Information for Parents
Info from Steph Banham based on previous years attendance at the event.
News
Regatta - Day 4 (Monday)
UPDATE: 16:00 from Jay
All ashore and packed up, ready for prizegiving.
Called up to collect prizes were
Silver: 9 Hamish Taylor
Gold: 13 Jamie Harris, 10 Ben Gray, 4 Will Hall
Thanks from the team to coaches Alan Williams, Will Burdall and Robbie Burns. Well done to all the parents, and particularly the sailors.
But best of all, GBR won the prize for best team.
Head coach Alan Williams collected an Olimpic sail to give to the sailor who would benefit from it most.
UPDATE: 13:00 from Jay
Silver fleet at mark 3: 1st Arthur Brown, 3rd Lucy Mellors, 8th Hamish Taylor
Bronze fleet at mark 1: 4th Deryn May, Flavia Tritto and Oliver Hill close behind
Not a spare pair of binoculars to be found! In fact, who's pinched mine...?
UPDATE: 12:40 from Jay
Silver fleet away.
Black flags from race 2 Gold fleet - Dan Atherton and James Hammett.
Unsubstantiated rumours that David C-J was race officer on the Bronze course in Garda: 35 black flags in the last race - 20% of the fleet!
Gold at mark 4: 2nd - WIll Hall, 3rd - Iago Davis, 4th - Jamie Harris
UPDATE: 12:30 from Jay
After a long lunch break, out for the final race.
More wind - probably up to 16 kts, with most sailors hiking hard. Pattern of long slow swings so important to work out the timing.
Gold start - big pile-up at the pin end, but the start got away. Wind swinging left up the first beat so not looking good on the right.
Start 2 postponed while the start line is relaid...but obviously not adjusted enough, and Lucy Mellors and Arthur Fry start on port and cross the fleet!
UPDATE: 10:00 from Jay
It's great having the leeward mark right in front of the clubhouse!
Gold at Mark 3 - Race 1: Ben Gray 3, James Hammett 4, Alex Smallwood 8, Will Heritage 9, Will Hall 10
Silver - Race 1: Rhys Lewis 1st by 10 boat lengths, then a huge gap to third, Huw Nunn 6th, Alex Schonrock 8th
Bronze - Race 1: Ollie Hill 2nd, Deryn May 23rd - unfortunate yesterday to get DSQ - this was by the jury for not completing her second penalty turn, Flavia Tritto 25th
UPDATE: 09:00 from Jay
First priority - the team photo.
Then all afloat for a prompt start at 10. Really sunny; good wind; 2 races to go.
We have 17 in gold fleet, 11 in silver, 3 in bronze.
The latest product from the fertile minds at Team GBR - heated spar bags! Plug in overnight, no more frozen fingers while rigging. Initially available only with UK plugs, but continental adapters available. We are waiting for the first prospective purchaser...
(01/04/2013)
Regatta - Day 3 (Sunday)
UPDATE: 16:00 from Jay
Forgot to mention that the Braass club is celebrating its 95th anniversary, and are selling the most amazing cakes for only 3.30 euros.
Many parents believe that it would be unthinkable not to support the club to celebrate this momentous anniversary. And again. And again...
UPDATE: 15:30 from Jay
GBR sailors getting better at staying behind the line on black flag starts. Ah - spoke too soon - in race 3 Dan Atherton, James Hammett and Flavia Tritto.
Weather still about 3 degrees, but feeling almost warm when the sun does come through.
More sailors' estimates:
Flight 1 - Jamie Harris 20,3 / Jessie Main 30, 10 / Sophie H 22, 11
Flight 2 - Hattie 6,14 including a yellow flag to add to her flag collection! / Alex Schonrock had her best result of 20th / Will Heritage 32, 18
Flight 3 - Huw Nunn 6th in race 2 / Rosie Williamson 9th in race 2 / Chris Jones 6th in the last race
All ashore now, and heading for a coaches briefing.
Waiting for the results and the split into gold/silver/bronze for the two races tomorrow.
UPDATE: 10:30 from Jay
Sailors coming ashore for the first lunch of the day - they will come in again after race 2.
Groundhog day here today on Easter Sunday! Everyone bleary-eyed this morning because the clocks went forward.
Going left generally paying, but not a given if the start is out of phase with the shifts. Major pile up at the pin end on start 2, so well done the start 3 sailors for spotting that, but maybe over-compensating a bit too much!
GBR sailors generally had a good first race: flight 2 saw Ben Gray and Hattie Rogers in the top 5, and Chris Jones won flight 3 with Josh Haynes second!
Other sailors estimates for:
Flight 1 - Jamie Harris 13
Flight 2 - Alex Schonrock made up over 20 places from an unhappy start, Will Heritage 25th
Flight 3 - Will Hall 13th
UPDATE: 10:00 from Jay
We have wind! And even a bit of sunshine (to make the occasional snowflake look pretty).
Race 1 started bang on time, and once again the helpful race committee have almost lined up the start line with the nice warm clubhouse.
Poor Ollie Hill has joined Hattie Rogers in the double-black-flag club.
(01/04/2013)
Will Hall 4th in Flight1, Jamie 2nd in Flight2, Alex 7th in Flight3.
UPDATE: 15:00 from Jay and Oliver
Oh no! Flavia retiring with a broken outhaul.
Meanwhile Jamie Harris leading flight 2 up the second beat and Alex Smallwood leading flight 3.
Two races completed in the morning in light and shifty conditions...very cold. Official results not up yet but appears to be a 'mixed bag' for team GBR. A number of black flags and usually 'a good race and a bad one'. Fleet came in for extended lunch/defrosting. Now out for third and final race of the day.
