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2017 Class Report
With the change of the Champions League rules in 2016 to encourage more Footy interested clubs to run club events for the class and generally slightly more interest and attendance at the Open events, 2017 was a year to consolidate on what has been already built and see if the building of a climax at the National would have an effect.
The season as always opened with the Guildford MYC hosted Freds Big Toephy, a first glimpse at the future of model yachting with Roger Stollery's grandchildren Oliver & Nathan taking up the transmitter ably assisted by Dad!
Equal scores for Peter Shepherd & John Burgoine on this one John winning on count back.
It was on to Cotswold MYC for the Mad March Hare after some navigational difficulties PJ/PS eventually arrived the strong wind meant smaller rigs, tacking on top of waves, the odd equipment failure, a visit from Scott Wallis and a win for Peter Shepherd.
Frensham Pond and the Videlo Globe Trophy in April where Newcomer Keith Bell started to get to grips with Footy racing and any one of perhaps four skippers could have won the event in the end winning experience pay and it was Peter Shepherd again.
Abington Park MYC and the Bassett Lowke Trophy in May a slug it out in light airs between PJ and PS this one with PS coming good in the end.
The largest fleet of the year attended the smallest water at Cheddar Steam, it's just as well the event is held in such a friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere, Peter Jackson was king of the tricky course, local skipper Doug Penman joined the fleet and bagged himself a second place pretty good for a first event.
On to the Birmingham Open where local knowledge was the key and John Burgoine outraced Graham Tite to take the win and put himself back in contention for the Champions League Trophy.
Whilst all this has been happening the numerous club events having been taking place along with the Midlands Extreme Footy Series this has kept Sid Sims, Keith Bell & Keith Parrott in the hunt. Once all of the scores had been added in going into the MYA National Championship Peter Shepherd was 35 points ahead of John Burgoine however there is of course the prestigious title of National Champion to be raced for.
The tricky conditions at Watermead MBC played into Peter Shepherd's hands he stayed in contention during the morning racing and then tried his best to stay ahead of John in the afternoon to take the victory (and the cap). The full report and results can be seen here.
in 2018 we welcome back the skippers of Sandwell MBC who have found a new home at Aldridge Sailing Club and are hosting an Open event in May.
With three open events in the Midlands, two in Met & Southern & two in the South West, with the MYA Footy National Championship once again in September next year hosted by Frensham Pond MYG, it has all the hallmarks of being another great year of Footy racing.
Footy Class Captain's Report 2016
By Peter Jackson. Class Captain
There have been a total of eight open events this year, ranging from Guildford, Woodspring, Frensham, Watermead, Cheddar, Birmingham, Abington Park and Hollowell covering three of the MYA Districts. Visiting Portishead, Cheddar and Hollowell for the first time.
The way we represented the Champions League this year was changed with the results of club racing being included for the first time, along with the Open and MYA National events, the points awarded being graded as to the status of the event. Fifty skippers nationally took part in a qualifying event at least at club level, with 30 of these competing at open level and eight going to the MYA Nationals at Watermead.
The Sail Footy UK class association is always keen to promote Footy racing at club level and so if you club holds club meets for these little yachts feel free to contact us with a view to inclusion in the 2017 Champions League.
Going forward into 2017 the calendar has been changed to keep the Champions League result alive longer with the MYA Nationals being moved to September 16th , which will hopefully promote a better attendance, the final event of the year will be a Champions League Invitational for the top 20 skippers in the league, a kind of best of the best shoot out.
The Novice award of an ICE made by Roger Stollery was awarded to the highest placed Novice Skipper in the Champions League table and this years award goes to John Burgoine of Birmingham MYC. With Rogers assistance this will hopefully continue into 2017.
Along side the open events we have run the Extreme Footy Series, which encourages arena style racing over a short course taking place in four venues across the Midlands District, once again Peter Shepherd came out ahead of the other 15 skippers who participated in the series.
We have had eighteen new registrations of Footys this year and the number of attendees at events has grown from last year as evidenced by the Champions League and Acersail results.
By Peter Jackson. Class Captain
There have been a total of eight open events this year, ranging from Guildford, Woodspring, Frensham, Watermead, Cheddar, Birmingham, Abington Park and Hollowell covering three of the MYA Districts. Visiting Portishead, Cheddar and Hollowell for the first time.
The way we represented the Champions League this year was changed with the results of club racing being included for the first time, along with the Open and MYA National events, the points awarded being graded as to the status of the event. Fifty skippers nationally took part in a qualifying event at least at club level, with 30 of these competing at open level and eight going to the MYA Nationals at Watermead.
