17th April 2005
Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde) has been busy again! Iain says, "Here's some pictures of the now slightly wider Suicide Blonde. The tubes are made from broken RS800 masts (again - these are not in short supply!) and after some useful advice on the members discussion board I've decided to leave them as racks rather than filling in the gap. The wheelie bars extend 500mm and point in and down like Loco Perro's, however I will attempt to keep them completely sealed to avoid the tubes-full-of-water problem some Cherubbers have reported, and the footloops will velcro round the outside, I14 style. I'm hoping to keep the wheelie bars unsupported…a few layers of UD on the outside edge of the join, big fillets and a few layers of weave shoud do it.
12th April 2005
At the Blast at the weekend, Taking Liberties (Bistro 2643) had a freak accident involving her trolley
But the assembled party worked together and performed a neat temporary epoxy job in the boat park.
So blasting was enjoyed the next day and remembered well into the next week.
11th April 2005
Friend-of-the-class Tom Gruitt is part of the photographic group Fotoboat. He was at the Blast at the weekend in a semi-professional capacity. Here are some of the results of his expert snapping:
10th April 2005
This weekend saw the first Cherub Blast of 2005 at Castle Cove Sailing Club - and it could hardly have been better! A total of fifteen sailors spent the weekend sailing, swimming, glueing, chin-wagging, consuming curry and beer, and putting the nightlife of Weymouth through its paces.
Saturday was pretty Windy, with chilly offshore gusts surprising those in shorties. It was a lot windier out in the bay than on the beach which made for entertaining viewing from the club as one blaster after another hit warp speed and just kept accelerating into the distance... It seemed that, perhaps sensibly, most crews elected to postpone any gybes until the proximity of the Sailing Academy left them no option.
AquaMarina, Mango Jam, Norwegian Blue and Taking Liberties all hit the water with their usual crews and several swaps. At least two boats were carrying GPS's and the max speeds went something like this: 19.4kt (Mango Jam), 17.9kt (AquaMarina) and 14.8 (Taking Liberties, white water reaching*).
In the evening we effected some running repairs to Taking Liberties, allowing everyone the chance to admire her new snout which had stood up well to the day's sailing. Mark Grant, our host for the weekend, kindly provided plenty of floor space, an extremely efficent and friendly curry house (Weymouth Tandoori, if you are in the area) and a guided tour of the local nightlife.
Sunday was warmer, sunnier, shifty but over-all less windy. All four Cherubs took part in the club race, to which we had kindly been invited. After lunch there was more blasting, allowing everyone to try the boats they hadn't had a go in the day before. The day's max speed was again acheived by Mango Jam (18.4kt) with her regular crew of Gav & Simon on board.
Many, many thanks go to Castle Cove Sailing Club for having us, Mark Grant for his hospitality and Tom Gruitt (Fotoboat) who very kindly spent Sunday's race in a rescue boat instead of a Cherub. Tom was full of praise for the CCSC RIB "It was really stable AND it could go faster than a Cherub downwind!" This is a rare combination according to Tom, who's been taking photos full of Cherubby goodness for some time.
*Note: 'White Water Reaching' is how some cherub sailors describe the sensationally wet and lumpy experience that is two sail reaching.
8th April 2005
Daryl Wilkinson (Big Issue 2685 Loco Perro) and Neil Thomas (Bistro 2642 Little Fluffy Clouds) have put together a summary of sailing for the first couple of times with the 2005 rules rig. Check it out!
4th April 2005
The first Blast of the year is nearly upon us! It's this weekend coming up (9th-10th April), it's at Castle Cove SC, and it's going to be a real blast for everyone. See you there from 10 am on the Saturday! Please contact Mark Grant (0796 8021503) if you can so we can get some idea of numbers.
What's that? You don't know what a Blast is? It's an open meeting, only with no races! These started last year with one at Draycote and another at Carsington and they are back - by popular demand! It's very simple: You come along with or without a cherub, you meet the fleet, try out other people's boats, pick up tips on and off the water and generally have a great weekend away in an informal environment. Come along and get your heart racing!
4th April 2005
Tim Noyce (Bistro 2643 Taking Liberties) has been busy. This boat will be in attendence at the Castle Cove Blast this weekend coming up.
These pictures are before the final layers of carbon went on.
2nd April 2005
Andy Paterson (Paterson 7 2676 Shiny Beast) has very nearly completed his conversion of Shiny to the 2005 rules.
1st April 2005
Regular readers will know that Cherubs have always been at the forefront of sailing developments, and you'll also know that when it comes to foils, Andy Paterson (Paterson 7 2676 Shiny Beast), basically makes the best on the planet. Andy is building an experimental rudder for his boat. He says, "It's quite a departure - but I know it will work. It's based on whale fin shapes, and the drag reducing properties of the tubercles they have on their skin."
Remember folks - you heard it here first!
31st March 2005
Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde) writes, 'Anyone who came to the Draycote Blast last year may remember a salvaged RS600 mast lurking behind my shed. Here it is now about to start its new life as a Cherub mast. It sits on a stump (no lowers) to give the max height of 7.1m, and is a fairly standard setup with shrouds, caps and D2s. The spreaders are balsa cored, with 3 layers of UD carbon and 1 layer of twill weave carbon, with carbon and kevlar reinforcement at the masthead kite block, and kevlar reinforcement on the spreader tips. Early fears about it being too flexible are now forgotten when Andrew from Red Eye Sails came to measure up for a new main and jib. We put the RS800 kite up and it seems plenty stiff enough!'
'The standing rigging was made by Fireball and Solo guru Pete Bond of Severn Sailboats, and the mast has been protected from UV damage with International Perfection 2 pack varnish. It looks quite 'porn star' already but there are a couple of more coats to go on. This weekend we'll be making the boom out of a beefed-up section of broken RS800 mast.'
Note: 'D2' is the word cherub sailors use to describe the shrouds that go from the root of the lower set of spreaders to the shroud point on the boat. Other words used include 'check', 'checkstay' and (confusingly) 'D1'.
30th March 2005
Richard Woof of RMW Marine reports that there is a Cherub taking shape in his yard. He promises a picture in the near future, but in the mean time says, "This boat boat is going to be a real weapon - If you want one I think you should get in training!"
Want one? Want more info? Email him. He's already had several enquiries....
