2015
December
2015 - A good year at BG
Once again we find ourselves at the end of another successful year for skippers across the world using our sails and designs. With the 2015 season now in the books we can reflect on results achieved and look at what challenges lie ahead for 2016.
In the IOM class our sails and BritPOP/POP designs again led the way in many competitions around the globe, with the highlight being a 1,2 finish at the World Championships in Foster City, USA for BG and Peter Stollery. Of note was that Peter was using the very same hull and rigs used to win his 2011 title at West Kirby with the only addition being a new suit of A rig sails.
Our BritPOP design won no less than 10 National Championships with wins in the United Kingdom, Italy, Brasil, United States, Norway, Turkey, France, Portugal, Chile and Thailand. National podium places were also recorded in Australia, Spain and Denmark. At State, Regional and District level the BritPOP continues to show the competitive value and longevity of our design since first launched in 2010 with numerous victories worldwide, highlighted by another year remaining undefeated over the toughest of UK ranking seasons in the hands of 4 different skippers.
The Marblehead class continues its re-growth and with it our results have remained as strong as ever. The class highlight of the year was the GBR Nationals where a 20 year record entry of 55 skippers raced over 2 days at Manor Park Sailing Club. Our Grunge design and sails once again came out on top for the 4th year running beating the well sailed Quark of Laurent Gerbaud from France, with Peter Stollery in 3rd sailing an Uproar. Also at National level, Italian Matteo Longhi recorded wins in the Swiss, French and Italian Championships along with taking out the Garda 2014 Pre Worlds event using our sails.
In the UK ranking season, our sails won all but one event over the course of the season with the one blip coming from a win with our 'Pimped' Bantock Paradox design at Yeovil using the original fitted swing rig and sails of over 20 years age showing the competitive value out there of quality older designs in the class.
2015 was a year in which we were presented with the opportunity of analyzing our first 10 Rater design against some of the best designers and skippers on both sides of the world. In Australia Scott Condie using our Trance prototype was second to Graham Bantock in January in Perth at the AUS Nationals. This event offered useful feedback on where we were at within the design envelope in the class against the Bantock Diamond design, regarded the class benchmark for a number of years.
Prototype number 2, built by Scott in Australia, arrived in the UK for painting and rigging. With minor setup tweaks and balancing, our Trance number 2 managed a solid win at the UK Nationals over Graham using his own boat on what could only be described as some of the best open water sailing conditions at West Kirby in the North. Some more tweaks are planned for the design for 2016 with a Worlds in Italy, along with the UK Nationals and ranking weekend at the open Datchet Water venue in the South.
Our RG65 design 'Electronica' finally had a taste of racing with the National Championships held at Watermead mid year. Against a strong field of UK designs recently returned from a Euro Open, our design settled in quite nicely after some early not unexpected tuning tweaks to record a strong win. To date our race time with the 'Electronica' has been somewhat limited against quality opposition to refine and develop the package but we look forward to some more opportunities in 2016 with it, knowing it is no slouch.
New lines plans for both the IOM and Marblehead class were released in January and over the course of the year we have been sent some very fine examples and reports on their ease of build and performance. Many examples of these designs can be viewed over on our Lines Plan page. It is very satisfying to see a growing number of home builders again picking up the tools and having a go themselves as this is one of the great aspects of what we do. Well designed and built home builds can win at any level so why not give it a try.
What's new for 2016
At BG we have a number of areas we will look to expand and improve on through 2016.
On the sailmaking side we are employing refinements in our manufacturing methods to ensure continued consistency and quality with reduced lead times.
2016 will see the anticipated release of our Grunge Marblehead design. Tooling is currently underway here in the UK where as with our successful BritPOP IOM, the first moulded hull will be performance tested and cross checked in every way against our original prototype before release.
For home builders in the RG65 class we are looking to release a new lines plan which will include a rigging guide and sail plans to ensure a well balanced design to our specifications. For all developments at BG be sure to check back here on our website over the course of the new year.
We have a busy year planned ahead with an IOM European Championship, Vitoria, Spain in June and World Championships for both the Marblehead and 10 Rater class in Limone, Lake Garda, Italy in September/October. A calendar full of national, ranking and club events have been locked in so the year will be packed full of quality racing for all levels of competition.
That pretty much wraps things up for 2015 and it only remains to thank our licensed manufacturers, our customers new and old and our supporters from places near and far for your continued support, loyalty and friendship.
Wherever you are and whatever you race we hope 2016 is a good one for you!
2015 Results of skippers using BG Sails and Designs
IOM (Britpop/BG Sails unless stated)
1st, 2nd, 5th & 7th IOM World Championship - BG, Peter Stollery, Olivier Cohen, Rob Walsh - POP/BritPOP
1st & 3rd GBR IOM Nationals - Rob Walsh, BG - Britpop/POP
1st ITA IOM Nationals - Pierluigi Puthod
1st BRA IOM Nationals - Rob Walsh
1st USA IOM Nationals - John Ebey
1st NOR IOM Nationals - Torvald Klem
1st TUR IOM Nationals - John Cleave
1st CHI IOM Nationals - Andres Bozzo
1st THA IOM Kings Cup - Rob Walsh
1st POR IOM Nationals - Anibal Dos Santos
2nd, 3rd & 4th AUS IOM Nationals - Ross Bennett, Scott Backhouse & Sean Wallis
1st SWE IOM Claes Brunnhage - (BG Sails only)
Marblehead
1st & 3rd GBR Nationals - BG - Grunge, Peter Stollery (A,C & C2)
1st ITA Nationals - Matteo Longhi
1st SUI Marblehead Open - Lenzerheide - Matteo Longhi
1st FRA Nationals - Matteo Longhi
1st ITA Pre Worlds - Garda - Matteo Longhi
1st GBR Ranking - Chelmsford - BG - Grunge (day 1 & 2)
1st GBR Ranking - Guildford - Peter Stollery (A,C & C2)
1st & 3rd GBR Ranking - West Kirby - Peter Stollery (A,C & C2), James Edwards (day 1)
1st & 2nd GBR Ranking - West Kirby - Peter Stollery (A,C & C2), James Edwards (day 2)
10 Rater
1st GBR Nationals - BG - Trance
2nd AUS Nationals - Scott Condie - Trance
1st NSW State Championship - Scott Condie - Trance
1st ACT Championship - Scott Condie - Trance
RG65
1st GBR Nationals - BG - Electronica
Well done to all of our skippers for their fantastic results!
(apologies if we missed you and if we have, please let us know!)
Once again we find ourselves at the end of another successful year for skippers across the world using our sails and designs. With the 2015 season now in the books we can reflect on results achieved and look at what challenges lie ahead for 2016.
In the IOM class our sails and BritPOP/POP designs again led the way in many competitions around the globe, with the highlight being a 1,2 finish at the World Championships in Foster City, USA for BG and Peter Stollery. Of note was that Peter was using the very same hull and rigs used to win his 2011 title at West Kirby with the only addition being a new suit of A rig sails.
Our BritPOP design won no less than 10 National Championships with wins in the United Kingdom, Italy, Brasil, United States, Norway, Turkey, France, Portugal, Chile and Thailand. National podium places were also recorded in Australia, Spain and Denmark. At State, Regional and District level the BritPOP continues to show the competitive value and longevity of our design since first launched in 2010 with numerous victories worldwide, highlighted by another year remaining undefeated over the toughest of UK ranking seasons in the hands of 4 different skippers.
The Marblehead class continues its re-growth and with it our results have remained as strong as ever. The class highlight of the year was the GBR Nationals where a 20 year record entry of 55 skippers raced over 2 days at Manor Park Sailing Club. Our Grunge design and sails once again came out on top for the 4th year running beating the well sailed Quark of Laurent Gerbaud from France, with Peter Stollery in 3rd sailing an Uproar. Also at National level, Italian Matteo Longhi recorded wins in the Swiss, French and Italian Championships along with taking out the Garda 2014 Pre Worlds event using our sails.
In the UK ranking season, our sails won all but one event over the course of the season with the one blip coming from a win with our 'Pimped' Bantock Paradox design at Yeovil using the original fitted swing rig and sails of over 20 years age showing the competitive value out there of quality older designs in the class.
2015 was a year in which we were presented with the opportunity of analyzing our first 10 Rater design against some of the best designers and skippers on both sides of the world. In Australia Scott Condie using our Trance prototype was second to Graham Bantock in January in Perth at the AUS Nationals. This event offered useful feedback on where we were at within the design envelope in the class against the Bantock Diamond design, regarded the class benchmark for a number of years.
Prototype number 2, built by Scott in Australia, arrived in the UK for painting and rigging. With minor setup tweaks and balancing, our Trance number 2 managed a solid win at the UK Nationals over Graham using his own boat on what could only be described as some of the best open water sailing conditions at West Kirby in the North. Some more tweaks are planned for the design for 2016 with a Worlds in Italy, along with the UK Nationals and ranking weekend at the open Datchet Water venue in the South.
Our RG65 design 'Electronica' finally had a taste of racing with the National Championships held at Watermead mid year. Against a strong field of UK designs recently returned from a Euro Open, our design settled in quite nicely after some early not unexpected tuning tweaks to record a strong win. To date our race time with the 'Electronica' has been somewhat limited against quality opposition to refine and develop the package but we look forward to some more opportunities in 2016 with it, knowing it is no slouch.
New lines plans for both the IOM and Marblehead class were released in January and over the course of the year we have been sent some very fine examples and reports on their ease of build and performance. Many examples of these designs can be viewed over on our Lines Plan page. It is very satisfying to see a growing number of home builders again picking up the tools and having a go themselves as this is one of the great aspects of what we do. Well designed and built home builds can win at any level so why not give it a try.
What's new for 2016
At BG we have a number of areas we will look to expand and improve on through 2016.
On the sailmaking side we are employing refinements in our manufacturing methods to ensure continued consistency and quality with reduced lead times.
2016 will see the anticipated release of our Grunge Marblehead design. Tooling is currently underway here in the UK where as with our successful BritPOP IOM, the first moulded hull will be performance tested and cross checked in every way against our original prototype before release.
For home builders in the RG65 class we are looking to release a new lines plan which will include a rigging guide and sail plans to ensure a well balanced design to our specifications. For all developments at BG be sure to check back here on our website over the course of the new year.
We have a busy year planned ahead with an IOM European Championship, Vitoria, Spain in June and World Championships for both the Marblehead and 10 Rater class in Limone, Lake Garda, Italy in September/October. A calendar full of national, ranking and club events have been locked in so the year will be packed full of quality racing for all levels of competition.
That pretty much wraps things up for 2015 and it only remains to thank our licensed manufacturers, our customers new and old and our supporters from places near and far for your continued support, loyalty and friendship.
Wherever you are and whatever you race we hope 2016 is a good one for you!
2015 Results of skippers using BG Sails and Designs
IOM (Britpop/BG Sails unless stated)
1st, 2nd, 5th & 7th IOM World Championship - BG, Peter Stollery, Olivier Cohen, Rob Walsh - POP/BritPOP
1st & 3rd GBR IOM Nationals - Rob Walsh, BG - Britpop/POP
1st ITA IOM Nationals - Pierluigi Puthod
1st BRA IOM Nationals - Rob Walsh
1st USA IOM Nationals - John Ebey
1st NOR IOM Nationals - Torvald Klem
1st TUR IOM Nationals - John Cleave
1st CHI IOM Nationals - Andres Bozzo
1st THA IOM Kings Cup - Rob Walsh
1st POR IOM Nationals - Anibal Dos Santos
2nd, 3rd & 4th AUS IOM Nationals - Ross Bennett, Scott Backhouse & Sean Wallis
1st SWE IOM Claes Brunnhage - (BG Sails only)
Marblehead
1st & 3rd GBR Nationals - BG - Grunge, Peter Stollery (A,C & C2)
1st ITA Nationals - Matteo Longhi
1st SUI Marblehead Open - Lenzerheide - Matteo Longhi
1st FRA Nationals - Matteo Longhi
1st ITA Pre Worlds - Garda - Matteo Longhi
1st GBR Ranking - Chelmsford - BG - Grunge (day 1 & 2)
1st GBR Ranking - Guildford - Peter Stollery (A,C & C2)
1st & 3rd GBR Ranking - West Kirby - Peter Stollery (A,C & C2), James Edwards (day 1)
1st & 2nd GBR Ranking - West Kirby - Peter Stollery (A,C & C2), James Edwards (day 2)
10 Rater
1st GBR Nationals - BG - Trance
2nd AUS Nationals - Scott Condie - Trance
1st NSW State Championship - Scott Condie - Trance
1st ACT Championship - Scott Condie - Trance
RG65
1st GBR Nationals - BG - Electronica
Well done to all of our skippers for their fantastic results!
(apologies if we missed you and if we have, please let us know!)
