IN his report to the club’s recent Annual General Meeting the sailing secretary, Brian Dotchon, reviewed the sailing activities during 2014.

The weather during the season was somewhat mixed. There were many very good sailing days but no long settled spell to encourage extensive cruising. The good days were very good with clear skies and hours of sunshine but there was often more wind than required.

Brian thanked the strong support received from many members in this his first year as sailing secretary and this made the task of organising the racing activities much easier. The cruising events were in the very capable hands of Ray Brown the cruiser class captain.

Dealing firstly with the club racing programme Brian reported that the season got off to a great start with the Bristol Channel Race for sailing pilot cutters. The small fleet raced down to a buoy off Illfracombe before returning to Barry via a buoy off the Gower.

Following a lunch at the club three of the cutters then raced down to Swansea. The cutters provided a fine spectacle in the fine weather over this weekend.

The point’s race series was very successful with nine of the scheduled 11 races completed. The two cancelled races were both points races and these succumbed respectively to an absence of competitors and extreme weather.

All of the trophy races were held although the Kindly Light Race had no finishers. It had been intended to set up a personal handicap system to provide a separate series of results giving the less experienced helmsmen a better chance of success. This was to run parallel with the normal seasonal point’s series. This proved impossible but with the assistance of the handicapper, Nick Hill, it is hoped that success will be achieved in 2015.

The trophies for the 2014 season were either awarded immediately after the event or at the Annual Dinner. The winners were as follows:-

Sam Davies Race - Dolly Kedge - Jeff Davis

Regatta 1st – Tomahawk - Martin Rudkin

2nd - Sunny Lyn - Martin Wyatt

3rd – Kiskadee - Don Merrifield

RNLI Pennant Race – Shadow - Simon Morgan (sailed by Steve Sutton)

Holms Race - Sally Loper - Brian Dotchon

Highlight Race – Pepper - Bill Hogg (Porlock Weir SC)

Summer Points Series 1st – Shadow - Simon Morgan (sailed by Steve Sutton)

2nd - Sally Loper - Brian Dotchon

3rd - Dolly Kedge - Jeff Davis

A total of 20 different boats entered one or more of the point’s series races which is a significant increase on 2013.

A total of 12 started the Regatta race and 15 Barry boats started the Highlight Race where there were seven visiting boats.

However, the average turnout remained more or less the same as the previous year at 6.4 boats. The Old Seadogs Race had five entries and the Top Dog is Lyn Reeve.

The Highlight Race was, as its name suggests and for various reasons, the highlight of the racing season. The very encouraging turnout of 22 boats was set a challenging course by the OOD Justin Taylor.

Difficulties existed for both the experienced and not so experienced racers. There were many marks to round with relatively short intervening legs and this led to several collisions both with marks and with other competitors.

It is rumoured that during the presentation of prizes after the race the commodore’s lady, Wendy Webb, was heard to mention something about “dodgems”.

However, it must be said that everyone seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and no-one suffered any serious damage.

Brian recorded returning with a very red face after managing to hit the Lavernock Spit buoy hard enough to instigate an insurance claim. Justin was congratulated for his efforts in setting an unusual challenge. His team of race officials gave him excellent support and the club itself was certainly buzzing after the race.

Brian then turned to the cruising activities of club members and indicated that they had cruised very considerable distances during 2014.

Roger Lloyd in Katy Dee cruised the English Channel as far as Fecamp in the east and then back again via Cherbourg, the Channel Islands, northern Brittany and the Scillies. Roger was singlehanded for all but the outgoing passage to Cherbourg and for short periods inside the Rance Barrage and at the Scillies.

In her inimitable style Cynthia Norman in Down Homer sailed singlehanded from Milford up the Irish Sea to the west coast of Scotland before visiting the Orkneys and Shetlands on her way to Norway. She set off mid May and spent five weeks in Norway with glorious weather before returning by more or less the same route to Milford at the end of September.

Jim Barton in Tresillion continues to cruise the eastern Mediterranean and this year traversed the Corinth Canal after leaving his winter quarters near Athens. He then cruised the Gulf of Corinth and visited a number of ports and Corfu before laying up at Preveza on the Greek mainland. He covered a total of 750 nautical miles this year which is somewhat less than his usual total.

The club treasurer, Howard Metcalfe, purchased a splendid new power boat, Breaksea, early in the summer. This was built at Aalst in Belgium and he motored it back to its base in Cardiff in June. He visited Hellevotslues in Holland, Ramsgate, Portland, Dartmouth and Newlyn on the way covering a total of 670 nautical miles.

Owen and Jan Davies in Shiraz sailed to the South Coast of England visiting Falmouth and other ports before crossing to northern France and back via the Channel Islands.

Neil Burton and Penny Arnold in Peggy visited a number of Bristol Channel ports when going to and from Falmouth, Helford and the Scillies. They were accompanied by a number of family members at different times during this cruise.

Clive Spierling in Senara made his usual return passage to Fowey and, with Val, visited Falmouth and various other ports during the summer.

Ian Harris sold Sulis in the early summer and, after much delay caused by poor weather, delivered the boat to Cork in southern Ireland for the new owner.

Nick Koops and his crew in Siglo left Barry early in the season and cruised down the north Cornish coast before crossing the English Channel to Camaret in the Brest estuary. They then proceeded south and visited a number of ports and off-lying islands in Biscay before reaching the Dordogne estuary.

Nick was joined by Sue before entering the Canal Du Midi at Bordeaux. They then followed the canal down to the Mediterranean where the boat is presently wintering. Nick and Sue entered a log of their trip for consideration for the annual cruising award, the Lord Cope Cup. Several other members also submitted entries but their log was considered the best and they received the trophy.

Peter Stoker in Verity sailed from Barry in late May and travelled along the English Channel and ultimately to St Katharine’s Dock, London and back. Peter was singlehanded for most of this trip but was joined by his son Simon for short periods. Peter encountered the usual variety of British summer weather conditions and returned home by train on several occasions.

The boat eventually returned to Barry at the beginning of September after covering more than 1200 miles and visiting a total of 33 different ports and anchorages. This was considered to be an outstanding achievement and Peter was awarded the Seafarer Trophy for seamanship.

A number of other boats cruised to ports outside the Bristol Channel and these included Rob Curtis in Twelfth Night to Padstow and Dale, Nick Phillips in Merlin as far as Fishguard, Derek Irish in Mist and Colin Brooks in Magic to Milford Haven.

Many members cruised to ports within the Channel for holidays and in order to attend the Bristol Channel Yachting Association (BCYA) rallies and various festivals.

The first of the cruises in company arranged by Ray Brown was to Woody Bay. Regrettably only four boats participated and this may have been due to the overcast conditions at the scheduled start time.

However, the weather quickly improved and they had some splendid sailing in relatively light conditions under blue skies. Only Mike Radford in Lesmar reached the objective but everyone enjoyed a wonderful day afloat.

The cruises to the BCYA events at Cardiff Bay and Watchet were well attended. The entertainment was very good and was appreciated by all who joined the fleets. The cruise to Portishead became, instead, a cruise to Bristol Docks which was attended by several boats and was very enjoyable. The usual trip to Bristol in November was also well attended.

Arrangements for the 2015 racing programme are in hand and it will follow the usual format of trophy and points races. Several owners have requested a long distance overnight race and this will be included.

Ray Brown will again be organising a series of cruises in company for the coming summer and it is hoped that even more boats will participate. In addition to the usual cruise destinations it is hoped to arrange a visit to Minehead.

Brian’s report indicated that 2014 had been very successful season for Barry Yacht Club with a good balance between racing and cruising activities.

If you would like further details about the club please phone 01446 735511 (with answer phone) or see their website www.barryyachtclub.co.uk.