30th June 2006
We now have an all new website at www.uk-cherub.org
Hope you like it! This website will eventually disappear, so please update your bookmarks.
13th June 2006
Halo Jones (Bistro 2641) went to France to live with her new keepers Thomas and Natalie Desmars, and has been beautifully updated with new sails too.
It's hard to believe that this open-winning craft is 16 years old!
12th June 2006
This Bistro was rescued by the Essex Home For Bewildered Cherubs last year after a period in the wilderness. The rehabilitation is progressing well - and it appears that the boat may be released back into the wild in a few weeks.
This weekend's progress is a radical tidy of the whole boat and a really neato kite chute hoop.
12th June 2006
There is a new open meeting at Stone Sailing Club in Essex on the 24th and 25th of June.
This one is an experimental new format of blasting and boat tuning on the Saturday and racing on the sunday.
See you there!
12th June 2006
Aquamarina (Paterson 7b 2681) was the first Cherub to go reliably with a T-foil, and it looks like she may be the first to go fully foiling too.
The boat hasn't got wet in this configuration yet, but when this does happen, I want to see a video!
9th June 2006
This Bistro is likely to take the prize for the Bistro update which most radically changes the look of the boat. The flares are going to be single thickness, and have been removed altogether from the bow.
1st June 2006
If you take your eyes off what is happening across the Channel, anything could happen!
Full Story (in French, sorry)
25th May 2005
Keen-eyed readers will have noticed the second hand boat list is getting slimmer due to demand outstripping supply. This can leave Cherub newbies without a suitable choice of boats to get them started, which is bad!
On a vaguely related note: Please help find these lost boats:
Last seen at Dale sailing centre in Pembrokeshire, possibly owned by someone named Paul. There is also a lead in the Cardiff / Barry area.
Last seen in Bristol belonging to Mark James and Sarah Armstrong, both teachers. The trail went a bit cooler when they went to Egypt for a year, and cold when I heard a rumour they had gone to New Zealand.
These boats would make a perfect first Cherub - so if you've seen anything, please get in touch!
14th May 2006
Perfect conditions in a perfect venue!
7th May 2006
Fun in the sun - a light wind regatta.
3rd May 2006
Come to Queen Mary SC this weekend for the Inlands.
First Start at 12 noon on Sat 6th May.
See you there!
22nd - 23rd April 2006
Three Cherubs were welcolmed to Keilder Water joining 30 other boats for the first Scottish Skiff Racing Grand Prix event of 2006 Some good winds, great racing and even some sun
Report
18th April 2006
Slippery When Wet is the latest Dog to be bought and rejuvenated. The latest pictures can be found on....
18th April 2006
Kielder Water have invited us to come to their open this weekend coming up (22nd 23rd April 2006). See you there!
18th April 2006
What an event! What a weekend!
Six Cherubs set off to Weston for the festival of cherubby goodness that is the Grand Slam. Weston SC had arranged for the grassy field next to the club to be available for camping and the rigging of cherubs.
Full report to come but here is a photo gallery of a weekend with a goodly number of thrills and spills for all. The chocolates were disputed right down to the wire between Dave Ching and Lara Gonzalez-Ruez in Norwegian Blue (Bistro 2637) and Stuart Hopson and a combo of Tris Kemp and Tim Unerman in Sweet Dreams (Death By Chocolate 2663).
When the report is written it will be posted on the 2006 events page.
12th April 2006
The Weston Grand Slam is a cherub classic, and is coming up this weekend. There are four days of two races each, starting at 11 o'clock on Friday, so early starts are in order.
See you there!
12th April 2006
Go to the 2006 events page for the write up.
28th March 2006
Going to the Dogs! The Dog was a fairly numerous and much fancied Simon Roberts design of the early 1990's. It was well known for outrageous top end speed and being not as easy to tame in waves as some other designs.
But the Dogs are back: At the 2005 nationals a beautifully restored example, Strangely Brown, went really scarily fast for the pilots of fancier vessels, and this seems to have started a rush of canny individuals wanting to upset the apple cart: After Paul Croote showed the way with Cheese Before Bedtime, Tom Kiddle bought Flying Kipper to restore and now composites professional Paul Connell has Slippery When Wet and a new rig too. The restoration began a couple of days ago and all we have are the "before" pictures. Please be assured that as soon as we have some "during" or "after" they'll be on...
With the class sailng twin wire now tiller extensions have become more important, as the Cherubs are well known for innovation there are a lot of different tiller extensions out there.
To help work out what is best a guide has been created. Class association members can edit this list adding their own favorites and we can make the definitive guide to tiller extensions.
There will be a mini-blast at Draycote on the 8th and 9th of April. Atum Bom will be there and there WILL be a 'trips round the bay' service running for a very small fee as Atum Bom's co-pilot will be working!
(A Blast is an open meeting without any races, where practice, picking up tips, swapping boats, and trying things out are the priorities. Not travelled before? This is a great chance to do so for the first time, where the emphasis is on fun)
All welcome: New boat, Old boat, or No boat!
Resin infusion is the new thing that is causing a stir; Home built composites without getting sticky! This is when the fibres are put down dry and bagged up just like vacuum bagging only with no resin. Then the vacuum is applied and the resin drawn into the layup via a pipe or two. Pretty exciting! We have tests being carried out in Scotland and Wales, so watch this space!
(Sorry no picture)
Mark Grant's prizewinning conversion of Platypus 2656 Therapy is completed:
6th March 2006
What a weekend! A total of 14 Cherub Sailors manned and womanned the stand on a rota, spending time chatting to Cherub sailors past, present and future as well as wandering around the show checking out the other stands. The boat on the Cherub Stand was Atum Bom (Slug 2688), which was just finished in time....
Other attractions were a kevlar i14, a new foiling moth with a central wand and elliptical planform main lifting foil, a foiling SMOD called an M4, and a model yacht which is one foot long!
On Saturday night there was the annual Cherub Chilli Challenge, which almost everyone lived up to. This year proceedings were enhanced by a quiz which asked incredibly hard sailing realted questions.
6th March 2006
It's Me Too (Bistro 2655) is now renamed 'Monkey Magic' and has undergone some serious surgery. It looks like the gauntlet has been thrown down for the most radical Bistro conversion so far!
3rd March 2006
Come along and exchange "Hellos" with us at the dinghy show this weekend! It's at Alexandra Palace in Northwest London on 3rd and 4th March 3006.
There is a brand new boat on the stand. Atum Bom, Cherub number 2688, the fifth Simon Roberts' Slug design to be built. Your webmaster has been boatbuilding morning noon and night, neglecting his other duties, to get the boat finished in time! Thanks to Jools Turrel (Forman 4 2603 Aggro), Tom Kiddle (Dog 2659 Flying Kipper) and Ben Brown (Big Issue 2685 Loco Perro) for boat help and to Daryl Wilkinson (Loco Perro again) for masterminding the stand.
