Jan - March

April - May

June - July

Aug - Sept

Oct - Dec

Saturday was Stour race day with 5 Downs boats and 2 Sandwich, in testy conditions.
Ed and Sarah Styles again came up trumps, no wonder they would take Monday off !
Sunday the 30th had ' Let's get Racin' 3 in good conditions. Paul Harris and John Cass were first in
a laser 2000, Sarah Hyett was 2nd in a Topper.

Next up was 'Summer points 4' in a proffered NNW but rising and turning ugly. There was a distant distant mark, big seas and evil gusts.

At one point there were 5 boat inverted. Though it was just another day at the office for Frank Catt in his Streaker ,who last capsized in 1971.(I'm guessing) Ben Hills laser was a close 2nd.
John Cass and Julia Blackman the ' 3rd place merchants' finally got their win in their Buzz with Nigel Cureton's Contender 2nd.

Simon Cory and Nathan Brazil's RS800 might have broken the record for capsizes but they persevered. Rosie Lord's Mino finally went over resulting in a return to base tutt tutt!

The Fred Herbert trophy races on Bank Holiday Monday saw a small fleet in a nasty NW. Luckily the delicious goulash from the previous day was still on hand !
Chris Shelton's Phantom went into overdrive with the familiar crew re-united of Richard White and Martyn Styles 2nd in an RS400 .
 

Thursday had Richard White and Martin Wyman not Styles drifting to a win in an RS400 with Chris Stubbs and Frank Catt in the same class 2nd.

Steve and Judy Restall won the very slow handicap in an RS200 with the new threat Clare and Seb Hansell 2nd in the same class.

There was a new outing for father and son duo Chris and Max Shelton in a club first 'Lark'.
Chris described it “as a cheap old wreck similar to the Africa Queen”. Actually it looked rather swanky, fibreglass , large cockpit though the inboard steam engine flouts club rules !

Saturday the 22nd was a gem of a day for 20 club youngsters at Redoubt Sailing Club Hythe. Near perfect conditions with northerly winds and brilliant sunshine. The 3 new RS Fevas on loan from the RYA were in action for the first time and gave the more advanced crew training with the 2nd sail.
Thanks to our chums at Redoubt and the army of Downs club helpers especially John Sharvill and Chris Shelton.

Sunday's 'Lets get racin' had the best weather with a gentle NE wind and a win for Jason Hansell in a laser Radial with Sarah Hyatt 2nd in a Topper.

After that things went downhill rapidly with the light winds dissipating to zero. Twenty seven boats took to the water, yet 10 in the slow fleet were unable to complete a single lap. Two boats did not even cross the start line.
Eric Styles's Hornet drifted in 1st but took honourable discharge arranged with the bridge for having a single crew. Therefore 1st went to Richard White and Tony Cook in an RS400 with Mark and Clinton Styles 2nd in a Hornet.

Steve and Judy Restall took 1st in the slow with Chris Shelton's Phantom 2nd.
Arguments raged over Chris and Clare Stubbs RS400, were they over the start line ? Did they double back far enough ? Should anyone have gone out at all? and so on and so forth.

The RS Fevas are at Downs for 2 weeks before going to Redoubt again so take advantage .

If you thought all that was exhausting l left Sunday as Chris Dannicans's powerboat course was starting and a coterie of kayaks were taking to the water..... what is the point of dry land ?
 

Sunday the club hosted a Topper and Laser open meeting with 7 different clubs taking part.
There were single starts in 3 separate races with Toppers, plus the new 4.2 class, laser radials and standard rigs.

Club member Nathan Brazil was the highest placed local in a credible 4th overall. But racing machine Oli Greber from the Pevensey Bay club won all three races. A member from the same club also took the 4.2 class.
Now, the lasers were a different story with Downs taking the first 4 places....... though it must be said there were only 4 competitors!

Seb Hansell took first in a laser radial with Ben Hills 2nd in a full rig.
There was a presentation afterwards in what was a successful meeting in testing conditions.
Thanks to all club members who gave their time from the 3 rescue boats , the bridge crew and
the canteen. Apologies to the afternoon grandees drinking club as the club was a little raucous for them though!
 

The spring points 6 was finished early due to the constant becalmings and with only one lap completed Ed and Sarah Styles in their Buzz were awarded the win along with Seb and Jason Hansell 2nd in a RS200 with Phil and Katie Spicer 3rd in a laser 2000.

Morose sailors were suddenly beginning to move at this point though everyone was saturated and the temperature started to drop. As summer points started an ugly NE gale began to set in. This caused some electrifying speeds, especially from Dom and Jenny Johnson in an RS800 downwind and they seemed to complete 4 circuits in minutes. Though this was still not enough to overhaul steady Ed and Sarah with Jon Cass and Julia in 3rd.

It was a difficult balancing act for the bridge and everyone was caught off guard by the rapid swings though some boats were eventually damaged and crews frozen.

It was a great show from the clubhouse with hot beverages all round and a secret admiration for those the other side of the glass.

Still cheer up folks!, the balmy evening sails start this week .
 

An unusual partnership took the race in the form of Judy Restall and Richard White in an RS200, Chris Shelton was 2nd in his Phantom, Ed and Sarah were 3rd in a Buzz despite slowing near the end. Frank Catt broke the back of the Buzz fleet by taking 4th.

Notable incidents included frequent capsizing of Simon Cory and Nathan Brazil in a new RS800.
Another high finish for the 'terror' Oskar in his Tera and confusion over Mike Heeley's RS400.
He was only cruising (in the sailing sense of course), not racing .He was obviously wasting his talents !
Congratulations to the all female bridge crew lets have more please !
 

After last week's race being postponed April the 18th's race wasn't looking good until a genteel NE got the fleet of 20 going.

Risking all in the volcanic ash the single handers lost out big time in the rising tide.

Simon Cory and Claire Hansell took 1st in their Buzz, Steve and Katie Restall were 2nd  in their RS200 with Martyn Styles and Richard White 3rd in an RS400.

The two 'Erics' in a Hornet seemed to be the craft that was motoring but finished only 4th.  
Having launched and brought boats ashore in swimming trunks l can say the water tem p wasn't too bad but the warm sun helped.

In one corner of our green and pleasant sea a minor triumph of sorts was taking place, the ,launch of Rosie Lord's new and mysterious Comet Mino in battleship grey !

 ' Queen of the Toppers', - 'Deb of the Bytes' is now the 'Mino Minx' ! Shame about the holes in the wetsuit though!

The second spring points on Easter Sunday went smoothly in a standard SW.
Nigel Cureton again took honours in his contender with Chris and Nikki Catt 2nd in an RS200.
Frank Catt took 3rd in his streaker.
 

The bank holiday Monday ' Marquis Medallion' was a far more exciting affair with some vicious
SW gusts. Dom Johnsons RS800 capsized on no less than 5 occasions with Rick, yet still finished mid- table. Four other boats failed to finish.
Chris Catt took the Medallion in a Streaker, Steve and Judy Restall were 2nd in a RS200
and Richard White and Martyn Styles were 3rd in an RS400.
 

When all of this was over a brave lone swallow flew past the club perhaps a sign of warmer weather at last.