28th March 2005
Don't forget the Blast - 9th-10th April - Castle Cove Sailing Club - All Welcome - Try a boat - Pick up tips - Meet the fleet - Contact Mark Grant (0796 8021503).
28th March 2005
Two Cherubs made it to Weston this year, AquaMarina was there with her new Humans, Will and Lucy Lee, and Fizzy Shark appeared too, with Tim Dean and Una-Mary Colclough. The first three days were characterised by light winds which varied in strength and direction so severely that no leg of the course could be described as 'the beat' or 'the reach' for very long! One race had Aqua dropping her spinnaker half way down the leg as the run turned steadily into a beat. We never left the rum-line, and just reached the buoy in time for the next leg to become the beat!
Monday dawned to a mirror calm, and a few sailors packed up and left. Needless to say the breeze then filled in to a good F3. Splendid racing was had by all. Thanks to the team at Weston.
See you at the Blast in Weymouth in two weeks
23rd March 2005
The Weston Grand Slam is this Weekend! The first start is at noon and the forecast looks good....
21st March 2005
Salut! This story begins last year with interest building from across the Channel. This culminated in a boat being built in France and another boat being brought there from the UK by the commendable Ghislain and Laurent. Today's news is that Pistrix has been sailing in her new home. From the photos it appears that much fun was had by all, and Pistrix seems to be settling in ok.
Ghislain says, "Yesterday I had my first time sailing Pistrix on my little pond close to Paris. We had time to discover it is "a little cherub to sail". Although we had shifty winds between 1 to 10 knots, we could have some planing up and downwind. It was enough to discover the boat is really full of life and needs nothing to lift. The boat is more stable than I thought (need to confirm in strong wind). I really enjoy this time and also Laurent who sailed with his girlfriend."
20th March 2005
Andy Paterson (Paterson 7 2676 Shiny Beast) of Bloodaxe Boats, 2004 National Champion. is approaching the end of Shiny's refit and conversion to the new rules. Here are the steps that Andy has taken to convert his boat.
Mast, boom and pole extensions in order to help fit the extra area.
A very simple mod to the main bulkhead (a hole) to ensure compliance with the pole retraction rule even with the longer pole.
Mods to the pole rear bearing to set the pole lower for longer kite lufflength.
Mast frame to allow better rig tension/hull stiffness, and new kicker strut. The boom is fitted to the mast frame lower down it was before. The middle of the boom gives the same clearance under, and the aft end of the boom is higher. The sail is approx 150mm higher. Transom bridle and twin extensions will free up the crew space under the boom. The existing mainsail fits the extended mast above the new strut without any modifications. The new mainsail will be approx 600mm longer in the luff at ~ 6.1m, and will be 12.3sqm, using the existing jib.
19th March 2005
Suicide Blonde (2644) now has spreaders, shrouds, and a spinnaker!
19th March 2005
Your webmaster is knackered due to doubling the length of the M6 today driving to Gretna Green to buy AquaMarina (2681) from Phil Alderson and Carol Low.
See you at Weston!
16th March 2005
Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde) and Simon Roberts (Slug 2680 Natillius pompillius) are approaching the end of Suicide Blonde's radical conversion. The picture shows the mast in situ to allow the spreader positions to be decided.
Iain says, "This evening we were making the spreaders, but we were too sticky to risk taking any photos, so you'll have to rely on my description: They're the Dog's bulwarks."
15th March 2005
Loco Perro was the first 2005-rules Cherub to hit the water, only 23 days after the ballot of the membership was complete and the result known. The class voted to increase upwind sail area, increase spinnaker area, and introduce a new mast cap rule to keep that area low down. Here is another picture of Loco.
14th March 2005
Yesterday's really wild video can now be found on the videos page, along with two older ones of Aquamarina that have surfaced. Yesterday's one is quite a big file (>3MB).
This picture was taken by Mike Cooke of Aardvark Racing early in the morning on the Sunday of the Dinghy Show. Pistrix was on her way to her new home in France, and spent the night in our garden. This meant a treacherous journey through the house in the evening, and again in the morning. 'Quite an unusual thing to look at over your cornflakes', says Mike.
Mike has put some Cherub options on his website. Tasty!
What is Class President Will Lee doing up there? And how does Class Publicity Officer Daryl Wilkinson feel about it?
Send your captions to the mailing list. The winning entry for the last caption competition was...
"...I'm sure I left that 12 foot boat around here somewhere..."
13th March 2005
Ben Brown (Big Issue 2685 Loco Perro) and his crew Daryl Wilkinson got sailing today at Datchet. Loco was the first 2005-rules Cherub to get sailing. Well done Ben and Daryl, well done Mike Cooke of Aardvark Technologies, and well done Red Eye Sails.
"The new rig is just what we wanted: Enough extra sail to offset the increase in righting moment we have from twin wiring - and more sail means more fun in the lighter winds", said Ben.
Loco attracted a great deal of interest, with the new decals aloft and alow, and the really fruity shade of tartrazine spinnaker.
Check out the video too!
12th March 2005
Bruce Lenton (Paterson 6a 2650 Geriatric Gigalo) has been busy boatbuilding in Dumfries!
Bruce says, "The boat was looking a bit old last year and I set about restoration. One thing led to another, and we have new sails and mast, as well as new fittings and a wild paint-job! After having put so much sweat into the boat, my life has changed somewhat and I don't have the chance to sail now, so the boat is for sale."
Congratulations on your marriage Bruce!
Check out this well known boat (winner of 1997 nationals under the previous name of King Tubby) at the boat's own website.
Check out the advert on the Second Hand Boats List.
9th March 2005
The larger photographs page now has a twinning section. Send me your contributions to enlarge it!
9th March 2005
Your webmaster has just heard a rumour that some fully lifting cherub foils are being made, and may have their first public outing at the Blast on April 9th and 10th at Castle Cove Sailing Club in Weymouth!
Remember: You didn't hear it from us!
In the absence of a related picture, here is an unrelated one:
It was taken by longstanding Cherub sailor and photographer Claire Spens, and won a prize in a contemporary Y+Y photo competition. It also appeared on the cover of a Cherub News at the time, captioned, "Cherub - The Ultimate Dry Boat!"
8th March 2005
Ghislain Devouthon came to the dinghy show at the weekend - and bought a Cherub. Nothing special about that you may think - until you realise that he came from France to do it and then set off on Sunday morning to swell the fleet of Cherubs to be found there. Here is a picture of Pistrix on her way to France from Sailboat.
Au revoir Pistrix! See you in Carnac in September!
8th March 2005
The first Blast of 2005 is confirmed to be on the weekend of the 9th and 10th of April at Castle Cove Sailing Club in Weymouth. First class venue, and maximum fun for everyone.
What's that? You don't know what a Blast is? A Blast is a bit like an open meeting, but without any races. It's an opportunity for new members of the class to meet more experienced members, swap boats, pick up tips, watch the experts and have fun - all in a very informal and friendly setting. See you there!
7th March 2005
Where to begin? The stand was a big one between Kelvin Hughes and the Canoes. There was room for two boats which were Loco Perro and Primal Scream. We were lucky to have really extraordinary colourful banners and flags from our own freelance advertising creative Daryl Wilkinson of Clearthinking Creative. Loco Perro is Ben Brown's Cherubbised version of the well known Phil Morrison National 12 Big Issue design, built by Mike Cooke at Aardvark Racing. The sails were by Red Eye Sails. Primal Scream is an Easy-Wan design by Phil Alderson and David Low of DL Boats, and had a rig from RMW.
The whole weekend was spent chatting to cherub sailors past present and future from all over the place, giving out the ever popular CD-ROMs to interested people. The most common question was 'which one is faster?' between Loco and Primal. The answer, of course, was, 'We'll know after the nationals!'
Another important function of the stand at the Dinghy Show is for current Cherub sailors to talk to each other - and sometimes buy and sell things: I know of three sails and two boats that changed hands over the weekend - all in to the hands of new Cherub sailors. Welcome to the class Tim, David, Lara, Ghislain and Albert - It's a great one to be in
Saturday evening was the Cherub Chilli Challenge. Total transport meltdown tested navigation skills. One pair of cherub sailors practiced car abandonage and walked the last half mile, and one pair, dazzled by the thousands of stationary tail-lights ahead of them in the the traffic carnage turned tail and made a run for Poole! The remaining challengers proved themselves equal to the mild and medium strength chilli, but there was still some of the the maximum strength left in the morning. This made an invigorating cold breakfast for me, though - so honour was satisfied. The two boats that had new owners over the weekend actually changed hands during the chilli challenge - but no Cherub is known to have been the stake in a chilli-duel - yet.
Sunday was more of the same: More interest, more people taking CD-ROMs and second hand boat lists (depleted by two by this stage of the show), and more and more interesting questions as a higher fraction of attenders were 'repeaters' - including a couple who had devoured the CD-ROM overnight and joined the association so they could get the magazine (always full of technical articles). Also there was interest from journalists, who seemed to outnumber the bona fide guests at times.
The packing up was knackering.
Thanks to:
What a show!
5th March 2005
The Dinghy Sailing Show is this weekend!
Come along to the stand and say Hello. We are always happy to talk about our favourite topic. See you there!
There is also the semi-legendary Chilli Challenge in the evening to allow for late night Cherub chat.
Will
2nd March 2005
Primal Scream is the creation of Phil Alderson and David Low and is going to be part of the display at The Dinghy Exhibition this weekend.
They've sent some pictures of some parts of Primal Scream. Can you tell which parts? Answers to the mailing list please!
2nd March 2005
The March edition of Cherub News is printing as I type, and copies will be available at the Dinghy Show for all paid up members (remember that subs have gone up by £5 this year). For those of you who can't make the show we will be posting the Mags next week.
This year we are also producing a members handbook, containing details about all the UK Cherubs we have from our archive of measurement certificates. The idea is that you will be able to look up any sail number of a boat you are interested in and find out when it was first registered, who designed it and the last known owner. The handbook will also contain a list of all our members, so if you find yourself marooned in a far flung part of the globe (e.g. Grimsby) you can phone up the local Cherubist for a pint, a curry and a patch of floor to park your sleeping bag on!
28th Feb 2005
Ben Brown (Big Issue 2685 Loco Perro) is looking in great shape to be the skipper of the first 2005-rules Cherub to hit the water. He's just emailed this picture of him examining the head on Loco's new mainsail. Ben says, 'Thanks to the quick work of Red Eye Sails, Daryl and I will have plenty of time to practice for the nationals. I'm very impressed with the set of sails - and especially that I collected them only five days after ordering them!'
26th Feb 2005
Your class association has produced an online shop!
It works through Paypal, or by the good old fashioned send-a-cheque-in-the-post method.
You can buy the new 2005 Class T-shirts, Hoodies, DVDs, as well as the usual suspect of your annual subscription (due soon - 1st March).
You can also buy a sail number for your new boat.
Happy clicking!
22nd Feb 2005
Ben Brown (Loco Perro 2686 Big Issue), has sent this update from Aardvark HQ near Nottingham where he has been visiting Mike Cooke and helping sorting out Loco Perro for the new season.
Ben Says, "Aardvark HQ was pretty hectic this weekend as Mike is busy finishing two boats for stands at the dinghy show, Loco Perro obviously, for the Cherub stand and a the new Big Issue 2 for the National Twelve stand. With the results of the Cherub ballot known, I set about converting three bits of oval carbon tube originally intended as wing bars for a Slug into a long boom – the existing one is going to be a bit short! The bits were made a couple of years back on a piece of old cat mast found lying around the dinghy park and have since sat in various sheds, garages and lofts. They were joined by making an internal sheath and then the join was reinforced with UD carbon and finally a layer of plain weave. The original tubes were made up quite light with the intention of beefing them up when they were on the hull so they made an ideal starting point."
"Mike has finished a couple of tinkering jobs on the hull and fitted the new “thinner” daggerboard case. The inside has been painted and the final layer of high build has been applied and rubbed down. All being well the final sprayed finish should be done mid week."
"I'm hoping to pick up Loco Perro this weekend ready for re-fitting and finisheing the boom, i.e. the gooseneck fitting etc. The boat’s going to be introduced to its new suit of Redeye sails shortly before the show. I saw the sails in production at lunchtime today in Burnham with Andrew Elliot from Redeye. Oh yes!"
In the absence of a related picture, here is an unrelated one of Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde) getting a good dunking. Captions anyone?
