2018 SAILING SEASON

 LATEST EVENT: TT AT YORKSHIRE DALES SC, OCTOBER 6th-7th.

   The Catapult fleet joined the Contender Northerns and D-Zeros on Grimwith Reservoir high on the Yorkshire Dales for the penultimate TT event for 2018, the weekend of 6th-7th October. Well organised racing overcame the challenges of low water in the reservoir, wind (on Saturday) across the reservoir, with many short legs, and (on Sunday) wind from nothing to strong. Gareth Ede consistently took to the front, with six straight wins, and George Evans was equally emphatic with straight seconds, pushing Gareth at times. (Report)

Gareth is well ahead on the TT Leaderboard and is assured of the 2018 Jon Montgomery TT Trophy. Behind, Alastair Forrest and Stuart Ede are just a point apart, and the final event will decide the 2018 runner-up place between them. On Handicap, George's pursuit of Gareth kept him well up to take the event easily, ahead of Syd Gage.  Stuart Ede holds on to the top of the 2018 Handicap Leaderboard  but only five points cover first three going into the last event.

     NORTHERN CHAMPIONSHIPS AT RYYC, BRIDLINGTON The NE coast at Brid gives the Catapult 2018 racing Programme  its true open water sea sailing (with the traditional hospitality offered by the Dinghy section of the Royal Yorkshire YC) and Brid delivered again across the B/H weekend. With strong winds looming, three races back to back were completed on Saturday, with the priority of keeping boat speed in the steep chop. Gareth Ede and John Terry dominated, with Gareth scoring straight wins.

  On Sunday, a 9.30 start (!!) allowed two back-to-back races in steep seas kicked up by a strong  SW breeze, just before the big wind arrived, with lighter helms dropping out and Mike Gough coming through for a win and a second. On Monday, with the building westerly giving a flat sea, the RO (after a Dart trial) thought the conditions manageable, but the Dart fleet, and two Catapults trying it out confirmed that racing downwind would not be survivable.

John Terry, able to count two wins and two seconds was a clear winner of the Northern Championships, with Mike Gough, relishing the stronger winds, coming in second. Mike clearly won the handicap event. (Report)

Alastair holds on to second place on the  just one point ahead of Stuart Ede, both well behind Gareth Ede. Stuart Ede keeps his clear lead at the top of the

(Below: John Terry, Northern Championship event winner, leads the start of Race 1 at Bridlington.) (Photo RYYC Rib with thanks.)

 FINAL EVENT The final event of the  2018 racing Programme  is again a TT as part of Grafham Cat Open  on October 20-22nd. This is third time lucky for Grafham, with last year's Open blown off, and an attempted replacement in April similarly bleak. Grafham gives good racing round courses suiting Catapult, usually shared with a big Sprite fleet.

CATAPULTS ROUND SHEPPEY A fleet of three Catapults took on the 40 miles of the Round the Isle of Sheppey race, Sunday 9th September, starting in the third fleet. From the close start broad-reaching in a fresh westerly Alastair Forrest went well out to sea, planning to avoid windshadow from the bluffs on the island, but lost out badly to Mike Gough and Alex Montgomery with plenty of breeze inshore. As they turned onto the tight lead on the seaward shore, Alex built boat speed stretching out to lead the Catapults. Once round into the Swale, he took off, on a long port tack, hard on the wind and occasionally freeing, sometimes flying a hull. He caught the early fleets, and could  land on an almost empty beach at the bridge to tip the boats.

Behind Mike welcomed the fresh breeze but had to come through the cloud of early starters up the Swale. At the bridge, he and  then Alastair (well back) struggled with the tide plastering them against the pontoon marking the small beach. Once through under the bridge (the race 3/4 done) the stretches were easy and fast on broad reaches around the top of the island to the club.

Alex was around in 2hrs 55 mins, the fastest singlehander, and 5th on handicap, beaten only by the Dart 18 fleet (which relished the fresh breeze and could punch through the chop with the wind and tide opposed.) (In 1991, Alex' father Jon, sailing the Catapult he designed, came 3rd, still noted prominently on the Race website.)

(Below: the third fleet start, with Catapults Mike (red hulls) Alex and Alastair away.)

CATAPULT CRUISING The September sunshine gave the opportunity of a final Catapult tidal Thames cruise  down from Greenwich through the Thames Barrier into the Estuary

RECENT EVENT:   Catapult again enjoyed the hospitality at Stone Sailing Club, running a TT event across the first three days of Stone Week, July 30th-August 1st

  The Blackwater Estuary sailing waters brought back the challenges of managing the tides effectively, in winds ranging across the three days from strong to non-existent, to give absorbing races. Paul Ellis, in home Essex waters, could count five wins from six races for an emphatic victory, with Alastair Forrest second a point ahead of George Evans. (Report)

Paul took the Handicap win as well, but only 2 points covered the total scores of the five helms.

    NATIONALS AT BALA 
Thirteen boats raced at Bala Sailing Club for the 2018 Nationals June 30-July 1st. The ENE breeze off the land at the top of the lake was light but useful, markedly shifting and fluctuating through the weekend, with places lost and gained unpredictably, but the top two helms came to the front consistently. Gareth Ede was a clear winner, able to count 5 first places, ahead of John Terry, equally consistent in gaining second places. Paul Ellis in his first event of the year had gratifying boat speed to take third, three points ahead of Stuart Ede. (Report and photos) The club through Ken Hull generously opened on Friday, to support a full menu of the traditional fun races--pairs,  relay, pursuit, and team. (Report and photos)

Syd Gage took the Handicap win, and John Terry's expert  handicap judgements meant that 4 points covered the first 5 handicap places.

(Below: Tight racing in the Nationals after the short first beat, Race 1, Saturday. Photo BSC Rib with thanks.)

 

INTERNATIONAL LINKS

CATAPULT WANTED BY BUYER IN GERMANY  Bernhard Haemmerl is hoping for a Catapult (any rig, but wanting to trapeze) with sound hulls. He is at  84095 Furth (70 kilometers east of Munich) and can be contacted at bernhard.haemmerl@gmx.de

 CATAPULT WANTED IN USA. Rick, living in Pennsylvania is wanting to buy a Catapult in trhe Eastern US. He can be contacted at milkweed33@gmail.com
 
CATAPULT CONTACTS IN EUROPE?  Ed Barclay has a Catapult in Switzerland, and is interested in linking up with other Catapults in Europe. He can be contacted at edward857@gmail.com

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019 IN FRANCE  Chris Beckett, a Parisian who sailed Catapult 10 years ago is working with Stuart to look at a possible Championship in 2019. Club de Voile des Hauts de Seine is suggested, on the Lac de Foret d'Orient, near Troyes, about 115 miles ESE of Paris on the edge of the Ardennes. The big lake is set in wooded rolling hills with sandy beaches, with lots of campsites, and it is accessible from ports like Calais (255 miles) and Zeebrugge (266 miles)

PREVIOUS EVENTS: A fleet of ten boats returned to Carsington  for the third TT of the season, 8th-9th June, getting in the full 5-race programme in spite of breeze varying light to nothing, and swinging NE to E and back again. Stuart Ede consistently found the boat-speed to pull out ahead, and was unlucky not to get a clean sweep, still taking the event counting three wins, ahead of Alastair Forrest. (Report and photos)

(Below: Close racing at Carsington in the light breeze and sunshine, Saturday, as the fleet turns through the gate. Photo CSC Safety Rib, with thanks)

2018 EVENT ROUND-UP SO FAR

Catapult returned to a favourite event, the May Bank Holiday TT at Bassenthwaite The record UK temperatures and sunshine gave a challenging mix of light shifting breezes, with a moderate SW settling in each afternoon. John Terry won his first 2018 event from Gareth Ede (decided on the last race) with Alastair Forrest similarly plucking third from Stuart Ede on the last race result. (Report and photos)

 John could count his string of wins and seconds (just pipping Gareth.)  Chris Upton scored two Handicap wins to take the event, with Stuart just holding top place on the

(Below: the fleet streams across  in front of Scafell, in Saturday sunshine. (Photo BSC RIB, with thanks)

Before that, the season opened again 7th-8th April, at Rutland  (the home club of Mike Gough and John Terry) again welcoming the combination of Catapults and Squibs, accommodating Catapult's wish for triangular courses for upwind and reaching speed. Light breezes still let a 5-race series complete over two days, and in close racing three helms shared the first places, until last-year's TT winner Gareth Ede took the event by 2 points, with Stuart Ede in second,
 (Results and Report) Stuart took the event on Handicap, with Damien Cooney notching up a first handicap win.

HANDICAPS 2018 John Terry has revised the individual handicaps for 2018, based on 2017 performance, and they are up on the Handicap Leaderboard 2018. John is watching performance closely, and adjusted handicaps halfway through the season at Bala.


    DVDs FROM CATAPULT EVENTS; LIST AVAILABLE Syd Gage has worked on the output from his and George's on-board cameras (photo further below) to produce great videos of Catapult action, including a season roundup. The list and details are here

 HYPALON TUBE REPAIRS Puncture? Leaky tubes? Seams coming unstuck? End caps need replacing?
Paul Stubbins offers a high quality professional repair service. Paul, now working as a sole trader (with therefore no VAT to pay!), has many years experience working for RIB manufacturers.Paul offers a nationwide service from his base in Hull.
 Have a word with Class Secretary, Stuart Ede, to see if he can arrange for pick up and delivery through the membership network to save on transport costs.
Contact Paul at paulstubbins23@gmail.com or on 07429 754392.

   SPARES AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS Through the generosity of past Catapult sailor Admiral Sir Robert Hill and previous Secretary John Peperell, the Association has a good supply of spares to keep the fleet afloat in cases of breakage or damage.  John Terry manages the store: list of spares here and guidelines on availablity here

  NEW REPAIR ADVICE Syd Gage has added to his stream of practical advice and detailed instructions with a new article on DIY Puncture-free PU-foam-filled Tyres The article here shows what to buy, and Syd’s excellent photos and instructions (and personal setbacks) show how to change the steel roller bearings to nylon ones (more suitable for water immersion).  Many more are  here, the latest on  Repairing frame bolts  beam repairs, mast buoyancy, and halyard options.  
 
(Below: Syd Gage's camera mounting, picking up the opposition ahead as he concentrates on catching them.) (Photo Paul Hargreaves with thanks.)

CATAPULT CRUISING  Justin (below) uses Catapult's shroud adjustment to dip the mast and negotiate the New Cut bridge between the Waveney and Yare rivers: more ) Get in touch with Alastair (at alastairforrest@hotmail.com ) with cruising plans or reports to add to the Cruising write-ups (and see his recent tidal Thames cruise.)

   
Jon Montgomery: Designer of Catapult: 22nd February 1935 - 9th June 2009.

 A tribute to Jon here.