The Sail Footy UK class association is always keen to promote Footy racing at club level and so if you club holds club meets for these little yachts feel free to contact us with a view to inclusion in the 2017 Champions League.
Going forward into 2017 the calendar has been changed to keep the Champions League result alive longer with the MYA Nationals being moved to September 16th , which will hopefully promote a better attendance, the final event of the year will be a Champions League Invitational for the top 20 skippers in the league, a kind of best of the best shoot out.
The Novice award of an ICE made by Roger Stollery was awarded to the highest placed Novice Skipper in the Champions League table and this years award goes to John Burgoine of Birmingham MYC. With Rogers assistance this will hopefully continue into 2017.
Along side the open events we have run the Extreme Footy Series, which encourages arena style racing over a short course taking place in four venues across the Midlands District, once again Peter Shepherd came out ahead of the other 15 skippers who participated in the series.
We have had eighteen new registrations of Footys this year and the number of attendees at events has grown from last year as evidenced by the Champions League and Acersail results.
2015 Footy Class Report
Peter Jackson Class Captain.
There were eight events on the 2015 Footy Open League calendar from the now traditional season opener "Fred's Big Toephy" at Guildford, we were then off to the South West and the "Mad March Hare" at Cotswold.
One of my favourite venues Frensham Pond hosted the Videlo Globe in April and then we returned to Watermead and Clive Bardell with his great team who help host the Footy Nationals, there was a slight change to the calendar with the first of three Midlands Region events the Bassett Lowke taking place in Abington Park in June. Birmingham MYC hosted their open once again at the end of July and then we had a break in August and started again in September with a new venue for the Cadenhead Trophy, Clapham MYC who had the honour of hosting the first Footy Open to be given the status of an MYA District Championship Event. Not to be outdone and close on their heels the final event of the year in October was at Bournville who hosted the Midlands District Footy Championship.
There was an alteration to the way the totals are calculated in the Championship league table in 2015 with 100 points being awarded for an event win, and the pro rata down the fleet until the final competitor who scores 10 points. In addition the best six scores from the eight events counted towards the skippers total, this opened up the competition up to a wider participation throughout the year although in practice the same stalwarts ended up competing for the honour. Peter Shepherd once again coming out on top for the third year running.
The Nov"ICE" once again was part of this competition with Roger Stollery once again kindly agreeing to build an ICE and Peter Shepherd will do his best to put together a great set of swing rig sails to go with it, and the winner is Trevor Thomas.
This year the Midland Footy League was re-branded as the Extreme Footy Series (XFS) and it took place across five clubs in the Midland Region. The competition will take place once again in 2016 and it is our intention to continue to run compact “stadium” style courses with multiple mark rounding and short windward/leeward legs, hopefully each heat time being approximately 10 minutes, it may be necessary to amend our plans depending upon wind and event conditions.
The website www.sailfootyuk.com continues to provide a focus for the UK skippers with new plans of the latest designs from not only the UK but also across Europe and the USA being published on a regular basis, it also contains reports for all of the Open and Midland Footy League Events and is keen to link to any club site that features the Footy Class. The latest design the Fat Boy Slim was featured in the Acquaint magazine, and the plans are available to download from the website.
We are sorry to see a couple of clubs that have historically supported the Footy Class have difficulty in running events this year and these Footy clubs have fallen by the wayside, however with some new faces on the block the Footy Open calendar will have a new look, and the Championship trophy is going to attempt to include not just Open Competition results but those from club league competitions as well, hopefully opening up this competition to more skippers.
We were delighted to go to the Cheddar steam Club and give a talk and demonstration to help kick start them into sailing model yachts at their club, they will be hosting their first Footy Open Competition in 2016.
There have been 25 new registrations of boats this year and with the aforementioned publication of the “Fat Boy” design in the MYA magazine Acquaint new reports of Footy activity from hot spots around the country.
2014 Footy Class Report
for the MYA AGM 29th November 2014
The class was finally accepted as an affiliated class of the Model Yachting Association of GB in early June, it now has a dedicated committee of Footy enthusiasts to run the class and hopes to make any decisions about the future of the class more inclusive by consultation with the Footy skippers.Peter Jackson now has an additional role as Footy Class Captain to the MYA as well as Chairman of Sail Footy UK, the class association, and UK registrar. The other committee members are Peter Shepherd, Trevor Thomas, David Wilkinson, Scott Wallis and Roger Stollery all of whom have agreed to continue in 2015.
There were nine events to count towards the 2014 Footy Open League, the traditional season openers were Guildford MYC hosting Fred’s Big Toephy, and the Mad March Hare which took place at Cotswold MYC.
