News & Reports

Dear Members,

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that Fred Shepherd died last weekend. Many of you would have heard his name mentioned, but not actually met him. He was Guildford’s most successful Marblehead sailor in the late 60s and early 70s and a great character. I have tried to catch that in this obituary and included photos of all the boats that he designed and built. Over the last 15 years he has concentrated on turning wood on his lathe as he could do this relatively easily after a cycle accident limited his hand skills. He turned out some lovely trophies, which are illustrated. His trophy plinths make the most meagre little bits of silverware, turn into really nice trophies.

I hope that you are all doing okay in this lockdown period and staying safe.

Cheers, Roger

Fred Shepherd 1931-2020

After a short spell in hospital, Fred died on March 28 from natural causes aged 88. He was a quite remarkable man, a colourful character, a very skilful craftsman, a fiercely competitive sportsman and also a model yacht designer. He was determined to do his very best at everything he tried.

The attached obituary mentions his activities in model yachting from a national standpoint, but for the Guildford Model Yacht Club he was a key member when he joined in 1964, before I was a member. I was introduced to him when I was still at school and much of his work described here took place whilst I was still at university. You may think that the GMYC current membership is too low, but there was a 5 year period when there was very little or no activity with membership dropping off to just a handful. 

However, the club did not fold up, but the remaining members were waiting in hope of something to generate some new enthusiasm. This arrived in 1964 when Ray Blick joined the club. He was an Olympic K2 canoe finalist in both sprint and 10000m in the 1956 Melbourne games. He toured the local clubs and bought any old tore out Marblehead for new members like Fred to refurbish. Being good at it Fred refurbished several! Ray was a master GRP moulder, having moulded many canoes and he made beautiful hull and deck shells for just £25.

Not only was Fred determined to learn the sailing side, but in 1968 he became the club secretary and helped to drive the club through difficult times including new Marblehead rules, which were being framed in 1970. The most significant of these was to remove the 1 inch radius garboard, which was supposed to prevent fin and bulb keels, but which clearly didn’t and this rule change was definitely a benefit to the class removing an unnecessary complication.

The minute book not only includes the Annual General Meetings, but also monthly meetings of the committee usually in one of the committee member’s houses initially, but later at the lakeside at Elstead Moat, so the secretary’s job was quite extensive with lots of handwritten minutes.

After that effort he resigned as the secretary and handed over to me, where I note in the minute book, the organisation of events was similar to our current setup liaising with other clubs for our events and even sailing several of our trophies at Hove Lagoon to boost the numbers sailing.

I will really miss Fred as we have had such a long history together. 

2020-03-30 Fred Shepherd with photos – 3

Raymond Blick (born 27 May 1930) is a British sprint canoer who competed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he earned his best finish of eighth in the K-2 10000 m event at Melbourne in 1956.

Report by Roger Stollery

Link to Photo’s

A marvellous day’s racing, as part of the GAMES series for Marbleheads, saw 12 highly competitive races completed with 17 entries from 8 clubs sailing in ‘A’ rig light winds on Guildford MYC’s Abbey Meads Lake. 

Unfortunately the coronavirus had affected the contacts of 3 of the competitors, who pulled out at the last minute.

The forecast SW wind direction didn’t materialise, which caused a bit of delay while the race team reorganised the course and the control area on the west bank, where the wind was blowing in an ideal direction parallel to that control area. RO Roger Stollery set a 900 metre long windward leeward course, which consisted of 3 beats and 2 offwind legs.

In Race 1, Martin Crysell sailing UP 117 got the best start and streaked away from the rest of the fleet, only to be overtaken on the final beat by Peter Stollery sailing his UP 39. David Adam sailing his GRUNGE 36 got the best start in Race 2, but he too was overtaken by Peter. Colin Goodman sailing his GRUNGE 61 got the best start in Race 3 and despite being challenged by David went on to win. This was the first of his first hat-trick of wins, which was broken in Race 6 by Martin and Peter. Throughout the morning there was some very close racing between two World Champion skippers, Peter and Colin, which was a delight to see with the boats always being very close with the lead changing all the way round the course.

