Notice to all members of the BLSA. This year’s Annual General Meeting will be held online via a Microsoft “Teams” session at 1900 on Wednesday November 16^th, 2022.

A full agenda as per the constitution will be announced shortly.

We intend to run a practice “Teams” session in advance to allow members the opportunity to test their connectivity. The date of which and instructions will be posted online.

 Regards 

BLSA Committee.

Llanbedr is recognised as the home of the premier Blokarting venue in Europe and quite possibly the world. It’s never failed to deliver great racing, and this visit was no different! This was also reflected in the largest fleet size in recent years and the distances pilots are prepared to travel to sail on the wide smooth runways and taxiways of the Snowdonia Aerodrome. Pilots arrived from as far north as Largs, south as the Isle of Wight, east to Suffolk, not to mention the West Country; all looking to enjoy a weekend of keen racing on the track and equally keen socialising in the hangar and local hostelries.

 Pilots started to arrive from midday on the Friday onwards. The weather was fine with a gentle breeze; everyone was in good spirits despite the long journeys to get there. The hangar provides a great space to assemble karts and leave them assembled for the entire weekend, another aspect that makes this such a great venue. Not only is it a great garage, it is also very convenient for those arriving in vans, camper vans, motorhomes or with pop-up tents, as it is possible to bed down in the hangar and fall out of your sleeping bag and into your kart.

 The last aircraft movement was scheduled for before 5pm, meaning that the airfield was made available to us from 5pm onwards. The winds were light and consistent from the west, making for long reaches up and down the two main runways. Distances of 25 to 30 miles were sailed by many, mostly on 5.5m2 sails; a great way to start the weekend. As many pilots arrived Friday afternoon, the opportunity was taken to start the registration process Friday evening, thus saving some admin time from Saturday morning. This also took some of the pressure off Nick Trollope the race officer (RO) for the weekend and Dave Hicks who was operating the timing system for the first time, with support from Sharon Delahaye during registration.

 Whilst the pilots were out enjoying themselves on the runways, Tim Seed was working in the hangar servicing Wally; no, not a euphemism! Wally is the light / sound equipment that runs through the prestart light and sound sequence, and also times each race prior to signaling its finish. When initially designed, Wally was hard wired to the transponder timing system – in the mist of time this stopped functioning – necessitating the RO and timing operator to synchronise pressing their respective start buttons. Tim reconnected the hard wiring, replaced Walley’s batteries and gave it a general once-over. The system functioned without a hic-cup throughout the weekend – so thanks to Tim for sorting this.

 Fine weather and light winds greeted the gathering on Saturday morning. Due to the initially light winds, race start was rescheduled for 1130. An initial race briefing was given at 1030, covering all aspects except the course which had yet to be set and the start procedure which is best done with the equipment operational at the start / finish line. A follow-up brief was set for 1130. In the intervening time Nick and Dave set up the start / finish line, established a short course on the main runway that could be used should the wind remain light, and tested the newly hardwired Wally / timing system. During this time pilots were free to sail around, getting a feel for the conditions in the ever-increasing wind, which was now firmly from the north.

 Approaching midday, everything was in place to start racing. The wind had filled in sufficiently to enable a complete triangular circuit using the main runways with a 2-minute dial-up and 10-minute race. The fleet was split into two similar size groups, namely light with middle performance (LPERF & MPERF) and heavy performance with production (HPERF & PROD). The light and middle performance were first to go. The wind had now filled in sufficiently for there to be a mix of 4m² and 5.5m² sails in use. The course was counterclockwise with an into wind start, across the line and almost immediately a tight left turn and downwind to the second mark, before reaching across to the third mark and a beat back up to the start / finish line.

