| ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - DEC 4, 2001 | ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - FEB 9 and 10, 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - FEB 18, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - MAR 10 and 11, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - MARCH 17 and 18, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - APRIL 21, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - APRIL 28, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MOST RECENT ANDY'S TWITTERINGS - SEPTEMBER 29, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MAPS of PENDINE and CEFN SIDAN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MONDAY, 4 DECEMBER 2001| From Andy Parr K445 | The Cefn Sidan regatta has been and gone, and at least the attending pilots got to see the beach at its best on the Sunday. After everyone had gone, I went for a lovely sail on the completely dry beach and found the area we had been racing on was covered with something sticky, which may explain why everything needed washing at the end of the day to remove the crud. | The regatta was well organised, but the withdrawal of our key helper at the last possible second left us in chaos. Our sincerest thanks go to all those who pitched in and helped out. It is perhaps a suitable time for a little sombre reflection on the state of the Cefn Sidan Club and the sport generally. The entire active sandyachting membership turned out for the regatta - Dave Shaw and Gordon Wright organising and helping, Len Warren run the event, and myself enjoying the racing. Just the three of us, only one of which lives within an hour's drive of the place! 
The Club may have the finest beach in the country but the club itself is on its knees. As is the competitive sport of Class 5 racing nationwide. The Class 5 fleet at our regatta numbered a mere 14 - just under half last year's fleet of 29. The Class 5 fleet at last year's European Championships was only 30 or so, down from 50+ in recent years, and only 40 at this year's event. | In America Class 5 has been replaced by the Fed 5 as a one design Class. As a Class 5 pilot, I feel like an endangered species. All, however, is not doom and gloom. Class 3 is positively thriving by comparison, and the parakarts/kitebuggies are a separate success story with ever-increasing numbers hitting the beaches. Perhaps it's only Class 5 that seems to have finally reached wherever it was going and this is it, the natural end, the decline into disinterest. Things may look grim for Class 5 but... these new mini yachts could produce an explosion of new interest in the sport. I've got one and it's brilliant, you'll have one soon (see separate article). The mini yachts are definitely excellent news and we ought to act now and produce a Specification for this new class of yacht before they start racing each other. Let us learn from the Windskate experience of yesteryear and the parakarters current problems with ever-increasing buggy size, and let's be prepared for once. Let's knock out a specification NOW and make sure the mini yachts stay mini. Our Team Training event over the late August Bank Holiday weekend was cancelled at the last minute due to apathy and adverse weather forecasts that turned out to be wrong, which left Dave Shaw and I to enjoy three whole days sailing on Pendine and Cefn Sidan in near perfect conditions. There is more to the sport than racing. One can enjoy chasing other yachts up and down the beach and there is no doubt that the competitive side of the sport is very important and is to be actively encouraged, but... let us not forget the sheer fun to be had belting about in a decent breeze, posing around on two wheels, sliding sideways on full opposite lock and spinning it at speed. There's also immense pleasure to be had in flirting with nature, exploring the fascinating bankscape revealed by the outgoing tide - sailing amidst the seabirds, far from the maddening crowds, leaving nothing but tyremarks on the virgin sands - it's the ultimate escape! There are vast areas of banks at both ends of Cefn Sidan, probably a couple of square miles or so, and even on Bank Holidays one can escape the hordes by venturing out onto the banks for a little exploration. It is always a challenge to try and pick your way through the streams, gulleys, holes, ponds, ripples and soft areas, out to the water's edge up to three miles away, with only the gulls for company. One needs to keep an eye on the incoming tide, but that somehow adds to the excitement and one simply cannot beat the thrill and sense of smug achievement of reaching the low water line and getting safely back again. The incoming tide brings a greater concentration of seabirds, either feeding in the shallows or resting on the beach. It is glorious to witness the huge flocks and the sight of several hundred oystercatchers taking flight in a mass of flickering black and white, is one to savour. Hordes of little manic beach-peckers ("sanderlings") scurry back and forth, and there are usually a few cormorants hanging their wings out to dry. There are also the shells to admire. Huge numbers of a specific type of shell can appear in a tiny area, but rarely in the same place twice. The How and Why remain a mystery, and there's also the flotsam and jetsam to be inspected and wondered about. All those single shoes and gloves, light bulbs, bottles, wheels, oranges, onions, dogfish, jellyfish, fishing nets, boxes and buoys all mingle with seaweed, multi-coloured plastic and bits of timber along the high water line. Indeed, there's lots to see on a beach like Cefn Sidan. Mother Nature is indeed wonderful and it's a privilege to be able to witness it at first hand. It's also a whole lot of fun to belt about in the midst of it all and it's a shame this side of the sport is rarely mentioned. Entry to the Pembrey Country Park hit the dizzy price of £5 per car for the duration of the summer hols. The charging has always been variable but £5 was an all-time high. The Park is noticeably more geared up with more facilities on offer to justify the entry fee. The restaurant in the park is actually open occasionally and does a tidy bite - decent filled rolls, sandwiches, choc ices, drinks etc, albeit at prices that make you wince, and I hear tell that the caravan site is half reasonable too. There's really no excuse for you not to treat yourself to a well-earned weekend away at Cefn Sidan and enjoy a little sail. Give me a ring and I'll join you for a day - 01437 781458 - which is also the sales hotline for the "Sandyachting - A History of the Sport and its Development in Britain" book, £16.50 incl postage and packaging. Hurry while stocks last etc. You'll be delighted to learn that sanity has returned to the entry charges to the Pembrey Country Park following the end of the school holidays - back to £1.20 again, and the ski lodge breakfast is still surprisingly good value. I thoroughly enjoyed following our dismal performance in the Euros over the internet - all co-ordinated by Merv Hurley out in NZ (bravo, Merv, it was worth all your effort) - and I was stunned to learn, sitting in my storm-lashed cottage in Westest Wales, that Gareth had tottered off into the night in Terschelling in his never-ending quest for lord knows what, a mere TWO minutes earlier. The parakarters held their "Last Gasp" event over four days from Thursday 26th October, with the four-hour enduro being held on the Saturday under extreme conditions - a howling force 8+ with torrential rain. The wind blew the tide back in so the beach was awash and 1.6 and 1.7m kites were used by the brave souls who ventured out. Several of the boys were off to their Euros in France on the Sunday and I was interested to see how much clutter they all have to take with them. The hotshots have at least two complete buggies, a couple of spare axles, up to 15 wheels and 12 - 15 kites. Several Continentals attended and the overall attendance was probably 60, down from 100 last year, but then the weather was pretty vile. The concept of a four-day event is interesting and is perhaps something we could consider, if we could whip up a little interest. Looking back, the summer was pretty good in West Wales, with lots of sailing throughout. The autumn brought its usual gales but heavy rain has restricted the sailing somewhat. The membership put in an appearance at Ryan's Regatta at Lytham on 4th and 5th November and enjoyed some rapid and extremely bouncy sailing out on the banks. Dave Shaw sheared an axle and several others suffered damage, including Chris Wright whose seat split. Chris continued his destructive phase the following weekend when he slid a club yacht off the end of the beach, over a five-foot drop, landing on his side in the Kidwelly River. Andy K445 [ t o p ] | | |
| From Andy Parr K445 |
FRIDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 2001 | Almost emailed from the beach but the lad's got grief with technology and besides which the wind perked up and off we went. Mmmm, it was a good way to spend the day. Arrived 10.30 and took delivery of the Club's new "Bootlegger" miniyacht.
Bright sunshine soon melted the frost and it was almost spring-like, there being no wind chill, there being no wind... so a thoroughly pleasant time was had nattering and rigging in the car park. The snack house didn't open until noon and one gourmet breakfast later there still wasn't a breath of wind but it was such a lovely day that we decided to take the yachts onto the beach and carry on nattering there. Out on the beach there was indeed the merest breeze so off we went. South, initially, but the breeze (an ultralight southerly if it was anything at all) wasn't at the southern end. It's odd how you roll to a halt, get out and think "Hmmm, no wind at all, I'll go back the other way" give it a push and off it goes, but go it did. So we headed north to the north end - lots of downwind tacking - then out onto the northern banks heading west as far as we could go on the dry sand. The banks were in superb condition so we set off exploring. I'd seen something yellow way out to sea last weekend and it turned out to be a new marker buoy. We met up and decided to dash down the southern end of the beach and meet up again at the western end of the southern banks but Chris Wright had picked up a puncture. He managed to sail most of the way back but the wind wasn't up to pushing him along on a totally flat tyre. Mark Lloyd and I launched the rescue operation and brought a spare wheel and restorative beers, then it was on to the southern banks but the tide was romping in so we had a little fun with the fishing-buoy-pick-up idea. The buoys are 6" or 8" long by 3" or 4" fat, oval in shape and fit snugly in the hand. We had a couple of them, chucked them out on the beach and all you had to do was pick one up. Easy-peasy. Except that it isn't. Far from it, it's nigh on impossible. Sure, you can roll gently upwind to the buoy at walking pace and pick it up easily but speed things up a bit and it begins to get tricky. Try bowling along flat out, which today won't have been 30 mph, and stopping to pick up a buoy under racing conditions where you want to lose as little time as possible and it gets decidedly interesting - or embarrassing if the others are watching. You'd think that - yes - a flying gybe turn should bring me nicely to the buoy, but you end up missing it by a good 10 yards or so - or, if you do get near it, the wheels hit it before you can grab it. It's also a bit hard on the fingers if you attempt a pickup at anything more than barely moving. We all enjoyed trying it for ages before muggins here suggested a northerly dash to the Range Mark before the light went completely. Unfortunately the wind died before we reached the rocks, but it was still valid back nearer the slipway so at least we ended the day sailing. And what a day. Wonderful. It seemed to get colder while we derigged. We're all well taken with the idea of the buoy pickup bit, but no one can see how we could incorporate it into the racing - yet! Mark's gone back to London filled with enthusiasm and Chris and I are meeting up again tomorrow for more of the same. Chris delivered the Club's new Yorker "Bootlegger" miniyacht and we rigged it this morning. Tomorrow, if the predicted winds arrive, we're going to have a day doing a thorough comparison between my Ludic and our British equivalent, the Bootlegger. It should be a very interesting experience indeed. At Ryan's Regatta back in the autumn we had some informal relay racing with two Ludics and one Bootlegger. There was absolutely nothing between them in terms of performance - top speed and pointing upwind. The "B" was easier to sheet in and seemed smoother to sail, but the Ludic won hands down on prettiness. My Ludic cost £720, the Club's Bootlegger £450. I'm thoroughly looking forward to a proper comparative test, either with Chris tomorrow or later. I'll do a proper write-up on a comparison between the two once I've tested the daylights out of our "B". We seem to have foregone the Dru and finished off that rather fine burgundy. The forecast for today (Saturday) was Variable 3 or 4, then SE 5 or 6 with gales later. Variable 3 or 4 means negligible in practical terms on the beach and that's what we had - the 5 or 6 happened earlier this evening - explaining the van's sprightly performance on the way home - and now we've got the gales, with a deluge for the last hour or so. Entirely in line with the forecast, just 12 hours late! It will take some pretty heavy rain to put Chris and I off tomorrow and I'll let you know how we get on. Dave Shaw's been in bed all day today with a heavy cold so no show 'cos he's out flat. |
SATURDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2001 - | CHALK 'N' CHEESE Well, it was raining when we hit the beach and it was worse when we emerged from breakfast, but CW was itching to get out there... so out we went.