After the lunch break there was more really good close racing not just at the front, but also further down the fleet. At the end of Race 8, one very close finish between Martin and Peter Dunne, resulted in 5th and 4th places respectively and with a great beaming smile Peter said “that was as good as a win!” Way out in front of the fleet Colin and Peter continued their fascinating match racing battle with Colin gaining another hat-trick of wins. The cantankerous wind moved to the forecast south-westerly, which left the wind blowing over the right shoulder and creating more crosswinds and shadow next to the bank.

Perhaps local knowledge helped Peter to win Races 10 and 11 in these conditions and close the gap on Colin. However, this was not enough and with Colin winning the last race, the bronze Mermaid had found a new home.

At the prize giving Colin thanked the Guildford team for running another good event, whilst Peter mentioned that the Mermaid is the longest running radio sailing trophy for Marbleheads in its 42nd year and thanked his dad and the Guildford team for running today’s event, as well as at least 30 others! 

We were lucky to get this really good event completed, as it now looks as if the GAMES events and the whole sport of radio sailing, will be seriously disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Results:

1st Colin Goodman Chelmsford GRUNGE 14

2nd Peter Stollery Guildford UP 16

3rd David Adam 3 Rivers GRUNGE 31

4th Martin Crysell Guildford UP 32

5th John Howell 3 Rivers VICKERS V1M  48

6th David Coode Guildford PIRANHA 66

7th Peter Dunne Woking STARKERS 69

8th Richard Baldey Frensham Pond WHISPER 73

9th Peter Jackson Abington Park UP 76

10th David Wilkinson Whitefriars SC ROAR EDGE 104

11th Garry Stephenson Whitefriars SC STARKERS 108

12th Charles Wand-tetley Guildford UPROAR 144

Click Here for Mermaid & GAMES 4 NOR

Report by Richard Lord

Click Here for Photo Gallery

13 boats entered for this prestigious event at 3 Rivers Radio Yachting Club, Bury Lake, Rickmansworth and were greeted by bright sunshine and a moderate 14 – 18 mph SW wind with occasional and brief stronger squalls, forecast as twice this. Regrettably 2 competitors broke their boats and took early baths, leaving 11 to compete over 16 races.

The SW wind direction gave a good long windward course with a spreader mark and a gate at the leeward marks, which gave some really good racing over two laps. Much discussion was undertaken amongst the sailors as to which rig to use, and several rig changes throughout the day by a number of them – and they still did not really know who got it right at the end of the day! These stronger winds resulted in several boat failures and by the last race, only 7 were sailing. The busiest persons of the day were those in the safety boat with, in excess of, 5 boats rescued.

Racing was exciting and unpredictable in the main. Initially, Peter Stollery looked to be the hot favourite, winning the first 3 races, but he peaked too early and in Race 5 the mast of his C1, which was the most favoured rig, failed completely. Colin Goodman seemed to struggle a little with a second and two thirds: the latter thirds later becoming his discards, as he won most of the remaining races. David Adam sailed consistently with his brand new GRUNGE with mostly seconds and thirds, with Peter Stollery generally a place behind.

After 16 races with 3 discards (and time for the start of the Carabao Cup Final) the result was a convincing win for Colin Goodman (15 points). Second was David Adam (36 points) and third was Peter Stollery (37 points). At the prize giving, the winners gave thanks to Peter Popham and his team for a most enjoyable and well run competition.

Overall results:

1^st Colin Goodman Chelmsford GRUNGE 15

2^nd David Adam 3 Rivers GRUNGE 36

3^rd Peter Stollery Guildford UP 37

4^th Roger Stollery Guildford UP 49

5^th Martin Crysell Guildford PRIME NUMBER 63

6^th Vinnie Zammit Norwich NIOUTRAM 69

7^th Dick Grainge 3 Rivers STARKERS 76

8^th John Male 3 Rivers STARKERS 107

9^th John Howell 3 Rivers QUARK 115

10^th Peter Dunne Woking STARKERS 131

11^th Phil Elford 3 Rivers UPROAR 143

12^th Alf Reynolds Chelmsford ROCKET 153

13^th John Horsefield 3 Rivers FRA 169

See Gallery for Photos: 

Report 2020-02-15 by Roger

There were only 4 of us, but we had an absolutely fabulous days sailing in south south-westerly winds that were forecast from 25 to 48 mph. When winds are so often light you dream about such days! We sailed 12 races and seeing our Marbleheads going so fast was a real delight.