20th Feb 2005
Two days since the ballot results, and boatbuilding projects which were waiting for the final word are all go. At least three of this winter's projects have moved on significantly over the weekend just gone - and it seems we have a race on for which boat exploiting the new rules is going to get wet first.
Loco Perro has to be the favourite, but Primal Scream and Suicide Blonde are well in the running - and I have heard that Mango Jam may well come into the picture too. I have updates from two of them (below), but the other two may well be wanting to surprise the opposition....
20th Feb 2005
Phil Alderson's new boat, 'Primal Scream' is taking shape in Scotland.
Phil says, "Once we knew the outcome of the ballot on Friday we started by making patterns for the bulkheads. They are cut to match the curve of the hull and the curve of the deck. Both of these are already built and the deck has a constant radius along its length. The bulkheads were then cut out with David-the-boatbuilder's excellent bandsaw and fitted to the boat. There was very little shaping to do to them to get them to fit. With them all in place and measured and aligned and measured again they were all filleted in place. We finished off on Sunday by laminating up the parts that will become the bridge for the mast step and the web for the snout."
20th Feb 2005
Iain Christie's rejuvination project on Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde has taken a leap forward this weekend.
Iain says, "Simon Roberts (Slug 2680 Nautillius pompillius) and I have been gluing all day: The carbon is on and the boat is looking very severe indeed. Can't wait to get out sailing - and I am positive Suicide Blonde is going to be the first new-rules boat to hit the water."
20th Feb 2005
Ellen Macarthur has clearly heard that once you have conquered the Southern Ocean, there is only one sailing environment that comes close. That's right folks, Ellen came up the Thames this morning to see how she got on in the swirling, gurgling, brown, traffic ridden, really taxing environment of the Pool of London, home waters of Shadwell Sailing Club. Of course, I don't need to tell you that Ellen really came to London to say 'thank-you' to the many people who emailed her and supported her during her recent record breaking solo circumnavigation aboard her trimaran.
The boat came into view for us along Shadwell Reach, under power, with orange B&Q flags all over her lower shrouds. There was a small flotilla of Police boats, a fire tender, a huge party vessel, and about two dozen buzzboats and yachts as well as the teamellen RIBs adding to the scene. After stopping before Tower Bridge, Ellen, B&Q and the whole caboodle turned and returned to Greenwich where she came ashore and spoke for a few minutes.
The boat had some very interesting features. The rudder blades on the amas were unusual in planform and there was a really lovely system of quadrants to control them. The boat is called 'B&Q' (if viewed from starbord side - for UK viewers) or 'Castorama' (if viewed from port - for French viewers) and seemed small - even in the River - Let alone out there on the big sea. I was blown away to see her in the flesh.
18th Feb 2005
The future is now!
There was an 83% turnout in the ballot, and the membership voted strongly in favour of all three of the proposals; More upwind sail area, more spinnaker area, and a sail height rule to keep that area low.
So the 2005 Rules will be; 15.5 sqm upwind area, 21sqm spinnaker area, and no sail can be set from greater than 7.1m above the bottom of the boat.
Thanks to everyone who voted, and happy sailing in 2005!
15th Feb 2005
There has been a great turnout for the ballot, with over 70% of the membership having voted already. If you have not sent yours in yet, please do so soon, as the deadline is this coming Friday (18th Feb).
If you haven't got your ballot papers and think you should have done, please email your secretary.
15th Feb 2005
Mike "Aardvark" Cooke has sent another picture of Loco Perro's paint job progress.
11th Feb 2005
Ben Brown (Big Issue 2686 Loco Perro) has sent this update about his boat.
'Now that the sea trials have been completed Loco Perro is being painted by boatbuilder Mike Cooke at Aardvark Technologies HQ.'
'Subtle changes to the boat include the fancy holes in the transom rather than the little round ones I made with a holesaw.'
10th Feb 2005
Our super-organised friends at Kielder Water Sailing Club have emailed us the poster for the open meeting there on 30th April-1st May this year.
Print it out and stick it up at your clubs.
10th Feb 2005
Andy Paterson (Paterson 7 2676 Shiny Beast), of Bloodaxe fame, has just sent these pictures of the modifications to his multiple Nationals winning boat.
Andy says, 'I've added a new rig frame. This will increase the stiffness of the wings, by diverting the wing bending loads to compression loads in the solid lowers. This will allow higher more consistent rig tension to be used, and also allow the use of d2 shrouds'.
'The mast will be stepped on top of the frame, at about the old gooseneck height. The new gooseneck will be fitted to the frame about halfway between deck and step meaning a lower longer luff mainsail. A strut kicker will be fitted giving back some of the space stolen by the lower boom. The kicker forces will be taken by high lower shrouds or low d2 shrouds. They will be fitted to the mast about half way between the strut attachment point and the spreaders'.
The effect of these mods will mean that a longer luff main can be used, and stiffening the lower mast section. It also allows the possibility of moving the jib track aft a little if a bigger jib is needed, depending on the outcome of the upcoming ballot.
8th Feb 2005
Ellen is our Cherub!
7th Feb 2005
Phil and Carol (P7a 2681 Aquamarina) star in the latest Wallpaper for you to download. The photograph was taken by fotoboat, and the graphics were by Daryl your publicity officer.
7th Feb 2005
This one is of Mango Jam (Butt Plug 2682) with Gavin Sims and Simon Goodwin aboard. You can get to it from the videos section.
6th Feb 2005
Iain Christie's conversion of his Bistro, Suicide Blonde (2644), is coming on apace.
Iain says, 'The aft forestay attachment point is kevlared to the spaceframe and pokes through the new foredeck to allow us to run the little jib in times of fully-chanking-extreme-honkingness. The forward one will be sat right at the very end of the snout.
Carbon going on next weekend then all thoughts turn to the mast!
6th Feb 2005
Daryl Wilkinson (Big Issue 2685 Loco Perro) of Clearthinking Creative has kindly designed the 2005 T-Shirts. The T-shirts will be black this year with an aqua design (T Shirts - £12.50 design on the front)/(Hoodies - £20.00 design on the back). Please email Daryl with your name, order amount, size and whether you want a T-shirt or a Hoodie.
Email Daryl to order. I have!