The first casualty was the zip on my dry suit. We sallied forth in heavy rain with a good doutherly breeze, Force 5 or 6, and headed south to get across the wind. God it was wet! Followed the high water line until it got too soft, then dragged 'em through the soft to the banks of the Loughor, and managed to get to the southern end, a first for CW. So far so good. Then we headed west out onto the southern banks, which was a real struggle involving a tight pinch on a very narrow strip of decent but sloping sand right by the river. At this point we had capsize fever and CW nearly died laughing when he was following me downwind and I suddenly lost it, with 2 x 360 degree spins followed by a capsize backwards sliding down the bank into the river. My panic was evident as I can't swim and was scrambling away from the river while the yacht seemed determined to go in it. Luckily disaster was averted but the mast and boom got bent in the struggle to stay out of the river. I followed that by a dash back to the first river crossing - belted up to it, spun, and shot into the stream backwards for another hearty capsize in the middle thereof. At least I emerged laughing this time - unfortunately the rig got submerged and I was unable to separate the mast at the end of the day. A detour back north took us round the soft first bank and we were at last able to get out on the southern banks proper for a good thrash around. The rain eased, the banks dried, and we found ourselves a wonderful course on which to test the yachts properly. The chalk 'n' cheese bit... CW had Two Puddings' (Robert Green as he used to be affectionately known) new sail up for testing on the "Bootlegger" - a low aspect triangular simplistic sail, bright yellow and highly visible through the murk - whereas the Ludic rig is much higher aspect and much more modern. The "Bootlegger" sail wouldn't sheet in and flatten properly - solely due to the untapered battens giving a healthy belly to the sail. The Ludic sail suffers terribly from the top section above the top batten flapping wildly - but when it isn't flapping it's delivering the power by the bucket-load resulting in wild hikes with the mast leaning over at crazy angles. The "Bootlegger" was probably easier to keep on the deck but the upshot of all the testing was that there was nothing whatsoever to choose between the yachts. Purely for the records, CW couldn't catch me in either yacht - due to my 3 stone weight advantage! Another interesting observation was that the "Bootlegger" wouldn't point as well as the Ludic - but again it was all down to weight. Our finale was to dash downwind to the Range Mark, with the lead changing hands repeatedly as the yachts really were very evenly matched. Come the tacking race back, we swapped yachts so that CW had the Ludic which would theoretically point better and I took the "Bootlegger". No contest - CW was tacking back and fore like a good 'un while I just pointed the "Bootlegger" back down the beach, graunched it in tight and tootled sedately back with only a few tacks thrown in. It was definitely a day to be on the heavy side... CW had the last laugh and achieved a first by sailing round the back of the rocks without stopping... shows the extent of the erosion at Cefn - and we'd had the highest spring tide for ages. Oddly enough I'd tried to sail behind the rocks last weekend but it was seriously soft - not so this time! Conclusion... There's nothing to separate the yachts in terms of performance. Both go very well and both chassis absorb the ripples as well as each other. The rigs are as different as you could wish but there's no difference in performance - you could hoist any old sail and go just as quick. The "Bootlegger" is probably more forgiving to sail with less hiking and I was unable to get it to do the Ludic's favourite trick of sudden spinouts while belting downwind. Yup, the "Bootlegger" is probably more stable but the Ludic wins on looks. All in all another thoro'ly enjoyable bout of sailing - sopping wet, but a fascinating test of two totally different yachts. Tell me, do the Blokarts go the same as Ian McLachlan's Ludics? If so, then we've got an interesting phenomenon on our hands - as long as the yachts are the same size the performance is the same, almost regardless of sail shape - but we'll have a go at disproving that one in due course once the sewing machine makes it's appearance known at the end of this month. Two Puddings' new sail couldn't be simpler - one sheet of cloth with added batten pockets, and he's even used the same cloth for the mast pocket. I hope to knock up a simple single piece of cloth type sail initially (for the c5), see how that looks and take it from there - certainly the Two Pudding flat sail had stacks of belly to it, which could have easily been moved forward towards the mast by the use of some proper battens. I'm certain there's a lot of bollox inflicted on us by our dear sailmakers, and I'm equally certain there'll be more to it than meets the eye once we start stitching. Right, time to hit Rod's Diner for a bite 'n' beers. Tomorrow - hmmm, possibly more of the same if everything's dried out in time. We've a new recruit - Ceri Davies - a real Welshman for once - and local too. He's got my old Al. Hoping all's well Andy K445 [ t o p ] | | |
| From Andy Parr K445 |
SUNDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2001 | Well, the forecast for Sunday was northerly 5 or 6, increasing 7 later and going round to the SW... just what the Doctor ordered. Saturday was N 5 or 6, decreasing 4 - and a fat lot of good that was. Anything 4 frankly isn't worth having, unless it's SW and sunny in which case it can team up with the sea breezes to give some worthwhile sailing conditions.
Yesterday was sunny enough to get the lawn mown, from which it can recover in due course. Today - well, the plan was to get some serious sailing in with the 5s then get the Minis out as the wind picked up. It was blowing nicely here in the west, but over breakfast at the ski lodge, there looked to be precious little wind to me so I hoisted my race sail. Dave Shaw brought along his new chassis for me to admire - the pivot point for the front tubes is behind the mast and will be inside the seat, but he's got some more work to do with the pivot before he slaps a seat on it and unfortunately I broke his pivot bracket testing it in the car park... oops! So off we went to the beach, where we had a teasing little Northerly, a 3 if that. We tacked north on a very narrow strip of flat sand - the rest being rippled, badly so. Poor old Whiskers (Dave) hadn't been out for a month or so and was decidedly rusty. I kept going back to gee him up a bit but to no avail, his yacht simply wasn't going well, or at all... When we reached the range mark, the wind faded away to the occasional merest little breeze - enough for me to keep going to the Kidwelly River, but no sign of Whiskers. Not to worry - off I went out onto the banks, which were in pretty good shape, unlike the wind - so I did some buoy pick-up practice and waited... and waited... could see Dave f*rting about amidst the poles, way out on the worst of the ripples. 
"Old Whiskers"... Dave Shaw who struggled with the day's wind.
