Abersoch Update

09 October 2009

First and foremost the first season of the newly created Abersoch Dragon fleet has been a resounding success. Besides the fact the Dragons is a beautiful boat, lovely to helm, and totally engaging for the crew, let's have a look at why the fleet has got off to a good start.

Support from the BDA & the Dragon fraternity
It's a pleasure to have the chance to thank Chairman of the BDA Owen Pay and his team, Tim & Kay Tavinor of Petticrows and their team, plus many Dragon owners and their crews in the UK and Ireland for their help. The Dragon fraternity has been massively generous in offering advice & guidance, ensuring the South Caernarfonshire Yacht Club avoids hidden hazards, and take the easiest route in developing the fleet.

I recommend to any other yacht club looking to add a new class to their club, take a very close look at what a Dragon class has to offer.

Budget Restrictions
Owners joining the SCYC Dragon fleet in Abersoch are restricted to spending a maximum of £15k on acquisition including boat, rig & sails, trailer.

We have acquired eight GRP Dragons, most are syndicated ownership. The boats are all, without exception, in a very good state of health, and whilst not a match for the mouth watering Petticrow brand new package, the boats we have acquired are certainly good enough to deliver mid fleet results in a championship event.

The budget restriction has encouraged Abersoch yachters to buy and join the Dragon fleet almost on a whim, rapidly boosting fleet numbers. It is worth noting there is an added bonus for the National fleet - demand for ten to fifteen year old Dragons has to be a good thing, like the first time buyer in the housing market, it's the first step in Dragon ownership.

The SCYC fleet is keen to buy good condition sails from fleet members across the UK - so please email any details to rob.riddell@hotmail.co.uk 

Rob is planning to travel the country with a trailer buying and collecting sails before the 2010 season.

Northerns & Duke of Edinburgh Cup
The SCYC has been invited by the BDA to host three events, these events are helping SCYC in building our fleet, and helping the fleet make it's presence known to the Irish and UK fleets as a great place to journey to and compete. The dates include;
o 2010 Northern's (Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th June)
o 2011 Northern's (Saturday 9th July to Tuesday 12th July)
o 2011 Edinburgh Cup (Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th July)

So what happened on and off the water?
May Series - Musketeer GBR 623   Paul Kearns  Mark Halliwell, Marcus Sandy,
Spring Series - Phantom GBR 655 Chris Taylor Chris & Selina Thomas
June Series - Hagrid GBR 575 Jamie Peters David Cummings, David Eddowes
Welsh Open - Hagrid GBR 575 Jamie Peters David Cummings, David Eddowes
1st August - Gitane GBR 699 Colin Brereton Neil Brown, Stuart Comb
2nd August - Merlin GBR 622  Rob Riddell James Riddell, Robert Morris 

The club races were held every other week-end from May through to the end of August, afternoon starts ensuring a 100% fleet turn out, (breakages allowing). Great racing, and a very good time had by all in the club bar early evening. We also included a 1st August series spread over a week, and the Welsh Open spread over a Thursday to Sunday.

The bay, sheltered from all winds except easterlies, meant we were able to pack in the races, even during August with it's consistently stormy weather. SCYC spectators were usually treated to seven Dragons on the inner start line right in front of the club, in some pretty windy conditions, nail biting starting manoeuvres and colourful spinnaker finishes.

By the end of the season, a vast improvement compared to the start of the season, the fleet's boat handling and sail setting had improved massively through constant practice and post race discussions. Noting the boats are kept on the moorings, boats were towed to the beech and hulls sponged clean on a very regular basis - pocket money for the kids - soon rigs were being tuned properly, newer sails began to appear, and the fleet drew closer and closer together as the season went on, a sure sign of a competitive fleet developing.

The season's SCYC winners were spread across the fleet, camaraderie off the water was balanced by the desire and determination of each boat to win on the water. Special recognition goes to the best performing boat this season, GBR 575 Hagrid (ex Flotation II,) owned by Jamie Peters and David Cummings. However, GBR 655 Phantom owned by Chris Taylor, crewed by Chis & Selina Thomas, showed searing pace before the mast fell off, and is the one to watch in 2010.

I am very pleased to confirm my crew includes fourteen year old Rob Morris - a member of the RS Feva (Olympic) academy, who scored a second in the Feva September West Zone event with his sister Rebecca. Robert is sailing mad, loves the Feva, and finds hopping on the Dragon 'cool'. I am hoping Robert is a member of my crew for the 2011 Edinburgh Cup. So skippers, remember, these kids are in your club! They are keen as mustard, trained by 'High Performance Managers', know the rules, know more than God himself about making a boat go fast, and love winning! If you possibly can, my advice is get them involved, they are the next generation of champions.

Shore side, as an indication of just how much fun we were having; I was delighted to over hear two young lads discussing proceedings as we returned to the bar after two cracking races....'here come the Dragon crews, they're a good bunch'. 'Yea, bunch of p*** heads!'

We had a rowdy and laughter filled late August Dragon Party, house supplied courtesy of the Paul & Debbie Kearns and family, supper courtesy of Graham & Judy Price co-founder of Brunning&Price Pubs Ltd and proud owner of Amazon GBR 557 (ex Warrior).

In September we took Hagrid GBR 575 over to Dun Laoghaire to compete in the Irish East Coast Championships, hosted by the fabulous Royal Irish Yacht Club. The objective of the mission was a total success confirming;

o It's ridiculously easy to trailer a Dragon over to the Dublin Bay clubs, find local accommodation, rig, launch, race, relax in excellent company, de-rig and get home.

o After a single season's practice in 'budget boats', we are able to compete and enjoy championship Dragon racing.

What Next?
What's next - that's easy........., 2010 is all about doubling the size of the Abersoch SCYC fleet, building a strong partnership with the Irish Dragon fleet, and hopefully some Abersoch boats travelling south for a skirmish with our English cousins, perhaps to Burnham for the East Area Championships (or even to Cowes for the South Coasts and Edinburth Cup? - Ed).

We are keen the planned 2010 Northern's is a success. We will plan carefully to make it as easy as possible for competitors from the Irish fleet to join us, and hope a good fleet of Irish & Welsh competitors will encourage a number of South of England based boats to travel north.

For any and all information call Rob on 07777 695990 or email rob.riddell@hotmail.co.uk

Fiona Brown
Press Officer
Fiona.Brown@fionabrown.com