In reality the winds on the water were probably 12 to 24 mph and needed C2 rigs to be comfortable in the gusts. Peter Dunne only had a C1 rig and struggled occasionally and had to be rescued a couple of times and didn’t sail the last 5 races as this might have endangered his rig. Instead, he kindly acted as starter and scorer.

As the severe storm ‘Dennis’ produced these winds it is likely that you don’t need anything smaller than C2 at Abbey Meads, although Martin did try C3 at the end of racing at about 1 o’clock as some of the gusts were getting really strong and heavy rain became uncomfortable.

Roger’s UP dominated the racing by being exceptionally quick to windward, as well as downwind with its offset swing rig, in a similar performance that Peter demonstrated with his UPFRONT in C2 at Fleetwood last year. Roger didn’t have it all his own way as Martin won 3 of the races with his PRIME NUMBER and one of them in his C3 rig. Long distance club traveller, Peter Jackson, improved his UP performance as the day went on and got close to the leaders, after having good races with Peter.

After having many disastrous events in 2019 with C2 rig failing, Roger was delighted that the redesign passed this test without a problem.

Photos in Gallery

10 entries from 5 clubs sailed 15 races on a blustery day at Abbey Meads lake, Chertsey. Race Officer Martin Crysell set a simple windward leeward course for the WSW wind and operated from the southern control area. There were some very strong gusts and initially these Footys were in their smallest, but one rigs.

The conditions favoured Peter Shepherd’s FAT BOY design and although pressed by Peter Jackson’s IBEX and Roger Stollery’s ICE at times, he won the first 5 races. This run of wins would have continued except that he lost Race 6 to Roger. During the afternoon the wind became much lighter with big calm patches in the centre of the course and bigger rigs came out of the sail bags. This made a big difference to young Oliver and Nathan Stollery, who won Races 13 and 14 respectively. Not to be outdone, Peter Shepherd in a frustrating dying breeze won the last race after a battle with David Wilkinson’s single sailed wooden BREITHORN.

The prizewinners thanked Guildford Model Yacht Club’s Race Team, RO Martin and scorer Peter Dunne, for running another good Footy event at the start of the 2020 Footy racing series.

Results:

1st Peter Shepherd Abington Park FAT BOY 14

2nd Roger Stollery Guildford ICE 32

3rd Peter Jackson Abington Park IBEX 40

4th David Wilkinson Whitefriars SC BREITHORN 53

5th Oliver Stollery Guildford ICE 61

6th Nathan Stollery Guildford ICE 71

7th Sid Sims Birmingham ICE 80

8th Keith Parrott Frensham Pond ICE 85

9th Mark Mortimore Guildford ICE 119

10th Tony Butler Birmingham ICE 120

Photos in Gallery Here

Guildford formed nearly half of the entry of 12 from 5 clubs to race in light variable winds blowing diagonally across the lake towards the control area. Gaps in the trees on the opposite bank of the lake bent the wind and kept competitors on their toes to take advantage of the sometimes big changes. 

During the briefing Race Officer, David Allinson presented Oliver with the 2019 GAMES prize for junior and also the second ‘Best Improver ’.

We sailed 15 races with the Guildford team winning 9 with Colin Goodman winning 5 and Dave Andrews 1. Roger started well with a win had some fine duels with Colin Goodman. Martin Crysell also won Race 6.  Peter S was initially looking after Oliver, who was struggling to get the best out of his UPROAR. There was a really good lunch of chili provided by Chipstead radio sailors, which was very welcome in the cold conditions.

The afternoon racing was dominated by Peter with 5 wins, whilst Oliver was getting some guidance from Rob Vice and family. Racing in the last race was difficult as the wind gradually faded away.

