2018 SAILING SEASON

The Catapult 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, to head the 2018 TT Leaderboard.

Stuart Ede came in second, and added the event Handicap win, and top place on the 2018 Handicap Leaderboard  with Damien Cooney notching up a first handicap win.   (Results and Report)

   The 2018 racing Programme  has several favourite venues back for 2018, with Bassenthwaite next over the May Bank Holiday, and Carsington and Yorkshire Dales confirmed. We will be back to Bala at the end of June, after the successful TT hosting by Bala Sailing Club in 2017 (photo below) preserving the fun racing as part of the Bala Gala on Friday afternoon.

For some real sea sailing, Catapult will join the Royal Yorkshire YC Regatta again over the August Bank Holiday weekend, and will take up the hospitality, and Blackwater tides, again at Stone Week

 A new development is a two-day event at Bewl in Kent 15-16th September, as a joint event with the Wanderers, returning to a traditional Catapult venue after a 3-year gap. (Catapults are welcome to take part in the open Bewl Blast on 4 March, not part of our TT Series.)

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 will watch performance closely, and adjust handicaps halfway through the season (to be announced at Bala.)

(Below: Gareth Ede leads George Evans and Syd Gage in the freshening breeze at Bala 2017.)

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

2017 SAILING PROGRAMME: FINALE
    
 The traditional finish to the season at the Grafham Cat Open on October 21st-22nd was wiped out by the threat of Storm Brian, and Gareth Ede stayed on top of  the 2017 TT Leaderboard   to retain the Jon Montgomery Travelling Tropy, ahead of John Terry by 5 points. George Evans firmly held third, with Alastair Forrest just two points ahead of Stuart Ede for fourth.

 Gareth won five of the TT events (including the Northerns at Yorkshire Dales) with John taking the remaining two (including the Nationals at Bridlington) a consistent dominance by this pair. (2017 season summary)

John Terry revised the personal handicapping as the season went on, but Mike Gough held on at the top of the Handicap Leaderboard with emphatic handicap wins at Bala, Stone, Bridlington, and finally the Northerns by a point. Syd Gage was a clear second on handicap.

(Below: the final event for 2017 on Grimworth Reservoir high on the moors; John Terry, 533,  leads Gareth Ede, 91, the 2017 Jon Montgomery Travelling Trophy winner  and the chasing pack.)
 (Photo Paul Hargreaves Photography, with thanks)

 
 2017 SAILING SEASON RESULTS AND ROUND-UP here

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 on the Lac de Foret d'Orient, near Troyes, about 115 miles ESE of Paris on the edge of the Ardennes is in the frame (used by the 505's in the past). 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)


    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

   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.

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

 A tribute to Jon here.