Photo's from FFSC combined sailing events of Sat 08/10/11 - Sun 09/10/11

Final Race Results: Menai Straits Regattas Week 2

Results from the Menai Straits Regatta North Wales

FFSC Falcon Lanner 60 skippered by Warrington sailor Bob Backhouse and crew, win the Falcon Class at the Menai Straits Regatta, a first for Fidlers Ferry Sailing Club in the Liverpool Bay Falcon Associations 56 year history

 

The regatta is over run over 7 days for the Falcon Trophy with Lanner 60 taking 5th 5th 2nd 3rd 2nd & 1st with one day lost for bad weather

 

This event is one of the top sailing events in the UK for many sailing classes and highly competed for in the North West, West Kirby Falcon Fleet have never been beaten in this event, so this has proved to be a land mark achievement for Fidlers Ferry SC.

Other FFSC boats completed the regatta with Stone Hawk 65 skipperd by Dave Irvine and crew were placed 6th overall

 

Cheers

Colin Howard

FFSC Sailing Sec

Sporting success for FFSC young girl with special needs Sunday, 14 August, 2011 19:50

Ainsley Jackson a Penketh pupil at Green Lane Special School has attained her Sailability Bronze Award using a boat bought with a grant from Warrington Inclusion Matters. Ainsley went for a sail in an Access Dinghy and was enthralled that when the opportunity of a grant towards buying a dinghy arose which would allow her to sail on a regular basis she jumped at the chance.

Ainsley sails with Schools and Youth Sailing and Canoeing Association Sailability at Budworth. Aiming High helped buy them three more boats for young people with Special Needs which are available for school, youth group or individual use.

Ainsley Jackson a Penketh pupil at Green Lane Special School has attained her Sailability Bronze Award using a boat bought with a grant from Warrington Inclusion Matters. Ainsley went for a sail in an Access Dinghy and was enthralled that when the opportunity of a grant towards buying a dinghy arose which would allow her to sail on a regular basis she jumped at the chance.

Ainsley sails with Schools and Youth Sailing and Canoeing Association Sailability at Budworth. Aiming High helped buy them three more boats for young people with Special Needs which are available for school, youth group or individual use.

Ainsley is also a member of Fidlers Ferry Sailing Club and Kim Devereux another member of their Youth Sailing Squad has worked since Easter on weekly sailing sessions training Ainsley to achieve her Royal Yachting Association Award.

Left is the picture of Ainsley Jackson & Kim Devereux after Ainsley had recieved her award.

Race Results: Menai Straits Regattas Week 2

FFSC Placings so Far.

^1st   Boat:   Lanner 60      Type:  Falcon               Skipper: Bob Backhouse

^2nd Boat:  Stone Hawk   Type   Falcon                Skipper: Dave Irvine

3^rd   Boat:  Nighthawk 35 Type:  Falcon                Skipper: Adrian Dodd

Results for Saturday 6^th August Port Dinorwic Race

1^st WKSC  2^nd WKSC 3^rd WKSC 4^th WKSC 5^th FFSC 6^th WKSC 7^th FFSC

John Burthem from WKSC led from beginning to end with FFSC Lanner 60 chasing hard in 2^nd place after the first lap only to lose their well earned placing at the final mark with a spinnaker foul up whilst dropping ready to the beat to the line and to finish 5^th over the line.

Many lesson learnt that WKSC was not going to let FFSC boat through without using all their tricks, none the less a great performance from FFSC.

Results from Monday 8^th The Bridge Race.

IST WKSC 2^nd FFSC 3^rd WKSC

Lanner 6o made a reasonable start to this long race starting at Menai Bridge in strong winds. Early placing saw both FFSC boats making head way against the Falcons of WKSC on a fast run to Beaumaris mark. By the end of the first place 65 Stone Hawk was third and 60 in 6^th place, but with some shrewd skippering and finding clear air and water Lanner 60 made up ground and by the beat up to Bangor pier had made second place behind 58 Aquilla WKSC, as they reach the turning mark for the second leg both boats had pulled a huge lead over the remainder of the fleet and turned the mark together. From that point it was cat and mouse on the final leg with Aquilla just taking first spot from FFSC Lanner 60. 65 Stone hawk finishing 7^th. 

 This is the highest position for any FFSC boat for 15 years.

August 9^th Puffing Island Race

FFSC taking 5^th place after one of the greatest races for many years, with places being won and lost by all the number of other boats around them blocking safe passage. Tony Tomlinson led the charge to Puffin Island lead a large field of Falcon, bracing 12 to 14 ft swells around the back of Puffing, but stalling as they exited from the final turn. 

Over 60 boats raced for the line in a race which normally concluded within 4 hrs but on this day would finish in less than 2. With 500 yards Lanner 60 was 2^nd  behind 58 Aquilla the wind died on the outside leg and allowed number 55 and 62 to take the inside line to cross the line ahead of Lanner 60 but none the less all FFSC boats achieved personal milestones in this race shaking the sailors of WKSC with this years improvement.