 The mid and light perfo were all a little line-shy with Paul Hemsworth (MPERF) and Phil McGavin (MPERF) first to cross the line some 2.3s after the gun; Chris Moore (MPERF) the eventual winner was next about a second behind. Come the end of the first lap, Chris was in the lead, a position he held until the end. Lightweight performance was a simpler affair, with Pete Newlands winning from start to finish followed by Dave Hare. The heavy-weight and productions guys were anything but line-shy with two pilots over-eager at the start. Both Adrian Chalkley (K120) and Jamie Brittain (K68) were over early. Unfortunately for Jamie he didn’t realise his indiscretion and continued his lap without immediately returning to the start finish. Ed Delahaye (K85) was the first to start after the gun, quickly followed by Roger Jackson (K31) the eventual winner. There was a continual tussle between Ed and Steve Weir, with the gap increasing and decreasing as the laps ticked by. Steve eventually won out, coming in 2^nd with Ed in third.

 Having got up and running, 6 races were run back-to-back, 3 for each group, prior to having a brief lunch break, before resuming for the remainder of the afternoon. Chris (K3) had established a clear lead in middleweight performance, but a very tight tussle was developing between Lauren McGavin (K100) on 8 points and Wayne Turner (K6) / Phil McGavin (K174) both on 9 points. Lightweight performance was also developing as a tight class with Pete Newlands (K105) and Francois Cilliers (K77) in equal first place on 5 points each with Dave Hare (K50) a little behind in 3^rd.

 When racing had resumed after lunch the wind had increased and most pilots except the heavyweights sailed on 4m² sails. Racing continued throughout the afternoon with a further 8 races being completed, making seven races per group. Proceedings were called to a halt around 1730 with the wind starting to decrease with all but the very lightest back on 5.5m² sails. At the end of racing on day 1, with 7 seven races completed and allowing for 1 discard per pilot, the standings in the performance weight categories were as tabled below. Still plenty to race for on day 2. 

 Sunday, day 2, would the weather Gods play ball? Initially, it looked like no. The wind at Llanbedr was light and variable. The weather forecasts were equally, variable, never helpful when planning an activity that is weather dependent. The early decision was to set-up to take maximum advantage of the wind, should it arrive, with a stated cut-off of 2pm if it didn’t. By late morning there was sufficient wind to race on a short course. The light and middle performance completed their 8^th race, thus allowing 2 discards. Heavy performance and production followed on the same short course and completed their eighth race – another success. The wind remained fickle, with an ever-darkening sky and increased amounts of rain visible in the valley’s and on the mountain peaks. Nonetheless, middle and performance started their dial-up for their 9^th race just as the rain started to fall; initially quite light but increasing in intensity. As the rainfall increased, so the wind decreased. After about 5 minutes at least half the fleet had been stationary for 1 minute, the threshold for abandoning the race, hence the race was abandoned.

 Shortly after abandonment of race 17, a thunderstorm started with heavy rain and thunder and lightning. Racing was temporarily suspended for safety reasons, with all pilots recommended to lay their karts flat and keep a low profile themselves. With the thunderstorm showing no signs of abating, the decision was made to call a halt to proceedings and pack-up and head for the prize-giving in the hangar.

 Whilst the final race didn’t change the overall standings from the end of day 1, Roger Jackson and Ed Delahaye did end up equal on 11 points each after 8 races, with Roger being the winner on count back. Well done to Roger and all the pilots that were placed. Well done to all for competing.

 Whilst it’s great to be able to simply arrive, race, have fun and go home, these events don’t happen without considerable effort behind the scenes. I’d like to thank the committee in general for organising this event and Nick Trollope our chairman for taking on the RO role and Dave Hicks the BLSA Secretary for taking responsibility for operating the timing system. The timing system is far from user friendly, wrong inputs are easy and can lead to significant problems and errors. Thanks to both Nick and Dave for making this a seamless event.

 Finally, I said at the outset that Llanbedr is the premier Blokarting venue in Europe and possibly the world. If you’ve never raced at Llanbedr and want to see what you’re missing, take a look at the following video produced by professional photographer, our very own Moz Moret   Llanbedr B  . If you’ve not been before, your next opportunity is the British Open, which will be at Llanbedr Sept 9^th / 10^th later this year. It will also be the venue for the Europeans, Oct next year, an event which will provide the opportunity to race against the best in Europe – don’t miss it.

