|
Can you let me know if you hope/plan/intend to take part in any of the following, by boat or by land. Copy the info below into an email to myself after you have filled in the answers Email address smlewis@btconnect.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply Form - click "Reply" then scroll down and fill in or delete as applicable below, then email it back to me! Sunday Shotley - Berth? Yes/No Boat details: Tuesday Heybridge - Berth? Yes/No Boat details: Wednesday West Mersea - Join us for a meal? Yes/No - (if Yes, we'll confirm where and when) Your mobile for this:_______________________ Thurs Wrabness - How many for barbeque? __________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No entry form, no entry cost, but in particular I'd like to know if you want a berth at Shotley on Sunday, or Heybridge on Tuesday, and we would like numbers for the barbeque at Wrabness on Thursday please. At any point in the week feel free to ring me on 07900 242452 to find out where we are Sunday evening 12th July - meet up in the Shipwreck Bar at Shotley to welcome visitors from the Netherlands - 8 boats are hoping to make the passage over here at the last count and it would be good to give them a rousing welcome on Sunday evening - come by boat or by road but if you want to come by boat please let me know so we can book you a berth Monday 13th - cruise in company to Brightlingsea - or join us there for fish 'n chips on the front, and a few drinks in the Colne Yacht Club bar - open 7-10pm. Tuesday 14th - sightseeing cruise up the Blackwater, locking into Heybridge Basin from 16.30 on. Or join us in the pub - choice of 2. Again for a berth please let me know you intend/hope to come along. Wed 15th - lazy day, getting to West Mersea for an evening ashore. A drink or 2 in WMYC followed by food in a nearby eatery (to be decided on). Thursday 16th - passage back to the Stour for a barbeque at Wrabness. Pete and Sarah will need numbers for the barbeque in advance. Friday 17th - gentle sail to Pin Mill for lunch at the Butt and Oyster and then on to Levington for the North Sea Race Briefing. (Don't let me know about Friday night at Levington - I hand over to Pete Thomas at that point so you'll be letting him know as part of your entry to the Race.) Hope to see you sometime next week - email me or ring me with any queries Best Wishes Sue Lewis 07900 242452 Shotley Marina 12th July 
Come along to Shotley Marina to welcome our Dutch friends who will have just crossed the North Sea to spend a few days cruising our local waters.
A gentle cruise in local waters to welcome Dutch members the week before the North Sea Race - familiar places but some new faces. If you won't be sailing to the Netherlands this year this is your chance to meet members of the Dutch OGA and their boats - and for those who ARE going Dutch and can make time, a chance to get involved earlier. First get-together will be Sunday evening 12th July at the Shipwreck in Shotley Marina. Having given the Dutch visitors some time to arrive and recover from their passage, let's make them welcome with a bit of a party - even if you are not joining us during the week why not come down to Shotley by land or by sea to join in for the evening. Full details of the Cruise below Friday 10th July till Friday 17 July The Crossing We will gather at Marina Seaport at IJmuiden on Friday 10 July 2009. If the weather permits, we will cross on Saturday 11 July 2009 in the morning to Shotley Marina at Shotley Gate, situated on the junction of the Rivers Orwell and Stour. The trip is about 120 miles.  We will not be racing, we will be cruising. Everybody has to enjoy it. What’s easy for one is just about the limit for the other. We’ll only take off in mutual consent, but you’ll always be responsible for yourself. At the same time, you’re not bound or indebted to anyone. We will sail together and stay in touch with each other via VHF. We can enter Shotley Marina at all states of the tide (vessels over 1.80 m should contact the lockmaster if tide is extremely low). Shotley lies north of Harwich. Details about the approach to Harwich and surroundings, tide tables, havens, and a lot more (interactive) information can be found at http://www.hha.co.uk/index.html  Program East Coast Tour: If the weather and the winds are suitable. If not, we’ll stay on the river Orwell and Stour. Sunday 12 July will be a tranquil day. We’ll stay at Shotley Marina, and we will sleep. However we might be rudely interrupted by English OGA members welcoming us. Monday 13 July. A south-westerly course will bring us down the Wallet to the River Colne. We will stay overnight at Brightlingsea. A 22 mile trip. Tuesday 14 July we can visit Maldon (River Blackwater.19 mile), and then return upstream across the river to Heybridge Basin to overnight. That way we won’t have to rise the next day at unchristian hours to take advantage of the high tide. Maldon mud is greasy and sticky. Or we can directly aim to Heybridge Basin, and walk to Maldon (2 mile) with the risk of not reaching Maldon at all, because Heybridge has sufficient quality pubs. 