6th Feb 2005
Two Cherubs made it to this annual mass sail-in in aid of the John Merricks Sailing Trust. We joined the 180 other boats. Among the masses of 420's, 29er's, 49er's etc., there was also one Moth, two National Twelves, a Canoe and an Albacore. The Cherubs were Mango Jam (2682 Butt Plug), with Simon Goodwin at the helm, crewed by Gavin Sims, and Norwegian Blue (2637 Bistro) with Will Lee at the helm with an emergency stand in crew in the form of Simon Turnbull (normally of Dog 2651 Strangely Brown).
The course was a port hand trapezium with pretty square reaches, with the sub-1000 PY boats going first (we were the slowest of these), followed by the slower boats in waves five minutes apart.
The first race was light and gusty, sometimes requiring trapezing, but most of the time not. Mango and Norwegian had a very close race, swapping positions many times. Mango was faster upwind and Norwegian was faster downwind. In the end Norwegian prevailed by a few boatlengths.
The wind got lighter for the next race - and a constant battle for clear air did not prevent much place swapping between Mango and Norwegian. At every mark it we looked around for them, and there they were, about two boatlenghts away - again!
In the third race the wind got lighter and the crew of NB got colder. We did finish, but my memories are all shivers. We were back at the beach as the winter's evening was drawing in, and thoughts were turning towards thoughts of showers and suppers.
Saturday night consisted of a worthy fundrasing do for some (sold out), and excellent beers and food at the B+B for others. Much ballot chat was had. My answer was, 'No, we have NOT opened the ballot papers, and won't do until the 18th!'.
Sunday. Misty. No wind. Freezing cold. The persuit race was sailed after an hour and fourty minute delay, but not by either Cherub, three quarters of the band choosing an early departure to Wales.
Excellent race organisation. Huge fleets. All in a good cause. Thanks to Rutland SC. Judging by the evidence which is difficult to remove from my kit, Rutland seems to have a thriving goose population.
4th Feb 2005
Don't forget the Tiger Trophy. It's tomorrow. See you there!
4th Feb 2005
In the files area of the Members Yahoo Group we have completed the upload of Cherub News up to the end of the 1970's (Members only) Join here. It's a pdf, so you may need to get the reader.
There are some gaps in the paper archive, most notably the whole of 1979. If you can fill them, please email me.
These are the first 23 old newsletters to be uploaded. There is a report of the very first Dinghy Show which was at Crystal Palace, shortly after moving to Picket's Lock, which is not far at all from where the 2012 Olympics may very well be, and not far from where Excel is now.
4th Feb 2005
London is one of the candidate cities for the 2012 Olympics. Back The Bid and bring the sailing to Weymouth!
2nd Feb 2005
Phil Alderson (Paterson 7a 2680 Aquamarina) is building a new boat. He and David Low of DL Sailboats have built a plug, made a mould from it, and now have finished the shell and taken it out of the mould. Have a look at that!
Phil says, 'The boat came out of the mold without too many problems, there is still a bit of work needed on the finish it but it is quite shiny, looking great and it's very tempting to clear coat it!
This means that the mould can now be used to make other boats. Contact David Low about it on 07790398121.
2nd Feb 2005
In London? Damaged sail? No idea of a suitable place where repairs might be done at a reasonable cost? I was, but luckily I found Mr Putt the sailmaker (not very Happy Families....). He really got us out of a jam by repairing the luff-ends of three of Norwegian Blue's batten pockets, while I waited in his extraordinary Ilford sail loft, which had pictures of tall ships all over the walls and brass things hanging from the ceiling. I could have been in Falmouth, only I could see many non-sail-like items being made. Mr. Putt told me that they make bullet proof vests and the covers for NHS ultrasound imaging machines as well as sails for ships tall and small.
M. Putt Sailmakers can be contacted on 020 8599 1413.
1st Feb 2005
Mark Grant (Platypus 2656 Domino) has been taking this well known boat out of retirement - starting by removing many layers of heavy paint. Mark Says, 'A snout and some TLC and she'll be blasting with the best of them in no time!'
1st Feb 2005
Have you ever noticed that footloops tend not to work very well? Either being too stiff or too floppy? Difficult to get your feet in to when travelling at Mach 10 (approx.)? Well Simon Hiscocks has too, so he embarked on a development programme to get this vital bit of kit right in time for Athens. We bought a couple of pairs from him last week. They enable faster positive lock ins after the gybes for the helm especially, meaning better steering and lower trapezing.
Simon has a website where you can read about the attention to detail that went into these.
1st Feb 2005
We, (Lucy and Will (Bistro 2637 Norwegian Blue)), your webmasters, went on holiday last week. To make it a proper break, we even left our computers at home! This meant no website update for a whole week. Sorry about this: It will definitely never happen again!
We went to the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy, paid our money, and sailed every day for a week. We learnt loads, not least that Olympians seem to be very nice types. I think the medallist count for the week was seven. Special thanks to Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks for much interest and tailored tuning advice, especially the rudder issue!
The new academy building has a huge hangar which we found handy for fiddling with the rigging without freezing our nadgers off in the cold north wind. It blew beautifully all week - chilly northerlies - perfect!
1st Feb 2005
Phil Alderson and Carol Low (2681 Paterson 7a Aquamarina), took part in the first Scottish Skiff Sailing training weekend. It was breezy by the look of the photos at http://www.fotoboat.com like this one:
1st Feb 2005
Don't forget your ballot papers! The ballot papers will be opened and counted on Feb 18th, a mere 17 days from now. Please don't forget to vote, using the papers you will have got in the post. If you haven't got a ballot paper think you should have done, please contact your secretary who will help you out.
1st Feb 2005
Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde) has sent these pictures of the comprehensive snoutification of his boat, which is now approaching completion. I have to say that when I saw these I was somewhat inspired....
Iain says, "The snout is well and truly in place now. We just need to get some UD and weave on the outside, and then the new foredeck will be going on. We're really pleased with it so far, the lines blend in really nicely with the Bistro shape."
Iain is being helped in his endevour by longtime Cherub Designer/Builder/Modifier, Simon Roberts (2680 Slug Nautilius pompillius).
20th Jan 2005
Some pretty rad pics have emerged from the Draycote Blast thanks to Iain Christie's Step-father-in-law-to-be (approx.). Iain's boat is Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde.