Nigel Owen – K140

It was Bonfire Night as 20 hardy Blokarters made their way to Pembrey Country Park to prepare for the final B Race of 2021. This event was originally scheduled to take place on the weekend of Oct 2nd & 3rd, however had to be rescheduled at late notice when the Battle on the Beach cycle event was lined up for the same weekend.
With representatives from Weston Blokart Club, TI Shredders, East Coast Blokarters, travelling from as far afield as Scotland, Falmouth, and Essex, it was a good turnout so late in the year, particularly given the last-minute rescheduling. As is always the case a keen eye was kept on the weather forecast as the weekend approached; the one thing that seemed certain, there was going to be plenty of wind – there could indeed be fireworks. What better way to prepare for a weekend of strong wind Blokarting than to go for a curry! About half the fleet met at the Naz Rasoi Indian Restaurant. The food was very good and given the size of the portions, several pilots were wishing that they had registered earlier in the day, rather than waiting for Saturday morning.

Saturday arrived very damp and overcast, what’s more the trees canopies were swaying in the breeze – we had wind. The one downside of sailing at Pembrey is the distance from where the pilots were camped, to the beach race area. It’s a long walk, too long to return for a different sail or a spare to repair a failure. Hence, all your kit, including sails, spares, tools must be taken with you. Even with a 4×4 and a flatbed trailer, several trips were required to transport all the karts, spares, pilots and kit; not to mention the timing trailer, to the race area. On the beach the wind was onshore about 30 mph, meaning that there was little shelter from the prevailing conditions. As the designated race area was beyond a rocky outcrop about half a mile from the beach access point, it was decided to locate the pit area in the lee of the rocks, which provided some shelter from the wind, rain and spray.

With the wind being directly onshore (SW) the Race Officer (RO) Ed Delahaye set an “Americas Cup” style racecourse across the beach, with windward and leeward gates to pass through. Viewed through a clean, dry visor, the windward gate was clear on the horizon if the flags were vertical. Unfortunately, nothing was clean, dry or vertical for very long in the prevailing conditions. The leeward gate was towards the tideline approaching the sand dunes, see schematic 1. All pilots assembled for the race briefing to be advised of the course, reminded of the rules of sailing and the start procedure.

The formalities having been completed; it was time to go racing. Most pilots opted for the 3m2 sail, with a smaller number going with the 2m2. One brave soul, Steve Cooke, opted for a 4m2, an easier decision if it’s the smallest sail you’ve got! It’s fair to say that the fleet were very line-shy for race 1, with karts still well spread out along the beach as Wally counted down to zero. The first kart eventually crossed the line a couple of seconds after zero, with the remainder following at timid intervals after that. This worked well for the one pilot, Adrian Chalkley (K120), who decided to start on port tack. Whether Roger Jackson (K31) was aware that Adrian would be crossing him at speed, only they will know (see link below). It was clear that as the pilots tuned in to the conditions, the pre-starts would become more intense, consequently the RO ruled out port tack starts after the first race, due to the potential for accidents.

As the tide ebbed, it was being pushed back up the beach by the strong onshore wind. This meant that the racing surface was extremely wet, with a film of surface water throughout and getting deeper the closer one got to the windward gate. Most pilots now have some idea what it must be like during a wet race in Formula 1; albeit F1 has the advantage that they’re all going in the same direction and have brakes. Negotiating the windward gate was especially
tricky. The downwind leg didn’t have a significant bias, therefore karts were arriving on both port and starboard tacks and leaving downwind on port and starboard gybes. Meeting someone coming out of the murk towards you was a regular occurrence, which all pilots handled well, with no accidents to report.

Due to the inclement conditions, it wasn’t a day for sitting around and watching others. So, all fleets raced together. A total of 5 races were successfully completed, with only one being red flagged, this due to a capsized kart in the windward gate. Pleased to report that it was only Steve Cooke’s pride that was hurt; rumor has it that Steve might be in the market for a 3m2 sail. All credit to Steve for managing with a 4m2 sail as well as he did. The conditions continued to deteriorate as the day went on, with visibility and light gradually decreasing. By early afternoon, what was already difficult had become potentially hazardous. Therefore, after 5 races, with many pilots suffering from the cold, wet and dodgy conditions, the RO called a halt to racing. Apart from Steve, there were a couple of other minor casualties. Nick Trollope’s goggles were lost in race 3 and Gareth Jones was forced to retire with a puncture. Nick also retired from race 4 with eye sockets full of sand. As the pilots happily squelched and dripped their way back to their respective accommodations, they were looking forward to another day’s racing on Pembrey sands – this time with the prospect of getting wet not soaked.

