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Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 7:46 pm
by Ollie
Hi all,
My other love is sailing and being in Herts gives me lots of options. I can pop to the Essex coast, Grafham water or Rutland. I keep my boaty boat at Stewartby sailing lake near Bedford which is a nice sailing area and close to me plus it is big enough to get some rip roaring speed out of my rocket without an engine.

She is a Prindle 16 (our American friends will probably know this class) and she is a catamaran. She is as fast as a small speed boat even though she is 27 years old (I like the younger woman!!!)

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Everyone remarks on the colourful sail.

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It wasn't very windy on this outing.

I have been sailing since I was 9 yrs old. I am now nearly 40 and still cannot get enough of that speed without an engine type thing.
Sailing brought me into contact with youth groups and schools as I am a qualified dinghy instructor so I have been able to be part of a lot of young persons lives and know that some of them have gone on to great things in the sailing world.

My friends in St. Ives, Cornwall bought a little boat and asked me to teach them. One of them is now the 2009 Vago national champion. That makes it all worth while for me and one of the reasons to carry on.

Best wishes to all here.
Ollie

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:14 pm
by Jelly
:ar!

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 7:35 pm
by R&D Russ
:ar! Swallows & Amasons :ar!

i sailed a bit but just a wayfarer 2man otter lazer and a topper i loved the topper it was sooooooo easy to handle


Russ

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 7:45 pm
by Drac
Great stuff Ollie - nearest i've been to sailing in lazing on a Lilo airbed in Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth.

Ahhh St Ives, just about my favourite place in this country

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 8:52 am
by novocaine
haven't sailed in years. used to play about in lazers.


nice to see some gay pride by the way (the sail :o )

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 9:20 am
by RF_GODD
=)) =)) =)) :ar!

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:00 pm
by Ollie
novocaine wrote:nice to see some gay pride by the way (the sail :o )
Gay as in happy?
I am giving ferry rides at my clubs open day on Sunday and I know which boat the ladies will be queing up to have a ride on. ;)

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:16 pm
by millie
hi ollie ware abouts in herts are u i live just off a10 puckerigde.nice cat

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:18 pm
by Old wobbler
Got into sailing about 3 years ago after 40 years as a sea fisherman. Now use the works sports clubs yacht out of Essex. (Najad 38 :mrgreen: )

Currently working towards my day skipper ticket and have been looking at buying a small 26ft Westerly Centaur as a starter boat.

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 7:01 pm
by Ollie
millie wrote:hi ollie ware abouts in herts are u i live just off a10 puckerigde.nice cat
Thanks Millie,

Well well its a small world after all. I am in amongst the Mundens.

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 9:55 am
by Ollie
Hi all,
On Sunday, from 11:00 - 17:00hrs, the watersports club I am a member of is having an open day. It is free entry and you get to try out sailing and power boats also some angling stuff. It is at Stewartby near Bedford. so if you live in the Herts, Beds, Bucks area feel free to pop along. Have a look at the web site: http://www.swsc.org.uk/

I will be there giving rides on the cat.

Stewartby Water Sports Club Limited
The Clubhouse
Stewartby Lake
Green Lane
Stewartby
Bedford
MK43 9LY

Ollie

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:44 pm
by Ollie
Russell wrote::ar! Swallows & Amasons :ar!

i sailed a bit but just a wayfarer 2man otter lazer and a topper i loved the topper it was sooooooo easy to handle
Russell. If you ever fancy a spin?

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:48 pm
by Ollie
Old wobbler wrote:Got into sailing about 3 years ago after 40 years as a sea fisherman. Now use the works sports clubs yacht out of Essex. (Najad 38 :mrgreen: )

Currently working towards my day skipper ticket and have been looking at buying a small 26ft Westerly Centaur as a starter boat.
OW good to hear. As an island nation I think we should all have a go at the old sailing lark. If you ever need a crew I'm keen.