See you there!
6th Feb 2006
Hurricane ravaged and saddlesore, Cherub 2683 "Pocket Rocket" has returned to the land of her builders at last. Great foredeck graphics!
(This Cherub has been on a long sabbatical in the Cayman Islands)
6th Feb 2006
There's something Cherubic going on across the Channel!
Check out the details as they evolve on Breizh Skiff.
15th Jan 2006
Bistro 2655 "It's Me Too" is going under the knife this week. Ewan Harris is being helped by his local Class Association technical helper Ben Brown to bring the boat up to date. Your editor wants to know all about it:
7th Jan 2006
Happy New Year to all visitors to this website. We know there are a lot of you (far too many for you all to be members), but know very little about you. Why not email the Webmaster saying a little about yourself? We're always keen to communicate with like-minded folk.
(There will be absolutely no information abuse)
7th Jan 2006
This website and the whole of Sailingsource went down for a period on the 5th Jan. Sailingsource and their domain provider had a disagreement over when the subscriptions were due! "All sorted now - and for ten more years!" said friend-of-the-class Dave McCready, Sailingsource webmaster.
7th Jan 2006
The Slug mould went on a multi-staged trip to France to contribute to the build of the 6th (and may be 7th) Slug
20th December 2005
Lost In Space (Barr One 2658) has been out of circulation for a year or two, but was bought in the summer by Tim Unerman who has been doing the business ever since. An encouraging performance at the Draycote open meeting led to a commitment to upgrade fully to to 2005 rules. This has now started.
16th December 2005
The Cherub Class held a 'Foil School' last weekend. Two foils were built and two half foils were built by class newbies supervised by class experts. Much fun was had by all, and the take home message was, "It's not that hard to make your own foils in your garage when experts show you how!".
Atum Bom is progressing too.
6th December 2005
Pastatoide is undergoing some treatmetn at the hands of her French owners Ghislian and Laurent.
5th December 2005
Eggbert the Nasty is back! This globe-trotter of a boat is of 1977 vintage and has aged very well. Built in New Zealand by longstanding British Cherub builder and designer for the World's there, she was rigged with a rig flown out from the UK.
Last week she appeared on Ebay, still looking solid (Boat builders own boats tend to last so well....) and was snapped up by super committed young Cherubber Stuart Hopson who has already started work to give this elderly aunt of a boat a new lease of speed.
13th Nov 2005
Cheese Before Bedtime's snout has been upgraded into a very snug-looking item. Good Job!
13th Nov 2005
Is it that time of year already? The building is beginning in earnest, and an orderly queue is forming to use the Slug mould, behind Andy Paterson building a new vessel for Will and Lucy Lee. Check it out.
6th Nov 2005
The Fotoboat 2006 Calendar and the Fotoboat 2006 Cherub Calendar are available on their website. Cherubs feature in both!
24th October 2005
The Red Eye Sails Cherub Open Meeting took place at Draycote Water SC on the 22nd and 23rd October. It was the last Cherub Grand Prix meeting of 2005, bringing to a close a season of increasing turnouts, interest and membership of the class.
Saturday began with a lightish westerly breeze and a welcome from the old hands to the four cherubs who were attending their first traveller. The fleet had one notable extra addition also - Steve Irish, past 420 world champion and winner of the 2005 ‘tide ride’, borrowed Iain Christie’s boat ‘Suicide Blonde’ for the event as Iain is recovering from an operation. Steve was crewed by Iain’s regular crew Paula on the Saturday and Paul Goodwin on the Sunday.
Race one saw Mango Jam with her designer/builder/sparmaker/sailmaker/owner Gavin Sims aboard with crew Simon Turnbull, take an early lead. They were challenged by Suicide Blonde constantly until the second lap when a troublesome hoist let Mango get away and lead until the finish. Next, the ferocious tussle between lightwind flyer Sweet Dreams and the still-quite-quick-but-incredibly-old Norwegian Blue was settled on the finish line in favour of Sweet Dreams. Norwegian Blue was kindly lent to Will and Lucy Lee by Dave Ching and Lara Gonzalez-Ruiz. Lucy and Will's new boat is in build at [[http://www.bloodaxeboats.co.uk|Bloodaxe Boats]]. Sweet Dreams was with her owner Rich Bower and crewed by Tris Kemp.
In Race two the wind piped up a little in places, allowing for spectacular place changes as some cherubs hit warp speed while others floundered in the lulls. Mango Jam lead from the start, with Suicide Blonde right on their tail until a division at the top mark left Suicide Blonde in breeze, fully maxed on their way in to the leeward mark, sailing round a near becalmed Mango. Sweet Dreams kept pestering but lost out to Norwegian Blue for third place, leaving them fourth. Next came The Spanish Inquisition with guest helm Tom Kiddle and crew/owner Richard Taylor showing great potential for the future.
The gap between races was filled by some Cherub sailors taking part in an impromptu game of ‘pass the large smelly dead fish’. (’Pass’ used in the Rugby sense)
Race three had Mango nearly manage a port tack flyer, tacking under a starboard tack Suicide Blonde. Aquamarina with up and coming team Andy Lang and Tom ‘Fotoboat’ Gruitt aboard hit right hand cornersville with Dangerous Strawberry, piloted by Stuart Tinner with help from Ben Hobin. Suicide Blonde took the lead and stayed in front of Mango Jam until the end. Aquamarina and Norwegain Blue’s battle for third ended with a swim for Aqua.
Saturday night was expertly organised by local Cherub sailor Iain ‘The English Patient’ Christie: The delights of an inexpensive curry in Rugby were enhanced by a swarm of bunny girls in full regalia, and then it was back to Iain’s for a party complete with DJ seamlessly mixing House and Techno beats until bedtime. Lucy Lee gave an informative chat on how to take whisky IV and how to snort burning spirits (Don’t worry: She has a PhD in a related subject).
Sunday came too soon for some, and the stillness of the club anemometer did not promise much. The morning was spent helping cherub newbies improve their rig setup and examining Squid Pro Quo which appeared overnight with her new owners John Hackett and Rob Kennaugh. As if by magic the race officer appeared to say a start would be attempted at midday. As if by magic, the wind appeared too!
Race four started in shifty conditions. Norwegian Blue lead at the top mark to be passed on the downwind leg by Suicide Blonde. The improvement in Lost In Space’s rig after the tuning session in the morning (with a little help from owner Tim Unerman and crew Stuart Hopson) allowed them to shoot forward to fourth place, behind Sweet Dreams. Mango Jam did not make it to race 4 or 5 due to crew sickness.
