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'GYBE OH' -

This Newsletter of the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club was originally circulated in Spring, 1982

 

 

 

 


Contents include:       Editorial by 'Sidewinder'

Plus -
Reports & Results of the following regatta...

West Midlands Police Regatta - 1982

SAILING FIXTURES FOR 1982


 

THE MAGAZINE OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE SAILING CLUB

Hon. Sec: John Burbeck (Det/Insp)
Holborn Police Station
70 Theobalds Road,
London WC1X 8SD
  Editor: Len Gooch (PC)
Surbiton Police Garage
Hollyfield Road

Surbiton
, Surrey

 


OFFICERS and COMMITTEE

 

Commodore: Deputy Assistant Commissioner J A Dellow, O.B.E. (Inspectorate)
Vice Commodore: Chief Inspector Dan Glen (Cadet Centre)
Hon. Secretary: Detective Inspector John Burbeck (EO)
Asst. Secretary: Inspector Dave Thomson (FF)
Press Secretary: PC 480 Q Clive Bishop (QD)
Information Officer: PC 679X Derek Wyeth (XR)
     
Committee Members: PC 295 Q Ross Elliston (QH)
  PS 13 X Steve Fillery (XW)  Cruising Rep.
  PC 907 TD Len Gooch (TDV)
  Ch Inspector Peter Moore (FS) P.A.A. Rep.
  PC John Stickland (IW) R.Y.A. Rep.

- - - - - - - - - -oooo0oooo- - - - - - - - - -
 

Editorial                                    Spring 1982

The A.G.M. of the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club for 1981 was held on 14th December at C.O. I, for one, was surprised to hear that the club had only 29 paid up members last year. All the club's officers volunteered to stand for the 82 season, and were duly elected. John Stickland was elected onto the committee to re-place Stan Batten, who retired from the job last year. John also volunteered to take over the office of R.Y.A. representative.

The P.A.A. Championships was the first item on the agenda. The M.P.A.A. will be asked to enter a team of 8 boats for 1982, 4 single handers and 4 crewed boats. This years champs. are to be held at Rutland Water Sailing Club, to be organized by the Leicestershire Police. Although it is an inland reservoir conditions
can become extremely rough. So those of you that do attend this event, be prepared.

John Stickland has designed a club burgee, suitable for cruising rather than dinghy racing. It has the Metropolitan Police Crest in white on a dark blue ground, and has a blue And white checkered band down the left hand edge. It looks very impressive on paper. They would make handsome presentation gifts. But before
John can go ahead and get some made, a sample most be submitted to the job (as it has the Crest thereon). If the go ahead is given, they will be about £4-50 each.

The club's Enterprise METROGNOME has always been a point of argument at A.G.M.s. There have been many points for and against having it. Last year it was used twice. It was suggested therefore that it be sold and a Laser bought instead. It was felt that the Laser Would be more competitive and therefore more likely to be used. A roof-rack would have to be purchased if the M.P.A.A. agrees to this suggestion.

The M.P.S.C. are hoping to enter a team in the infamous THREE PEAKS RACE this Year. For those of you that have never heard of it, it is a race Which combines "yachting and climbing" (to quote the Daily Telegraph). The idea is to climb the highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland, in-that order, and to sail from one to the other as close as possible. There is usually a team of 5, and 2 of those have to do the actual climbing. Although it is an open event it has become looked upon as an inter Services Competition, with the Royal Marines playing a leading role. Last year the Merseyside Police took part, and are doing so again this year.

The race begins at Barmouth, North Wales, on June 10th. From there the teams have to sail to Caernarfon, which is about 60 miles. The climbers then have to land and race to the to of Snowdon, 3560 feet high, and then back again. Their boat cannot set sail again until both men have returned. When they do, they then sail the 70 miles to Ravenglass. Here the climbers have to race over 34 miles in order to reach the top of Scarfell Pike, 3210 feet, and return. They then have a long sea passage of 260 miles to reach Fort William, over one of the trickiest and hazardest stretches of water in the world. Ben Nevis has then to be climbed before the teams can rest their weary bones. Not an event to be taken lightly. Chief Inspector Beck and a dedicated team of runners (or should I say climbers) have been training all winter for this race. They deserve all the support they can get.