Eventually he made it out onto the banks but the wind reallly was non-existent, so I went back to meet him whereupon the wind died completely, leaving us to walk back. Poor old Dave had had a terrible time of it - much pushing on the ripples, then he'd lost a lens from his glasses and spent ages looking for it. He wasn't rapturously happy but long before we'd reached the range mark, the merest little breeze arrived and, being back on the nice flat sailable sand, I was able to get mine going and spent the rest of the day sailing back and fore while Dave pushed, scooted and generally did his level best to get going - but to no avail.
| In the end he sailed the last 400 yards or so - poor sod, he was shattered by the end of it. I had a splendid time of it tootling back and fore in the ultralight breezes, but I reckon Dave won't have counted the day as being a success. My race sail looks surprisingly good with my new extra long stiffener, and my ability to sail in zilch wind is a new-found delight. Dave, however, will have gone home depressed. Well, not necessarily. During that last 400 yards he was catching me nicely and I guess he'll savour those 400 yards until he's next out. Unfortunately he was way off the pace on the upwind leg which was a shame as I'd thought the old buzzard was getting the hang of it at last and it's a long while since I had to circle round waiting for him to catch up. Oh well, who knows... We did find some interesting munitions out on the beach - cannon shells, with tips that unscrewed (I've the innards of one on my kitchen table even now, a lovely piece of turned depleted Uranium)... well, hopefully not - looks more like some form of aluminium alloy. The sand levels were well down, exposing the munitions, and also the vegetation removed from the dunes by the tides. In all fairness the beach generally was not in good shape, but then we have had northerlies for quite a while now. It was also pretty friggin nippy out there today. Had the wind blown, the wind chill would have been unpleasant. The world was white on the way there - just the merest dusting of snow on my freshly-mown lawn at this end, but between Haverfordwest and Carmarthen the fields were all white - but not a speck had fallen south of Carmarthen - and at Dave's end there'd been lots of snow. Dave'll be enjoying an Old Speckled Hen at this very moment. He's had a brute of a day and guess he'll sit back, savour the silence, bank up the fire, and uncork a bottle or two. Which sounds like an excellent idea. Right, time to hit Rod's Diner (The Druidstone - http://www.druidstone.co.uk/ ) which should be delightfully quiet now that half term is over and the kids will all have gone. The next few weeks are my favourite time of year at the Dru, when the customer is completely outnumbered by the staff... and when I go home they shut up shop and do likewise... Mmmmm. Andy K445 [ t o p ] |
| From Andy Parr K445 |
SATURDAY, 10 MARCH 2001 |
Pendine Sands, venue of many a land speed record attempt before the American salt lakes became accessible, is near Tenby in Southwest Wales. The south facing beach is 6 or 8 miles long, generally flat and perfect for sandyachting or breaking speed records.
The beach curves round to face southeast towards the eastern end and this last mile or so of beach can be rippled and/or soft, which is a shame as it is by far the most attractive part of the beach - with views up three different estuaries and across to the northern end of Cefn Sidan Sands - with some tempting and as yet unexplored banks, the majority of which are in a designated Danger Area, which is why they remain unexplored! The danger comes from unexploded munitions - there is a Testing Ground behind the dunes, and judging by the stuff we find lying around on the beach outside the Danger Area, the contents of the Official Danger Area, the "High Explosive Pit" as the Military refer to it in reverential tones, are best left undiscovered. The main part of the beach, the four or so miles nearest the Pendine village that face due south, is where the speed record attempts take place and where the sailing is best. There are westerly views along the stunning Pembrokeshire coastline towards Tenby, and the backdrop is dunes, with a wooded ridge rising up a mile or so inland. The beach is invariably sailable, though prolonged northerlies will make the surface rippled, and it is very slow to dry in winter, but the big bonus is that you can drive cars onto it. In summer the area nearest the slipway can resemble a supermarket carpark with row upon row of neatly parked cars, but there is always space to sail at the far (eastern) end - even on the hottest Bank Holiday. Personally I think Pendine is far inferior to Cefn Sidan, but it's only a 45-minute drive from my place, and it is the perfect place to sail as fast as possible in a southwesterly, which is what we were forecast. It was also fortunate as the Foot & Mouth problems have resulted in the closure of the Pembrey Country Park, which unfortunately includes Cefn Sidan Sands so sailing there is not an option. Saturday brought a uniformly grey sky with no individual clouds discernable, drizzle and a stiff breeze. The Foot & Mouth ban has extended to almost all the beaches nationwide, hence the large number of parakarters from all over. Some fellow from up north had brought a couple of vanfuls of parakarts and some trainees of varying ability. Dave Shaw and I spent a goodly while chatting and admiring the latest toy to hit the Welsh beaches... a skateboard 4 feet long with twin wheels at either end and snowboarder boot clamps to lock your feet onto the board. You clamp your feet onto the board, hoist your kite and off you go... in fine style. It's actually a No Snow Board, or a Mountain Board, and they're used in a totally separate sport in which the deranged clamber up the steepest hill they can find, clamp on the board and hurtle back downhill at breakneck speed. This chap had borrowed four of them from the manufacturers and this was their official testing with kites. They did look very impressive indeed and seemed much easier to turn than the trad kite buggy - but the bootclamps need rethinking. Some form of quick release mechanism is called for. Once you'd fallen over, you had to unclamp your feet before you could stand up again - and lordy, did we see some spectacular spills. A couple of them had got the hang of it and did some particularly impressive and posy sailing involving bouncing the board around to change direction and even some airborne twizzly turns - it did look like good wholesome fun, and an excellent way of discovering precisely where the nearest hospital is. Meanwhile another couple of lads had arrived with a vanful of ready-filthy kitebuggying equipment, including two extremely battered and bent buggies. They were keen to check out the beach so we pointed them in the right direction and said we'd meet them at the other end, six miles away, due downwind - Force 6, due west with just a hint of south in it at times - and off they went. The beach was perfect but very wet, with only a narrow strip say 80 yards wide that was dry - though the dry area increased as you headed east so there was sufficient space to wind the yacht up nicely. Lots of tailfins off mortars(??) from the military lurking in the dunes, lying on the beach just waiting for a sandyacht tyre to happen upon it. Lots of flotsam, bottles, timber and suchlike up the eastern end - lots of reasons why clean goggles were essential. The kite buggy boys charged off through the wet stuff without a care. Mind you, when we finally caught up with them, they'd found the end of the beach all right, by emulating Chris Wright and