The photos are of Mango Jam (Butt Plug 2682), and Nautillius pompillius (Slug 2680) sailing without their usual crews. Please note that 2680 was sailing with her absolutely enormous 12 foot skiff number two rig. This rig is not legal as a cherub for at least two reasons: It is far too big, and the fixed bowsprit is also not allowed. Check out the rules if you are in any doubt!
18th Jan 2005
Phil Alderson's new boat is officially now a boat! The pictures are of the completed female mould, all the stuff required to build a cherub, and the vac bagging process on the outer skin. Phil says, 'The layup process went reasonably OK. The only problems were with the outside skin of 100g glass which was extremely difficult to get smooth on the mold. Doing the carbon afterwards was easy in comparison.
17th Jan 2005
Jon Bates saw a certain well known cherub completely cane everyone in the early 1990's in Herne Bay, and he has been hooked ever since. Even now, living in Singapore, he has been busy along Cherubby themes. He takes up the story...
'I read High Performance Sailing (Bethwaite) (Amazon Page) and the design & build docs on the Cherub Website. With too much free time at work I then had a stroll through the internet and drooled over Cherub, 12-Foot Skiff and R-Class photos. I then downloaded the rules and thought to myself, 'I could give that a go'.
'Inspiration wise, the Semtex is sort of Woof-like, but also slightly Slug-ish I guess, and the flare is definitely from a P7. I was seeing just how narrow I could get the waterlines with the boat still looking vaguely sensible (...whether I would actually be able to sail it is another matter!). The rocker line has all the curvature up front and is then basically dead straight in the back half of the hull to try and maximise the planing performance even though the hull is very narrow.'
'I have to say all the design stuff on the website is excellent - it is great to come across a development class that actually deals with design and development on the website rather than just provide a list of different designs without any other information...'
14th Jan 2005
Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde) has just sent this update of his boat surgery.
Iain says, "These show the modifed spaceframe and stump in place, and you can see the filler pieces which fill the gaps left by the raising of the spaceframe to accommodate the new curvy foredeck."
14th Jan 2005
Paddy Blight (Hot Dog 2539 Whaam!) has designed a Cherub as part of his GCSE in Graphic Design. He says, "I'm aiming towards a compromise hull shape that will give reasonable overall performance across the wind range for the lighter sailor. As the design progressed it started looking more and more like Mango Jam!"
This design doesn't yet have a name. I suggest the "A*".
Paddy is keen to learn from other designers in the fleet and from elsewhere. You can contact him on the mailing list.
13th Jan 2005
Andy Lang (Flying Trifle 2654 Norfolk In Chance) was out sailing his beloved and bullet-proof Cherub today (skiver!). He ragged around Plymouth Sound without a care in the World, flying past frigates, dodging destroyers, and generally having an excellent time.
Little did he know that his antics were being observed very closely indeed. As they say, "The Price of Freedom is Constant Vigilance", and our protectors were, to their credit, vigilant. Could that be an incoming Tomahawk missle coming their way from the Hoe? Might those innocent-seeming fresh faced university types have been recently recruited by some sinister secret organisation using brightly coloured home-built composite sailing boats as weapons of such power that a battleship has anything to worry about? No way, but it did provide and excuse for the following:
From the enormous RIB that roared out of nowhere: "You have entered a restricted area! Stop sailing and take down your sails!"
I don't know the details of how the Policemen in the RIB were enlightened about the many advantages that having no halyards holds for the sailor of high-performance sailing boats, but I suppose they were. I do know that they took Andy's name and address before noisily disappearing leaving nothing but a cloud of smelly smoke behind them.
Who knows? Perhaps they did that so they could ask him for a test sail?
12th Jan 2005
Cherub number 2548 is in Sydney Australia.
She has just completed a thorough restoration. Top marks to Gary Gillot the restorer, and to Woodstock herself for having aged so well, it being not so far from her 28th birthday.
Gary asks, "Does anyone remember this boat?"
6th Jan 2005
Iain Christie (Bistro 2644 Suicide Blonde), helped by Simon Roberts (Slug 2680 Nautilius pompillius), is giving his boat a really severe nose-job!
Iain says, "Well it started with a snout, but now we are replacing the foredeck and putting an unsupported stump in to improve the ergonomics. We are aiming to get it all done in time for Bala."
6th Jan 2005
Phil Alderson's boat in Scotland is taking shape.
Phil says, "Dave made the mould last week and it came off the plug in one piece. Today we made a frame for the mould and once that was done and it was well supported we put it to one side and broke up the plug and put it in the skip. The mould needs some finishing and some more preparation and then we will be ready to start getting the carbon wet."
5th Jan 2005
Phil Morrison has sent the lines for his Cherub design which is just starting to be built at RMW. He sent some words of wisdom too:
'The hull shape goes to the limit of the rule on the chine width but most other aspects I have aimed for moderation. Apart from a little foreshortening of the bow waterlines in an effort to maximize the effective length here has been little attempt to fill out the bow sections other than to supply some buoyancy for extremely light airs. These fine bows can be tolerated and even desirable in modern skiffs equipped with large asymmetric spinnakers. The intention to use a ‘T’ foil on the rudder with racks extending aft of the transom will mean that once up to speed some considerable lift can be generated allowing the hull to operate at a much lower displacement. Hopefully I have raised the chines sufficiently to minimise the wetted area in this condition. This new boat is going to be one hell of a ride!'
This boat is planned to be on the Cherub stand at Sailboat.
2nd Jan 2005
One Cherub, two Cherrubbers, Two Cherubbers Past and One Cherrubber Future, made it to breezy, chilly but sunny Grafham for the two-races-two-to-count Grand Prix this year. They were Will and Lucy in Norwegian Blue, Bob Clements and Alan Atterbury in their Beef-Or-Teen, and Stu Tinner who is planning to go Cherub shopping at Easter time or thereabouts.