For Race five the breeze had piped up and occasional twinning was witnessed upwind and down. Suicide Blonde were not challenged in their commanding position all race. There was enough wind to enable the warp drives to be switched on, but also enough for some Cherubs to take unscheduled dips and near dips - the best being a 20 second will-they-wont-they affair by Sweet Dreams. Lost In Space sailed a great race, beating many arch rivals to pick up third place behind Norwegain Blue. Suicide Blonde, having sewn up this race and the series, headed in for a well earned early shower. This was just in time for Mango Jam to find an emergency stand in crew the form of Cherubber turned Mothist Simon Goodwin and hit the water.
Race 6 was lighter wind. With no Suicide Blonde, Mango Jam nailed the last race, but with two DNFs they could not place better than third. Norwegian Blue was second, followed by Sweet Dreams.
Well done to Steve Irish and crews. Thanks to Red Eye Sails for sponsoring the event in the form of gloves, buoyancy aids and aquafleeces as prizes. Thanks also to Draycote Water SC for fine organisation, race management and breakfasts.
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2644 | Irish Steve | Symons Paula | Draycote Water | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2 | 2637 | Lee William | Lee Lucy | Shadwell | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | ||
| 3 | 2682 | Sims Gavin | Turnbull Simon | Neyland | 1 | 2 | 2 | DNS | 1 | 16 | ||
| 4 | 2663 | Bower Rich | Kemp Tris | Netley | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 17 | ||
| 5 | 2681 | Laing Andy | Gruitt Tom | Netley | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 25 | ||
| 6 | 2658 | Unerman Tim | Hopson Stu | Wembley | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 27 | ||
| 7 | 2623 | Middle Tom | Taylor Richard | Bartly | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 27 | ||
| 8 | 2649 | Turner S | Hobin Ben | Welwyn Garden City | DNF | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 37 | Race 2 did not pass through gate | |
| 9 | 2645 | Croote Paul | Clark Kelvin | Chew Valley | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | 50 |
Results from Draycote SC. Photos by Iain Christie.
18th October 2005
This weekend's Cherub Open Meeting at Draycote is looking like a corker: Many boats have confirmed, and the forecast looks favourable. Come along and see what all the fuss is about!
Redeye Sails Cherub Open Meeting preview.
2005 has been a very exciting year for the UK Cherub class, the development skiff for lighter weight teams, so we are wrapping up the year with a great event. The Red Eye Sails Draycote Water Open Meeting will be held over the weekend of the 22/23rd October. With 750 acres of open water, and traditionally a fair bit of breeze, Draycote is an excellent venue for these boats, and with the Moths for company it is sure to be an event to come and watch!
Red Eye have made a big commitment to the class this year and they were rewarded with 1st and 2nd at this years Nationals. So it is with a big thank you from the fleet that Red Eye have decided to sponsor the final event of the year. Andrew from Red Eye has been digging around in the sail loft and has some great prizes, so anybody that hasn’t been to a Cherub open this year, this is the one to be at.
This year been great for the Cherubs, we’ve had open events from Scotland to France and a fantastic Nationals. As well as a whole crop of older boats having been dug out of retirement or brought up to the current twin-wire spec, there are rumours of up to 5/6 boats being build this winter!
So if you are thinking about a change of class and fancy a whole heap of fun next year, get yourself down to Draycote on the 22/23rd of October and check out the Cherubs. Plus with all the builds underway this winter there are a tons of very competitive boats on the second hand list, so there’s never been a better time to get your heart racing!
14th October 2005
Punk it up! is the title of this mindblowing collection of top cherubs'n'tunes created by Daryl Wilkinson, our Publicity Officer. Check it out!
(Quicktime needed)
It's quite a biggy at 9MB but be patient because it is worth it. If you want to save the .mov file, then right-click on this link.
11th Oct 2005
The elastic plastic fantastics from Tupperware boats were sailed by the UK's best sailors at the weekend at Burnham. Full report from the Cherub contingent.
10th Oct 2005
The Plymouth Mayflower Final Fling was a real mega event: Full Report
Our friends at Fotoboat are deciding which photos to put in the official 2006 Fotoboat Calendar, and they need your help! They have created a list of 60 the best sailing images of 2005, which includes some spectacular Cherub shots. All you all have to do is visit their website and vote for the images you like best.
Important note: The score each photo gets is the number of votes divided by the number of visits. This means it is best to vote every time you visit a photo you really like.
Fotoboat have so many great Cherub shots this year that they are thinking about doing a 2006 Calendar of just Cherubs. Of course they would like to gauge interest within the class first. If they get enough encouraging emails from potential customers, then you might find yourself as ‘Miss March’, or even ‘Mr August’!
Email Fotoboat from their Website.
17th Sept 2005
This year we have an open meeting at Draycote SC on the 22nd and 23rd of October. This is a new fixture, but is in an opportunity to enjoy the windy autumn in really excellent inland water.
26th Sept 2005
Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Easton who were married on the 9th September this year. They are just back from their honeymoon and have sent some pictures of the wedding. Catananche (their cherished Cherub) had a starring role in the proceedings! Full Story.
17th Sept 2005
Iain Christie is writing the story of the extraordinary conversion of his Bistro from garden ornament to winner of the Phoenix Trophy at this year's Nationals. Check it out.
13th Sept 2005
The Plymouth Mayflower Final Fling is on the 8th and 9th of October. This is a cherub classic, and it tends to be windy!
17th Sept 2005
This year we have an open meeting at Draycote SC on the 22nd and 23rd of October. This is a new fixture, but is in an opportunity to enjoy the windy autumn in really excellent inland water.
17th Sept 2005
The boats on the second hand boat list are disappearing: Halo Jones (Bistro 2641) has broken at least one heart in England to head to France, Lost In Space (2658 Barr One) has moved from Newcastle to North London, and Suspense (691 Spencer 2e) has found a new owner in Sheffield.
Andy Paterson's multi-nationals winning everything-you-need Shiny Beast (Paterson 7 2676) has just been added to the list though! Don't miss out!
13th Sept 2005
Here's the report. What a country! What a venue! What an event!
7th September 2005
Only three days to go to the first Cherub Eurocup event at Carnac! Check out the pre-event press release..
5th Sept 2005
Windy, sunny, many cherubs and a first class welcome from our friends at Chew Valley SC. Check out the report.
30th August 2005
Saundersfoot was excellent. (Writes Gavin Sims - Butt Plug 2682 Mango Jam) Saturday was breezy at first, but we missed the first race so did some sea trial time with the lifting rudder in some breeze. It seems the pivot point on the centre of pressure so to turn the foil off I have to go pishing with my arm, but when it is off we were twinning up by the shrouds leaning fwd with the top foot of the centreboard continually out of the water in about 10-12 knots of breeze. The wind switched off for the second race to zero so struggling to beat a wayfarer across the water.