belting smartly over a 4-foot drop into the river. There are banks off the eastern end of Pendine that I've never dared explore before - and the tide was as far out as it ever goes, 0.04m, and there were four of us... so we had a brief go at them - or rather the kite buggy boys said: "Out there? Oh right".... and shot off through all manner of lakes, streams and on to distant banks far beyond my nerve. I stayed close to shore and was relieved when they returned - having been cut off by the tide once before and having no desire to repeat the experience. Apparently the buggies float - these two lads had both crossed deep water before and the buggy sinks just below the surface and the sea's lapping round your belly button, and you just keep flying that kite heading happily forwards. Mind you, these lads were into everything involving kites - body surfing with kites, proper surfing with kites - and the battered buggies were testimony to their prowess at buggy jumping, and by the end of the day they'd thrashed around in the Ludic and mastered the snowboard thingy. Meanwhile Dave and I decided to check out the erosion - it was after all the highest tide of the year, low pressure too - so great areas of dunes had been trimmed right back, with the flotsam stacked on top. Found a couple of fishing buoys and spent a fair while sliding around playing pick-up on the pan at the eastern end. Too much time passed enjoyably and when Dave suggested heading back I looked at the tide and thought Oh Shit! The highest tide of the year... it's romping in... and we're 5 miles downwind of the cars with one heck of a lot of tacking to do to get back... and neither of us has had a puncture yet... and I was using the A sail which doesn't point upwind at all... Ooo er... with a rising sense of panic we tacked frantically back. We were parked right at the village end and the tide comes in at the village end first, cutting off the slipway. Normally that wouldn't matter - you'd just stay out on the beach and wait for the tide to retreat - but not when it's the highest tide of the year you don't, cos there ain't gonna be any beach left to stay out on - and no hope of parking up in the dunes either - I checked, believe me, I checked - every inch of those 5 miles. Never has so much clutter been so hastily packed up - and yes we had to drive in the sea to get onto the slipway - I reckon we had 5 minutes left. An extremely exciting end to a full day's fun on the beach. What a day. The erosion is spectacular - towards the eastern end the dunes have been stripped away to reveal a bank of rocks, put there presumably by the military but I wonder when. All those tailfins - we took a look along the highwater mark - great drifts of large pink scallopy-type shells, then half a dozen tailfins, 2 whole ?mortary things. Tailfins all over the beach, and rusty lumps of iron (?shrapnel), and several broken bottles and yet no punctures, despite all the sliding around. As the day went on, the eastern end of the beach dried out nicely, but the narrow strip at the village end didn't seem to get any wider. Lordy, we were lucky.
SUNDAY, 11 MARCH 2001 |
Dave couldn't manage Sunday. The forecast was initial murky gloom clearing from the west. Here being as "west" as it gets, I felt there might be a chance of an afternoon sail. One look at the sopping filthy gear in the van from yesterday and I decided to take the whole lot back to the beach and sort it out there.
Drove through thick fog all the way to the beach - it was probably low cloud as you drove out of it as you dropped down the hill into Pendine village, such as it is. The beach was the same as yesterday, same narrow dry strip, same drying pan area at the eastern end, with a Force 5 SW. No parakarters, not a soul about - except for the Ministry of Defence Police Land Rover, which is always an ominous sign. We're allowed to sail there - no problems at all - but they do tend to be the bearers of bad news, like "Sorry boys, this far and no further." He came belting across to cut me off as I bowled merrily east (downwind), but bore away as I slowed down - so I seized the chance to carry on, sheeted it in nice and tight and didn't look back until I reached the river 4 miles away. The beach may have been the same as yesterday, but there was a magnificent dry bank that ran way back behind the Danger Area. The angle of the bank to the wind was perfect for an exhilarating down wind dash for at least 2 miles. It was also the only area of the beach that was free of tailfins. I kept catching glimpses of the Land Rover in the distance and kept belting off in the opposite direction and enjoyed 2 hours sailing before electing to face the music. Successfully found a fine fishing crate that I'd not had time to collect yesterday, and eyed up the erosion. Last night was indeed the highest tide of the year and the dunes had been trimmed back yet again - revealing bits of flotsam embedded in the dune itself. The dune's probably barely a year old but it feels as though it ought to have been there for at 30 years. Who knows. The Land Rover duly arrived and yes, "get thee back up to the village end, we've got an unexploded mortar so off you go." "Just the one?" "We found 2 yesterday, just here somewhere!" He wasn't impressed. The tailfins are off a 40 mm shell and where we were talking was carpeted with the things in their hundreds if not thousands. He reckoned the sand was at it's lowest level for many years, hence why they're all exposed, which does seem to make sense. Carted the fishbox back to the van to find Andy Durrant sailing round it in a "Shrimp", a Welsh Windskate-type mini yacht of circa 1980 vintage. He'd been with us sailing yesterday but we'd not had the chance of a natter. Where I'd parked was the only dry area of any size and he'd been sailing round a couple of marks so... out with the Ludic and round the marks till dizzy, swap yachts, carry on etc. He even managed to fit in my 5... At some point the fog/cloud cleared and glimpses of sunshine were seen. It turned into a fine late afternoon and for once the forecasters were right. Yesterday was fair enough, but today was an unexpected pleasure. Hoping all's well. Cheers. Andy K445 [ t o p ] |
| From Andy Parr K445 |
SATURDAY, 17 MARCH 2001 |
The Foot & Mouth problems have scuppered the regattas at Mablethorpe, Brean and Cefn Sidan. Brean was the latest to cancel and the tides at Pendine for the Brean weekend (7th & 8th April) were superb, so it has been decided to transfer the Cefn Regatta to Pendine on 7th & 8th April - and muggins here has to organise it.
I've sailed on Pendine for 15 years and know the beach well, whereas I know nothing about the local amenities, so I set out last Saturday (17th) to commence my education. There's 500-plus caravans in Pendine, all controlled by one operator and not one caravan is available that weekend, which is a shame as we'll be doing a joint venture with the parakarters and there could be 60-plus folks to house. There are lots of options and, having made a suitable start, I ventured out on to the beach for a sail. 
The wind was NE, coming off the dunes, and rather blustery, Force 4 or 5. The beach was suitably flat with a nice dry strip near the high water mark, so off I went east. As I rounded the corner towards the eastern end the wind became cleaner and the pan area was in good condition so I thrashed around on that for a while until I punctured the front wheel. Sailed back, couldn't find a spare tube or the repair kit so there was nothing for it but to pack up and head home, knowing full well that I'd be back tomorrow for a full day's sailing with Dave Shaw and Mark Lloyd, the latter coming down from London for the day.
SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2001 |
The three of us were rigged and ready to sail by 11 am. The beach was drier, still lovely and flat and the wind was from the same direction but had increased to a Force 5 or 6. We were also on neap tides so we didn't need to worry about the tide coming in - there was a good 70 yards of usable beach above the high water line - and the prospect of a whole day's sailing looked good.
Mark has a selection of rigs and he's been itching to test them one against the other. Unfortunately his yacht is a different design to mine - mine's a standard latest YOTT, whereas his has twin tubes running to the front wheel with the mast foot between the tubes, resulting in a mast that starts much nearer the ground. His masts were all 6 - 8" too long for my yacht. Dave was using one of our Club yachts, a Fed 5, with 26" wheels and another of Mark's rigs. As on Saturday, the journey east was "hikey" as gusts hit from over the dunes, but again once we were round the corner the wind became cleaner and the fun began. The spring tides of the previous weekend had pushed the dunes right back and left a firm sailable surface right up to the dunes. The sand level had also risen by a foot or so, conveniently burying all the military nastiness, so we had this lovely wide expanse of dry pan area to play with. There were lumps of crud along the high waterline and scattered randomly about all over the eastern end of the beach, with only a few areas of soft at the absolute end and along the river bank - but otherwise the beach was in absolutely prime condition. I've rarely seen that eastern end in such good shape. Come the summer we'll not be able to get past the Danger Area 'cos the whole area goes soft. Lots of long tacks upwind up the pan to the river, then wait until the sand is blowing nicely, then thrash back across the beach for some really fast downwind dashes and repeat for a couple of hours - which is precisely what we did. Then back to the cars to swap rigs and back to the eastern pan again for more chasing each other around. At some point we managed a third rig swap and the setting sun finally stopped play. 
The high point for Dave was when he tried Mark's yacht - we simply couldn't catch him - and similarly Mark was nowhere in Dave's yacht. Dave emerged suitably reassured that it's not him, it's his yacht that's the problem - and he's all fired up to finish off his new yacht, which in turn has been a long time coming. My lasting memory of the day will be of blasting downwind through drifting sand to join Mark in one of several fast westerly dashes and also belting round the waterline of the river at the eastern end on a newly-found strip of firm sand that skirted the soft, and heading off up the estuary towards Laugharne... into a muddy quagmire. What a day! The sun even shone towards the end and the sunset was the icing on the cake. The Welsh Sandyacht Championships and the Welsh Parakart Championships take place at Pendine on 7th & 8th April. If you would like to see the sport at first hand, Pendine is spectator-friendly in that you can drive your car onto the beach and watch from the comforts thereof. Why not pop along? Andy K445
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ALL THE ABOVE PHOTOS are from MARK LLOYD'S CAMERA | CLICK ON ABOVE PIX FOR FULL SIZE IMAGES
| From Andy Parr K445 |
SUNDAY, 21 APRIL 2001 |
Today I've been out to play... the tides were perfect for a full day on the beach &, with Cefn Sidan open again when the powers that be realised that the Pembrey Country Park isn't exactly teeming with cattle or sheep, Dave Shaw and I decided to make sure the beach was still there. We've had northerlies for a week and the beach at Cefn can be a frightful mess of ripples and holes after prolonged winds off the land - but, as luck would have it, there was plenty of dry hard flat sand to play with.
The ski lodge snack house has also been upgraded, or rather completely refitted with a new kitchen and new high tables with modern high stools that look impossible but are in fact quite comfy - and they've stopped serving toast, which is a bit of a blow as our traditional breakfast used to involve fried eggs on toast. Eggs on baps aren't quite the same but doubtless we'll get used to it. Meanwhile, out on the beach were 2 Blokarts and 4 Parakarts - part of a course being run by Para Adventure of Abergavenny, the main man being the Official Importer of said Blokarts... "Really?" we said, "and what about the White Water Consultancy chap in Carmarthen who's got 6 to sell, and Barry Woodhouse in Somerset with 47 in his basement, and the fellow who turned up at York last weekend" - there seem to be an awful lot of Official Importers... in fact I've not seen a privately owned Blokart yet. They do seem to be generating a tremendous amount of interest and I'm getting lots of people asking me about them - all of whom get told to wait a couple of weeks and take a look at the new Welsh Mini. The problem with the Blokart, apart from needing a decent breeze to get it going, is that it doesn't like getting covered in sand - the bits that slotted together so nicely at the start of the day can become firmly jammed together. 
Andy Parr, all arms and legs, attempting to sail one of the New Zealand designed and built Blokarts at Pendine Sands a few weeks ago. The Blokart was recently released in Britain but hasn't been taken too favourably by the British landsailing fraternity who have taken to calling the mini-yacht "Blowprams". One of the Blokarts capsized heavily on Cefn today and the pilot was very slow in disentangling himself, so I sailed over to assist. The chap had smashed his glasses and had cuts above his eyebrow (no helmet!) but otherwise seemed okay, and the sidestays on the yacht had bent. Oh well. We started the day with a light southwesterly - just enough to get our Class 5s running nicely, so off we went to the northern end of the beach to see if the banks were still there. The beach was badly rippled amidst the poles and the strip of dry sand narrowed down to about 50 yards wide, with a couple of high water lines worth of flotsam to contend with, plus a few hidden short stumpy poles among the seaweed... I persevered, tacking through it all, and looked back to see Dave taking the direct route out to the banks, through an impenetrable mess of moon country, and knew I'd not see Dave for at least half an hour while he struggled through that lot. The best route out to the banks is to follow the river and sure enough, there was a lovely dry route out - dry, and only lightly rippled, eminently suited to charging back and fore while Dave turned green with envy as he slogged through some truly frightful terrain. Belting back inland beside the river was great fun, and we even carried on along what felt like a 45 degree slope to the big wreck, before deciding to tootle off to the southern end of the beach and check out the southern banks.  The ribs of the big wreck on Cefn Sidan - a leftover from the days of yore when the "wreckers" used to light fires on the beach to draw in unsuspecting sailing ships who thought the lights signified they were sailing into safer waters. Once the ships were grounded the wreckers set about pillaging the cargoes and oft as not, dispensing swiftly with the hapless sailors and passengers. Dave elected to continue to the southern end itself, and I veered off out onto the banks. Again, the preferred route is to follow the river, but not today - too much soft and moon country - whereas 100 yards away from the river was the place to be, so the banks were duly checked. Heading back inland I spied what seemed to be a JCB-type digger heading my way - it turned out to be a large dredger sailing out down the river, so I treated the crew to a demonstration of a sandyacht struggling in soft sand. Often one can run along the river bank right to the southern tip of the beach, to the Burry Port Harbour Lighthouse, but not a chance - so much soft sand, such large areas of vicious ripples. Dave wasn't having much luck at the southern end itself - he'd shot down there on the only bit of semi decent sand, only to find that it was that slightly soft stuff that you can happily sail over downwind, but can't get going upwind on as you sink oh so slightly into it. Having duly enlightened each other as to where the ghastly bits were, we when