To all OGA members:
In addition to events being organised for you in your own OGA area next year to celebrate our 50th birthday there will be some bigger National events which we hope all members will be keen to join in with, namely The Round Britain Challenge and Relay, and the Jubilee Party at Cowes. This message is to let you know what is going on and where we are up to.

Over 40 OGA member boats have already signed up online to express their interest in participating in the Round Britain Challenge (if you are one of these my apologies for sending you similar information twice!).
By signing up they are committed to nothing, but receive regular email updates about the planning of the event as it evolves. Our dedicated OGA50 website www.oga50.org is a great source of information about this event with maps and itineraries as well as information about the boats signed up so far. If you think you might take part and haven't yet signed up to show your interest online please do so now to help us with event planning.

CREW WANTED!! Several of the participating gaffers are looking for crew for part or all of their circumnavigation. You can see which ones on the List of Boats page on www.oga50.org and there is a link for contacting the skippers. Please make use of this if you would like to take part - if you contact the skippers NOW you may be able to take the opportunity to sail with them this season for a mutual appraisal (of each other and the boat!).

The first boats to depart will leave the Netherlands in mid-April and after crossing the North Sea will start their circumnavigation in the East Coast area of the UK. The fleet will grow in size as it picks up members all the way, clockwise round the UK, passing along the south coast in early May, calling in at the Hamble for an event organised by the Solent Area, visiting ports on the Irish Sea later in May with parties planned by local OGA areas in Holyhead, Dublin Bay and Belfast and then starting on the long Scottish leg in mid-June from Campbeltown (yes - another party!). By mid July they will be back on the east coast then across the Thames estuary to Ramsgate and then continuing round to Cowes on the Isle of Wight for the Big Birthday Party in mid-August (more about this later).

The different OGA areas are working to try to secure free moorings for the RBC fleet wherever possible and this information will be made available to participating skippers nearer the time. If you decide to take up this great opportunity you will be able to choose where you stop and to make use of free berths and anchorages as much as you wish (and the different OGA areas will be trying to inform you about these opportunities) but the organisers' aim is to also try to ensure that your costs are kept to a minimum at some of the larger ports where we have events planned and where you may wish to stay for more than one night and provision and swap crew etc.

There is now a list of suggested stopping points in Scotland on the OGA50 website (NB still subject to confirmation): http://oga50.org/#/challenge-itineraries/4557580986 We hope that many of these places will offer free berthing. Belfast hope to be able to offer free berthing thanks to sponsorship. The South Coast is notorious for high berthing costs but the Solent committee is organising an event in the River Hamble (May 4th/5th) where they hope to achieve the impossible and berth the RBC fleet at no cost on their first pass along the south coast in May, though we won't know this for sure till next year. In the River Humber an event is being planned by the newly re-formed North East area for the weekend of 13th/14th July with free berthing in the Royal Dock in Grimsby.The East Coast area has rescheduled its week long summer cruise of East Coast Rivers to tie in with the passing of the RBC fleet in July, culminating in the Annual East Coast Race at Brightlingsea and an event is planned at Ramsgate where again we hope to secure free berths for participants.

So what's the Relay?

Not everyone can take 4 months off to make a full circumnavigation so we want to make sure that members in all the areas have the opportunity to join in the celebrations by taking to the water and being part of the Round Britain. There will be several "tokens" (of many and varied types we hope - all ideas welcome) which will be passed around the UK from boat to boat. The idea is that gaffers large and small not participating in the full circumnavigation will be able to take a token along part of the coast and then hand it on to another boat to continue its journey all the way round to Cowes. You can register your interest for this part of the event on the website too - just fill out the form for the relevant area on the website and let us know which part of the coast you'd like to cover. http://oga50.org/#/relay-interest/4555840253

Cowes in August 2013 - the Greatest Ever Gathering of Gaffers!

The climax of the celebrations will be August 15th-18th 2013 in Cowes Yacht Haven with capacity for up to 200 boats. Without hiring a Naval dockyard this is one of the few places where an event of this scale could be held - but don't be put off by south coast prices as, yet again, we are aiming for free or subsidised berthing. The Solent Committee has taken over the organisation of this event and is throwing its back into organising an unmissable and truly memorable 4 day event for members. All areas are being invited to contribute ideas and themes to make this a truly national, even international, event. (Feed your ideas back to your Area Sec please). If it grows and grows as the time gets nearer there is a chance of public involvement but at this stage the priority is a fantastic one-off celebration for members - there will be some top notch catering and entertainment. Whether you come with your boat or by land it's an opportunity to meet up and mingle with members from far and wide. Put it in your sailing diary for 2013 now and don't miss out! (We'll be providing accommodation lists and camping info too). Please register your interest in attending as the organisers would like an idea of numbers to help with forward planning. http://oga50.org/#/cowes-50-rally/4545879440

And finally: One Round Britain Challenge skipper has come forward with the idea of compiling a collection of old travelogues covering the places we will visit. Many famous writers and sailors have described their voyages around our coast and he suggests bringing some of these together to enjoy as we travel round. Not for navigation but for interest and for comparison with times gone by. He also suggests the possibility of making presentations in the different ports. It could be a big job and not just for one person to organise - would anyone who is interested in taking part in such a project, or in finding out more about it, please let me know so that I can put you in contact.

Any other feedback? Please let us know, either via your Area Secretary or to me directly.

Best wishes

Sue Lewis
Acting Hon Sec and Communications Officer
Old Gaffers Association