thorpe bay yacht club commodore

Latitude: 51.526902
Longitude: 0.765309

The Sprint 15 class at Thorpe Bay has a fleet of over 35 boats, of which many are active racers. The Class is supported by Joint Captains Steve Healy and Paul Morgan (who is also TBYC Vice Commodore) and a small committee of Andrew Hannah and Gary Burrows. Thorpe Bay is home to the three Sverdloff brothers (Gary, Keith and Gerald), Martyn Ellis, Rob Bailey and Daren Fitchew who have all been seen at Traveller Events. Kyle Stoneham who is on the TBYC Honours board for winning Sprint and Sprint Sport Nationals has now moved onto Moths. And of course we need to mention Howard Hawkes who has now moved to Norfolk but does occasionally come to club events.

Thorpe Bay Yacht Club is two miles east of Southend pier, on the north shore of the Thames Estuary - 15 miles north west of Whitstable which is on the other side of the estuary. Thorpe Bay should not be confused with the bustle of Southend as it is definitely not, however if that is what you expect it is not far away. The area has generally quiet sandy beaches with fantastic walks along the seafront. In one direction you enter the quiet wetland wildlife park of the old Shoeburyness Garrison where you can enjoy some time away from traffic and crowds. East and West of club is also covered by cycle paths, so bring your bike.

Racing takes place over the extensive mudflats. We race on Saturdays and Sundays, 12 months of the year. The club has five support boats and the Committee Boat is a Prout 34 Event catamaran.

Thorpe Bay Yacht Club held a successful Sprint Open Meeting in 2013 with a turnout of nearly 40 boats. In 2014, Thorpe Bay will be the venue for the 36th Sprint 15 National Championships.

The club is open six days a week, {not Mondays, except bank holidays and the Sprint nationals}. Professional chef, bar staff and secretariat.

We warn everybody not to follow their GPS as it will take you on a tour. The quickest way is to enter Southend on the A127 and just go straight over each and every roundabout and traffic lights until you reach the sea. Turn left and TBYC boat park is 500 yds on the left. Ignore all the signs as the A127 at one point does turn into A1159, just remain straight. It is all Dual Carriageway, except a small section at the start of the A1159 around a few corners. Be warned there are average speed cameras from Basildon until the �Welcome to Southend on Sea� sign and then there are several normal speed cameras from there onwards with 40 mph speed limits.

Further infomation on some of the above:

Accommodation list 2007:

Southend Tourist Board's Accomodation List

**** Beaches Guest House : 192 Eastern Esplanade, Thorpe Bay, SS1 3AA Contact: Tel: 01702 586124 www.beachesguesthouse.co.uk

*** Roslin Beach Hotel : Thorpe Esplanade, Thorpe Bay, SS1 3BG Contact: Tel 01702 586375 www.roslinhotel.com

*** Camelia Hotel Hotel : 176 �178 Eastern Esplanade , Thorpe Bay, SS1 3AA Contact: Tel: 01702 587917 www.cameliahotel.com

*** Premier Travel Inn : Eastern Esplanade http://www.premierinn.com

Tel: 0870 990 6370

***Travelodge : Chichester Road (Located at the heart of Southend�s night club area!)� Possible noise may be heard from night club located below hotel. Contact: Tel 01702 612694 www.travelodge.co.uk

***The Westcliff Hotel : 18-20 Westcliff Parade, SS0 7QW Contact: Tel: 01702 345247

There are many more in Southend-on-Sea and Westcliff-on-Sea.

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Rooster rs tera nationals - thorpe bay 2024, thorpe bay yacht club, simon lomas-clarke.

18 August 2024

Sunblock, hats and sunglasses were essential as the summer conditions arrived for the 2024 RS Tera National Championships hosted by Thorpe Bay Yacht Club from 18th - 20th August. The fleet was made up of 52 Pro, 54 Sport and 16 in the Train and Race Regatta fleet.

