Albacores at South Cerney
The Albacore was designed by Uffa Fox and the first boats built in 1954; as a fleet weve recently celebrated our 50th anniversary. Im not sure when fleet status was gained at South Cerney, but I do recall racing in fleet series before I went off to college in 1974 and the fleet has certainly been in existence since that time. Unfortunately numbers have dwindled somewhat in recent years, but that certainly hasnt blunted the competition!
The following introduction to the boat itself is lifted from our UK web site. What more can be said?:
At 15 feet in length and 240 pounds hull weight, the Albacore is a great first boat for those who are just learning to sail and a very competitive racer for more advanced sailors. The Albacore is fast and lively while being relatively easy to learn to sail and race. Swept spreaders supporting a tapered mast with a powerful kicking strap and adjustable sail controls allow a crew to de-power in high winds - enabling both light and heavy crews to race head to head. It is a very versatile boat, and is often sailed by husband/wife and parent/child combinations. Those looking for a simple-to-learn yet high performance sailing dinghy can join the ranks of Albacore sailors who come from all walks of life and range in age from teenagers to masters pushing 80 years.
The Albacore is a boat that is both simple to get into at first, and one which will challenge your tuning and tactical skills for the rest of your life.
Your fleet captain
The Albacore fleet captain is Norman Halstead, who sails one of the red boats (Monarch 6403). His sister Jean Simmons helps out enormously and is the one who manages the Club Albacore (Debs Delight). Jean sails Albacore 6439 (Supersonic).
Norman can be contacted on 01793 812969 (Swindon) or e-mail nhalstead@waitrose.com and he will be only too pleased to assist with any enquiries especially if it means more boats out on the water!
Debs Delight is available to hire to members to give them some experience of what Albacore sailing is like.
Competition
Its fair to say that the Albacore fleet at South Cerney is extraordinarily competitive at the top end, even though it is a small fleet. At the Albacore World Championships last year we won the team prize for the best three-boat team at the event.
Norman is the current club Champion.So if youre interested in competition, the Albacore fleet is the place to come. But theres no need to feel daunted by that! Theres so much experience on hand to help anyone go faster that its also the obvious fleet to join if you want to improve your racing. Help can be provided in every aspect from assisting with the right boat to purchase through to tactical knowledge and understanding how the rig works (and so setting it up perfectly for every occasion). All you have to do is join in and ask for help when you want it!Cruising
If you arent interested in racing at all, the Albacore remains a perfect boat for cruising. The hull is such that the family can all go sailing together rather like they could in a Wayfarer, but the boat is far lighter making it much easier to launch and recover. The comparative lack of weight also of course makes it go faster when on the water; even though there is not the added complication of a spinnaker (the Albacore is a two-sail only boat)
Talking of help, heres a link to the Albacore web site: http://www.albacore.org.uk/ . On the site youll find a very active forum and lots of information from all manner of Albacore sailors, plus links to the American and Canadian web sites. Oh - and some very original spelling techniques!
Events in 2007
The first event this year is a planned training day specific to Albacores and run by Norman. This is currently scheduled for Saturday April 28th. EVERYONE who sails an Albacore is encouraged to come and join in, and any jealous folk in other classes that want to spy on us will also be made most welcome. We could even persuade a few to join us.
Very shortly after that (May 6th) will be our Open Meeting where you’ll be able to apply your new-found expertise in competition with all comers. Given the state of our own local fleet we’re hoping for lots of visitors to boost our numbers, but we do have to do our own bit to show everyone that we still care. Everyone, no matter at what level, is encouraged to take part – it’s not the winning that counts!
Having had 4 boats at the World Championships in 2005, there is going to be a huge effort to turn out for the 2007 event (it’s bi-annual). Given that the 2007 event will be held on the Chesapeake Bay (USA) we’re unlikely to beat our turn out last time! However, we do plan to have 2 boats in the container to be crewed by South Cerney team members, as well as Steve Penfold crewing for Neville Herbert. The season will be busy with speed training before loading boats into the container in early September.