Round Caldy Island wasn't: They shortened it again because it was a bit breezy. A two sailer out of the bay then a beat to the island and a run back. Before the start we were continually twinning on all points of sail, but as soon as the gun went we were stuck under the cliffs in our own private hole, Lasers and Graduates planing past us to windward and leeward. very frustrating. By the time we got around monkstone point the leading AC's, IC (Colin Newman), Dart 18 and L4000 where a long way in front. But it was very comfortable twinning conditions: Max downhaul on, board up 5 inches, flat wiring for several miles. We overtook all the slow boats with ease, then the Fireballs, then the L4000's, the RS800, the Rs700, there was a 505 or two as well and the odd vortex which left the 2 AC's, the IC, the Dart and leading L4000 to catch. A dead run back, with 12-15 knots and very big chop. Overtook everyone but the leading AC's just before monkstone after more air then I've ever had. We passed Colin Newman about halfway back to Tenby, he was kneeling on his aft deck on a run looking very bored, but seemed to be taking great delight in the difficulty we had in passing him. Difficult in that our flat out ragging angle was only about 3 degrees higher than his comfortable running angle, and our natural course was taking us just below him. A gust hit just at the wrong moment so much kite flapping was needed to not land on his seat. Little T (crew Simon Turnbull) had footloop burn on his feet from the ridiculous airtime we were getting, and that was with boots (I was barefoot and didn't suffer but I think you can grip a little with your toes without footwear). On our last gybe before entering the bay we dicked it in (capsized) avoiding a RNLI RIB who seemed oblivious to the idea that he was right in the way, He didn't want to move and didn't seem to bother about having a bowsprit and/or centreboard puncturing his boat! It was only a little outboard thing for inshore waters too. He somehow managed to still be in the way after righting, apparently not willing to let us bear away downwind again. Once passed we left him for dead though (=we outran a rib!). We couldn't hold the kite to the line as too tight (the only boat, everyone else was moaning they dropped off the plane) so had to drop. It took a while as Little T's arms had turned to jelly after all that ragging it. Basically we were gybing when our back legs got too tired from being bent for so long. We were 3rd overall on handicap and the best sail I've had for a long long time.
Want to try Cherub Sailing? Well come to the Chew Blast this weekend coming up. See article below:
29th August 2005
A very nice man from Chew Valley SC's sailng committe has just phoned back to say that we may have a Blast there this weekend coming up.
The Time: From 12 noon Saturday 3rd Sept 2005.
The Place: Chew Valley SC.
The Activity: Rigging (and rigging help for newbies), sailing (and sailing help for newbies), meeting Cherub sailors new and old, blasting, boat swapping and technical help.
Then: Some kind of evening fun.
And on Sunday: Joining in with the racing if we desire.
Note: There is potential kippability - but get in touch via the mailing list first to check!
Note 2: All welcome - new boat, old boat, or no boat.
29th August 2005
The first race was a 2.30 p.m. on Saturday - but the M25 was up to its normal bank holiday weekend tricks leaving one half of Loco's team struggling to make the start. Thanks to Ewan (Bistro 2655 It's Me Too) and Stu who had teamed up to sail Strawberry (Bistro 2649) for the day the Mad Dog was ready in time even if the crew wasn't. A foot race down to the beach ensued. Throw the boat in the water and start. The crew of Strawberry took things all the more leisurely and decided to miss the race and go for a blast on their own.
The rest of the competitors were at the first mark on this eccentric knitting pattern style course, seemingly designed to frustrate asymmetric boats, before Loco made it to the line. The wind was light ( F2 at most ) with single wiring and the occasional twinning. Even though the wind wasn't strong, it still had it's vices. Catching the Loco boys out with big shifts and getting them wet. Not the best of races but a mid fleet position seemed OK with all things considered.
The cherubbers, not wishing for a big evening, avoided the evening entertainment of a "thigh slapping Bavarian oom-pah band" and settled into a nice bottle of wine and an evening of technical explanations and hand-waving on the finer arts of epoxy work, for the benefit of Stu.
Sunday dawned. Will arrived bright and early at Stone SC to find a very nice champagne breakfast. The rest of the chair-rubbers were delayed by a quick stop to the chandlery but were eventually rigged ready for the days racing.
A more promising breeze kicked in along with a classic Triangle / Sausage course. This suited everyone better, especially team Loco who clocked up a 2nd place finish, beating a slick 49er team in the process. While the Dangerous Strawberry ( Stu and Will ) opted for more practice and maximum blastage with extra long pole and Spice kite!
The Second race of the day (sadly the last for all the Cherubers as both teams were not competing on the Monday) looked even better, with wind increasing against tide. Off the beach and straight into the toe straps as the Cherubs launched down wind to the start line. Loco wiped out big style on the way down much to the amusement of an all girl RS 400 team who promptly went bottoms up after they lost concentration whilst watching the boys wipe out.
Off went the Cat fleet in clouds of spray and then it was the fast monohull fleet. The cherubs avoided the the pack and went for clear air. Which paid well.
The monohull race consisted of a rabbit and tortoise affair with the angles varying from "just" to "tight" to "lay in one", to "there's no way of laying it", for the Cherubs. Meaning the RS 400's, ISO etc. sailing a better course but being caught upwind as well as down but creeping inside at the leeward mark to be caught again. Sneaky local knowledge was employed by the local ISO sailor by using the mid estuary sand-banks to battle through the tide. Loco opted for slightly further out in more breeze which paid on all but the last rounding. But the leading pack was caught and past again down hill, after much wave jumping action ... only to throw it all away by sticking her in the tide at the last mark.
All in all a great couple of days racing with a respectable performance and much interest shown in the class by local Stone SC members. It would be nice to see a few more Cherubs there next year, with Loco at Stone and Ewan's Bistro just up the shore line we could have the start of an Essex fleet.
26th August 2005
Tomorrow at 14h30 at Stone SC in Essex the Essex Dinghy Champs will begin. This is a 3 day event and there will be a cherub presence. Local boat Loco Perro, back from her triumph of 2nd at the nationals, and winning the improvers trophy, will be there, as will newby Stu Tinner with well known class personality Dangerous Strawberry. Come along and say 'hi'.
26th August 2005
We have a small but significant population of Cherubs at Chew Valley. Well done to Paul Croote who has used his skills as a joiner to restore 2512 Spot On (aka The Aircraft Carrier) to beautiful sailing trim. And well done too to Francis Screech and Edd Higham for bringing Whaam back from a near death experience at the hands of a nasty dock at Exmouth. The wooden boat trophy looks like it will be even more hotly contested at next years nationals as it was at this years.
23rd August 2005
Primal Scream paid a visit to Largs for the Cumbraes regatta 20th 21st of
August.
The Saturday dawned with not a cloud in the sky and not a breath of wind in
Largs Channel, however by the time the racing got underway the wind had filled
in to between 5 and eight knots. Three races made for a nice days sailing with
occasional twin wiring and and the odd reach turning into a beat to liven things
up all under a burning sun. At the end of it all we had scored a third a fourth
and finished off with a first in the final race helped by a few lucky gusts
which let gain quite a few places down wind. That is about all I can say about
the Saturday as it has all been wiped from my memory by the Sunday's racing.