John Stickland has organized the sailing side of the event, and a tremendous amount of work he has put into it. The M.P.A.A. felt that they could not support the race financially, so it has to be self financing. The boat to be used is an Oyster 37, and this has been chartered from Southampton for a month. It therefore has to be sailed from Southampton to Barmouth for the start of the race, and then from Fort William back to Southampton afterwards. The cost Of the boat is about £15,000. To bring back some of that money it was suggested that berths could be purchased for the long trips up to Wales and back from Scotland. It would be ideal for anyone trying to obtain his Sailing Master's ticket, or for just having a
jolly good sail at reasonable cost. If anyone is really interested, then John Stickland is the man to see.

SIDEWINDER

page 3


In addition to the help the race-team gets in delivering the boat to Barmouth, and collecting it again from Fort William, they will also require land-side support during the actual 'climbs'. This will be in the form of refreshment and encouragement, possible first aid and then with hot food and drinks and transport at the end of the race, Quite a lot of people are required to give the back-up in such an event. It is no wonder that it has become the forte of the Armed Services.

Of the 80 teams that applied to enter the 1982 race, only 35 were selected. Amongst those are two all-girl teams and two police teams. It will be interesting to see which of them come off best. So when you read of the event in the newspapers, or see it on the T.V., think of the effort that has gone into it by all concerned, and wish them well.

The cruising section of the M.P.S.C. have two races off-shore lined up for the near future. They are the De-Guingand Bowl Race starting from Gosport on 14th of May, and the Cowes to Deauville Race starting from Cowes on 26th of May. Dave Thomson is to skipper the boat in the former racer with Keith Bateman as
navigator. The details of the crew in the Deauville race are not to hand. The boats will be carrying a crew of 7 or 8. There is obviously quite a lot of interest in off-shore cruising and racing in the Met. This is shown by the increasing number of cruising members joining the M.P.S.C.

One of the more famous off-shore sailors in the Police Service is Peter Phillips, from the Devon and Cornwall Police. He has taken part in 2 trans Atlantic races, and many other long distance events. He has a great experience of the sea. I heard of his latest challenge on B.B.C. radio when he was interviewed at the Boat Show. It would seem that he wishes to take part in this years Round Britain Race. In order to do well he needs a fast multi-hull. These craft are very expensive. He was unable to find a sponsor, so he decided to build his own boat. John Shuttleworth, a leading multi-hull designer agreed to draw up the plans for a fast trimaran of fibreglass and foam sandwich construction. Peter then advertised in his local town of Exmouth for volunteers to help him build it from scratch. The idea was to make it a local effort, both boat and crew, to challenge the might of off-shore racers. It certainly touched the imagination of the Devon people, and volunteers came from far and wide to assist with the project. Their keenness was
severely tested by the very cold winter weather, but despite the snow and ice, the work went on. All sorts of people came to help. He even got the boys from the local approved school to come along and help with the rubbing down, etc. Peter hopes to have the trimaran finished in plenty of time for the race in the summer. So watch out for the results, and give our Devon colleagues your support if you actually see any of the racing. Peter also enjoys dinghy racing and has taken part in several events organized by the police.

This years Metropolitan Police Regatta will now be held at Queen Mary Sailing Club at Ashford, Middlesex, on Wednesday 16th June. An earlier date was asked for, but Queen Mary's were unable to help on that day. Dan Glen will probably be the Race Officer, and will be very thankful to anyone that can assist him on the day. Assistant Race Officers will be required, as well as a 'beach party' and scribes to check and record the entries. So if you're free on the 16th but do not wish to sail, then why not come along and support the club in some other way. Crews will also be required to man the rescue boats. If you would like to assist then please contact John Burbeck, Dan Glen or myself. The first race should start at about 11 o'clock.

For those of you that have not renewed your membership for the '82 season you will find a new style membership form in this magazine. Please send it to the M.P.A.A. Office, not to the Hon. Sec. of the M.P.S.C. Someone did suggest at the A.G.M. raising the fee to £5, but that was out-Voted. So it remains £3.

