In This Issue:

The Chairmans Rantings
Calendar of Events 2001
Gala Series Scoring System
Rigs Update and Equalisation System
Race Report and Class Contacts

Chairmans Rantings

It seems like a long time now since the last Newsletter although May was the scheduled month to get this, the second newsletter, out. Well, what's been happening. Firstly the weather has been terribly wet, not that that makes a huge difference the way some of us sail, then Foot and Mouth has made life for many of us difficult, having to reschedule the first event of the season from Bristol to Queen Mary. Lastly my dining room is a real mess now as my wife has turned her hand to DIY.

The first event of the year was the Sail and Windsurf show which was a great success. We had a good level of interest from the shows visitors and lots of questions about The Boss on the stand, which thanks to Graham looked good. I think it is very important that we had and continue to maintain a profile at the show and also on the Topper stand especially as we get little other coverage from advertising etc. Many thanks to all the guys who came to have a natter and also to those of you who took a stint on the stand, the break was welcome.

Next was the first Open of the year which even up to the last week looked as if it might be in doubt. This was eventually scheduled at Queen Mary albeit that we all had to spray everything in sight with disinfectant. We had a reasonable turnout of six boats which provided some good close racing. The report appears later in the newsletter just in case you didn't see it in Y&Y or on the website.

The circuit this year is being sponsored by The Bank of Scotland who are covering some of the event support costs as well as providing prizes. The way the Gala series is being run this year has also changed and an aggregate scoring system is being used to combine all the Topper fleets into one. This sounds like a nightmare but works quite simply as I will explain later. As usual each open has 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes awarded to each class by the club hosting the event. Then for the Gala Series each event has a 1st, 2nd and 3rd using the aggregate scoring system, and then at the year end the Overall Gala Series will have 1st 2nd and 3rd. Great, clear as mud.

Hopefully, most of you will by now have seen the development on the website. There are a number of other additions to do but hopefully it is proving to be useful to you all. If it seems like it's a bit static for a while it's probably because I'm busy at work!

We are going to start to apply the letter of the law ie the class rules for events this year especially in relation to the weight correction system as they seem to have become a little relaxed over the last couple of years. There is an alteria motive to this as since the masthead kite was introduced other classes are making noises about adjusting the PN and we need to make sure that we are competing on an even keel. Additionally, we will be insisting on class membership of competitors at open meetings. This is necessary to ensure that we have enough money in the kitty to support your sailing. It is not a lot of money to ask for so please - 'show us the money'.

Lastly as you should all be aware we are having a training day on the 2/3 June at Datchet. The training will be conducted by Mark Asquith last years Nationals winner and from what I hear this is well worth going to. Mark seems to have an uncanny knack of making The Boss go fast consistently. Mark will be talking about setting up your rig for various conditions and also about getting the boat onto the plane early on the beat. All in all it sounds like a good couple of days. Add to this some entertainment on the Saturday night eg Bowling and Beers what could be better. First lesson starts at 10.30 rigged but not changed.

Anyway, enough ranting from me. See you at Datchet on 2/3 June. If you can't make it I'll see you at Eastbourne.

Chairman - Julian Cramp

PS Nearly forgot - Hello Boss 807. Whilst up in sunny Scotland on business a few weeks ago I was taking a trip on a friends motor boat down the Clyde on a Thursday evening when what should I see but a Boss (there are only two in Scotland). I was going to come over and say Hello but the rest of the crew wanted their dinner and said I was close enough already. It was good to see you out.

Calendar of Events 2001

Below is the list of events for this year. The events in bold are the ones that are designated class events. We will be updating our web site www.bossracing.co.uk with as many details as possible including directions accommodation etc.

17/18 March
Grafham Asymetric Shoot Out
Grafham Water SC

7/8 April
Multi Gala
Queen Mary SC

2/3 June
Training Day and One Day Event
Datchet

16/17 June
Multi Gala
Eastbourne Soverign SC

8/9 July
Asymetric Open
Brightlingsea

21/22 July
Multi Gala
Weston SC

27/28/29/30 September
National Championships
Stokes Bay SC

13/14 October
Multi Gala and Inland Championships
Datchet Water SC

The Gala Series Scoring System

The way in which the Gala series is being scored has caused a number of questions to be asked so here it is warts and all.

The scoring system is as follows assuming 10 boats start:

1st - 10 points
2nd - 7 points
3rd - 5 points
4th - 3 points
5th and subsequent places 2 points

If there are less that 10 boats the scoring is:
1st - number of boats entered
2nd - 70%
3rd - 50%
4th - 30%
All boats score a minimum of 2 points.

Therefore if The Boss class have 6 boats and someone has five 1st to count this is 30 points. Equally if the ISO class has 20 entries and a person has 5 3rd places to count this is 25 points. From our point of view it is therefore important for all of us to get 10 boats on the water at all open meetings to give us a chance of competing under this system.

The overall Gala Series will be five of the six events to count. If you have any questions about the scoring system give Julian Cramp a call or drop him an email.

Rigs Update

Speaking to Graham Eeles the other day he was saying that most people who have been waiting for the new masthead conversion have now had them delivered. He was down at Sobstad picking up the last batch of spinnakers last week.

Graham is intending to be up at Datchet on the 2/3 June at the Training Day and has said that if it is possible he will fit the kits to boats that evening so people can sail with them the following day!

Short of any other bits? Give Graham a call and he will sort you out with the bits post haste.

Race Report

The Boss Topper Multi Gala Series Sponsored by Bank of Scotland

Six Bosses lined up for the first shoot out of the 2001 season at Queen Mary. The forecast had been for gusty conditions and the hopeful were not disappointed. The launch was not the easiest in the world and resulted in a dash to the chandlers for one crew to replace a broken tiller extension. The course was a reasonably tight windward leeward which provided plenty of close encounters for the closely matched fleet. The first race saw Chris Gandy first to the windward mark with Steve Bell and Julian Cramp close on his tail only for Chris to find that a bit of PPP with the kite would have helped. Steve Bell took over the lead and in a race where positions changed frequently led to the finish closely followed by Martin Sully and Julian Cramp. The second race was in slightly windier conditions and all the crews made good starts. First to the windward mark was Julian Cramp who gybed off into a hole to allow the rest to catch up! Racing was close right to the finish with Steve Bell taking first just a couple of boat lenghts ahead of Julian Cramp and Chris Gandy doing the same to Martin Sully for third. Lighter winds in the third race made little difference to the closeness of the racing although Steve by now had established a consistency in his racing by scoring another first followed by Robin Hyde back from tiller repairs and Julian Cramp. The evening saw a couple of shandys and an early night (no honest). The second day was much the same as the first except for a couple of notable events. The first a rather embarrassing capsize by Chris at the windward mark causing mayhem and the second a port flyer by Julian in the 5th race which worked a treat which when repeated by someone in the last race meant them ducking the fleet. All in all everyone had a great couple of days and are now looking forward to the Class Training Day 2/3 June at Datchet to hone those skills for the rest of the Gala Series.

Final results were: