - 23 starters
1st Rebel - Chris Mathews, Peter McCoy & Piers Strong (BOD) - Brightlingsea SC
2nd Storm Petrel - Alan Hicks, Jayne & Craig Bond (BOD) - Brightlingsea SC
3rd Grethe - Fiona Brown, Mike Stannard & Peter Jones (BOD) - Brightlingsea SC
4th White Spirit - Mark White, Steve Archer & Richard Stephens (BOD) - Brightlingsea SC
Slow division - 14 starters
1st Happy Bunny - Izzie Lee (Chichester Scow) - Bosham SC
2nd Pickle - Nikki Miller & Rosie Hanbury (Tideway) - Bosham SC
3rd Doris - Kenneth Moore (Tideway) - Bosham SC
For detailed results visit www.ClassicBoatRevival.co.uk