BSAR

We are delighted to announce that entries are now open for BSAR 08. We have finalised the event and it will build on the successful formula from previous years.

Friday will see us congregate at Port Solent to register and find our yachts before repairing to the bars and restaurants to catch up with friends and colleagues.

On Saturday we will head out to the eastern Solent for hopefully 3 races (conditions permitting). This year we have again retained the services of Sam Connelly as on-water race coach who will be zipping about in a rib showing us all how to make the boats go faster. The last race normally finishes off Cowes to allow a quick dash into the Yacht Haven to moor up and start the usual banter over beer, rum and coke.

That evening will see us at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club which has probably the best atmosphere of any of the Cowes clubs. Sam will provide a de-brief on what we could all do better, before the Royal Corinthian’s excellent high class barbeque. As usual, nominations for the “Diesel” award (the best cock-up of the day) will be made over dinner, before the descent into party land aided by music from one of the local bands or disco.

Sunday will see us back in the Solent for more racing, trying desperately to remember what Sam’s advice was. With racing finished we will return the boats and find out who has won!

The cost of entry will be £2300, or £2200 if the deposit of £400 and the entry form is received by April 30th. To enter…….

Continue reading Entries are open for BSAR 08!

We’ve developed a flyer to circulate to anyone interested in the event covering the main points (which have gone on to populate the FAQs section to the left)

An Adobe Acrobat version can be downloaded here BSAR ‘08 Flyer

Those that were at BSAR ‘05 will remember that we were coached by Sam Connelly. Sam was excellent at giving us feedback (with no end of amusement) on Saturday night showing us where we were going wrong (and occasionally right) using video footage shot from a rib. The cameraman Glenn Ward packaged up some of the footage into a short film which was shown the following year.

Glenn has re-formatted it for us so that it can be uploaded onto Youtube and the results can be seen below.

Brings back great memories of champagne sailing and for me the regatta that got away!

I was picked up on using the term “…somewhat surprising…” in the last post about BSAR ‘08 dates. Re-reading it I can see that it could come across as being disparaging about Sunsail, which was not my intention.

The decision to continue to use Sunsail was very much a positive choice taken by representatives from LBS, Bath, Smurfit, Trinity, Kingston and Cranfield. We took a detailed look at the UK yacht charter market and, while things have changed a lot since BSAR started, Sunsail was still the best choice for the event for a number of reasons.

• Sunsail provide a matched fleet and work hard to ensure that the equipment is equal. This means that whoever crosses the line first wins and there is no tedious waiting for results or discussion about handicapping (yachting can be as bad as golf in this respect)
• The Sunsail Sunfast 37’s are large enough for the full crew to sleep on in relative comfort so people do not have the extra cost of hotel rooms. There is also a natural focus for social interaction in the evenings.
• While safe sailing short-handed, the Sunfast 37’s need a crew of 7 or 8 to race competitively. Some of the alternative yachts, particularly those with asymmetric spinnakers, don’t really have enough to do for more than 4 people.
• When racing Sunfasts, crew work is as important as helming and tactics, which in turn makes the regatta a true test of teamwork - a core business/MBA concept which I have commented on previously.
• Sunsail’s team do know what they are doing; they set good courses, run the races and manage the administration professionally
• Sunsail encourage “bareboat” charter i.e. if you have the qualifications you can skipper and race your own boat, allowing people to learn and develop. They are probably the only company that is committed to doing this, others seem to expect you to have had your own boat / lots of experience on other boats.

For me it is this last point that is the clincher. At a personal level, I could only have developed as a skipper in the UK with Sunsail and I know this is true of other BSAR Skippers. One of the key points of any MBA course is personal growth and development; using Sunsail allows everyone to grow into yacht racing.