charged happily around all over the good bits of beach then opted for a tea break. It was on the way back to the slipway that the Blokarter capsized - he saw me going flying past him and his look of amazement when I rolled to a stop beside him a couple of seconds later, was wonderful. Can't help wondering precisely which bit of yacht did his glasses in... The incoming tide had taken the banks so Round 2 of our sailing was restricted to thrashing up and down the beach in what was now a pleasant Force 4 or 5. We'd seen some fishermen park their car by the Kidwelly River in an area usually impossibly soft, so we kept nipping back to see if they'd get stuck - they didn't, but part of Dave's yacht decided it had had enough. Dave's yacht is his latest prototype, as unveiled at Pendine but slightly modified since. It's still in the development phase and he's found one bit that needs beefing up. I reckon it'll be a belter when he's got it sorted - at one point he must have sailed 3 or 4 miles with me trying my hardest to catch him but to no avail - it'll be me doing the following more often this summer. His yacht's got twin tubes going to the front wheel, with the mast foot between the tubes - a full 9" lower than my mine - with the whole front end pivoted behind the mast, controlled by a coiled spring damper. The steering cables run inside the front tubes and there's all manner of nifty features to it - far too many to go in to in detail, and besides my vocabulary isn't up to it. Suffice to say it's a typically Dave tasty production. Back in the car park, derigging took some time as folks wanted to talk mini yachts... Mr Blokart has certainly stirred up some healthy interest in the sport and we're rushing ahead with our Welsh Mini - the prototype got the seal of approval last weekend at Pendine and is away being measured up for a seat, to return next weekend for further testing with prototype masts and sails. The idea's to have it on the beach for the Cefn Regatta in 3 weeks time. Thinking of which, I took a drive around Burry Port after sailing today and it looks as though we've got the Saturday night social sorted - a pub called the "Ship Aground", with a suitable supply of accommodation within walking distance - a nice hotel for the Class 3 pilots, a couple of B&Bs and some rentable caravans... something for everyone! It was wonderful to be out on Cefn again after what seems like ages but was probably only 6 weeks, and a delight to see the beach in such good condition, considering the week of northerlies. Hoping all's well with everyone Cheers Andy K445
| From Andy Parr K445 |
SATURDAY, 28 APRIL 2001 | Sounds as though all the Kiwis had a wonderful time at Orewa. I popped out for a late thrash at Cefn Sidan on Saturday afternoon - a stiff Force 5 or 6 straight off the sea, so it was a bit of a brute if the truth be known - it's always a struggle to sheet in hard when the wind's at 90 degrees to you. Luckily Cefn's large enough, and suitably curved, so there's always somewhere available to make best use of the wind - and make best use of it I did, the southern end being the place for maximum speeds, with an unusual area of soft extending well out from the dunes, effectively blocking the usual dry route round to the Southern tip by Burry Port harbour.
The Cefn regatta is in two weeks time, so the tides will be the same as this weekend's. Next weekend's tide times: Saturday, tide in at 9.45am, out at 4 pm, and Sunday, in at 10.15am, out at 4.30pm - are certainly far from ideal, hence why we tried to shift the Welsh Championships to Pendine, and I guess the date was originally chosen as being the best of the few remaining dates available - we never seem to be quick enough off the mark in grabbing the dates - so we're stuck with the tides as they are. Mind you, the tides are perfect for sailing late on the Saturday (and the Friday, and the Sunday!) and Lordy, will the race fraternity be impressed if the sun shines and the beach dries as it did this weekend. The beach today was a real treat. A gloriously sunny day at home with the merest little breeze coming off the sea, enough to abandon all thoughts of gardening in favour of yet another foray to Cefn. and Wow! Worth it or what! The sea breeze was a stiff westerly - (yesterday's was SW) - Force 5, enough to get the sand blowing nicely - and the beach was bone dry, rock hard, flat and free of holes. The wind direction was absolutely perfect for good speeds in both directions, and it went round to the NW later just to add a little variety. It must be the first sign of summer, when the beach dries out completely to the low water mark - and there was hardly a hole to be found anywhere. Normally there are areas of the beach that are truly frightful, no-go areas - but not so today - the whole beach was readily sailable. It was a shame no one else was out to enjoy it, but I did my best to cover the entire beach with tyremarks, and just about succeeded. Found a way round the soft towards the southern end, then punctured just short of the harbour. The prospect of 3 miles tacking upwind back to the slipway looked set to take the rest of the afternoon, but managed to run the most humungus great tack way out onto the southern banks, and tack neatly back to the slip - something that would otherwise have been impossible as the relevant areas of the southern banks have been soft for months, but the beach today really was in the most fabulous condition. Quite the best I've seen it since last summer. Ended up thoroughly exploring the southern banks - normally a hair-raising experience in a decent breeze, with holes, moon country, lakes, gulleys, etc all to be negotiated at alarming speed - but they were in pristine condition, just there for carefree blasting about on. Checked out the northern banks and it was the same story there - all neatly flattened out and ready to sail all over. Ended up getting quite disorientated for a while - the bankscape had changed that much. Even the area with the poles was fair game. Yesterday's wind was just a tad too much to risk venturing amidst the poles - they're bit of railway line stuck in the beach, some form of wartime defence. Anyway hitting a pole is NOT an option, and there's probably 100 to chose from but, when conditions are perfect, there's great fun to be had a-sliding and a-slithering around them. The northern end of the beach, beyond the Range Mark (a massive single pole, 24" square in section), is the military bit with the poles, beyond which lie the banks, which are best accessed via the side if the river at the northern end, and behind the dunes is a military gunnery range (planes fly in and shoot at something) which is why the military close their bit off between 9 and 5, weekdays only. There's also an airfield behind the dunes somewhere, the relevance of this being that, last weekend, Dave and I enjoyed watching a couple of stunt planes practising some manoeuvres above the beach - then, when Dave had to stop to incorporate some driftwood to lift his seat off the deck, these 2 planes zoomed overhead and proceded to give us a full 15 minute display. Dave called at the airfield afterwards and thanked one of the pilots - evidently the skies will be full of all manner of wacky aircraft this summer as the airfield's adopted a new policy. Today there was a slow lumbering something or other cruising around the skies and doing really low runs over Pendine and Cefn. All I can say is that, if the sun shines on Saturday, we could all be in for a treat. I've stuck a line through that Friday afternoon in the hope that the sun shines and the wind blows... Nothing of earth shattering newsworthiness to report. Our Welsh mini yacht is coming together with a test of masts and sails planned for next weekend, with the first batch due to be on the shelves by the end of June. As there is a lot of testing to be done, I can see the Class 5 being mothballed fairly soon. Right, time to get cleaned up. Cheers Andy K445
| From Andy Parr K445 |
SATURDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER, 2001 | Took a break from assembling Potties to attend the X-Zone Autumn Games, delivering four Potties en route on Saturday which explained my late arrival at 2.30pm, to find the sky packed with kites and parakarts whizzing around all over the flat, hard, dry sands in the sunshine, in a good 5 or 6 SW breeze, straight off the sea.