On day one the fleet launched promptly into a steady 10 knot breeze from the West. The light conditions were quickly mastered by the newly crowned Sport World Champion Rafe Bradley (Gurnard SC) who took the win with Hannah Yates (Gurnard SC) and and Laia Priestley (Ullswater YC) third. In the Pro fleet Mark Soars used his tactical skills to take the win from another newly crowned World Champion, Will Stratton-Brown (Frensham Pond SC) with Harry Mitchell (King George SC) third having stepped back into a Tera for this event. As the day progressed the sea breeze started to compete with the gradient wind producing some big shifts and then the tide turned. Rafe Bradley didn’t let that bother him and won the next two races with Harry Wilson (Filey SC) second in both races. Third places were Aggie Priestley (Ullswater YC) and Zac Carveth (Hayling Island SC) respectively. In the Pro fleet Mark Soars won both remaining races with Will Stratton-Brown sailing a second and a third. In the second race of the day Willow Osborn (Hickling Broad YC) came third and in the last race Like Rowlands (Rutland SC) was third. A great barbecue was laid on by the club to refuel the sailors on Sunday evening. On the second day the fleet had a big four race day and launched to a building South Westerly wind. In the Sport fleet Rafe took the first race with with Hannah second. Molly Wilson (Filey SC) was third. In the Pro fleet the conditions shuffled the finish order slightly with Cas Day (Gurnard SC) taking the first win of the day with Luke second and Will third. In the second race a big left shift was well spotted by Jasper Jenkinson (Gurnard SC) who took the win from Laia Priestley and Edward Knowles (Royal Lymington YC). The Pro fleet experienced the same shift and Will won his first race of the event followed by Cas and Ben Angell (Draycote Water SC). The wind stepped up a notch for race 3 to a fruity 18-20 knots with a good swell, leading to some downwind capsizes and a few retirements. In race 4 the wind dropped off again to a more manageable 12 knots. Rafe and Hannah continued their first and second pattern for the last two races of the day. Olivia MacAlister (Royal Lymington YC) and Jasper completed the top three in each race. In the Pro fleet Will had found his mojo in the stronger breeze and comfortably won both remaining races with Mark getting back into his stride with a 3,2. Cas was second in the 6th race of the event and Luke Rowlands 3rd. It was all tight at the top with Will and Mark close on points at the end of the day. The hog roast was just what parents and sailors needed and the evening entertainment by local guitar/vocalist Mikey in the warm sunshine was an added bonus. The breeze was up on the last day, averaging around 16 knots, although there were some big holes. Rafe commanded the day, winning the first two races. Hannah was second in both with Molly and Jasper taking the third places. The big boys brought their A game with Will winning every race on this final day. Mark scored two seconds with Cas taking a second in the last race from Mark in third. Luke Rowlands took two third places to keep in the hunt for the podium overall. The 122 boats from around the UK, great weather and Thorpe Bay Yacht Club provided a truly memorable Championships. Recent form played out with Rafe Bradley taking the National Championship title to add to his Sport World title and Will Stratton-Brown doing the same in the Pro. And so the sun set on another amazing Rooster RS Tera Nationals. Thorpe Bay 2024 gave us fantastic sailing, lovely weather and the facilities to produce a fantastic Nationals Regatta. Hannah Yates and Jasper Jenkinson completed the Gurnard SC lockout of the Sport fleet podium. Hannah was the lead female sailor. In a similar form pattern, the Pro fleet was won by reigning World Champion Will Stratton-Brown with Frensham club mate Mark Soars in second. Cas Day completed the podium. Zoe Lomas-Clarke won the first female Pro title. A dominant performance from Gurnard saw them take the Nationals team trophy. The U10s Champion, Harry Wilson, ensured that the trophy stayed on the Wilson family mantlepiece, having been won by elder sister Molly for the last two years. With both Will and Rafe having previously won the award, Harry is one to watch for the future. The next generation of Tera sailors in the Train and Race Regatta fleet, coached by UKRSTCA coaches, Finlay Lomas-Clarke, Jack Bew and Sam Blaker, had a fun time and all improved massively from their experiences both on and off the water. The UKRSTCA is indebted to Thorpe Bay Yacht Club for their help and enthusiasm in staging such an awesome event, from the early arrivals on Friday to the prizegiving on Tuesday, it ran like clockwork. The dedication of the TBYC team, led by Mark Dell and Johnno Gillies and an absolute army of volunteers, made it one of our finest Nationals yet. Commodore Adrian Bunting thanked the long list of supporters who had everything covered from groundskeeping, campsite arrangements, parking, catering and the all important bar. An awesome Thorpe Bay safety team, led by the UKRSTCA's Safety Officer Paul Bew, made sure everything was A-OK in some pretty gnarley conditions at times, and our parent beach team led by the indefatigable Steve Cross, who seemed to spend most of the week in the water, did an amazing job. Thanks go to our two PROs, Tom Rusbridge and James Ripley-Giles, backed up by the comprehensive local knowledge of our ARO, TBYC's Alex Warrington. The dedication of the TBYC team made it one of our finest Nationals yet. A huge thanks to our Class Sponsors Rooster, event sponsors Allen and RS Sailing for a fully laden prize table. The generosity of our sponsors provided a table full of raffle prizes with hundreds of pounds raised for our chosen event Charity, the RNLI. Thanks to both the Burnham on Crouch and Southend stations. We are indebted to Nick Alston of NWA Photography, not only for his amazing pictures on the water, but his generosity in making these images available to our competitors and families at no charge – thanks Nick! Nick’s pictures and others from the event can be found on the UKRSTCA gallery on the button below. Next up for the UK RS Tera fleet is our season finale, the Rooster End of Season Championships 2024 at Draycote Water Sailing Club in late October, but there are many regional events across the UK to keep are sailors on the water.