Wednesday 15 July shall be a quite day, just a 10 mile trip. We’ll sail down the River Blackwater and moor at West Mersea. The “launch service” can take us ashore, where we might meet some more OGA members in the Yacht Club. They will be notified of our arrival. Thursday morning 16 July the tide is perfect to cross The Wallet back to the River Stour (29 miles or less taking the inshore route). We’ll sail up the river and moor at Wrabness at Pete and Sara’s cabin. They will definitely organise a BBQ if the weather is right.  On Friday 17 July we’ll sail the Orwell and hopefully arrive at The Butt and Oyster at Pinn Mill around lunchtime. Then afterwards upstream in the haven of Levington, Suffolk Yacht Harbour, we will rest and keep quiet. In the Chandlery you can buy food for the return trip. The village is 1 mile inland. The briefing for the Classic Passage Race 2009 is at 19:30 (local time) at Haven Ports Yacht Club, the red light ship. Since 1991 the DCYR and the OGA have been staging a passage race for Classic Yachts and Old Gaffers from the East Coast of England to the Netherlands, as a feeder race to the Dutch Classic Yacht Regatta. In 1991 arrangements were made with Customs to clear vessels at Hellevoetsluis, providing vessels entered the Harringvliet at Stellendam and went to Hellevoetsluis and crews stayed on board until cleared. One vessel, however, could not get to Stellendam. They, being not a sharp yacht, but a heavy Thames Spritsail Barge (Thistle), could only sail to Vlissingen. They cleared customs there, and then cruised through Zeeland having a wonderful time, and arrived at Hellevoetsluis to find their compatriots still confined to their small vessels awaiting the Customs men. So the next time we raced to Roompotsluis, which was a customs entry port. We called in a few Zeeland ports on the way and had a nice time. Customs were lifted but we still sailed to Roompot. We called in at Zierikzee, and then we discovered Steenbergen, five miles up a canal, but not on Dutch Charts (however, they are very friendly and speak Dutch as well as English) With Willemstad now added as a rally point, a very pleasant Zeeland Cruise is added to the DCYR, which attracts quite a party from Netherlands as well as those who cross the North Sea. That is the brief history of the North Sea Passage Race and the Zeeland Cruise! The Passage Race - Rules and Regulations The North Sea Passage Race is more of a timed “Cruise in Company” than a “macho” offshore race. Most of our vessels are not modern offshore racers; many are very small as well as very old. Therefore it must be safety first. We are not going to cross in a gale. And if we do have the good weather, we do not want to stay out there until it becomes bad. The North Sea is also very busy with shipping. So we are not racing through the shipping lanes. As well as prizes for gaff and bermudan rigged winning vessels, there will be cruising prizes for the best log and the most interesting/amusing log. Compared with normal racing rules we are making the following amendments: 1 Use of engines Engines may be used to maintain a safe and sensible average cruising speed, to avoid navigational dangers or dangerous situations. They must not be used to secure a racing advantage over other vessels, for instance in close quarter situations such as port and starboard tacks, or to get first to the finishing line. Skippers are obliged to keep an accurate record of engine use. The time under engine will be doubled and added to the actual time taken for the purposes of the race. For instance if the passage took you twenty hours and you used the engine for two hours, the racing committee would regard your passage time as 20 + (2 engine hours x 2) = 24 hours. 2 Shipping Lane Skippers must log their time on entry into the shipping lane as marked on the chart, and their time on exit.The position on entry and exit must also be logged. Vessels in the shipping lane / TSS are not racing.The time they take to do this part of the passage will be deducted from their passage time. Competing vessels will race to within 200 metres North East of a “Virtual Buoy” position 51.N 44.00, 2E.18.00, i.e. leave the virtual buoy to starboard. This will enable the fleet to cross the shipping lane at right angles and restart the race as they round Birkenfels to port. Skippers are also requested to log their position at two hourly intervals, and provide this information on their declaration form. The Passage Chart should be available for scrutiny, and judges may also ask you to demonstrate on the map page on your GPS (if you use one) the actual course sailed. However we trust each other to be honest! 3 VHF Contact Vessels will maintain a listening watch on VHF Ch 16. Vessels are encouraged to announce their positions at regular intervals on Ch 77 (first call on Ch 16 and switch to 77). 4 Rendering Assistance Vessels must render assistance or stand by fellow competitors until suitable assistance is rendered, when asked to do so. This is required in the event of non life threatening situations such as engine or equipment failure. Time spent doing this will be deducted as considered appropriate from the passage time, providing it is logged and positions noted. 5 contact details Joachim van Houweninge 0031-654340575 email voorzitter@oldgaffers.nl Peter Thomas 0044-7933785867/ 01473 832808 email p.m.thomas@talk21.com Briefing and Course There will be a briefing and party starting at 19:30 Friday 17 July 2009 at Haven Ports Yacht Club at Suffolk Yacht Harbour to finalise arrangements. If you are unable to attend please call Joachim van Houweninge at 0031 654340575 or Pete Thomas -mobile 07777664894 01473832808 for the latest update. Start line (planned start time 08:00 GMT or 09:00 BST local time) 18 July 2009. High-water Harwich 09:38 AM. Between Landguard Cardinal and Pye end Depending on wind conditions there will be two courses to take us round the Cork Sand.  Finish Line Between WG1 & WG2 buoys at the entrance to the Roompot Channels - note that WG2 has no light.  Take either channel to Roompotsluis, the north channel is lit. The harbour is big enough to round up and take sails down. Then having locked through, make your way to Zierikzee, where we can have a beer and recover! If we have to delay the race because of the weather there will be no recovery period and we sail straight for Steenbergen! Please hand in your declaration forms at Willemstad when registering.   |