Around the Buoys
Irish Sigma 33 Newsletter
June 2010
Dear Sigma Sailors
I am writing to invite the Sigma 33 fleet in the North west/Wales and Ireland fleets to Abersoch Keelboat Week being held on the 23-27th August this year, under the burgee of South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club, Abersoch, North Wales.
Abersoch is on the Llyn Peninsula and sailing is in sheltered waters, with no commercial shipping or ferries and very little tidal conditions to worry about. All the sailing is set against a beautiful back drop of the Snowdonia National Park with dolphins frequent visitors to the racing waters.
Abersoch Keelboat Week is in its 28th year and is sailed under IRC and PYS handicap systems. For racing yachts there are two IRC classes who sail 8 races over the 5 days with a choice of windward-leeward, round the cans and coastal courses. For the less serious sailor there are two gentlemens classes with and without spinnaker, raced under PYS handicap, with one coastal race per day. SCYC and the race management team have run many national, european and world championships including the Sonata and Squib Nationals, 1720 Europeans and GP14 worlds, plus this year the Dragon Northern Championships, so are extremely experienced.
Ashore there is a busy bar and restauarant with live music, karaoke and beach tug-of-war during the week
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Accommodation is plentiful in the village with a choice of campsites, B&B, boutique hotels and self catering properties for rent www.abersoch.co.uk
We now have 5 Sigma 33's at SCYC and would welcome visiting Sigmas to join them for the week. If we can get at least 8 Sigmas, then the fleet will have its own one-design start for the week.
For more information including the Notice of Race and Entry Form go to www.abersochkeelboatweek.org ,where there are also details of the IRC Incentive scheme for new IRC applications (half price fee!!)
If you would like any further information or wish to put these details on the SIgma Association websites please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes
Catherine Hartley
Secretary
Abersoch Keelboat week
(Race notices on the front page)
Propeller Fishing
Leaving the marina some time in mid summer last year we suffered a serious lack of propulsion despite the engine being at full power and drifted over to the Irish pontoon where we were able to scramble off and secure the boat. A quick inspection showed that we now lacked a propeller. Being the good sailors that we are we headed out under sail and competed for the day leaving the boat for a couple of weeks at the outer pontoons until a new propeller was purchased.
Seven hundred euros lighter in pocket all I could think of was how to recover that expensive bit of bronze lying at the bottom of the harbour. We had established roughly the area that we had lost power and deduced that the point that the prop may have fallen was between the pontoons somewhere to the stern of Rupert’s berth.
I could press gang one of the crew to dive down to find and retrieve it but most are heading towards middle age and may not come back up again. Then I remembered my friends Phil and Charlotte who ran a marine oceanic company and some years ago had invested in a mini remote control submarine. About 1ft by 2 ft it was equipped with four rotating (around an axle) propellers, a forward facing rotating camera and claw like pincers for delicate work.
Phil at the controls of the submersible down at the marina
One mild autumnal Saturday morning found us down at the marina with this fascinating little machine. Phil set up the control desk and monitor and with its yellow umbilical cord the sub was lowered into the water. Under its own power it dived to the marina floor and started a sweeping action to find the missing prop. Although high tide at the time Phil dived the sub to a surprising depth of 8 metres. The vision was quite clear provided we didn’t hit the bottom and stir up the mud. Occasionally what we thought might be the prop would turnout to be seaweed as we drew closer. When at last we did locate it it was well camouflaged by a thin layer of silt but the shape of the blade was quite distinct. At first we thought that blade was folded but on further inspection we discovered that the other blade was partly in the silt. Another year and we may never have been able to locate it at all.
There was of course no way that the sub would be able to grab onto the prop and lift it to the surface. The weight would have been just too much. We raised the sub vertically to the surface to identify the location and then brought it back to the pontoon. Attaching a line of string to the pincers with a loop made with a slip knot at the end, we sent the sub back down for the delicate work of slipping the loop around one of the blades. At this point a rather large crab came out of it’s hole and took possession of the prop. It attacked the sub and as we retreated it took up a position near the prop in a threatening stance but did not interfere again. On our first try Phil skillfully moved the sub over the blade with the loop dragging the ground and then under the blade. The claws were released and as we backed up the sub we could see it was a perfect catch. Alyce pulled on the string and through the sub camera we could see the prop start its short journey to the pontoon. The slip knot had not “slipped” and the tension heightened we pulled it from the marina floor and could see that the string could fail at any moment. It held, and at last we had the prop muddy and slimy back on board. Taking it home, it is now cleaned and polished.
Hopefully with no need for a second prop we now have for sale a propeller in excellent condition at less than half the cost of a new one. Any takers?
Letter from the editor
Cork week was a big enticement for us this year on Elandra. We remembered the summer of 08 with fondness. We camped up at the rugby club in a certain level of tent luxury – more like a Bedouin camp really – with the club bar only a few unstable paces from the halting site. The facilities were something out of Tom Brown school days but all in all there were no complaints. Prices were high and in these days of serious austerity we began to baulk at the prices set down for this year. Some bright spark said lets get up some serious sea miles instead this year. Another bright spark (me) said what about Spain? And so it was set. A crew of five was organised for the South leg and another for the North leg. In between, family and friends would join us in a villa for about 10 days. We did well on the villa! Not far from A Coruna, set right on the beach it overlooks the marina where Elandra would be berthed.
Preparations have begun. VHF courses have been completed and we are signed on to complete the competency certificate. Insurance certificates are now in Spanish and EPIRBS and radios are being registered. Tool kits are being replaced and the life raft is being certified. A drogue is being purchased and a navtext and SART are being considered. And so the list goes on. We drag up or buy every book we can find on ocean voyaging, from Jimmy Cornel’s “World Cruising Routes” to Erik Hiscock’s “Cruising under Sail” to finally “Fatal Storm” by Rob Mundle. Each brings with it another round table of interesting debate.
I know Elandra has been across the Atlantic twice. But as I stare at her in the calm waters of the marina all that goes through my mind is “Lord, she looks so bloody small!”
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As you are all aware we are hosting the championships this year and I am reliably informed that there are at least 5 visitors joining us this year. Our captain, Paddy Maguire would like to see all the local boats take plart so that we have a good show from the host side. Please get your entries in as soon as possible.
Wishing a great sailing season to one and all!
Aubrey Leggett
Here you can see the crab clearly protecting the prop. In the back ground is the towing rope skillfully lassoed by Phil.
