Signal from the Bridge

Chris Bentley

National Sonata Association Chairman and fairly competitive helm of BFG

Hi, fellow Sonata owners.

I am in the process of sorting a three year plan for the racing and cruising Sonatas around the UK. I would like all of you to seriously consider taking part in at least one, and preferably more than one of the events that I detail below. You will see that the Nationals are ‘down South’ for two years running, a departure from our normal rotation. This is because of the unique opportunity to celebrate Dabchicks Centenary in 2011 and the Medway Nationals in tandem with the Olympic Games in 2012. I also want to encourage you all to consider traveling to distant shores and we, the Association, have voted financial support to help you do that. This message is also part of our desire to encourage you – it is giving you plenty of warning to plan your campaigns. Personally, I hope that I will, in company with at least one other Medway Sonata, be in Helensburgh in June 2010.


So why travel?

Why would you want to take upwards of a week out of your busy lives to go race your boat at a National event? Let me give you some, hopefully persuasive, reasons:

I think that we have a great little boat. It is capable of doing great things, both cruising and racing, that other classes can never match for the price we have paid and the fun we get out of them. You only need to look at the second-hand values of comparable boats, including dinghies, to believe that. Bangs for Bucks, the Sonata is streets ahead. Lets enjoy this privileged status!

Should we enjoy it as a privilege for ourselves, or should we try to expand the acceptance of Sonatas as a very competitive, inexpensive and fun race boat, and capable cruising boat, to a wider audience? I think we should do the latter. My reason is that, for the Class to grow, we need to attract new, and probably younger, members to join us. At the Poole Nationals, Jack Grogan and Jess Gozzet (West Mersea YC) and Mark Lees and his home team from Poole YC proved that guys and girls a lot younger than most of us could race a Sonata very competitively and, obviously, enjoyed doing so. We should encourage more of this. I really think so.


Support for the supporters

The two paragraphs above are a rather long-winded, but necessary way of introducing the point that by making our Class visible and attractive we can promote its values to all of the sailing community and beyond. To do that I have to rely on the existing membership to support events. It’s no good having turnouts in the ’teens when we have an active racing class of at least 200 boats, albeit scattered over the UK and N. Ireland. To that end, we, the NSA, have voted that we will financially support crews who travel ‘far’ to National Sonata events. Don’t ask me for the details yet, we, the Committee, haven’t worked them out, but the decision stands. We absolutely want as many as possible of you there because we, as a Class, then get the visibility that will attract new members, and, as a bonus, we get to have a great social and competitive time together. This sounds like I am focusing on racing, not cruising and, in a way, I have to do it like that because a National Championship is newsworthy and a focus for a gathering of a bunch of Sonatas whereas a cruise, unless it is extraordinary, isn’t. But please read on. I really want to involve our cruising members as well.


Don’t be shy

I also want to encourage the boats who may be shy of mixing it with the ‘hotshots’ on the race circuit. Believe me, you will be made very welcome by everyone and you will probably have more competitive fun in the second half of the fleet amongst others with a similar amount of experience than in the top half – where it can get a bit tense sometimes! We all started at the bottom of the learning curve – making a Sonata go consistently quickly is a black art – and we all make big gaffes sometimes. So, please, give these events serious consideration, whatever your level of experience. It really is a magic opportunity to meet other, like-minded people who sail our class of boat.


Help us build the community

Finally, I am well aware that some owners have ‘dropped out’ of the Association, boats have changed hands and the new owners have not joined us, etc. This is where you personally can help. If you know of Sonata owners, fin, bilge-keel, racing or cruising, please, please, please encourage them to join. It’s not a lot of money and the benefits are substantial. As you can see above, we have commenced a policy of trying to give more back to the membership. The financial incentive to travel is just a start.