Norwegian Blue could hardly control herself: Flattish water, a good stiff breeze, and two parroteers who were ready for anything, despite his-and-hers-matching-colds. We rigged in good time, got rubbered up, and proceeded to the start at mach 10 (approx.). There was spray, there was air, there were smiles all round aboard Norwegain Blue. (Note to self: No need to bring a handkerchief as there is absolutely no time to use it)
The start was uneventful, staying away from the stop-on-the-line 29er gang, hitting the line a second or two late but at speed, twinning merrily. We soon fell into the dirties of an RS400 or some other stuffing machine, so we tacked away. We made good pace, so went nearly as far as the layline. The tack was ropey and slow: we missed stays and spent a little time getting going again, but recrossed the fleet in good shape, with the first few 29ers. We tacked out for the layline and in the process of ducking a starboard tacker managed a double teabag windward wipeout with crew from boat separation. Pants!
Norwegian was soon up and flying along the two sail reach, catching the RS400s, who always seem to be about 30s ahead of you after you have been upside down for ages!
Bear away, Hoist, 'Go strap yourself in, I'm going to make the jump to light speed.' (This is a Han Solo-ism. Don't believe me? Look it up).
Very suddenly we stop: That blur is an RS400 to windward. This incredibly slow speed we seem to be going is the speed they go at off wind! What's that they're saying? Sounded like "I say, don't you think gybing might be the old maneover of choice, what?". Perhaps we'd better gybe.
Mach 10 (approx.) again. Where is the buoy? Where is the opposition? What are all those beating boats doing under the spinnaker? Ooops-We appear to have overshot the leeward mark right into the other course! Down with the kite and white water reaching to the leeward mark. Round the bottom. Settle down. Off we go up the beat.
I don't know exactly what happened next, but I can recall the following details:
We couldn't go on with all the other boats suddenly being so blurry to both of us instead of the usual one. Thanks to Stu Tinner for the pictures.
Check out the 2005 Cherub Fixtures List. Newlywed Ben Brown (2685 Loco Perro), our fixtures secretary, has really come up with the goods: Something old, something new, something shared and something French!
Carnac here we come!
Phil Alderson has built an excellent looking T-foil for his P7a Aquamarina (2681) and written an article about it.
Also - The link below to extreme ironing is not working. This is because extreme ironing appears to have, well, run out of steam! The Aussie one appears to be working though. Do check out the advert for the latest extreme ironing kit, the iRon.
Our Extreme Ironing friends have a book out. At first it seems to be a pretty ordinary silly book for people to buy each other for Christmas without anyone ever actually reading it, until you turn to page 32 and find a picture of a Cherub!
ISBN = 1843305550 Amazon Page
In the files area of the Members Yahoo Group you will find a very interesting article describing self depowering rigs. It's a great read about this exciting new idea. You'll find it in the just uploaded January 1973 Cherub Magazine! (Members only) Join here. It's a pdf, so you may need to get the reader.
Get your entries in for the 24th Grafham Grand Prix! It is on the 2nd of January 2005, the closing date for entry is Christmas Eve, they are limited to 200 boats and you have to enter in advance. Entry Form.
It is a pdf so you may need to get the reader.
According to the guidelines published by the Royal Mail, this means posting it by the 21st Dec for first class, and the 18th Dec for second class. That's this Saturday!
The fourth and final 2004 edition of Cherub News went in the post this evening. Happy reading!
If you don't get your Cherub News in the next day or two (they went first class), then please get in touch with Lucy Lee your Secretary with your correct postal address so she can update the records. That way you will get your ballot forms which will be going out very soon.
Overseas members - pdfs have been emailed to you as usual.
David and Paddy Blight have done the most amazing job on their new boat 'Whaaam!', the Cherub formerly known as 'Team Ecocats'.
This important treaty has nothing whatever to do with today's news update.
Our new friends at Breizh Skiff are very keen to get involved in the cherub scene. There is lively (but French) conversation on cherubby themes on their forum, and they have been asking many questions of Lucy Lee, your secretary, as well as building a cherub, which was finished in the summer.
To say 'merci bien' they have sent her a T shirt. Is this one their furthest travelled?
Jonathan "Smilie" Garfitt (Velocipede 2675 Fuzzy Logic), your magazine editor, took some time out from Cherub sailing to go mountain boarding two weekends ago. He enjoyed the high speed, but when the time came to to wipe out he expected a splash and the cooling sensation of the waves closing over his head. The tree and the hill did not yield and a bump was had by all parties. When Jonathan heard a 'crack' coming from the region of his left foot he feared that he may have damaged his favourite trainers. He needn't have worried: It was only the sound of his ankle breaking. Jonathan has now been screwed back together courtesy of HM NHS and is resting at home. He says of his predicament, "Every cloud has a silver lining - At least this way the Xmas Cherub mag will be finished in no time!"
Get well soon from all of us.
Wish Smilie well (or taunt him)
Phil Alderson (Currently has P7a 2681 Aqua Marina) sent a photo of this weekends progress on his new boat. Phil says, 'It is a simple process: You arrive in the morning to see a shiny black boat, generate large quantities of dust and warn out sandpaper all day, then paint it black again so that next morning you are greeted by a slightly shinier black boat!'
Daryl Wilkinson of Clearthinking Creative has kindly designed the 2005 T-Shirts (He is also the crew of Cherub 2685 Loco Perro). The T-shirts will be black this year with an aqua design (T Shirts - £12.50 design on the front)/(Hoodies - £20.00 design on the back). Please email Daryl with your name, order amount, size and whether you want a T-shirt or a Hoodie.
To get these for the Dinghy Show he needs to know fairly soon about orders. Happy ordering!
Email Daryl to order. I have!
We have now uploaded the Newsletters from 1970, 1971 and 1972 (Members Only). Join here. They are pdfs, so you may need to get the reader.
We have newsletters from 1970 to the present, but the ones before that are missing. Does anyone have any of the really old newsletters that we could borrow to scan? Please email me if you do!
Phil Alderson (Currently has P7a 2681 Aqua Marina) sent these photos of the plug of his new boat, designed for him by David Low. Phil says 'One advantage of going the plug/female mold route is that you get a full size model of the boat to look at and you can use cheap body filler and paint to do all the fairing without having to worry too much about adhesion and the depth of filler. At the moment Dave is finishing off the plug and we will be on to the next stage of making the mold once it is all polished up to a good finish.' The boat is going to be a hull plus tubes boat like Aquamarina. D L Boats can be contacted on 07790 398121.