The class were delighted that the Videlo Globe returned home to Frensham Pond Sailing Club. The UK Footy Championships took place at Two Islands RYC and we are indebted to their members for running the event at short notice which acted as valuable practice for later events. The Birmingham and Bassett Lowke Opens were moved slightly from their traditional dates to encompass the Footy Gold Cup an International Event, which also took place at Two Islands RYC over two days in late July, it was attended by twenty-three skippers from Switzerland, France, Italy and the UK, we had five juniors taking part. These three events made up up a triple-header of First Class Footy Open events in a fortnight.
Southwater Dabblers also ran their open event, the Cadenhead Trophy although sadly 2014 is quite possible the last time it will be held as John has decided to retire from open competition, our thanks go to him for his enthusiasm for the class and for bringing Bob About here in the first place.
The final event for 2014 is the Bournville Open. Across all the events there were some thirty-two skippers who took part in the Open Events this year.
In addition to the Open League Trophy we had a new initiative for this year, a “novICE” competition. At each of the Open League Events and Footy Championships, Sailfootyuk have provided a trophy for the highest placed novice competitor. A novice being defined as any skipper who has not finished in the top three at any of the Footy Opens or Footy Championships in previous seasons 2012 and 2013.
Roger Stollery very kindly agreed to provide to the highest placed novice in the 2014 League table, a race prepared ICE, which came complete with a set of swing rigs.
The Midland Footy League was held across eight events this year, which mainly took place at Abington Park MYC with one event held at Two Islands. The competition was very close with four skippers in with a shout of winning the league overall by the time the last race came around in October. Trevor Thomas donated a “Dead Tree trophy to the MFL which has been used to try to encourage skippers to build their own boats and experiment with design, the best of these to come out of this competition were the Fat Boy Slim & Red Box both built in Balsa. The essence of the initiative is to show you can still make a competitive boat without the need to build in the more exotic mediums.
There were nine events to count towards the 2014 Footy Open League, the traditional season openers were Guildford MYC hosting Fred’s Big Toephy, and the Mad March Hare which took place at Cotswold MYC.
The class were delighted that the Videlo Globe returned home to Frensham Pond Sailing Club. The UK Footy Championships took place at Two Islands RYC and we are indebted to their members for running the event at short notice which acted as valuable practice for later events. The Birmingham and Bassett Lowke Opens were moved slightly from their traditional dates to encompass the Footy Gold Cup an International Event, which also took place at Two Islands RYC over two days in late July, it was attended by twenty-three skippers from Switzerland, France, Italy and the UK, we had five juniors taking part. These three events made up up a triple-header of First Class Footy Open events in a fortnight.
Southwater Dabblers also ran their open event, the Cadenhead Trophy although sadly 2014 is quite possible the last time it will be held as John has decided to retire from open competition, our thanks go to him for his enthusiasm for the class and for bringing Bob About here in the first place.
The final event for 2014 is the Bournville Open. Across all the events there were some thirty-two skippers who took part in the Open Events this year.
In addition to the Open League Trophy we had a new initiative for this year, a “novICE” competition. At each of the Open League Events and Footy Championships, Sailfootyuk have provided a trophy for the highest placed novice competitor. A novice being defined as any skipper who has not finished in the top three at any of the Footy Opens or Footy Championships in previous seasons 2012 and 2013.
Roger Stollery very kindly agreed to provide to the highest placed novice in the 2014 League table, a race prepared ICE, which came complete with a set of swing rigs.
The Midland Footy League was held across eight events this year, which mainly took place at Abington Park MYC with one event held at Two Islands. The competition was very close with four skippers in with a shout of winning the league overall by the time the last race came around in October. Trevor Thomas donated a “Dead Tree trophy to the MFL which has been used to try to encourage skippers to build their own boats and experiment with design, the best of these to come out of this competition were the Fat Boy Slim & Red Box both built in Balsa. The essence of the initiative is to show you can still make a competitive boat without the need to build in the more exotic mediums.
2013 Footy Class Report
for the MYA AGM 23rd November 2013
- Web Site.
- Novice Skipper Prize in 2014.
- Class Ethos
The Footy class freely acknowledges that because of their size and the degree of concentration required to sail them they may not be to every model yacht skippers taste, however they are a viable racing class capable of sailing in places many of the larger models are not, in addition to this and perhaps because of their small size and the minimal initial outlay they are many new skippers first introduction to the sport.
- Footy Championships.
- Midland Footy League.
- Richardson Trophy.
- The Open League.
- Gold Cup International Event.
