Here is the late summer/early autumn offering from the NRDA. Most of this is dominated by the recently held Championships very ably run for us and the Albacore class at Looe and our heartfelt thanks go to the team of people both afloat and ashore who made the event such a success.

Whilst on the subject of the recent Champs.; could I please borrow some good photographs of the events that I can use in these Newsletters and also on the Website. My collection of Redwing piccies is getting a bit stale now. Credits will be given for use of the copyright.

We have formed a sub-committee to look into the sails issue now that Rellings have taken over Mike MacN. Bud Coote, Dave Thomas and myself will be looking at alternatives, canvassing your opinions and talking with Rellings with a view to a report and proposal before the year end. Please see overleaf for contact information if anyone has a point of view to air.

Another National Championships have been and gone and a terrific time was had by all. Twenty-four Redwings took part in an exciting week of racing and it was the biggest fleet that any of us can remember seeing in one place at one time. It made a very impressive sight particularly on the start line. Congratulations to Des Hocking and Colin Crabb of Looe for winning the Championship title. Des and Colin were sailing their new boat R245 and I know that Cliff Adams, her builder, was especially proud with the victory.

Five out of the six races were sailed with the last race being lost owing to a gale of wind that blew up on Friday morning.

Rising Looe redwing stars Ben Crabb and Grant Gough sailing Bens Maid Marion R224, showed us the way in the first race but the euphoria of winning must have been a bit much and it seemed to go a bit awry after that however it was a fantastic performance and shows how much work these lads have been doing.

The lighter breezes in the early part of the week did not seem to suit heavy wind performers like Bud Coote and Dave Darlington - R242 Clifford. A Looe Sailing Club insider told your correspondent that Darlo had been having some trouble with his wetsuit, apparently there is a serious danger of it exploding whilst he is out at sea. This ever-present risk must have caused some problems with concentration during tricky parts of the race.

One evening Geoff Godbolt - Chough R183, explained to me how he avoids capsizing at the gybe mark in stronger winds and the following day we were able to watch him put his theory into practice: Just ahead of us we saw Brian Carvey and Andy Another in R212, capsize during a gust at the gybe. Seeing this happen Geoff headed up as if to tack round and Chough tripped over her centreplate and promptly capsized so I am still not convinced Geoff!

Finally, when we were about to take our empty road trailer up the hill after unloading out boat we found the High Street in Looe shrouded in fog. On entering the fog bank we found that the mist was being produced by an amazing car apparently powered by steam, and not only that, it was also towing a Redwing! Closer inspection, whilst giving the appropriate fog warnings, revealed that it was Rolly and Jane arriving at the end of a long journey from Tenby. We are not sure how long it took Rolly to get up enough head of steam to get back up the hill out of Looe at the end of the week.

Well the year has definitely flown by, it only seems like a few weeks since I was writhing around in agony after the last championships and now here I am fit and raring to go if you believe that, well...Getting ready for this championships has really been hectic with two boats to prepare; but it was all worth it although probably a bit confusing for the organiser as some of my equipment had been borrowed for other boats. Blake had the sails of Venus R178 while two newcomers to Redwings, Chris and Nathan, had borrowed the boat off me and sails off Rolly. Chris normally sails a RS600 and after sailing at the championships found great difficulty in keeping his RS upright at Tenbys first club meeting. Talking of that meeting as Rolly hadn't rigged his own boat he borrowed mine with Helen as crew and promptly won the trophy on offer; a real show up for me. No excuses now, I can't blame the boat it must be the nut on the stick, as Helen would put it. Mind you only two finished, I reckon he bribed the rest. I digress.. we took Venus to Tenby a week before the championships so that the lads could have a bit of practice and they needed it. That weekend they finished behind me in the club race, but at Looe I couldn't get close.

We arrived at Looe early on a very windy Friday morning; that windy I had trouble putting the mast up and had to retreat to the shelter of the conveniently placed public conveniences. Conditions were a lot better on Saturday when the majority of people arrived.

As Sunday dawned and so did the nerves, as the first race got nearer it was a good job the conveniences were convenient. This time I managed two laps before a bad gybe left me with a lump on the head so decided to retire as the wind seemed to be picking up. (He hadn't noticed until then) This as Helen reminded me was further than I had sailed in all of last year's championships. She also pointed out that I had started on a port tack not a good place for a novice to be although we managed to get away with it as the fleet seemed to split. This then led to a discussion on starting technique, which really worked, as my starts were the best I had ever done.

Mondays race ended in a minor celebration by me, I had cracked it at last finishing my first ever championship race albeit a very distant 24th and last. Tuesday was a different challenge for me two races back to back something I had never done before, still I went out with the intention of finishing one then seeing how I felt. The first race I managed to sort out the beat a lot better and this meant I was at last sailing with other Redwings round me although still at the back of the fleet its amazing the difference you feel when you are actually competing with other sailors.The first race saw me finish 22nd after a battle with Harold R200 up the last beat, which I managed to win on the line. The 2nd race saw me finish 23rd and last after a good battle with R200 and R201. This race saw Helen use physical violence on me after a bad tack. I caught the boom on my buoyancy aid and she came up and banged her head on the boom. She blamed me saying it was my fault because the boom shouldn't have been there. We ended up laughing though. I was really tired after the two races and was glad of the rest day although the weather would have been perfect for me. On Thursday the forecast and sea state made me decide to sit it out, Helen agreed, as she did not want me to lose my new found confidence. The sight of all the Redwings on the start line looked really impressive, as was Cecil's (R146) dive between the boom and the boat on his capsize coming out of the river. Unfortunately Helen had run out of film in the camera so missed out although she hopes to have got some of the other boats launching from the river.

With the racing cancelled on Friday packing up was not quite so rushed, as it might have been.

At the Looe benefit night, sorry!, I mean the presentation, it was nice to have a talk to Cliff Adams, what a fit man he is. Congratulations to Desmond and Colin on winning the title does this mean we all have to get new boats! Special mention about Ben Crabb and his crew on coming third SO LIGHT, SO FIT, SO GOOD sums it up. My thanks to all of the officials and helpers for making it such a good week. Hope to see all of you at Fishguard next year.

Saturday morning arrived and we began the journey to Tenby, with the intention of sailing on Sunday. This I didn't make because of traffic chaos around Bristol the journey took nearly ten hours and after being in the car so long my back felt very sore next morning so reluctantly I decided to rest.Well I think that after a year of being a novice its time to shut down.(I hope not-Ed..) I hope that you have enjoyed my tales of mainly woe .The year has been good and I hope you all agree I am no longer a novice. If you found these tales interesting let Bill know and I am sure he will try hard to persuade me to carry on but I don't want to bore the wetsuits of you. Thanks to all who have helped especially Bill and Rolly although Bill nearly pushed me into buying a yacht saying I was too big (polite word) for a Redwing but the Bank Manager prevailed, much to Helen's relief. So it seems I will have to diet again. Oh well a small sacrifice to pay if I can improve on my new skills.

FOR SALE

R101 Fiona

Built by Pearn 1948

New wood mast and fittings

Lifting rudder, self bailers, wood and metal centre-plates. New cover, buoyancy and combi trailer.

Lying at Millbrook near Torpoint.

Price: �950

Contact Kevin Mattholie on

01752 822770