The race on Sunday was round Great Cumbraes, which is an island that makes up
the West side of the Largs channel. This event is combined yacht and dinghy
event and all the yachts were sent off first to go around both great and little
Cumbraes islands. By the time the dinghy's started the wind was building. It was
a bit variable and gusty up the first beat going from twin string and over
powered to sitting in the middle and back again every few minutes. This went on
getting more twining and less sitting as we got closer to the top of the island.
A close reach followed where the wind built steadily. The sight of several
yachts broaching up ahead was a bit worrying as you need to be to windward of
them or you get stuck in the wind-shadow but the idea of getting hit by a
broaching 40 footer was not appealing. We made it through a gap in the line of
yachts and it was time for a windy wavy bear-away.
Kite up and into the foot loops at the back dropped to the knots for a 2 mile reach then a jibe and
another 6 mile reach back in to the shore we peaked at 17Kts and were going at
over 14 Kts for about eight miles. Amazingly we were within 100 Yards of the
turning mark at the bottom of the island when we dropped the kite and reached
into the mark to start heading back up wind. The wind had built further but was
still gusty and unsettled thanks to all the yachts ahead we went for speed
rather than pointing to get the T-foil working and just tried to keep away from
the yachts as much as possible. Because it was such a long race and none of the
other boats in our class were in sight when we finished we had no idea about how
we had done. It did not matter as it had been such fun finding out that we had
won the Sunday race was the perfect way to round off a great days sailing.
18th August 2005
Those speedy lads from Chew have successfully brought Whaam back from her near death experience. What a team!
18th August 2005
What is this? Where did it come from? Where is it going to? Which boat is sporting those jazzy appendages? Answers to the mailing list please.
17th August 2005
Whaam! (2539) is a boat with some history. Owned by many, tamed by few, this boat has had a few adventures. Most recently was a fight with a dock at Exmouth resulting in a write-off from the insurance company because of two large holes in the boat and a very bent mast. Those insurance types had not bargained for the fiesty personality of this little boat (aka Team Ecocats).
Whaam! said 'Bam! Thank-you Man!' to her owners Paddy and David Blight and set off for reservoirs new, and is now staffed by a young pair at Chew Valley SC, Francis Screech and his mate Edd. They have been busy over the 24 hours they have had the boat, and are making good progress with the repair.
Francis says, "The Class Association has put us in touch with a local owner of a wood Cherub who is helping us out, and the support we are getting is terrific. What a machine - I can't wait to get out on the water!"
"After" pictures once the job is finished!
15th August 2005
The Scottish Skiff circuit is a series of laptime based handicap events, of which the most Southern is also an event of the Cherub GP series and the Cherub Scottish Natonals too.
On Saturday morning the fleet was greeted by wind and rain. The rain soon stopped and left us with perfect Cherubing weather. Excellent! The first challenge of the day was getting through the immense surf that was riding up the beach. Will Lee and Tom Kiddle managed it in 'Born Slippy' the white slug, but sadly Phil Alderson and Carol Low didn't quite make it out in the fabulous looking 'Primal Scream'. Once each race had started the fun really began at the windward mark. A bear away in big breeze and even bigger waves is always fun, this one did not disappoint! As the slug began to jump up every wave it was great to see the lens of Alan Henderson of fotoboat's camera pointing straight her way! After seeing the spectacular sight of a slugs daggerboard breaking the surface he decided he wanted a go for himself. So on Sunday we returned to the club to find a gentle surf and just about trapezing winds. In the gap before the final race Tom hopped into the camera boat and Alan went Slugging. Although it wasn't leaping weather like the day before Alan still enjoyed time on the wire with the kite up whilst Tom enjoyed a Mars bar in the rib. To conclude, this was by far the best sailing weekend of the season so far!
Extra Excitment was provided by the RS800 colliding with a large grey underwater object while travelling at maximum canter. This caused the board to move gracefully towards the back of the boat. The object then swam away, as basking sharks do!
Results : 1st was Will Lee and Tom Kiddle in 'Born Slippy' and 2nd went to Phil Alderson and Carol Low in 'Primal Scream'
Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Low (Carol's parents) for donating a fine traditionally Scottish whisky drinking friendship cup as the perennial Scottish Nationals trophy. Thanks also to Ian Renilson (Musto Skiff supremo) for organising the Scottish Skiff series, the race team and to Neil Cardno and Ken Scott-Brown (Slug 2674 Born Slippy aka Team Scotland) for kindly and recklessly lending their boat to Will Lee and Tom Kiddle for the weekend.
On the water pictures at Fotoboat soon.
10th August 2005
Tris Kemp (Crew of Death By Chocolate 2663 Sweet Dreams, and winner of the famous "Digeridon't" trophy at the Nationals for doing well in two races - and then having to return to work!) has sent this great picture of the newest Cherub of them all. Looks a peach, and shows off the distinctive 'wavy' flareline of the Slug, there to accomodate the spaceframe in the original solid-winged boat. This boat will be finished with tubes.
Tris says, "We argued about what to call this boat, but when someone suggested 'Sluggish' in honour of the lengthy build time, the name stuck! Now the build is progressing well thanks to the Class Association helping me out, and we can't decide whether to rename the boat or not. I've now fitted the spine and am working on the daggerboard. The website has some very handy tips on this, and the members-only resources are great for finding suppliers of the bits I need."
8th August 2005
This weekend coming up, Cherubs will go to Prestwick to take part in a Scottish Skiff event. This promises to be a riot, and a good chance to see the breathtaking 'Primal Scream'. (13th 14th August)
Key message 1: It is no longer to drive there than the trip to Kielder (for Sassanachs)
Key message 2: The scenery and the welcome is truly superb.
Key message 3: They love us!
See you there!
8th August 2005
It's new! It's improved! It's correct! It's the New Nationals Report!
8th August 2005
Our French Fleet is continuing to grow - mostly by buying second hand boats from the UK! This is fine - unless you want a bargain - in which case you'd better get your skates on or risk missing out!
I have noticed that there is a lot of preparations for building going on up and down the land, which means some rarely seen gems are on the second hand list, including the legendary Mango Jam and the (placed second at the nationals) Loco Perro.
18th August 2005
Richard Taylor (Pasta Mod 2664 Baby Factory) has been restoring "Aggro" (2603), squeezing in glueing and painting between fatherly duties (Congratulations!).
Tris Kemp (crew of Death by Chocolate 2664 Sweet Dreams) has been busy building a Slug with racks instead of the wings seen on the slugs built so far. There will be an article in the upcoming Cherub News.
This photo is from the Saturday after the nationals when Will Lee and Robin Russel went to help out Tris. Full details in the upcoming mag. Today I am informed by text that the shell has come off the plug. This is a big moment in the life of any build project - after all that work, finally you get something that looks like a boat!
