For the fourth time in five years Herne Bay SC was pleased to welcome the UK Windsurfing Assocation back to Herne Bay for their National Cup Championship Round 6.

Forty nine windsurfers from aged 13 to 60+ as well as their supporters, family dogs, large amounts of kit, six ribs and the race team started arriving on Friday.  Unfortunately Thursday's surge tide had deposited significant amounts of the beach on the promenade and this made parking up of the camper vans interesting, some even had to be dug out of the shingle on the prom before they got to the King's Hall.   Hopefully it was all worth the effort because they woke up to this on the Saturday morning:

Saturday had enough wind to get all four fleets out on the water in the morning enjoying the sun, though the foilers had to walk out past the pole before being finding enough depth to get on their boards and had to wait in the afternoon for the wind to pick up. All seemed to enjoy their day on the water and there was a great atmosphere in the clubhouse in the evening when everyone tucked into the BBQ. 

Sunday was completely different. A storm went through briefly about the time the race team went afloat and while the wet stopped (until packing up time) the wind consistently averaged 16 knots with gusts of about 25 knots, peaking just before the competitors came in for lunch at 29 knots at the nearby Herne Bay pier.   All fleets went out though given the conditions it was not suprising that some of the smaller/younger competitors didn't last too long.  Here are some of the competitors coming in for lunch on Sunday:

Sunday's conditions were described by the UKWA as epic. Nonetheless, the race team managed 8 races for techno, RS:X and race boards and 7 races for  the foils throughout the weekend, therefore deciding the final positions for the National Championship series. ​​

All competitors came ashore smiling on Sunday afternoon, though several seemed to need the lollipop won for returning their tally bands. Although the competitors were ashore and tucking into hot food about on time, the race team still needed to return to shore and pack up their equipment. Here are the last two ribs 10m off the roundel outside the club, heading to the harbour. 

The rain and 33 knot gusts returned as the UKWA crew packed up their stuff and headed home. 

The UKWA thanks HBSC's members for looking after them so well. The UKWA are a great crowd and we always enjoy offering them the use of our clubhouse and providing hospitality. 

The end of the day: 

We didn't find any gold at the end of the rainbow, but had a fun weekend and the profit from our efforts will go towards improving club facilities. Thank you to all members who volunteered their time to support the weekend, and we look forward to welcoming the UKWA back in October 2020. 

The first Beacon Hill Beach Clean will take place on Sunday October 20th 2019. All members of Herne Bay Sailing Club, Beacon Hill residents and all those keen to reduce the amount of rubbish and plastic on our beaches are invited to meet at Herne Bay Sailing Club at 10.30am. 

All kit will be provided, organised by Tom Hawkins of Canterbury City Council's foreshore team and we intend to head east and west. 

This event is part of Surfers Against Sewage Autumn Series Beach Clean 2019. 

Follow Beacon Hill Beach Clean on Facebook. 

Herne Bay Sailing Club members are looking forward to welcoming the UK Windusrfing Association back to Herne Bay on the 5th and 6th October. 

A local map showing how to access HBSC by foot or vehicle may be found here. 

Great picture of Laurie and Jo participating in the 61st Round the Island Race on the write up in Yachts and Yachting. They came in fabulous 5th place. Well done!

Eleven members of Herne Bay Sailing Club welcomed 36 Sturry Beavers and their leaders for a taster sail and powerboat ride this evening. The sea state (flat, very flat) and wind (light) made the conditions perfect for the youngsters. They came off the water with big grins and sailing stories to tell. Thank you to the Beaver leaders, parents and volunteers from Herne Bay SC for helping to make memories.  

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The annual Herne Bay St George Cup competition against Hampton Pier Yacht Club this year took place on the 19th August with the racing hosted by Herne Bay Sailing Club with a lovely tea hosted by Hampton Pier. 

Despite poor visibility and heavy rain at noon, six Hampton Pier boats rigged and began the sail to the other end of Herne Bay to be met by seven Herne Bay boats. Richard, RO, set two handicap 45-minute races. The marks were set in a parallelogram shape, but to spice up the racing the competitors were to race from the start to mark 1 to 3 to 2 to 4 and then back past the start line.  The additional challenge, however, turned out to be the wind (and perhaps the waves) as it swung between the pier and the clocktower. 

The first race was particularly close with exciting racing and all the fleet finishing within 10 minutes, despite the odd capsize or two. There was only 14 seconds separating first and second place on corrected time and the 
First place: Harry N (Hampton)
Second place: Laurie Dengate and Jo Norrington (HBSC)
Third place: Olaf Throndsen (HBSC).

A couple of marks were moved for race 2 to compensate (partially) for the wind shifts, and then the racers were off again.  

First place: Laurie Dengate and Jo Norrington (HBSC) 
Second place: Harry N (Hampton)
Third place: Olaf Throndsen (HBSC).

The overall cup results were based on the top six boats from each fleet. Hampton won race 1 on low points and HBSC won race 2 on low points. Combining the results led to the St Georg'es Cup being awarded to Herne Bay SC. Harry N won the Youth Cup for the third year in a row. 



Everyone at HBSC enjoyed their afternoon sail, the camaraderie and excellent tea at Hampton Pier and many HBSC members finished a great day by attending the Herne Bay Jazz and Swing Fest. We look forward to next year's Cup. 

Quotes from the competitors:
`Combined age of 94 beats 16 year old in endurance test'. 

The day after the Herne Bay pier anemometer recorded 39 knot gusts, the sea was very smooth at HBSC and the wind WSW to W, avering around 12mph but gusts to 25mph.

It was the annual short short course racing but with only three boats, probably due to the recent forecasts.  There were 3 increasingly-shorter races (due to the tide) with Olaf and Graham taking turns at racing in Olaf's Laser Radial while the other helmed the Safety Boat with crew David. Laurie and Jo raced the 2000 and Lester raced his Radial. They all enjoyed the afternoon. Wind dropped during the afternoon, but was still gusty right to the end. The RO managed to get everyone off the water successfully (just!) by 1545h as low tide was 16.18h. Laurie and Jo were the winners. Congratulations to them and thanks from the sailors to those in the race tower and galley for sticking with it. 

Quotes from some of the sailors: 
I had a blast!
It was fun!
Nice afternoon sailing with a little bit of wind.