Dave Abbott has been selected to take part as one of the English team in this years Contender World Championships. They will be held in Holland during the month of June. Do well David!

page 4
 


WEST MIDLANDS POLICE REGATTA - 1982

 

1st J & E Burbeck Metro Merlin 3065 ¾ 3 8 = 2¾
2 D Westall S Wales Laser 75245 5 2 2 = 4
3 G Norman Notts Laser 43330 4 4 ¾ = 4¾
4 R Glass Metro Laser 102722 3 8 3 = 6
5 Gooch/Bishop Metro Albacore 442 7 ¾ 6 = 6¾
6 R Sivers Northants Laser 83524 6 9 5 = 11
7 R Bramhall G.M.P. Enterprise 10932 2 10 11 = 12
8 C Lambert Beds Solo 3350 10 5 9 = 14
9 J Nearverson Notts Merlin 2905 8 7 13 = 15
10 J Nelson G.M.P. Laser 56240 9 11 7 = 16
11 J Larson W Mids Laser 6329 12 14 4 = 16
12 P Walters Notts Laser 3998 14 6 41 = 20
13 R Jones Beds Laser 36094 13 17 10 = 23
14 D Thursfield W Mids GP14  9952 16 12 12 = 24
15 J Allen Notts Merlin 2927 11 14 31 = 25
16 R Saunders W Mids Merlin 2513 17 13 17 = 30
17 R Edwards W Mids Merlin 3273 24 16 14 = 30
18 E Meadows Humberside Wayfarer 6932 18 22 15 = 33
19 M Hudson G.M.P. Laser 46242 19 18 16 = 34
20 J Humber Lancs GP14  11088 15 23 19 = 34
21 J Benson Lancs Albacore 1294 22 19 20 = 39
22 P Bashford W Mids Enterprise 6747 36 21 18 = 39
23 T Frith W Mids Fireball 4675 20 20 23 = 40
24 R Stone S Yorks Enterprise 18073 20 26 22 = 42
25 J Kay S Yorks Fireball 12372 25 24 21 = 45
26 J Savage Leics Enterprise 9417 23 25 31 = 48
27 S Bates W Mids Laser 69022 27 26 25 = 51
28 M Wood G.M.P. Enterprise 7451 36 28 24 = 52
29 R Tutchings W Mids Enterprise 17166 28 30 26 = 54
30 W Drew Beds Skipper 904 26 29 31 = 55
31 D Abbott Metro Contender 346 31 36 36 = 67


As you can see from the list above there was a good turnout for this years West Midlands Police Open Meeting. It, was held on Thursday 22nd April, at Chasewater Sailing Club. The weather was almost too good to be true for this time of the year, with sunshine and light winds. It was just right for the first police meeting of the season, easy on those stiff muscles. However, there was some early morning fog, and this caused problems for the competitors using the M6 Motorway. They were held up in heavy traffic congestion due to accidents in the fog.

Eleven Forces were represented plus 2 police pensioners ( Chris Lambert and Bob Saunders). Bob has only just left the job and is now working for the local authority. He states that he hopes to take part in as many police meetings as possible, but may not find it so easy to get time off. There would have been another pensioner present, except that Stan Batten was in hospital having an'operation on his troublesome ear. We hope that the operation will be a success and that he will soon be up and about once more.

The Met contingent consisted of Elizabeth Burbeck, (who was taking a day off from her studies for a Masters degree in Psychology) and her husband John, sailing their Merlin Rocket PSYCHIC; Dave Abbott sailing the Contender he acquired last year; Roger Glass with a brand new Laser (number 102722); and that pair of old reprobates Len Gooch and Clive Bishop, still sailing SIDEWINDER:


page 5


Dave Abbott was out of luck on this particular occasion. He arrived at Chasewater with the engine of his Car, a Lancia coupe, badly misfiring. He suspected that one of the valves had dropped (not a do it yourself job!). So he called in the AA. One of their patrolmen duly arrived - looked - shook his head - and called for the A.A. Relay Service. The Relay truck arrived far too promptly for Dave to get
in a day's sailing, and he left the club in the truck (with his Contender hooked on the back) soon after the first race. Poor old David.