Sunday arrived with blue sky and wind, meteorologically speaking, much better than Saturday. The wind had veered to westerly and dropped to around 15mph. The beach was much drier as the both the wind speed and direction were more favorable, see link 2. The pilots were anticipating another great day of racing.

An upwind / downwind course was set diagonally across the beach, as shown in Schematic 2. Given the far more favorable conditions, the fleet was keen to get going following the pre race briefing. Like Saturday, it was a single fleet, with the major benefit that it was possible to see both the other competitors and the marks at the same time. Whilst the conditions were considerably better, there was still a split on sail choice, with many 4m2 and 5.5m2 sails out. After race 1 most pilots opted for 5.5m2 with only the lightest sticking with the 4m2. Initially the wind was reasonably constant, and several races were run back-to-back in the favorable conditions. As morning stretched into afternoon the wind became shiftier with both changes in direction and lulls. The latter led to karts being temporarily stranded on the soft and sticky surface. With 7 races completed, making 12 in in total, the RO called a halt to the racing.

Twelve races allowed for 3 discards, hence a fair reflection of everyone’s performance over two days with very different conditions. There was a lot of close racing over the 2 days, with many local tussles. However, the standout performers were Chris Moor and Dave Hare, who both managed clean sweeps in their respective categories. For several it was their first visit to Pembrey, for one couple however, it wasn’t only their first visit to Pembrey, it was their first B Race; a real baptism of fire for Steve and Louise Wier. Well-done to both for very creditable performances in very challenging conditions.

Whilst thanks go to all the pilots that attended this event, and the BLSA committee for organising the event, the biggest and most heartfelt thanks go to Ed and Sharon for both their officiating and transporting all the karts and equipment to and from the beach on both days.

Nigel Owen – K140

Twenty-seven (27) pilots registered for the Blokart British Nationals (Brits) at Llanbedr from all over the United Kingdom. This number was slightly down on recent years due to our European friends being impacted by Covid restrictions. We’d all been watching the weather forecasts in the week running up to the event, and whilst the details differed depending on your forecaster of choice, the overall picture was the same, expect light winds.

Llanbedr is a fantastic Blokart sailing venue. The courses are set on the runways forming a triangle at the northern end of Snowdonia Flight School; this makes for a wide variety of courses, to suit any wind direction. Llanbedr’s not only a great sailing venue but also a great social venue with participants able to “camp” in the large hangar. The evening craic is great, and in the morning, you can fall out of your bed, into your kart and sail (or push) it to the start line. What’s not to like?

Arriving on Friday evening provided the opportunity for an evening sail, which many pilots took advantage of. Those for whom this was their first visit, this was an ideal opportunity to get to know the track and have some fun. The wind was initially light, with everyone out being on 5.5’s. As the light faded the wind increased, with speeds approaching 40mph being achieved. When light stopped play, pilots returned to the hangar with big smiles and full of anticipation for the weekend ahead.

Saturday arrived, very bright but not very breezy, in fact no wind at all. The time was put to good use completing the formalities; weighing in, registering transponders, setting up the start finish line and pilots briefing by the Race Officer Ed Delahaye. During the latter, pilots were reminded of start procedures, flags, hooters, rules of the road, and the criteria that would be applied when considering whether to abort a race or not; basically if 50% of the fleet were stationary for a minute, the race would be aborted. Due to the different performance characteristics of Production and Performance karts, it was decided that the Production Fleet (9 karts) and Performance Fleet (14 karts) would race as separate fleets.