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:20 pm
by Finbar
Never done any proper sailing myself, although it does look a bit good. Especially when they are hanging out on a trapeeze at about 90deg. to the water. :o

I did used to work with an ol' guy in Southampton, Bob Parker was his name, who used to crew on the 'J class yachts' in the 30's. I think he was on Tommy Liptons boat. He was what they called a mast head boy. That was, he had to climb to the top of the mast to set the flag. All for 9d. a week extra.
He was a master at knot tying. If you left your hammer lying around, he would tie a Turks Head round the shaft in no time at all. A very interesting guy. ^:)^

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:23 pm
by millie
hi ollie did u go to the meldreth bike show nr royston it was a good night out

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:26 am
by Ollie
No millie I didn't know about this one. If you know of any other stuff like this drop me a line and post in the events ride out section.

Ollie

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 3:27 pm
by Ollie
Hi all,
I did a bit of instructing back in September down on the Essex coast. The venue was Brightlingsea and I took along my camera. Unfortunately the batteries were flat. Luckily someone else had a camera and sent me this today:

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I am at the bow of the boat controlling the spinaker. The lady at the stern was only a level 1 when we started in the morning and by the afternoon we were flying a kite. Thats great progress for a beginner.

Ollie

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:45 pm
by Ollie
Re the above post.
Catching up on the BBC Coast series I spotted this:
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On that day there was a chopper buzzing around and although I can't make out the number on the boat I am pretty sure it is me in the boat on the left. (yes the one with the collapsed kite).

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:03 pm
by Ollie
Been off the grid recently due to a sailing oppurtunity I could not turn down.
Got the chance to crew on a 72ft Challenger (of the BT Global Challenge fame). These boats have been around the world the wrong way twice and 4 of them are in the hands of a charity called 'The Tall Ships Adventures'.

With a crew of 16 we set off from Portsmouth and sailed the Solent for a get to know the boat session and overnighted in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.
Early next day we set sail across the channel to spend the night in Cherbourg. Then it was on to the Channel islands. Our next night stop was in Alderney where we drank the pub dry. Next morning we sailed round to Sark to anchor for a few hours ready for a night sail back across the channel for our final destination Weymouth.

I found the trip was an experience of a life time and well worth the £400 (inc. travel) cost.
It was damn hard work and the night sail required a watch of 3 hours on 3 hours off that completely sapped the remains of my energy but we were all grinning and laughing all the way through the trip which made it worth the bruises.

Some photos of the trip:

Sunset in Sark
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Cherbourg Marina
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Cockpit & boom
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The sister ship Challenger 3
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Looking up the mast
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Looking back from the Snake Pit to the Helm cockpit
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Looking toward the bow with the Stay sail & yankee sail hard in
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Alderney harbour
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Sunrise in Alderney
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Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:11 pm
by jaz66
Cross Channel........ :-?

Where is the pic of the Duty Free................... :ymhug:

:))


looks like a good trip ollie..and worth the money

Like the pics mate.... :thumright:

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 5:42 pm
by yorkshirepuddin
You lucky bugger !!


I did some Tall ships racing on TS Royalist. even went to Alderney as your goodself !

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:15 pm
by Ollie
Me and the wife popped up to the boat club on Wednesday to do some long over due boat maintenance.

A good scrub down and fettle with the running gear was needed

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Alison took all the photos while I did the hard scrubbing and sorting of ropes and wires. :roll:

Saturday I will be giving her a shake down ready for a pursuit race on Sunday.

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:44 pm
by Jelly
:cheers: Awesome mate. Good luck in the race, yer ol'seadog yer. :ar!

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 8:28 pm
by yorkshirepuddin
Nice job !

Re: Ollie goes sailing

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 8:29 pm
by jaz66
yeah, looking good ollie... :-bd

Ain't got no sea legs...( a poor swimmer, so always used to worry what might if i went overboard... :pale: )

BUT..i did have a go on a similar Cat type when in cuba...

and i LOVED it....the wind, the speed, the spray..... :cheers:

(oooh err.. that does look a script for a drug/porn movie.. :)) )

but anyways i loved the feeling...much like the freedom of the bike, now i think of it... :-B

So travel fast, my friend.... :thumright:

and win... :salut: