Boatman Bonanza - it's all over... or is it?

by Graeme Oliver 11 Sep 2019 10:59 BST 24-25 August 2019

This event was all about one thing, remembering our friend Martin Boatman who we sadly lost to cancer in January this year. The brief was simple, create a regatta that would celebrate the things that he loved the most, racing, partying and family life. Job done.

While the UK was basking in the late summer heatwave it unfortunately wasn't conducive to a good forecast for the 55 entered for the racing, unfortunately that was the case with only one light air race on Saturday being held.

Boatman Bonanza at Sunderland YC - photo © Michael Oliver & Gemma Gibson

The race itself was an "interesting" affair with the fleet split between staying out of the tide in the lighter wind and those taking the stronger adverse tide further at the pin end with a little more wind. Cue a drop in the wind even further at the committee boat end and the pin end boys laughing all the way to the bank with some even reaching trapezes, the committee boat end (your author included) taking 4 minutes to clear the startline!

Boatman Bonanza at Sunderland YC - photo © Michael Oliver & Gemma Gibson

The largest fleet was the Musto Skiff with 22 boats and it was a group of 5 who dominated the race with Jamie Hilton reaching the windward mark first closely followed by Adam Ovington and Ben Schooling.

Boatman Bonanza at Sunderland YC - photo © Michael Oliver & Gemma Gibson

Just to mix it up the two SB20's of Lee Boatman and Billy Maughan were in the mix of the front group of Mustos and were showing well on handicap along with Honor Fell / Robbie Gilmore and James Plenty / Eddie Grayson in their RS800's. Schooling then pulled through to the lead as the fleet compressed at the leeward mark and the Trotters (Ian and Dan) pulled through to the front group. As the wind started to fade again and eventually shut down almost completely the leaders managed to sneak across the line to take the gun with Schooling taking the win, Lee Boatman (With Jonny Boatman and Tom Dawson) sailing well to take 2nd and Ian Trotter pulling through to take 3rd place.

Boatman Bonanza at Sunderland YC - photo © Michael Oliver & Gemma Gibson

Off the water it was all about the families, with Magic Mick (not Magic Mike or this would have been a very different write up) entertaining the kids and then followed by paddle-boarding and swimming, they were having a blast. There was even a cake sale organised by the Boatman family which raised over £300 for the charities.

Boatman Bonanza at Sunderland YC - photo © Michael Oliver & Gemma Gibson

A great night of partying ensued with a live band, food and a serious amount of beer being consumed (must remember to order more Moretti next time, clearly 3 barrels isn't enough!) with in excess of 150 people in the club it was a fantastic party!

Sunday dawned to a millpond, with the windless zone sitting firmly over the UK it was always going to be a struggle to get anything going, that was the case and the sensible decision was taken to abandon for the day and once again the families retired to the each for some paddle-boarding, bouncy castle-ing and beach games

We have been so lucky to have a superb group of sponsors for the event and they provided a vast array of lots for the auction along with prizes for the racing, one of which was a carbon tiller extension from Speed Six which was won by Ben Schooling and immediately donated back to the auction, nice touch Ben!

Boatman Bonanza sponsors - photo © Boatman Bonanza

The main part of this event has been raising money and awareness of four charities, The Bobby Robson Foundation, The Andrew Simpson Foundation, St Benedicts Hospice and the RNLI. In total (and it's still rising) we have raised in excess of £7,000 through donations, the online auction and the cake sail amongst others, you can still donate through www.justgiving.com/companyteams/boatmanbonanza

The team at Boatman Bonanza would like to thank all of the sponsors, organisers and helpers for their kind and generous support, without you all this would not have been possible.

Boatman Bonanza at Sunderland YC - photo © Michael Oliver & Gemma Gibson

Finally, a huge thank you to the Boatman family for indulging Bov and Graeme and putting up with us pestering you all into helping out!

Photos of the event can be found on the Facebook event page and on Tim Olin’s website.

Overall Results:

Pos	Fleet	Class	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	PY	Elapsed
1	Single	Musto Skiff	544	Ben Schooling		Stokes Bay	849	61
2		SB20	3310	Lee Boatman	Jonny Boatman	Sunderland YC	915	672
3	Single	Musto Skiff	546	Ian Trotter		Derwent Reservoir SC	849	62.14
4	Single	Musto Skiff	593	Jamie Hilton		Aberdeen SC	849	63.13
5	Double	SB20	3057	Bill Maughan	Luke McGill	Sunderland YC	915	68.53
6	Single	Musto Skiff	527	Dan Trotter		Derwent Reservoir SC	849	64.57
7	Single	Musto Skiff	588	Adam Ovington			849	65.32
8	Double	RS800	1138	Honor Fell	Robbie Gilmore	Queen Mary SC	799	62.44
9	Double	RS800	1171	James Penty	Eddie Grayson	Beaver SC	799	63.11
10	Single	Musto Skiff	334	Ian Escritt		Yorkkshire Dales SC	849	67.37
11	Double	RS200	608	Tom Clayton	Gabriella Viner	Yorkshire Dales SC	1046	58.29
12	Single	RS Aero	2188	Mark Addison		Upper Thames SC	1014	56.46
13	Single	Laser	101484	Thomas Parkhurst		Beaver Sailing Club	1099	62.37
14	Single	Laser Radial	215303	Nick Welbourn			1145	65.24
15	Single	Laser	205158	James Tulley		Yorkshire Dales SC	1099	633
16	Double	FLYING FIFTEEN	3463	John Thornley	Keith Jamieson	Ullswater YC	1015	58.5
17	Single	Laser	192498	Simon Weatherspoon		Derwent Reservoir SC	1099	64.55
18	Double	RS200	1700	Oliver Groves	Esther Parlkhurst	Beaver SC	1046	93.59
19	Double	RS800	1115	Stuart Keegan	Sophie Johnston	Derwent Reservoir SC	1046	95.1
20	Single	Musto Skiff	481	Josh Moran		Ullswater SC	849	78.25
21	Double	RS200	1202	Sam Waller	Rob Richardson	Beaver SC	1046	96.42
22	Double	RS200	1536	Andrew Brown	Alex Sutcliffe	Tynemouth SC	1046	974
23.5	Double	RS200	1571	Allan Lennox	Meil Manderson	HSC	1046	97.31
23.5	Double	RS200	1571	Alan Lennox	Neil Manderson	HSC	1046	97.31
25	Double	470	767	Graeme Robertson	Emma Joy	Royal Tay YC	973	627
26	Single	RS Aero	2684	Richard Purdy		Kielder Water SC	1014	65.57
27	Single	Devoti D‑One	5	Paul Davis		Lymington Town SC	948	941
28	Single	Musto Skiff	530	Danny Boatman		Sunderland YC	849	57.15
29	Single	Musto Skiff	287	Martin Keegan		Derwent Reservoir	849	89
30	Double	SB20	3015	Dave Atkinson	Roger Bacon	Sunderland YC	915	97.55
31	Single	Musto Skiff	549	Robbie Wilson		Wormit Boating Club	849	916
32	Single	Musto Skiff	274	Ian Turnbull		Ullswater YC	849	91.33
33	Double	SB20	3045	Ken Ward	Laura Ball	Sunderland YC	915	99.44
34	Single	Musto Skiff	394	Nigel Walbank		Lymington Town SC	849	942
35	Single	Musto Skiff	556	Graeme Oliver		Wilsonian SC	849	94.16
36	Single	Musto Skiff	58	Euan Hurter		Point Yacht Club	849	95.28
37	Single	Musto Skiff	75	Callum Escritt		Yorkshire Dales SC	849	977
38	Single	Musto Skiff	500	Tom Conway		Derwent Reservoir SC	849	97.22
39	Single	Musto Skiff	483	John Evans		Derwent Reservoir SC	849	97.24
40	Single	Musto Skiff	586	John McAffee		Derwent Reservoir SC	849	98
41	Single	Musto Skiff	448	Callum Findlay		Ullswater SC	849	985
42	Single	Musto Skiff	200	Kieran Graham		Derwent Reservoir SC	849	98.2
43	Double	RS800	1241	Steve Brown	Philip Bairstow		799	95.49
44	Single	Laser	173609	Richard Clayton		Yorkshire Dales SC	1099	463
45	Double	Laser Radial	209216	Charlotte Rockett		Barns Green	1145	991
46	Single	Laser Radial	168898	Susan Brown		Budworth	1145	99.26
47	Single	Laser	196529	Brad Hilton		Derwent Reservoir SC	1099	97.58
48	Single	Laser	161643	Andy Weatherspoon		Derwent Reservoir SC	1099	98.26
59	Double	Fireball	14556	John Turley	Philip Whitehead	Yorkshire Dales SC	953	DNF
59	Single	Musto Skiff	600	Alastair Conn		Derwent Reservoir SC	849	DNF
59	Single	Musto Skiff	305	David Hivey		Weymouth Academy	849	DNF
59	Double	RS400	1325	Lawrence Logan	James Logan	Nottinghamshire County	942	DNF
59	Double	RS800	982	Neal Gibson	Keith Macey	Downs SC	799	DNF