Visitors are always welcome.

Yours faithfully

Colin Howard, Sailing Sec

And very wet sailor…………………………

Grab the chance to try sailing a big boat!

Hi Folks,
Craig, Our Principal Instructor writes to say -

The sail training vessel Tenacity has a cruise around UK under way and they have spaces for crew at very reduced prices.  
These places are aimed at the 15-25 year old age range, but at this date will accept other folks .

£605 REDUCED TO  £400 FOR 7 DAY CRUISES.  

Choice of two cruises -
Hartlepool to Ipswich 29 July - 5 August or 
Milford Haven to Glasson Dock 20 -27 August.

More details on www.tenacityofbolton.org.  enquiries@tenacityofbolton.org, or ring Colin on 01768 482233.
The vessel has a professional crew but as a training vessel are happy for full involvement from all on board.
Please circulate this to anyone who might be interested.

Grab the chance to try sailing a big boat!


Regards,
Rob McCulloch
Secretary FFSC

Southport Junior 12 hr Race 25/6/2011

Strong westerly winds at the start of this race at 8 am greeted the 32 teams assembled on the start line for this nationally famous event. Fidlers Ferry Sailing Club had 8 young people in their team to take on the might of some of the regions biggest clubs, never ever finishing in the top twenty after 3 years of competing in this event.

FFSC made a good start and after 2 hours of sailing held 9^th position but then due very gusty conditions sustained boat damage which require a 20 minute repair before re-entering the race by this time dropping 5 positions to 14^th. Not disheartened the youngsters work really hard to get back time lost and by 1 pm had pulled back those lost positions and were lying 8^th.

 A cat and mouse battle then pursued with Chester & Bolton Sailing club teams, which resulted in some really exciting sailing being produced by the FFSC youngsters. 

FFSC with the smallest squad in this competition, and at a time in the race when the wind conditions increased in strength, some of the lighter weighted crew found difficulty in holding the boat up from capsize. As a result they had to reduce their speed and this allowed the heavier crews of Bolton & Chester to gain the advantage for a while.

By 4pm the team were still in contention for a top ten finish lapping the course in around 12 minutes, and still no let up in the on going battle, the crew changes on the go were going great with FFSC completing some very fast crew changes and as a result moved back into the top ten positions with still more to do to improve on that position.

 By 6pm and moving into the last 2 hours of the competition the tenth position was being maintained until a bag gust capsized the FFSC boat and again valuable positions were lost has the team dropped to 14^th within a matter of 2 minutes, but again the FFSC threw caution to the wind in their bid to claw bad lost time and as the final canon sounded at 8pm their overall position was still not clear, but after a long and tense wait, the final positions came up on the monitors showing FFSC in 11^th position overall, a most valiant effort by all those exhausted and very tired youngster from Warrington who against all the odds finished in their highest ever position in this competition.       

  
Congratulations to South Staffordshire on winning this event.

This result would not have been achieved without the tireless work of Adrian Dodd the team manager and the 50 plus supporters who were there from start to finish, a wonderful and memorable day for everyone taking part.

Colin Howard, Sailing Sec

…………………………

Race Results: Penketh Tennis Club Taster Visit, Saturday - 04/06/2011

Location:  Fidlers Ferry Sailing Club, Warrington.

Sport plays a big part of life in and around Penketh, the sailing club at Fidlers Ferry being one of Warrington best kept secrets. Through a contact and member of the sailing club, the members of the Penketh Tennis club were invited to come and have a go at sailing.

Some 20 members of the Penketh Tennis club arrived a 12.30 to have a go at sailing under the supervision of the Falcon Dinghy Fleet helms. Each boat taking 3 or 4 tennis players after having a short induction from the clubs sailing sec, the wind was fair, the weather warm and sunshine in abundance, greeted everyone as 8 boats set off the meet the tide.

All stated that they had a great time on the water, with most guests having a spell on helming, after 2 hrs on the water the boats returned to shore where the rest of the afternoon was spent on the lawn at the front of the club with the BBQ keeping everyone well fed.

The two parties shared many stories and the sailors invited to test the courts and have some lessons in Tennis.

It was a great atmosphere and our thanks go to ‘Sue Cartwright’ Penkeths local artist for successfully arranging this event.

We hope to extend this idea further by inviting other sport groups from around the area to try sailing and have a go, who knows the local Badminton club could be next? 

Thanks to Sue Worswick who with help from other club members and the wondering tourist bedecked with cameras, partner, Chris Forster provided a range of great refreshments and food and a DVD of the day.

All the clubs safety boats were on the water a rare sight but one that was warranted for this special event, our thanks to everyone who helped to promote the sports of sailing and tennis and making this a memorable day for everyone.

Yours faithfully

Colin Howard, Sailing Sec

…………………………

Officers of the Day to day, Ken Southall