January
Welcome to our first update for 2015. Here at BG we have a big year planned both on and off the water.
To start off the year we announce the arrival of our new lines plan designs 'Alternative' and 'Indie' for both the IOM and Marblehead classes. With the continued success of 'BritPOP' and 'Grunge', both new designs naturally feature the same important characteristics that offer the home or club builder the opportunity to build their own race winning yacht for any level of competition.
Designs are in also the planning stage for both the RG65 and 10Rater classes and will come online should there be sufficient interest. Further information on our available plans can be seen at our online store.
After some time off over the winter period, the new season of racing is fast approaching where there is plenty on offer. A full calendar of M & IOM racing is set down across the country to look forward to, along with the upcoming IOM Worlds to be held in Foster City, south of San Francisco in early May. A full entry of world class skippers are entered which includes defending World Champion Rob Walsh with his soon to be launched Britpop.
On the other side of the world down under, the Australian Championships were recently held in Mandurah, Western Australia. An all class performance saw the UK's Graham Bantock win all 3 International classes being the A, 10R and IOM.
Our designs and sails were well represented in all classes. Our Trance 10 Rater design built and sailed by Scott Condie put in a solid performance to finish a strong second behind GB. Scott was defending the title he won last year by a narrow margin on the boats then first outing. Over 12 months since, steady progress and refinement of Trance has seen the margin over the same opponents grow to over 40 points. Congratulations Scott.
The IOM class proved the most competitive with 5 skippers being in the mix to win the event going into the 4th and final day. At the head of the fleet for the major part of the event was 1 week old Britpop owner Sean Wallis, along with fellow BP owners Ross Bennett and Scott Backhouse. In the end it was the experience of GB who kept consistent to take the win with his Fraktal design, ahead of Ross, Scott and Sean. Well done all!
2015 Results to date of skippers using BG Sails and Designs
2nd AUS 10 Rater Nationals - Scott Condie - Trance/BG Sails
2nd, 3rd & 4th AUS IOM Nationals - Ross Bennett, Scott Backhouse & Sean Wallis - Britpop/BG Sails
2nd AUS A Class Nationals - Glenn Dawson - BG Sails (A suit)
For now it's heads down with plenty to do until next time.........
To start off the year we announce the arrival of our new lines plan designs 'Alternative' and 'Indie' for both the IOM and Marblehead classes. With the continued success of 'BritPOP' and 'Grunge', both new designs naturally feature the same important characteristics that offer the home or club builder the opportunity to build their own race winning yacht for any level of competition.
Designs are in also the planning stage for both the RG65 and 10Rater classes and will come online should there be sufficient interest. Further information on our available plans can be seen at our online store.
After some time off over the winter period, the new season of racing is fast approaching where there is plenty on offer. A full calendar of M & IOM racing is set down across the country to look forward to, along with the upcoming IOM Worlds to be held in Foster City, south of San Francisco in early May. A full entry of world class skippers are entered which includes defending World Champion Rob Walsh with his soon to be launched Britpop.
On the other side of the world down under, the Australian Championships were recently held in Mandurah, Western Australia. An all class performance saw the UK's Graham Bantock win all 3 International classes being the A, 10R and IOM.
Our designs and sails were well represented in all classes. Our Trance 10 Rater design built and sailed by Scott Condie put in a solid performance to finish a strong second behind GB. Scott was defending the title he won last year by a narrow margin on the boats then first outing. Over 12 months since, steady progress and refinement of Trance has seen the margin over the same opponents grow to over 40 points. Congratulations Scott.
The IOM class proved the most competitive with 5 skippers being in the mix to win the event going into the 4th and final day. At the head of the fleet for the major part of the event was 1 week old Britpop owner Sean Wallis, along with fellow BP owners Ross Bennett and Scott Backhouse. In the end it was the experience of GB who kept consistent to take the win with his Fraktal design, ahead of Ross, Scott and Sean. Well done all!
2015 Results to date of skippers using BG Sails and Designs
2nd AUS 10 Rater Nationals - Scott Condie - Trance/BG Sails
2nd, 3rd & 4th AUS IOM Nationals - Ross Bennett, Scott Backhouse & Sean Wallis - Britpop/BG Sails
2nd AUS A Class Nationals - Glenn Dawson - BG Sails (A suit)
For now it's heads down with plenty to do until next time.........
© BG Sails & Design 2018