The club also laid on tea and cakes at the end of the event, which again was very welcome. The prizewinners thanked the Chipstead radio sailors for putting on a really excellent event.

Results:

1^st Colin Goodman, Chelmsford, GRUNGE 29

2^nd Roger Stollery, Guildford, UP 32

3^rd Dave Andrews, LMYC/MYSA, GRUNGE 47

4^th Peter Stollery, Guildford, UP 53 

5^th David Adam, Three Rivers, QUARK 55

6^th Martin Crysell, Guildford, PRIME NUMBER 58

7^th Peter Crisp, Chipstead, STARKERS CUBED 81

8^th William Grant, Chipstead, PARADOX 84

9^th Oliver Stollery, Guildford, UPROAR 109

10^th Graham Hetem, Datchet, QUARK 125

11^th Peter Dunne, Guildford, STARKERS 125

12^th Alf Reynolds, Chelmsford, ROCKET 144 

Cobweb Results

See Gallery for Photos

There was a good turnout for the first race of the season and there was a varying and at times very fresh breeze from the south south-west. We welcomed Peter Jackson, who has been to our club events a couple of times last year and now has joined us.

Before we put our boats in the water we had a big problem as the launching platform on the west bank was adrift as ‘the tide’ had come up about a metre with the recent rain. 

Our cunning plan to prevent the vandals doing this by chaining the platform to the strings of the steps backfired as all of the fixings were underwater! 

However with sterling efforts by all 7 competitors, the platform was brought back to the bottom of the steps hauled to the top, had a new post fitted and was then relaunched with some difficulty, but also a lot of hilarity. Marks for the windward leeward course were set and after a minute’s silence to remember Dennis Moss, who died on the previous weekend, the racing started in A or B rig.

Les Thorn started the season well with a win from Martin Crysell, who was in fine form and he took the next 4 races. During this time the wind had increased and either B or C rigs were the order of the day. There were some technical problems with Peter Jackson having to drop out. He very kindly started us and kept the score as well as making sure there was no time lost between races! Peter Dunne’s mast on his STARKERS collapsed at the bottom of his B rig, as a result of the massive slamming gusts. Mark Mortimore also struggled when sailing his UPROAR just an A rig. However he took some good photographs of the afternoon’s racing, which are now on the gallery.

During the break for lunch we had a committee meeting and had some interesting discussions about gazebos, market stalls and tents. We confirmed that we shall be adopting the DF 95 class for the Wednesday morning events in the summer. There was also discussion about the possibility of an additional shipping container to accommodate our dinghy and trolley and a majority agreement to contact Thorpe Park to ask for permission. Also in view of the tree cutting monies spent last year and the potential for replacing the gazebo etc, Martin had drafted a letter to go to the M&S district for some financial help from the MYA’s district fund.

After lunch, there was plenty of fast sailing off the wind when you were able to get into the right gust stream. On the beat you needed to get on the right side of the shifts and also miss the holes in the wind, which was now blowing a little bit more over the right shoulder. There were plenty of very close finishes throughout the fleet and several between Roger and Martin, with Roger taking most wins. As well as Peter’s B rig disaster he also had great success in winning the last race much to everyone’s delight.

On merit Martin was the winner with a 15 points sailing his PRIME NUMBER followed by Roger with 21 sailing his UP and Les sailing Hugh McAdoo’s old PARADOX 26. More important are the handicap results with a win for Les Thorn with Martin 2^nd and Peter Dunne 3^rd.

A record 19 Marbleheads and 4 BOTTLE boats from 3 MYA districts entered this Guildford Model Yacht Club Christmas event and enjoyed some wild sailing at times in a gusty variable west south-west wind, which varied from 30 mph down to 5 or 6 mph at the end of the day. It was only then that the tall A rigs were used, as for most of the day the Marbleheads were using C or C2 rigs and the small rig on BOTTLE boats.

All raced together on the same countdown with BOTTLE boats starting at 30 seconds and sailing a smaller windward leeward course, roughly half the 180 m Marblehead course. This proven objective was that both classes should finish at more or less at the same time. During the briefing a strong gust collapsed one of the gazebo legs and created a delay whilst this was packed away and the contents rescued. 

