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Some photos from 2011/2012 at Nottingham Sailing Club (River Trent)
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Bicycle Clips was owned by Graham Young at Nottingham Sailing Club until I bought her in 2015 or 2016.  She sailed at Nottingham SC (on the Trent) then Sutton-in-Ashfield Sailing Club before moving to Notts County Sailing Club when SASC closed in 2022.

I sold her in August 2024.

12Fest - Burton SC, June 2016:

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Trent Valley Open Meeting, May 2018:

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Jonathan Twite

The font and colour really need to match the current branding but here is a couple of ideas.  The badge could also be circular (matching Facebook's new enforced look).


The idea is based around the unity of the the class and the idea that different types of 12 are still that - a National 12.

Looks like I unfortunately won't be able to make it after all due to family commitments.

I was planning on coming, but my crew can't now make it. If anyone wants to crew Bicycle Clips with me, let me know.


Jonathan Twite

I am hoping to be there with Bicycle Clips.  It'll be our first competitive open with this boat, so my aim will solely be to make it my first visit to TVSC where I don't fall in...

I am hoping to turn up with Bicycle Clips.  Having been on Paternity Leave from sailing the N12 for a 18months, I think we will be there for the opportunity to have a sail rather than be competitive...

I have found a crew for Sunday, so will be coming.  If anyone wants me to jump in to the front of their boat, or join me in my boat for the coaching on Saturday (if there's any wind...), leave a note or find me there.

I am hoping to bring my new 12 to 12Fest and am looking for a crew.  Having upgraded from a Paper Dart to a Baggy Trousers (Bicycle Clips), I am expecting to have more fun than success.  I am looking forward to the coaching to get some tips on the new boat.

If any one of any age or experience would like to come, please message me or reply.  I've been taking complete beginners out for the last few weeks at my club.


I can offer a sofa-bed in Burton if you don't want to camp, and I can transport anyone from Mansfield/Nottingham/Burton/Derby.




Jonathan Twite

I am trying to rustle up a crew from my club as my usual crew is on (pre-)maternity leave.  Are there any details as to what is happening to tempt people with?  I haven't been to a 12 Fest before.


Thanks

I am wanting to replace the mainsheet block where the sheet goes to hand, with one that has a swivel built in.  Being a bit tight, I am looking for the cheapest option that will work - does any one know what is the lowest safe working limit required for a N12 mainsheet block?  I have a fairly standard aft-sheeting arrangement, sheet goes from horse to boom to horse to hand.


Thanks

Time has come to repaint the inside of N2709, the paint has been slowly comming off for sometime, and I have now descovered that leaking epoxy hardener is a brilliant paint stripper...  Does anyone have any suggestions on the easiest method of removing paint from a fibre-glass hull (that is cheaper than a bucket-full of hardner....)?
 
Thanks

Find yourself a laser sail and lay it on the floor - it will lie flat, but the tube where the mast goes is bent - halfway up is further forward than the top and bottom.  A laser sail is quite simple but perfectly demonstrates the effects of 'luff curve'.  As the mast is inserted, the luff is forced straight, pushing the excess sail material backwards and so creating the curved sail shape required.  By bending the mast you reverse this process, reducing the depth of the sail.  A N12 (and many other boats') sail is more complex, it has some inbuilt shape and so won't go completely flat, but the effect from the curved luff will still happen.
Remember that the mast bend should be such that halfway up is further forward than the top, so tensioning the ram straightens this.
Even if you are not a tinker, it is always worth checking your mast's 'pre bend' - the bend with the rig tensioned (i.e. jib up) but no main sail up.  At first we had a forward-bent mast until this was pointed out at a N12 training day and suddenly the boat was much better.

My theory is that the winged rudder is like mast spreaders.  Most people have a vague idea of what they do, but very few have a detailed knowledge of how they work.  Most people look at the tunning guide for their spreaders and set them so, and only adjust them if something is not quite working and they ask someone with more knowledge.  From what I have read about winged rudders, this is fairly the same.  They need an initial setup (angle) for a specific crew-weight / sailing style/location combination but then don't need much adjustment while sailing.  The top crews who know what they're doing will adjust them more to suit conditions etc. than the rest of us mere mortals, the same as they might with rig-tension and spreader settings.
 
This is my suggestion then - the full rigging guide needs a section on setting up a winged rudder (i.e. heavy-weight crews try this..., inland-sailors try this... etc.) and its basic control.  This would then make the winged rudder seem more of a major part of the N12 class for outsiders looking in, and may help give owners the confidence to start to use them.  As will all gadgets, its the first try that some people are usually scared of, once they have been using them for a bit, suddenly they realise its not scary and start wondering how to adjust it...

Hi, when I first got my Paper Dart (2709), our jib was sheeted just to a pulley on the boyancy tanks.  Kevin Bloor saw the arrangement and suggested that we changed it so we came up with a very simple sollution.  Two pulleys on bits of string about 12 inches long (experiment to find best length), attached to the mast foot to act as barber-haulers (one for each sheet).  Rig the jib sheet from the jib, through the new pulley and to your old fairleads.  These both pull the sheeting angle inwards, and downwards to get the jib leach-tension to how it should be without changing the angle the sheet goes to the crew.  This is a very simple method of rigging it up to see if it makes a difference.  We found that it made a massive difference and now have one of the highest pointing boats at our club.
 
Good luck