UPDATE: 14:30 from Jay
BFDs from race 3 being sent ashore - Hattie (again! Should have eaten more of her dad's birthday cake to slow her down!), Rees Lewis.
Flavia Tritto leading flight 1 by 100m halfway up the first beat.
UPDATE: 14:15 from Jay
Official BFD List
Race 1: Hattie Rogers, Hannah Roberts-Straw, Ciaron Jones
Race 2: Hamish Taylor, Oliver Hill, Arthur Brown
UPDATE: 12:30 from Jay
Wind N 6-8knts with large clouds dumping snow. Quite shifty so sailors need to stay in phase with the shifts. Mixed provisional results - Lots of top 10s, but lots of black flags too...
(Picture: Hattie breaking the ice)
UPDATE: 09:30 from Oliver & Jay
8 - 9 Knots from North...steady. 1 degree.
Fleet mostly launched, race committee looks keen to get first race away at 10:00.
We have wind! And (weak) sunshine.
Team GBR all afloat by 09:30. Plan is two races, then lunch (very important), then a third race.
Various parental excursions: cycle round the lake, visit Amsterdam, walk to the bar and back.... (30/03/2013)
Regatta - Day 1 (Friday)
UPDATE: 1600h from Jay
Still hardly any wind, so racing abandoned for the day. Light snow as we leave the sailong club. First start at 10 tomorrow, so quick briefing from the coaches at 8.45.
UPDATE: 1430h from Jay
The wind has been obeying the 10-minute rule: every 10 minutes it changes completely. Drops; comes in from 90 degrees left; drops again - water all shiny. Some of that is ice, but mainly just no puff. Now back from 45 degrees left, with snow!
UPDATE: 1330h from Jay
After 2 days of really good blow, the wind gods ran out of puff this morning, and we have been watching the postponement flag twitch fitfully.
But with 30 minutes to go before the advertised first start time, the wind has switched on again. The Brits were already out practicing in the (very) light winds, so they have just made their way across to the starting area.
If only they would move the committee boat downwind another 200 yards we could look along the start line from the warmth of the splendid clubhouse!
UPDATE: 1100h from Alan
Hello from a windless Brass. Its Good Friday and it is very hot and sunny. We went out to adjust our rigs and practice our light wind boat handling. The sailors went upwind in all directions.
So we are sat in the club having our third lunch of the day. Now that Robbie is a domestic goddess, he makes awsome rolls for lunch which we had at 1100. Then we had a second lunch at 1200. If we go racing we will come in after one race to have a third lunch so all good.
After breaking the ice the sailors managed to get out of the harbour and then we had to get some suncream on to prevent sunburn.
It was Simon's birthday last night and we hope he enjoys his early retirement.
Will went to the coaches meeting and made friends with the chair of the jury.
All of the sailors are now dressed like tulips- wearing 6 different coloured lycra tops.
Looking out of the window right now it is flat calm and a great big Dutch barge is going past. (29/03/2013)
Training - Day1
Sailors arrived to be greeted by wind chill of -5 and a shifty 15 knots of breeze. Then it warmed up, palm trees were growing round the lake and Will got sun burned.
We had a great session on the water doing windward leeward races. The important things were to sail the shifts well. Being o. The lifted tack straight away was the key to staying in phase.
Robbie arrived minus his coaching bag as it is still in London. Simon Rodgers kindly loaned Robbie kit which Robbie disappeared into, but it kept him warm.
Robbie
(29/03/2013)
Braass Survival Guide Part 1: Packing and Launching
(29/03/2013)
Braassemermeer - Links
Information regarding the regatta is available from:
For IOCA GoCardless offers the class cheap, fast and secure payment processing. GoCardless accesses the direct debit network through its sponsor RBS and is registered with the FSA as a small Payments Institution. For further information please visit www.gocardless.com. If you would prefer to pay by an alternative method (BACS/Cheque/Credit Card) please contact Sharon on 07713 499225 or admin@optimist.org.uk
Please use the following GoCardless links (CTRL-Click to open link in a new window) to pay for Braassemermeer Fleeces & Badges. Payment is due immediately.
For IOCA GoCardless offers the class cheap, fast and secure payment processing. GoCardless accesses the direct debit network through its sponsor RBS and is registered with the FSA as a small Payments Institution. For further information please visit www.gocardless.com. If you would prefer to pay by an alternative method (BACS/Cheque/Credit Card) please contact Sharon on 07713 499225 or admin@optimist.org.uk (22/03/2013)
Additional Venue Details
Some details about the event have now been posted in English via the following link
Note from Selectors on Invites for 2013 regatta
All the National and Intermediate squad sailors have been offered invitations to attend the Braassemermeer Easter regatta. However, because the 2013 Optimist World Championships are to be held in Riva del Garda in July a larger number of sailors than usual have opted to go to the Garda Easter Regatta instead of Braassemermeer. In light of this and the fact that Braassemermeer is a closed invitation only event and the Dutch organising authority expect a certain standard of sailor to attend, the Selectors in consultation with IOCA and the RYA have decided to only offer Braassemermeer places to 30 sailors this year.
Carla Stanley
Chair of Selectors
(22/02/2013)
Dates
Training - Braassemermeer, Holland
27/03/2013 - 28/03/2013
Regatta - Braassemermeer, Holland
29/03/2013 - 01/04/2013
Profile
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(Picture: Hattie breaking the ice)
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UPDATE: 1600h from Jay
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Sailors arrived to be greeted by wind chill of -5 and a shifty 15 knots of breeze. Then it warmed up, palm trees were growing round the lake and Will got sun burned.
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(29/03/2013)