TOPIC:

Following the discussions at Parkstone regarding the 2015 Nationals, the Tewkesbury vote would go for Llandudno as a first choice, even a shared event, followed by Tynemouth as second.

This covers 4 / 5 boats

Pete L
8211 Snake Eyes

My vote would be for Rutland Water, Brightlingsea, anywhere south of Birmingham

Bit concerned about the launching at Llandudno - have they built the new slipway yet? It was terrifying last time I was there.....

I really don't mind which venue is chosen, my plan would be to get as many boats out as possible, so let's have some opinions, & approach 2 or 3 clubs, that may have a slot.

I used to sail at Snettisham beach SC in west norfolk. It has good launching but limited tidal window of about 3 - 4 hours (You can quite literally walk the course at low water!) and you have to pick the weekend to get the best tides but it is excellent water and space and you launch directly onto the race area. Location wise it is about about 15 minutes from Kings Lynn. I can tell you they would make a better job of managing the races than Parkstone YC.

Hunstaton further up the coast is another good venue.

Brightlingsea is good venue as it has a good race area close to the club.

Stone Sailing Club on the River Blackwater is another good venue but it is big river sailing and not really on the open sea (not sure if that matters)

There were comments that people had not come to Poole because it wasn't worth travelling so far just for three days, so how about extending the fun by choosing a venue such as Brightlingsea and timing the event so it is followed by their holiday week - Pyefleet Week at Brightlingsea is a great event. Or there are plenty of other champs venues with dinghy weeks to choose from.

I get a deja vue feeling, from memory the Nationals were cut to three days from a week as it was said that people wern't attending as a week was too long out of holiday entitlement for competitors with families who wern't sailing. The intention was that people could have a weeks holiday, spend half of it sailing and the other half with the family at the coast. Paul

That is why it is better to have a 3 day event over Saturday, Sunday, Monday, so that you can extend you stay into a family holiday.

Hummmm...I like the idea of Sat. Sun. Monday, crews would possibly enjoy an end of Champs evening not having to rush back home to work.
People may prefer this format, rather than shoehorning the event into the end of a week & somehow diluting the ranking of the event.
With Registration the event in practical terms for most is 4 days, just a thought, but racing one race on a Friday afternoon, 2 longer back to back Sat Sunday & the last race & prize giving on Monday.

The venue NEEDs booking quick. Someone mentioned Looe, but a glance on their website, & the club is booked out to 2020, with far more classes requiring venues a choice may be limited.
Llandudno/Tynemouth may involve the Scottish boats?

Regards Mark.

Llandudno are due to get a new slipway built in September, but it has been delayed once.

Looking at the entries at Parkstone,it splits aprox. 1/3 from South Coast, 1/3 Midlands (Tewksbury/Maidenhead) and 1/3 from up T'North, with only 1 boat from Scotland.