Results and Gallery will load if applicable

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'Nothing left': After California Yacht Club fire, residents mourn loss of a beloved spot

I n an instant, an overnight seaside blaze engulfed decades' worth of boating trophies, historical artifacts and cherished memorabilia at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey on Monday.

Fire crews attempted to control the blaze as heavy smoke and flames consumed the two-story building. By the time they had subdued the fire two hours later, only the skeletal remnants of the clubhouse were left standing.

John Myers, senior vice president of the club, said the blaze had been reported by an employee working late in the clubhouse Monday night. The fire spared the remainder of the facilities on the ground, including the docks and the yachts moored there. But the clubhouse, and particularly its second floor, was all but wiped out.

“We are working closely with the Los Angeles County Fire Department in their investigation of the cause of the incident and will share those findings when they become available to us,” Myers said.

Members are left mourning, comparing the loss to the death of a loved one.

Jennifer Dakoske Koslu awoke in Rancho Mirage at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, before the sun had risen, to find her phone inundated with text messages from club members.

The first message she read simply stated, "The CYC is gone."

“As soon as I opened my phone, it went to a link on the Citizen app and saw a video of the club burning. I was shocked,” Dakoske Koslu said.

For the last 24 years, Dakoske Koslu and her family have been dedicated members of the CYC, whose clubhouse is a few miles away from their home in Playa del Rey. She said it is where her children have grown up, familiarizing themselves with every inch.

“I remember taking my son there on the Fourth of July when he was just 3 weeks old. It was the first place we went with him as a newborn," Dakoske Koslu said.

She and her husband biked to the club in the aftermath of the fire, greeted by the charred remains of the building on Wednesday afternoon.

“The destruction is unbelievable. It's clear that the fire was burning intensely on the second floor,” Dakoske Koslu said. “There's nothing left.”

The second floor once housed a collection of the club's prestigious racing trophies, kept on display for members and visitors. The fire melted all but a single salvageable California Cup. Most notably, the priceless King of Spain Trophy, acquired in 1929 from King Alfonso XIII, was lost.

Additionally, the club lost cherished photographs of every past commodore, a significant position within a yacht club. Members said they didn't know if anyone had digitized the images of the commodores or of the club's founders.

“We would tell yachting stories at the bar around lots of memorabilia, and the yachting artifacts behind the bar are all gone now,” Tom Materna said. “The yacht club provided us a facility for the off-the-water celebrations after hard-fought competition on the water.”

The CYC dates to the early 1920s, started by boat owners from the Los Angeles Athletic Club and other yacht clubs. The Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the first clubhouse in 1922, designed by famed architect Edwin Bergstrom, co-designer of the Pentagon.

In 1965, the yacht club submitted a proposal for an all-encompassing $1-million, two-story, 10,000-square-foot clubhouse on four acres off Admiralty Way. Members envisioned a state-of-the-art facility with 170 boat slips, a guest dock, a small boat hoist and a dry land storage facility for boats. The clubhouse that resulted was dedicated on June 10, 1967.

Then-Commodore William A. DeGroot Jr. told The Times that the triangular parcel of land on which the clubhouse still sits is a “perfectly logical place for a club facility, and a commanding view down the main channel of the marina.”

Though the building has historical significance to its members, it does not have a historic designation, according to Linda Dishman, president of the Los Angeles Conservancy.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and so grateful for the outpouring of support from the community and our members,” Myers said. “CYC has been a beacon for the nautical community for the past 101 years.”

Materna, 68, first found out about the fire through Facebook as friends posted videos and photos of the damage Tuesday morning. Then he began receiving calls and text messages from friends.

“Everybody woke up in the morning and realized we'd lost a significant part of the sailing community,” Materna said.

His connection to the club dates back nearly 52 years, to when he was just 16 years old. After spending 30 years sailing professionally with Hobie Cats, mainly racing catamarans — a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size — he recently served as a crew member on other club members' racing yachts.

The CYC is pivotal in the boat racing community, organizing and hosting events such as the Optimist National Championship and Junior Olympic trials, Materna said. He fondly remembers the hundreds of people from across the globe converging on the marina for similar events.

The main topic among members now is what's next for the club. Dakoske Koslu noted that the club's ownership changed over the last few years, and many are unsure and concerned about the club's continuation after the fire.

The club relocated to the marina in 1967, leasing the land it sits on from the county.

“I don't think the county has really valued the contributions of the California Yacht Club as an important part of the Marina. They value Trader Joe's because it's more money for them,” Dakoske Koslu said.

Dakoske Koslu said she’s seen numerous small marine-oriented businesses displaced from the marina, making way for more commercialized developments such as Trader Joe's and Recreational Equipment Inc.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .

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