Tim Noyce discovered a terrible truth from the distant past when his boat was measured at the nationals: It was a little short!
This called for some radical boat surgery, and with help from Patrick Cunningham (Paterson 7 2672 Little Red Number), a comprehensive job was done. Details in the upcoming Cherub News.
18th July 2005
Here is the the full report.
17th July 2005
Wow! What an event! Congratulations to Andy Paterson and Tom Gruitt: The 2005 UK Cherub National Champions. (Photo from Fotoboat)
Welcome to the 16 people who came to this Cherub nationals having never done so before, especially Dave Ching and Lara Gonzalez, the first newcomers. (Photo from Fotoboat)
Loads more pictures at Fotoboat. Proper report coming on Monday pm.
8th July 2005
Shiny Beast's new sails from Redeye look the mutz:
4th July 2005
Not this Doctor:
Multi-Nationals winner Andy Paterson is completing the work on Shiny Beast (2676) in time for the 2005 event next week. Andy says, "I have put some extra carbon around mast and pole and it has transformed the performance: the extra mast stiffness has made the existing flat sail now set better with more shape and leech tension. The pole doesn't banana-bend now either! There is also a new (TARDIS) kite hole: smaller on the outside - but bigger on the inside! When the new big kite arrives, it should fit down the hole - the old one got very stuck part way out or in. The new sails from Redeye are expected on Friday. On weds evening we were pacing the rs700s upwind, and faster downwind in ~10-15kts - and that's with the small sails!"
3rd July 2005
Cor what a scorcher! Three cherubs and eight cherub sailors made it to Draycote today. Perfect sailing conditions and sunshine too, added to the perfect bread puddings and other clubside foodstuffs.
Local boat Suicide Blonde was joined by perpetual traveller AquaMarina, and senior warhorse Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley has escaped from Paul Liddington's back yard in Plymouth and is heading for the Scottish Highlands with his new owner, former and returning cherub sailor Sandy Allan.
Kita Carpenter (plus support crew Beth) got her first taste of Cherub sailing. Kita sampled all three boats and is looking forward to sailing with Paddy Blight at the Nationals in Whaam!.
Stu Tinner, Dangerous Strawberry's new student, enjoyed his last day of freedom before starting his holiday job in a call-centre. If he cold calls you please do buy something as he needs the monmey for his new sails.
Much blasting, Buzz-bothering, Vortex-vexing (sorry about that) went on, and there was enough breeze to get really wet at times.
Thanks to Draycote SC for having us.
3rd July 2005
Don't miss the update on Dangerous Strawberry's own website.
1st July 2005
A couple if Cherubs will be blasting at Draycote on Sunday 3rd July. Come along and join the fun!
2nd July 2005
Mark Grant has completed the extensive refit of his boat. Previously known as 'Domino', and then 'Captain America', the Simon Roberts 'Platypus' design is now renamed 'Therapy'. 'Because that's exactly what she is', says Mark.
Note the new profile reinforced wings, minimum weight snout construction, and new sails, mast, boom and pole.
'We've been sailing several times since the boat hit the water for the first time last week - and we can't wait for the nationals!'. Only 12 days to go!
2nd July 2005
King Tubby (2650) has gone to France! (temporarily). This well loved nationals winning boat is blasting about on the Cote d'Azure for a few months with new owner Ian Watts.
I hope he will join the several UK boats and the two other boats in France at the Eurocup in Carnac in September!
2nd July 2005
This beautiful classic boat is for sale at a bargain price (to a good home). Built in 1962 and aging very well indeed.
Also on the second hand boat list.
19th June 2005
There is an early-bird discount for the Nationals: If you pay by 12th July you get a £20 discount!
You can pay by sending this form with a cheque, or by paypal/credit card at our online shop.
18th June 2005
Here is the entry form for the nationals. It's a PDF so you may need to get the reader.
17th June 2005
All Cherubs throughout the Kingdom are invited to take part in the Stokes Bay Pursuit Race this weekend. What is extra special is that longtime Cherub sailor, builder, designer and visionary Kevin Ellways' firm, ND Technology, has donated the prize - which is a goody!
Time: 11am, Sunday 19th June 2005.
Place: Stokes Bay SC
14th June 2005
Only 30 days to the Nationals! The Notice of Race is now available to download in PDF format.
See you there!
13th June 2005
Phil Alderson (Easy-Wan 2686 Primal Scream) sent these pictures of Primal Scream after her recent spray paint job. If you want one of these, get in touch with the builder, David Low of DL Boats.
12th June 2005
The Cherubs were joined by the National 12s and the International Moths at latest Grand Prix event at Weston on the 11th and 12th June. Cherubs travelled from as far as Wales and Essex to be there, but the biggest contingent were the fleet who came by water from nearby Netley SC. Rumours that one hardy team had sailed from Stokes Bay turned out to be utter bulwarks - they took a road trip as far as Netley! The usual suspects were joined by six new faces: Dangerous Strawberry (Bistro 2649) showed off her new humans, Stu Tinner and Jo Moore, Norwegian Blue was beaming from gunwhale to gunwhale with her new staff, Dave Ching and Lara Gonzalez-Ruiz, because Dave is a skilled boatbuilder, and Taking Liberties has officially arrived with a new snout, longer pole, new-rules spinnaker and of course her pets, Tim Noyce and Andy Lang.
Saturday morning was characterised by Southampton water seeming like a very large mirror, reflecting the beautiful blue sky (and the oil refinery): Summer was here and the wind was not. Stoical sailors rigged, and stoical race officers officiated. By the time of the racing a gentle F1-2 had appeared from the southeast. The courses were port hand windward-leewards, with the Moths and the 12s doing a trapezoid course. The three scheduled races were sailed in the steadily increasing breeze:
Race 1: Mango took the lead from AquaMarina on the first run and was never seen thereafter. Aqua was second, then Norwegian Blue.
Race 2: Close tussles up the first beat between Mango, Aqua and Loco, finished in that order, with Mango, Aqua and Loco getting away. At the bottom Mango was ahead, but the wind switched off for a minute or two, near-randomising the positions of the leading group. The returned from a different direction allowing everyone to fetch the windward mark, and burn along the rhumb-line back downwind. Mango and Loco went through the start line on the way down at variance with the sailing instructions resulting in DSQs for them, leaving 2nd place Aqua promoted to first and 4th place Norwegian promoted to 2nd.
Race 3: The tide had turned and the wind was in the SW and F3. Some twinning was witnessed upwind aboard Mango and Loco. At the top mark it was Mango, Loco and then Aqua followed by Norwegian. Downwind everyone did a gybe set and careened away to the layline. Aqua was fast, Loco was low, and Mango was low and fast! Loco and Aqua fought for second at the bottom buoy. Aqua was ahead but was soon rolled by twintastic and smooth Loco. The next leg was most notable for the shipping: A container ship looking like an aquatic version of the Jawa transporter that picked up C3PO and R2D2 blocked out the wind for everyone behind Mango, making victory a certainty. There was also a rather distracting fire-tug salute for an old-looking steamship with a very unusual whooping Klaxon, and car transporter which didn't help!