Events, dates and information

  • 2010 May Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series May 28th–31st. Sonata One Design class with numbers often up to 20 boats from Scotland, the North and Northern Ireland. Racing on a one-design course with 3 races a day in the very beautiful surroundings of Loch Fyne, famous for its oysters and seafood. The on-shore social is centred around the pontoon area which is the centre of the village of Tarbert with great pubs and restaurants looking over the boats. (please note this is 2 weeks BEFORE the Nationals!).
  • 2010 June National Champs, Helensburgh. 10th–13th June. This is a new date format for us as it runs over a weekend. Less time off work for those who are local. Very attractive venue – for travelers, it must make sense to combine it with a family holiday, some cruising around the area or Tarbert before and/or Whiby after. That’s what I am planning, anyway.
  • 2010 June Sonata Northerns 26th–27th June (2 weeks AFTER the Nationals). Whitby Yacht Club. Whitby has a growing new fleet and are very enthusiastic. The plan is for at least 4 races each day with free berthing and cranage and a social on the Saturday night. Great seaside venue on the north east coast and hopefully will be easy to travel from the north-east, Scottish and south-east boats.
    NB Boat storage can be arranged between Tarbert and Nationals at Helensburgh, and between Nationals and Northerns at Whitby.
  • 2010 June Round the Island (Isle of Wight). 19th June
  • 2010 July Medway Yacht Club Regatta 15th–18th
  • 2010 August 31st July–6th August Cowes Week. I appreciate these last two will cause some divided loyalties!
  • 2010 Eastern Areas, Burnham-on-Crouch. Within 28th August–4th September, which is Burnham Week. This one I need to know about NOW because Burnham, bless them, have offered us so much, it’s stunning. The urgency is that they HAVE to have their Sailing Instructions sorted before Christmas. So please express your interest – no firm commitment, I just need to have an idea of numbers – and we will have a great Sonata party, and the best racing… etc. I went this year, as did Mark Lee and the Expo team, and we had a ball! Please respond to this with a yea or a nay immediately! The Burnham race management were fab to us Medway guys who made it up there this year and they deserve our wholehearted support. I need urgently need feedback on how we want to organise it, ie number of days racing, races per day, etc. Those of you that know Burham and its vagaries, please respond to me as to how we want it. “out to Buxey, round couple of marks up there” OR technical stuff up the Roach and cross-tide legs home. Tell me now please!
  • 2011 Nationals at Dabchicks (West Mersea). No confirmed dates. Brill sailing water. Great Club who believe in organising great socials at minimal cost. I have done their Sonata nationals twice before and it has always been a riot for pocket money prices. It is their Centenary, so, an even better party…! Very friendly Club. Good race management.
  • 2012 Nationals at Medway Yacht Club. No absolutely fixed dates because I have yet to work out the best tide times, but it will be either before, after, or during the London Olympics: 27th July–12th August.

A very special occasion

This, (our Nationals), will be a very special event and I hope I will be able to arrange a unique opportunity for you to enjoy not only the Nationals racing, but also the amazing spectacle of the Olympics at very close quarters whilst using our boats as accommodation either directly outside the Olympic site up the Lee navigation, i.e. within 50 yards of Olympic Village, or at Greenwich Yacht Club, just across the river Thames on the South bank, adjacent to the O2. Greenwich YC have already offered a dinner night at their Club and the possibility of mooring us all to their deep-water pontoon.

For this event I have to do a lot of forward planning, as you will guess. Access to the Thames above the Barrier will be curtailed during the run-up to, and during, the Olympics for security reasons. However, I am confident that we can get the necessary permissions if we apply far enough in advance. So, again, I need your commitment NOW to provisionally be there during the 2012 Sonata Nationals. Note: I don’t need your commitment to enter the racing at this stage – although that information would be handy – this invitation is equally open to our cruising members. You will all be made welcome at the MYC, situated on the River Medway. Lift-in/out, moorings, hopefully free, accommodation reasonable. Either before or after the racing I will arrange the opportunity to sail (maybe a fun passage race)! up to the Thames Barrier (approx 6 hours) and then motor to Greenwich YC about 1/2 mile upstream. I realise this is a long way in the future, but to make it happen, I do need your feedback well in advance. Thanks.

Sorry, this is a long message, but whilst I have your attention there are two other points I want to address:

First, and most importantly, my ambitions, as Sonata chairman, are a bit more than organising and cajoling the Class to support our calendar events. I would really like to track down every Sonata ever built and sign up the now owner as a member of the NSA. See my call to arms above. So, to re-iterate: recruit any owner currently outside the NSA to join. Encourage them with the three-year program above and anything else that makes a difference! Its £15 measily pounds!! And the benefits are huge!

If you fail to recruit them, please extract some basic details; boat name, owner name, contact details, sail number, where based, etc., so we can at least log them into our database. You know it makes sense!

Secondly, I have given myself three years to do this job – assuming you will all put up with me for that long! I will retire after the 2012 AGM. I have other plans for my life after that. So, Sonata Class, start thinking now about where you would like the Class to go from there. I will do my best to move things along, but, as a Class, you all need to be planning for the long-term future of our fab little boat.

Regards,
Chris