Robert Oneill
Very cold day at the Harp.
Well another Merlin Open at the Harp and it was freezing, took some photos, after the first race called it a day with third degree frostbite.
Very good turnout though, and some of the crews made very difficult conditions look easy.
Dinghy Show over in a flash!
All that build up and work and it was all over in a flash, now all the stands and equipment are all stored away, by Friday it will feel like it never happened. One of the problems working on the stand you really see very little of the show. I did however spend 30 minutes first thing Sunday morning with my camera and have a quick look round. The Ten Rater Model Yacht was for me the boat of the show, it was beautifully made and the engineering was amazing. I always enjoy looking at the old black and white photoes and thought the Ian Proctor tribute was very interesting. Finally I have always liked the deep blue colour of the carpet, and thought it would look really good in my office/mood room, well it does!!!!
All good at the Dinghy Show!
Well in spite of the untimely return of the Ice Age we were pleasantly surprised how many punters turned up at Ally Pally, both our stands were busy.
The RYA did really well to keep there nerve, and go ahead, a very difficult decision, well done them!
Another day another drama!!!!
With a week to the Dinghy Show the absolute last thing we need is a fire at the galvanizers, luckily nothing got damaged, but it has held up the job for 7 days.
Now we are gridlocked with all the new work in the system, and annoyingly most of this work is for export. The only good news is we are all still living the dream.
Musto skiff ally trolleys available during November.
Our new super light ally trolley for the Musto skiff is about to be put into production, they will be available directly from us or Ovington Boats.
The channel and foam system which has been very successful over the years on our 29er and 49er trolleys has been adapted. Thanks to Chris Rashley who was kind enough to lend us his boat for the development and design period.
90 year old Int 14.
Its not every day of the week a 90 year old dinghy is brought in for a trailer.
This one was recently purchased in the dinghy auction which made big news on
the Y and Y site, the new owner is delighted with what is an amazing piece of
history, although he is a bit daunted by the amount of work it requires.
My brief is to make a comfortable and supporting trailer for a very old lady!
Busy days!
It was really good to get away on Sunday and watch the last day of the 505 Nationals,big seas off Hayling always makes for excellent spectator sport.
The 505 in spite of it’s age is still one of the purest and most attractive racing dinghy, and at times in those seas with a 90hp on the the rib we were struggling to keep up with them! 
Rates warning, valuation officers could be operating in your area!
The Government have made amendments to Business Rates, the new system is intended to help the High Street, be fairer, and easier to understand, so all good
The reality, well our business rates have increased 45% (which is roughly 15 times the rate of inflation). This is because we are two shop units; if we were one then we wouldn’t pay anything. The simple method for working out your commitment, well you are either multiplier or a SBRR multiplier that is multiplied by your NC, then they take your BL and multiply that by your AF and then deduct your NC, obviously a child could work that out.
Thus far our new rates are far more expensive, totally unfair, and virtually impossible to work out. My colleagues and friends with business’s locally are also not overly impressed with the new system, so I invited Richard Cornelius Leader of the Council and Matthew Offord our MP to the shop to discuss this with us.
The meeting was cordial and honest, but the bottom line is Rates are a poor tax system and the latest amendments have just made them worse.
Quick one, with Parliamentary candidates before an election who are interested in sailing, I generally offer them blinding deals and tell them that even though they were just club sailors we could easily turn them into champs. Then after the election I just deny it all.
Also Happy Birthday Gerbil!!
Our new yard
After 3 years of arguments 63 telephone calls a number of solicitor meetings our neighbours decided to repair their drain. That having been said they still would not have entertained spending the £350 to stop the foul fluids flooding our yard had it not been for the diligence of my new best friend Colin Bowell from Barnet Environmental Services ( no fiction that really is his name), who in the end made them an offer that even they couldn’t refuse.
We were then able to replace all the horrid broken concrete and now we look even more like a Mclaren manufacturing centre, ( cars not prams).
In truth it has been quite a challenging 10 days trying to keep production going, however it is all now finished, all good then and now we are back to living the dream.
Hamble Gig
Well in spite of Parcel force’s best intentions
to lose our cradles, ( it is interesting there is always something or someone) we managed to finish the double Gig trailer, its off to Cork in two weeks time. The top boat will be placed upside down, its know as a clamshell double, we wish them well and thanks for the order.