What a thoroughly heart-warming sight! The tide, out at 11.30 am, had turned and was romping in, so it was a case of "sail now, chat later". Rigged a Potty and shot off, into the thick of all the activity. Lordy, what a lot of them there were! Couldn't figure out what courses they were using as there was clearly more than one course being used at once, so crept respectfully past their racing activity, out by the incoming tide, and headed north where I was amazed to find the entire beach covered with tyremarks... absolutely all of it! I started thinking I bet they've not been right out there... but they had! So what the heck was going on? Well, the parakart events so far at Cefn have been organised either by the PKA or the BBC (British Buggying Corporation) but this was being organised by X-zone, who are a bunch of guys who come to Cefn and Pendine regularly and felt like organising a parakart weekend. I'd been initially sceptical as I'd received emails wanting use of our club facilities for last weekend, when the tides were crap, and besides which their hotshots would've been finishing the Euros so, suffice to say, I was keen to see what was happening on the beach! Officially, 60 folk paid to race - but given that everyone I spoke to on Saturday said "No, I'm not racing, I just heard something was on and came along to sail in company", I reckon the number of buggies out on the beach was nearer 100, say 90ish. They even had races for Mountain Boards. I took m'Potty to the river at the north end of the beach and had just tacked my way back to the Range Mark when 10 or 12 kitebuggies came belting by downwind. Couldn't resist it and joined 'em in a downwind dash to the river again - proving that a Potty downwind isn't a match for a racing parakart, but will certainly give the backmarkers a run for their money... then it was tacking back upwind again, through all the poles, pools, gulleys, etc which were in fine condition and easy to navigate around - and I must say I thoro'ly enjoyed all the cross tacking but, when all's said and done, a miniyacht ain't competitive against a decent parakart - upwind or down - or even reaching - and eventually even the backmarkers got away. When I finally decided to have a go at getting back past where the kites were racing - and no, I've no idea if that was a race I joined in on or what - I tried to sneak along the rapidly incoming waterline, and had a very exciting moment when the incoming tide arrived at a turning mark at the same time as two fishermen retreating from the tide, myself, and nine racing Mountain Boarders coming the other way. Thank God you can stop a miniyacht by digging your feet in to the beach - heading in to the sea was not an option as there was already one kitebuggyer out there caught by an earlier wave and a kite surfer trying to launch and who knows where the fishermen's lines were in all this, so I stopped 20 yards short of it all, then tootled on by! Dave Shaw brought his family down, including son, Peter, and his tiny Japanese wife Femeer, complete with baby. Femeer loves her sandyachting and was gone for hours in a Potty - she went south and found some softer bits, capsized a couple of times and generally enjoyed herself and eventually returned grinning from ear to ear - but not before Pete had rushed about asking "Where's Femeer? I need her breasts..." Steve May was also out on the beach, as was Gordon Wright who was testing his spine after 18 months of grief in that department. And the Park Ranger was not a happy bunny at all - had a go at nearly all of us for sailing too close to the slipway, but heck, the tide was effectively in, so we were all crammed on to a tiny stretch of hard sand. The Ranger was apoplectic by the time we all left the beach, but nothing to worry about there - he's the same old miseryguts who's given us grief for years and who's actually very low on the hierarchy so doesn't really count at all - methinks he and Dave might have had words as Dave was less than impressed with the fellow, described him as a right little Hitler and, when Dave asked him if he was new to the job, received the reply that "No, he's spent the last 19 years chasing sandyachts on this beach!" and I expect the fishermen will have something to say about the kite surfing side of things as I saw one chap set off straight in front of two fishermen. But leaving all the hassle that'll doubtless arise, it really was a pure pleasure to see the beach at it's absolute best - being enjoyed by so many folk doing so many different things - and the few public that were there had a treat and a half... Oh, and Lord knows how many film crews there were there - two lots got good footage of the turning mark chaos tho' the wave got the bigger crew. It really was the most wonderful day - some of the more macho parakarters had dispensed with their shirts, it was that warm - but windy with it, dropping to a poor Force 5 by the time the tide was in. What a day! The parakarters had themselves a little village of tents, vans, campers etc - and had come from all over the S and SW of the UK - one heck of an acheivement for the organisers, and the sheer fact that they managed to cover the whole beach with tyremarks bears witness to the fun that was had by one and all. and in two weeks time there's an official PKA event at Cefn. Notice how I've not mentioned, Sunday... Excellent breeze - a good 6 or 7 SW, but with continuous light drizzle, with squalls of heavy rain - didn't venture out of the car park, but spent an enjoyable day catching up on the gossip. Cheers Andy K445
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