Peter Jackson
Class Registrar
2012 Footy Class Report
for the MYA AGM 24th November 2012
We have had a very successful year with nine Open Events, hosted by various clubs. Fred’s Big Tophy at Guildford, Videlo Globe at Phoenix, Footy Championship at Guildford, Mad March Hare at Cotswold, Birmingham Open hosted by BMYC, Wicksteed Park Open, Bassett Lowke Open hosted by Sailfootyuk.com, Cadenhead Trophy hosted by Southwater Dabblers and the Bournville Open, and one Fun Day at Clevedon.
The numbers of entries have been encouraging at all of these events, and have slowly been increasing with the best attendance at the Footy Championships with fifteen entries. Just so you are aware we run the footy events just like any other class, however we strive to make them fun for the participants and try to encourage all who attend. One notable thing to mention is the distinct lack of wind this year most events taking place in Big Rig conditions apart from our last event at Bournville, where smaller sails were required to cope with the swirling wind conditions.
Six UK Footy enthusiasts also took part in the Footy Gold Cup, which took place in marvellous conditions 2000 feet up an Italian Mountain, won by Rob Vice with his son CJ, third and top junior, and his daughter Haley in seventh. This shows that Footy Sailors can go to some fantastic places and also that we have juniors in our class who are doing well on the International Scene.
Here domestically in addition to the Open events two notable series of club league racing took place during the year. The South Midland Footy series hosted by Wicksteed Park MBC and the other run by Birmingham Model Yacht Club. Both have been fought over in an enthusiastic and friendly attasmophere. Incidentally all MYA members are welcome take part in both these events, just check with the organisers and turn up.
We set up a Footy web site www.sailfootyuk.com and the Webmaster is Peter Shepherd and with input from footy enthusiasts it is a constantly changing magazine/newsletter, where all the reports for the various events may be found. Indeed Peter Shepherd prides himself that he gets results and pictures of events posted the very evening of the event. He is particularly good at persuading organisers to contribute with a report of the event. There is a useful ‘How To’ section and currently we average arround two hundred unique hits a day. Since the site has been running we regularly have hits from across Europe and the USA, and also from such far-flung places as India, Japan, South Africa, Brazil and Tasmania amongst others.
What of the future: There will be a new club setting up in the centre of Northampton and will be called Abington Park Model Yacht Club, with sailing members transferring from Wicksteed Park and this will become the new home of the Midlands Footy League, however if any Midland Clubs are interested in hosting a meeting in this series please feel free to contact us.
There will be eight Open Footy Events next year starting in February and running through to November and through the website we intend to promote all the Open Events into a National League with a trophy to be presented at the end of the season to the best skipper, this having been run on a trial basis this season.
Peter Jackson
The numbers of entries have been encouraging at all of these events, and have slowly been increasing with the best attendance at the Footy Championships with fifteen entries. Just so you are aware we run the footy events just like any other class, however we strive to make them fun for the participants and try to encourage all who attend. One notable thing to mention is the distinct lack of wind this year most events taking place in Big Rig conditions apart from our last event at Bournville, where smaller sails were required to cope with the swirling wind conditions.
Six UK Footy enthusiasts also took part in the Footy Gold Cup, which took place in marvellous conditions 2000 feet up an Italian Mountain, won by Rob Vice with his son CJ, third and top junior, and his daughter Haley in seventh. This shows that Footy Sailors can go to some fantastic places and also that we have juniors in our class who are doing well on the International Scene.
Here domestically in addition to the Open events two notable series of club league racing took place during the year. The South Midland Footy series hosted by Wicksteed Park MBC and the other run by Birmingham Model Yacht Club. Both have been fought over in an enthusiastic and friendly attasmophere. Incidentally all MYA members are welcome take part in both these events, just check with the organisers and turn up.
We set up a Footy web site www.sailfootyuk.com and the Webmaster is Peter Shepherd and with input from footy enthusiasts it is a constantly changing magazine/newsletter, where all the reports for the various events may be found. Indeed Peter Shepherd prides himself that he gets results and pictures of events posted the very evening of the event. He is particularly good at persuading organisers to contribute with a report of the event. There is a useful ‘How To’ section and currently we average arround two hundred unique hits a day. Since the site has been running we regularly have hits from across Europe and the USA, and also from such far-flung places as India, Japan, South Africa, Brazil and Tasmania amongst others.
What of the future: There will be a new club setting up in the centre of Northampton and will be called Abington Park Model Yacht Club, with sailing members transferring from Wicksteed Park and this will become the new home of the Midlands Footy League, however if any Midland Clubs are interested in hosting a meeting in this series please feel free to contact us.
There will be eight Open Footy Events next year starting in February and running through to November and through the website we intend to promote all the Open Events into a National League with a trophy to be presented at the end of the season to the best skipper, this having been run on a trial basis this season.
Peter Jackson