Saturday night involved eating chilli and rice at the clubhouse with beer and then party games (I kid you not) layed on the by the National 12 fleet. The bulk of the Cherubs went with friend-of-the-class Claire Stopps of Dinghy Sailing Magazine to check out the night spots of Southampton....
Sunday dawned to the trees moving, the tents wobbling and (for some) the room spinning. That's right: The breeze was pleasantly present - 12-14 knots on the club anemometer.
Race 4: Maximum twinability upwind and and down, with crazy ship wash providing opportunities for getting serious airtime and watertime for some. Positions were Aqua, Norwegian, Taking Liberties - after stackability aboard Mango and Loco. Aqua showed some spectacular turns of upwind speed when in the groove with the T-foil working properly.
Race 5: More wind - more airtime - more dodging of N12s while travelling at Mach 10. Aqua, Taking Liberties.
Results: 1st AquaMarina (Will & Lucy Lee). 2nd Norwegian Blue (Dave Ching & Lara Gonzalez-Ruiz). 3rd Taking Liberties (Tim Noyce and Andy Lang).
A good turnout at a great venue in perfect sailing conditions. Organisation was good, and good humoured. Flapjacks and bread puddings were first class. New faces, new boats, new techniques - perfect! See you at the Nationals on 14th-17th July in Wales!
9th June 2005
It's all change on the second hand boat list. Have a look!
9th June 2005
Today was the Royal offical opening of the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy. To celebrate there was a huge pursuit race held inviting each class to participate. Your Cherub representatives were Gav Sims and Will Lee in Mango Jam. The winds was 4-5 knots and no-one looked like they were going to get near the Sonar which won by a country mile. Many friends of the class were there getting sunburned too. All in all a great way to spend a Thursday.
5th June 2005
David and Paddy Blight (Hot Dog 2539 Whaam!) have been busy again. Whaam! is back on the water with a renewed colour scheme, looking terrific. The boat is a well known at Exe SC and has to be one of the favourites for the Prix D'elegance at the Nationals.
3rd June 2005
Mark Grant (Platypus 2656 Therapy) is restoring and upgrading this well known boat. This boat was designed by Simon Roberts to be like his Dog design, but easier to sail in the lumpy stuff. The upgrades include a smart looking snout and a second hand rig from Kevin Ellway (Slug 2673 Dangerous Beans). The restorations include removing the very large number of layers of paint that seem to have accumulated over the years and sorting out the wings which are suffering with core failure by routing them down and coating them with 5mm 80 kg foam.
The pictures are of the bottom with many layers of paint coming off, the top well rubbed down, the wings with reinforcement foam, the snout showing two jib attachment points, and the foredeck old and new.
1st June 2005
Lots of Cherubs have their own websites. Dangerous Strawberry is the latest one to be found on our links page.
1st June 2005
Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde) sent this picture of him and Adam "Wealth of Nations" Smith sailing at Draycote at the weekend. Photo by David Hope of Draycote SC. It's going on the pictures page right away!
Weston Open is on the 11th and 12th June. See you there. We'll be sharing with the National Twelves.
17th May 2005
Thanks to Paul Stainsby of Queen Mary for these great shots.
16th May 2005
The 2005 Inlands were held this weekend at Queen Mary Reservoir, shared with the Moths.
Racing on Saturday took place in plenty of breeze, with lots of shifty gusts keeping everyone on their toes. Other hazards on the racecourse included silent hydrofoiling Moths, normal Moths, press boats and lots of windsurfers who seemed very keen on hanging out between our windward mark and spacer mark.
The first race saw Aqua Marina take the lead, with Taking Liberties and Mango Jam struggling to make the start. Tom Gruitt spent the race in the press boat which left Shiny Beast crewless. Locco Perro and Suicide Blonde, with full 2005 rules sails, experienced a few niggles rigging and they joined in for the second and third races.
The second race had Locco Perro, Mango Jam and Shiny Beast tussling for start line space. By the top mark Mango and Shiny were ahead, and the larger kite of Mango put them easily into the lead downwind. Locco Perro were making sensational speed downwind as well, but a spectacular wipeout, with prize-winning dive from crew Daryl (photos coming soon), allowed Aqua to take third place. Top marks for perseverance go to the crew of Taking Liberties who got a bit carried away with the downwind blasting and ended up having to make a very long beat back to the finish!
In the third race Aqua, Mango and Shiny arrived at the windward mark together, where sneaking manoevering by the Beast pushed Mango down beyond the line for the spacer mark. Down the first run Aqua made numerous attempts to deploy 'higher and faster' techniques to get past Shiny. They nearly had them when a carelessly placed Moth forced Aqua to gybe late. This allowed Shiny to catch the remains of a gust to the leward mark and they sailed away into first place. By this stage Mango had made up for lost time and they were lying second by the next hoist. Rounding the spacer they hoisted and fell foul of the weird gusts. Aqua rounded behind, got a bit carried away at the prospect of regaining second place and made exactly the same mistake, giving Mango second place.
Most crews stayed for the QMSC BBQ before heading off to East London for an 'all-you-can-eat' curry buffet, beer and bed.
Just like last year, Sunday was gloriously warm and sunny, with no wind what so ever. After the start had been delayed for over an hour, the breeze showed some signs of filling in, but not enought to satisfy the canny Moths who gave up in disgust. Some optimistic Cherubs headed out to a start in ever decreasing and shifty conditions, but when only one boat managed to get even vaguely to the startline the race officer put us out of our misery and abandoned.
Three races meant one discard which left the results as follows:
1st Mango Jam. Gav Sims & Dave Hannaford
2nd Shiny Beast. Andy Paterson & Tom Gruitt
3rd Aqua Marina. Will & Lucy Lee
It was great to see Taking Liberties in her first Championship with new owner Tim Nocye and guest helm Alex Cramp. It was also very exciting to see the two boats with full 2005 conversions. Locco Perro was looking really mean with the full suit of Red Eye sails, funky graphics and a re-positioned dagger board which Ben & Daryl agree has made a massive improvement to the handling characteristics of the boat. Iain Christie was also looking justifiably pleased with Suicide Blonde. THis boat has had the most radical refit and was out racing on her second outing after the winter. Like Locco Perro she has a suit of Red Eye sails, with a cut down RS800 kite at the sharp end. Iain and guest crew Anna were clearly loving the speed during the blasts between races.
Many thanks to Queen Mary Sailing Club for hosting the event again this year and CONGRATULATIONS to Gav and Dave, Inland Champions. See you at Weston on June 11th & 12th for the next Grande Prix event
9th May 2005
Shiny beast and her human Andy Paterson are also getting ready for the inlands.
9th May 2005
Not long now! The Inlands are this weekend coming up at Queen Mary Reservoir. See you there! First race at 12 noon.
6th May 2005
Suicide Blonde is getting ready for the Inlands next weekend at Queen Mary Sailing Club. What a machine!
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6th May 2005
These from Viola Scott at Kielder Water Sailing Club.
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April 30th & May 1st 2005.
The May Bank holiday weekend saw the second of the Cherub 2005 Grand Prix series. Those boats making the very long trip north (or south) were welcomed by the legendarily friendly Kielder Water Sailing Club, who hosted the event as part of their first Asymmetric Open Meeting. The whole event was sailed in unusually light winds, consistently 20 knots less than the last time the Cherubs were at KWSC!
There were four races on the Saturday. The first featured a severe wind shift, rendering both legs reaches. The wind settled for the second and third races which saw Tom Kiddle at the helm of Catanache (2669) pitting his wily mirror racing techniques against the superior light wind speed of Aqua Marina (2681). In the final race Phil and Carol made the start in Primal Scream (2686): a brand new boat which was launched for the first time and showed blistering turns of speed in frankly unexciting quantities of breeze.
After the final race the breeze filled in nicely, allowing Tom and Phil to have a quick blast in Primal Scream, and for Andy Easton (owner and crew of Catanache) and Mike Scott from KWSC take Aqua for a spin. KWSC provided a superb evening meal, which was followed by a bit of gluing of tillers (oops!) and fixing of trailer wheels.
On Sunday there was a bit more breeze but a lot more rain. Catananche had an unfortunate spinnaker pole upset, which meant she missed the racing. The first race saw Aqua take an early lead from Primal following an unfortunate start-line capsize. In the second race Primal Scream was disappearing into the mist when thunder and lightening forced the race committee to abandon racing in favour of an early lunch. Once the deluge had stopped and the lightening had moved into the next valley the racing was restarted. The penultimate race had Primal first to the windward mark. A slow hoist gave Aqua time to get through and catch the one remaining gust of the day.
Many thanks to Kielder Water SC for another brilliantly organised event at their superb club. I know we will be back for their Open Meeting in September.
Results:
1. 2681 AquaMarina Will & Lucy Lee
2. 2686 Primal Scream Phil Alderson & Carol Low.
3. 2669 Catananche Tom Kiddle & Andy Easton.
2nd May 2005
On the Bank Holiday Monday following the Kielder Asymmetric open, KWSC held their annual long distance endurance race. Phil, Carol, Lucy and Andy all had to be back at work, so Will and Tom teamed up to sail “Aqua Marina”. They were joined by the Team Scotland pairing of Neil Cardno and Ken Scott Brown sailing their Slug “Born Slippy”. Also racing were a mixed fleet of 22 handicap boats from a 49er down to a few GP 14’s.
The day started off pretty windless, but by the 11am start a gentle Force 1 had appeared and allowed the race officer to start on time. The first section of the race consisted of an approximately 7 mile trip up to the very northern end of the reservoir and was a mixture of beating and close reaching in mostly F1-2 conditions. Will and Tom made a good start and were able to hang on to the main pack of boats despite the light conditions. Team Scotland’s performance was hampered by this being their first sail of the season, and also the major whisky drinking session which had gone on until 3am the night before! Aqua was around 10 minutes ahead by the end of the first section. Section 2 was a mixture of close and broad reaching back down to the main dam at the south-western end of the reservoir. Aqua managed to get away on the tail end of the breeze, but Born Slippy got badly becalmed for about 20 minutes after rounding the top mark. As we approached the bottom of the return leg, the wind finally filled in to a force 3, touching 4 at times, but very shifty and with some fairly taxing gusts. Section 3 consisted of a complex series of buoys in the main club racing area which was a major challenge for the aching heads of the Team Scotland crew! However both boats managed to complete the course successfully, and the final section included some excellent 3-sail blasting legs. Aqua went round the 18 mile course in around 3 ½ hours with the Slug finishing about 20 minutes behind.
Neither boat featured strongly in the handicap results thanks to the predominantly light conditions. The winners were, in the helmsman’s own words in the prizegiving speech “a couple of old fat blokes in an Osprey”, followed by a Fireball and a Flying Fifteen. Still a good day’s sailing was had by all and it was interesting to do something different from the usual windward-leewards for a change.
Results:
2681 Aqua Marina Will Lee & Tom Kiddle
2674 Born Slippy Neil Cardno & Ken Scott Brown
3rd May 2005
This from Ben Brown (Big Issue 2685 Loco Perro).
The last three weekends have been spent attacking Loco Perro with an angle grinder and various other ferocious power tools to remove the existing dagger board case and supporting structures. As well as being capping the dagger board this area was home to all the kite up haul and down haul kit and the self tacking jib cleat. After sailing LP a few weeks back at Weymouth it suddenly clicked that we had put the board far too far forward compared to other cherubs and this was making sailing it very tricky.
To put it into context, our leading edge was 2meters from the transom where as the average cherub measurement was more like (although differs) 1.8m and I am told that the Isle of white P7s are around 1.5m. So with this in mind we went about calculating the centre of effort of the sails and centre of resistance (I know terminology varies with whatever book you read) of the hull and foils. After a bit of scratching our heads we ended up with the leading edge being 1.60m from the transom. Not quite as extreme as the P7s but even with our big rig I don’t think we need to go that far back to keep the boat balanced. Only time will tell if we are right.
I now really appreciate the wisdom of the class luminaries that tell you that after you build, or a least participate in building your first cherub you learn how to build the next one.
On Sunday night Daryl and I were contemplating how much we have learnt about the science and art behind boats over the last two years. The level of understanding we now have is so much higher that we could ever gain in another class. Despite missing Keilder, an event which we were really looking forward to, I think the decision to get the grinder out now is right. We should now be able to concentrate on the sailing rather than the boat building.
3rd May 2005
Kielder was an excellent weekend away with sun, wind, rain, thunder, lightning and a brand new Cherub! Proper report tomorrow, but here are some pictures to be getting on with.
27th April 2005
Gavin Sims, Simon Goodwin and Simon Turnbull have been busy in Wales doing bits for Mango Jam (2682) and Strangely Brown (2651). They did the vac-bagging and took the photographs, and Daryl Wilkinson made the video. It is the latest addition to the Technical Support page.
22nd April 2005
Our Open meeting at Kielder Water Sailing Club is coming up over the Bank Holiday weekend. Maximum fun for everyone at this beautiful venue. If you'd like to come along to try a Cherub and sample the legendary friendly class atmosphere, then please get in touch. The forecast looks good too!
22nd Apil 2005
There is a new video in the video section. It is a short montage of the action at the recent Castle Cove Blast, shot by Tom Gruitt and assembled by Daryl Wilkinson. Thanks guys!
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