Bart’s Bash was held at Saundersfoot Sailing Club this weekend on an overcast but warm Saturday morning with an offshore south-westerly F3 breeze.

14 dinghies and Sea Fever, a cruiser, made their way through the harbour and out onto the water where they were joined by a rowing boat which had been rowed over from Wisemans Bridge.

An eclectic mix of fancy dress could be seen on the water including Leon as a minion, Sam and Iolo as 118-118, Mark and Trish as the Owl and the Pussy Cat and Steve C as a Red Dragon.

The OOD set a course of Monkstone-Pendine-Harbour and the five minute countdown began.

The course began on a reach and the dinghies made a clean start, however Sea Fever had to be recalled as it was about 20 yards over the start line!

Having restarted, the crew quickly caught back up with the dinghy fleet and remained hot on their heels for the remainder of the race.

Ed took an early lead over the fleet and the rowing boat, however he found them to be more of a challenge when going upwind as they can row straight into the wind, unlike the sailing boats!

A few capsizes took place whilst the race was underway, including Lloyd whilst close to the line and Hywel who managed to completely invert his boat!

Various battles for position took place including between Paul and Julia, Hywel and Rosie. Eloise was testing the water in a Topper 4.2 for the first time and raced very successfully!

A few of the sailors looked towards the beach to see a pod of sea mammals after the oh-so-quiet Julia could be heard yelling “porpoises!”.

The final results saw Sea Fever as the first (and only!) cruiser and the rowing crew of Jim, Caroline, Marja, Gabi and Lynn as the overall winner. Ed was the first dinghy, Hywel was second and Rosie was third.

Keith won best fancy dress with his topical “turn the tide on plastic” costume although in my opinion it was a load of trash! Food was provided by Steve from the Cove which went down a treat.

Well done to all who competed and donated - £105 was raised for the Andrew Simpson foundation which helps a wide range of people get on the water, which is fantastic! Thank you to Jo and Alan on OOD and to John, James, Paul and Roger on safety cover.

On September 8 and 9 - the South and West Wales Acorn Llangorse OnBoard festival was held on Llangorse lake, Brecon.

Eloise attended the event to race a single handed Optimist in a fleet of 10.

Weather conditions over the weekend were cold and cloudy starting off with a weak wind but eventually building up to gusts of strong wind - ideal sailing condition!

This was Eloise’s first time racing, having only started sailing in June and completing her RYA Youth Sailing Scheme level 1 and 2 with Saundersfoot Sailing Club.

Feeling very nervous in the first race on Saturday, Eloise was unsure of the course and what to expect and placed 3rd. Four more followed that day with Eloise feeling more confident and relaxed and placing 1st in all races.

The Sunday saw four races taking place over a different course with Eloise placing 2nd in the first and then 1st in all the others.

This resulted in an overall total of 12 points and a very proud and happy Eloise was announced the overall winner for the weekend.

A fun weekend of sailing was had by all that attended, with a barbecue being provided on the Saturday night for all competitors and their families.

The support from all organising the event was incredible! with the coaches in the safety boats encouraging and supporting the sailors at all times. Well done Eloise!

Sailing continues with the first race of the Frostbite series on Sunday at 14.30 pm. See you there!

Gypsea Girl