It was to be a three race meeting but this was slightly changed when the race Officer decided to alter the course for the third race. One of the marks he included was number 4. The trouble only came to light after the race had started when the leading boats were unable to find the number 4 buoy. The one that had been pointed out to them as number 4 had a number 5 painted on it. This caused no end of confusion. The leaders went in search of the missing number 4, whilst most of the other competitors treated number 5 as number 4 and carried on racing. The Race Officer eventually realised that the race could not go on like that and called a halt. When all the competitors had been contacted the race was re-run, using the number 5 mark, and all was well.

The racing was very close, and in the final results only one point separated the first three boats. Only ¾ point separated the next two boats. A different boat won each of the three races. One of the outstanding. boats, although not a prize winner, was Rod Bramhall from Greater Manchester, sailing that well known Enterprise PEN-Y-LESS. He was up amongst the front runners for the whole of the first race and beat the whole field save one, on handicap. Dick Sivers gained a 5th and a 6th place in his Laser to come 6th overall. Chris Lambert, sailing a brand new Solo, gained a 5th and a 9th place to come 8th overall. 7th was the Enterprise PEN-Y-LESS.

The meeting was won by the Metropolitan Police crew of Elizabeth and John Burbeck in the Merlin Rocket PSYCHIC. They sailed impeccably in the light condition, making full use of their spinnaker. They won the first race and came third in the second race. They discarded an 8th place.

The second prize went to Derek Westall from South Wales, sailing a Laser. When he greeted us on our arrival in the morning he was telling us now poorly he had been sailing at his home club during the winter. (Was it all porky pies, or does he have some very good Laser sailors at the Steel Works sailing club ?). At Chasewater he sailed consistently well, gaining two 2nd places and discarding a 5th.

The third prize, was won by Geoff Norman from Nottingham, sailing another Laser. Geoff revels in light weather conditions. He showed his skill by winning the last race and coming 4th in the other two. (If there had been no discards he would have taken the first prize !)

The fourth prize went to the Met in the form of Roger Glass, sailing a brand new Laser. Roger is a born competitor and puts his heart and soul into trying to win. He was the leading Laser to finish in the first race, and gained a 3rd place He also gained a 3rd place in the last race, but had two other Lasers ahead of him.

The last of the prizes went to yet another Met boat, that ancient Albacore. SIDEWINDER, sailed by Len Gooch and Clive Bishop. In the second race they somehow managed to keep close enough to the Burbecks, and far enough ahead of Derek Westall, to win the race on handicap. They were 6th in the last race, and discarded a 7th place.

SIDEWINDER

page 6


SAILING FIXTURES FOR 1982

APRIL 22nd West Midlands Police Regatta Chasewater S C
MAY 11th Thames Valley Police Regatta Maidenhead S C
  14th De Guingand Bowl Race Gosport
  28th Cowes - Deauville Race Cowes
JUNE 9th Hertfordshire Police Regatta Grafham Water S C
  16th Metropolitan Police Regatta Queen Mary S C
  10th Three Peaks Race Barmouth, North Wales
  24/25th POLICE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION SAILING CHAMPS Rutland Water S C
JULY 8th Hampshire Police Regatta Eastney C C, Southsea
  21/22nd Dorset Police Regatta Poole Y C
AUGUST 4th Sussex Police Regatta Bexhill S C
  4th South Yorkshire Police Regatta Ogston Reservoir, Clay Cross
  25th Bedfordshire Police Regatta Stewartby S C
SEPT 6th Nottinghamshire Police Regatta Retford Argonauts S C
  6th Sussex Pursuit Cobnor
  16th Kent Police Regatta Hampton Pier S C
  22nd British Police Laser Sailing Association Champs Middle Nene C C, Thrapston
  23rd Northamptonshire Police Regatta                     "
OCT 2nd Devon & Cornwall Police Open Mayflower S C, Plymouth
       
Every endeavour is made to print the dates as given to me by the various sailing clubs concerned, but they are subject to cancellation or change (and mistakes). So please do check before travelling a long distance to any of the above events. May you all have an enjoyable years sailing.

 


 

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Click here to view content from the March, 1983 "Gybe Oh" magazine

Click here to view content from the Autumn, 1983 "Gybe Oh" magazine

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If anyone has a hard copy of this or other old MPSC 'Gybe Oh' newsletters, please contact 'Barnacle Bill'.


Grateful thanks to C Jordan for supplying the above newsletter content.

Newsletter scanned December 2011