Only 8 finished the 2nd race as a massive squall caused a lot of rig and some gear failure. With several new faces to this form of racing, it took some time for them to settle on the right rig and trim and some had to retire permanently where no repair was feasible.

MYA vice-chairman Phil Holliday won the first race followed by multiple world champion dinghy sailor Colin Goodman in the 2nd and Martin Crysell in 3rd place. Colin, who had never used his C rigs before, set up a good trim and went on to win the next 4 races in fine style. In Race 5 Peter Stollery was the runner-up, but only 2 places behind him was his 9 year old son Oliver sailing a refurbished UPROAR and was absolutely delighted to be sailing so fast, especially downwind! The last race before lunch, Race 6, was won by John Shorrock after a really good start taking him to the windward mark first, after which he developed a big lead to the finish. 

This didn’t dent Colin’s score by very much and left him top of the lunchtime leaderboard with 6 points ahead of Martin with 15 and Phil on 16 points. As is traditional at this event GMYC served mince pies and hot mulled wine for lunch, which was welcomed to warm up cold hands and provide a central

gathering point for lots of chat etc.

When racing resumed the wind was still blowing hard from the westerly or west south-westerly direction and Colin demonstrating how good he was by winning races all the final 7 races with the exception of Race 9 when Peter beat him and Race in 11 when Phil beat him. During the afternoon the wind lightened and A rigs got an airing for the last 2 races.

The BOTTLE boats changed to their big rig at the same time, but it made little difference to the results as Peter Shepherd continued to win every race, beating either Keith Parrott or 7 year old Nathan Stollery into 2nd place!

Race Officer, Roger Stollery added up only the best 9 scores as he complained that he did not know his 19 times table for adding all of the multiple DNCs or DNFs scores! He first presented the BOTTLE boat trophy to Peter Shepherd and then called on the runners-up to collect their wrapped present, which was the only entry fee for this event. Peter thanked Roger and the Guildford team for running the events in somewhat difficult circumstances.

Colin collected the Brass Monkey for winning this event and also the MIDGLEY Memorial MUG for winning the whole GAMES series for 2019 with a perfect score of 500. He also thanked Roger and the Guildford team for creating a marvellous day’s sailing. One visitor from the Cotswold club, Garry Stephenson, who was new to Marblehead sailing had a smile on his face all day because he was thoroughly enjoying just sailing his Marblehead in such good whizzy wind conditions. His STARKERS hardly ever left the water!

This year GAMES included events in the Midland as well as the Eastern districts, which increased the number of competitors racing Marbleheads in open events to such an extent that the 65 total is nearly twice last year’s numbers and 50% more than those on the current Marblehead ranking list. It is a popular format encouraging average club skippers to go racing and with 10 events next year prospects look good for more relaxed, but competitive Marblehead sailing in 2020.

Marblehead Results:

1st Colin Goodman Chelmsford GRUNGE 13

2nd Phil Holliday Datchet GRUNGE 32

3rd Martin Crysell Guildford PRIME NUMBER 32

4th Peter Stollery Guildford UP 46

5th Peter Dunne Woking STARKERS 59

6th Alan Viney Guildford PRIME NUMBER 89

7th Peter Jackson Abington Park UP 90

8th Oliver Stollery Guildford UPROAR 94

9th Garry Stephenson Cotswold STARKERS 99

10th John Shorrock Datchet QUARK 111

11th Roy Pearson Guildford ROK 121

12th Charles Wand Tetley Guildford WHISPER 165

13th David Wilkinson Cotswold ROAR EDGE 184

14th Alf Reynolds Chelmsford ROCKET 189

15th = Mark Mortimore Guildford UPROAR 209

15th = Graham Hetem Datchet QUARK 209

15th = Andy Davies Cotswold ROAR EDGE 209

15th = Peter Kirby Woking PARADOX 209

BOTTLE boat results

1st Peter Shepherd Abington Park 11

2nd Keith Parrott Frensham Pond 30

3rd Nathan Stollery Guildford 36