At Kielder this year we met Simon Robinson (now of R and P Systems) who was a very prolific Cherub builder in the 1970's and 1980's. He had some excellent old photos which Phil Alderson digisnapped. The resulting eleven extra pictures are now added to the bottom of the 1970's pictures page. Thanks to Simon for the pics and the accompanying words, and thanks to Phil for carefully snapping them on a table in the clubhouse and snailmailing me the CD-ROM.
Have a look at this thread on the Breizh Skiff site.
Daryl Wilkinson (Big Issue 2685 Loco Perro) has just sent the video-summary of the weekend's Isle of Wight based mast building extravaganza. It's a great watch. Find it now in the "How-To Videos" part of the Technical Support area. It is a fairly big file but worth the wait for dial-uppers.
There are new videos in the videos section and the How-To part of the Technical Support area.
Before:
A very big roll of carbon.
After:
A mast with a 'porn star' finish!
More soon.
What have we here?
You'll never get that flat, even on maximum steam!
This is a picture of a carbon mast in the making yesterday. More soon.
Just a reminder that we have a standing invite to attend the next Australian Champs, which are open and thus will be "what we used to call World Championships". The event will be at Georges River SC, which is Southern Sydney, on the edge of Botany Bay. Dates are 28th Dec 2004 - 7th Jan 2005. For more information see the invitation to our fleet and the Notice of Race. If you're interested then plerase contact any of the the Association committee to dicsuss things more.
Even if you don't think you can make it this time keep the thought in mind - we do maintain good contacts with our opposite numbers in Aus and NZ, and there will be other occasions.
Comparison of stern wakes on LRN and Aqua Marina - one with T foils and more weight, one with no foil and less weight. What can you see? Discuss on the mailing list.
Report - now with some photos (thanks fotoboat.com.
Andy Paterson / Alex Paterson: Shiny Beast
Patrick Cunningham / Adrian Murphy : Little Red Number
Phil Alderson / Malcolm Garrington : Aqua Marina
Alex Adams / Jim Champ: Halo Jones
Will Lee / Lucy Lee: Norwegian Blue
Tim Dean / Claire Spens: Fizzy Shark
A couple of video clips from after racing on Friday - quick work by Daryl to get these available already
Aqua Marina - are those new rudder foils helping?.
Norwegian Blue - Will Lee teaching Alex Adams to trapeze helm.
Some fairly forthright chairing led to a reasonably short AGM. The big news - apart from a lot of changes in class officers - is that the vote for two trapezes was passed by a very considerable majority. The exact date when the formal change will come into effect will be published soon, but it will be before the current dispensation runs out in November. There's also a proposal before the committee to look at enlarged sail area for kites. On a show of hands it was decided that there will be a dispensation for people to experiment with enlarged spinnakers up until the next nationals, but that boats using oversized sails will not be eligible for prizes at Championships. Theres no consensus at all as to what the size of a larger sail should be, but the dispensation is for up to 23m3. My guess is that something between 18 and 23 will turn out to be the size to go, but we shall see! List of new officers etc will follow, but as I remember Jim Champ (ie me) is replaced as president by Will Lee. Dave Roe stands down as technical Officer after much highly valuable service to the class, (thank you very much Dave) and the new technical officer is Gavin Sims. Lucy Lee is confirmed as secretary, replacing Una-Mary Colclough who put in many years of hard effort, and Gavin hands the Treasurer's keys over to Ben Brown. Tom Kiddle joins the committee as "minister without portfolio" , Daryl Wilkinson takes on publicity formally, and Patrick Cunningham joins with the revived post of Class Brewer.
See some snapshots here...
If you've been having trouble signing on/off the mailing list (as run by those nice people at totalcoverage.coop) using this form it should now be fixed. If not let me know.
Lucy Lee has taken over as Association Hon Secretary for at least the time up to
the Nationals. If you've filled out your subs form and not sent it off, please can
you send it to the new address,
C.C.O.A.U.K. Hon. Secretary
Lucy Lee
32 Kennet Street,
London
E1W 2JA
07855 862 009
If you haven't filled in your subs form this is the perfect opportunity. The forms are linked in the paragraph below, and now have the new address on.
The thanks of the Association goes to Una for all her work over the last few years, the secretary's job isn't the most glamorous, its just one of the most vital and demanding ones. And Una, have a great day on May 1st and we all send you our best wishes for the new role!
Renew your Cherub Class membership!
Your money makes it possible for us to go to Sailboat, run the occasional advert in Y&Y, run a Nationals and print the occasional newsletter. Association officers don't even get expenses. Association Subs are due on the 1st March, and are maintained at a bargain £15.00 for full members (boat owners) and £7.00for Associate Members (all others). This is cheaper than any comparable class I know of. If you used to sail Cherubs and look back on those days fondly why not sign up as an associate. You may not get that much for it, but it will help today's young sailors enjoy the boats you used to get so much out of. Its only seven quid a year! It would be really helpful if you could fill out a standing order for your Class Subscription. Please print of both these forms, fill them in and send to the Class secretary.
Sailboat Report from Lucy Lee.Much hard work put in by lots of people, too many to name in a quick note but you know who you are. Special commendations though to Daryl for the CD/DVD & stand prep, Davro and co for staying up until 2am Saturday assembling the Slug and Will & Lucy for Chilli and Phil and Lucy for CD burning on Saturday evening. Those are just the ones I know about. Thanks again to all who put in the effort. Jim C.
Maybe you all know this one, but I didn't, and it might have saved my boom the other week
at Rutland, so I thought I'd share it. Unsuprisingly, with the sort of loads we put on these
big roach rigs these days, the load downwards on the gooseneck is quite spectacular. Spectacular
enough, for instance, that I've gone out two years running at Rutland by being without a boom.
So it would be good to reduce the load. But how. Well, you've also got a cunningham/downhaul
running up the mast, and the fixed end of that is pulling up. Attached the fixed end to the boom -
wrap it round, don't expect a couple of rivets in tension to hold an eye on there - and the load
from the cunningham goes some way to balancing out the load on the kicker - and means you don't
have to find a strong point to attach it. Thanks to Dave Roe for the headsup. Maybe we should have
a dialog on the mailing list for essential fitting out tips, and then I could steal all the
best ideas and put them in the "fit out your Cherub" howto:-)
Cherub Desktop Wallpaper available for download. Now available with "Get Your heart racing" slogan and more sizes.
For further information on this page email the Webmaster