Saturday continued to frustrate with the wind filling in only to disappear just as quickly. However, by late morning both fleets were able sail a triangular course, therefore it was decided to start the first race. The wind was broadly from the north-east but shifty; wind awareness was key to maintaining motion in technically challenging conditions, Performance was first up, with a clockwise course and downwind start. The start was clean with no-one jumping the gun. Throughout the race the lead changed hands several times, the eventual winners were LPERF David Hare, MPERF Peter Williams, HPERF Wayne Turner and SPERF Nick Trollope. With the performance fleet having completed their first race, it was now the turn of the production fleet have a go. Unfortunately, the wind had other ideas. The fleet dialed-up and started twice, only for the race to be aborted due to insufficient wind. At around 3pm the decision was reluctantly taken to abandon racing for the day.

Saturday evening started with a lively AGM in the hanger. The formal record of the AGM will be available on www.theblsa.com shortly, suffice to say there’s a clear desire to grow the sport and investigate new venues to that end. The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to Ed and Sharon Delahaye for all their hard work over the years to the Blokart cause.

At this point in years past we would all have nipped to the beer festival in the village, which, to add insult to injury had been Covidly cancelled! Therefore, it was over to superheavies Adrian Chalkley and Roger Jackson to demonstrate their culinary skills with curry and sausage baps respectively. The fact that the cooks were both superheavies is considered coincidental.

It rained heavily overnight and as we left Chapel, it was overcast and damp, however on the upside there was enough wind to race. Like Saturday, the wind was broadly north easterly and shifty, hence it was decided to continue with a clockwise circuit around the same course. The production fleet was first up at 10am, with 9 karts coming to the line. After another clean get away and close racing throughout the weight categories, first blood went to the following LPROD Tom Carpenter, MPROD Martin Letters, HPROD Stephen Cooke and SPROD Stephen McGeogh.

As the first race of the day finished, the sun came out and racing continued apace. Between 10am and 3pm, a total of 17 races were completed, alternating 9 production races and 8 performance races. The first 7 races were run in a clockwise direction, the next 8 were in a counterclockwise direction returning to a clockwise direction for the final races of the day. With 9 races in both weight categories, it was possible to allow 2 discards. Most of the races had clean starts with no-one over the line early; performance race 6 was a notable exception with 4 pilots jumping the start and one not realising until he’d completed the first lap, Chris retired with good grace.

There was keen racing throughout all the fleets, but the following are of particular note:

In the middleweight performance group, Peter Williams and Francois Cilliers took it down to the wire with the final placings only being decided in the final race. Peter managed to win the first race in light winds on the Saturday but on Sunday, the pair swapped honours with Francois coming back very strongly throughout the day. It ended with a nail-biting finish with both sailors all square with one race to go. Francois got off to a flying start and led the field away, however due to a wind shift Peter managed to creep by and held position to the flag. A very hard fought and close battle which was enjoyed by both sailors. Congratulations must go to David Hare (LPERF) for winning all of his races, the only person to do so with a direct competitor – well done David.

The performance superheavies also had some tight racing further down the fleet. In their ranks were newbie Andrew Smith, Ade “The Curry Meister” Chalkley, Roger “Sausage Bap” Jackson, and Nick “The Chair” Trollope. With a forecast that was looking ominously useless for the fat boys, they squeezed into their karts and made their way to the race area, to be truthful they pushed them, as there was no wind! In addition to the variable wind strength / direction, the camber and slopes made things even more tricky for the superheavies, where any error
can be super-punished. Whilst Nick was the clear winner in this group, the scrap for 2nd and 3rd was very intense; Roger and Ade traded places throughout the series, with Ade eventually taking 2nd with 16 points to Roger’s 17 – it doesn’t get closer than that. Andrew Smith as a first timer at the nationals, sailed well and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Not to be outdone by the perfo boys, the production fleet also saw some very close racing. Tim Seed and Martin Letters in MPROD were at it hammer and tongs only to be separated by 2 points. Tim eventually took second with 15 points with Martin 3rd on 17. Dave Cooke and Tom Carpenter were also trading races. After 4 races they were honours even with 2 wins and 2 seconds apiece. The change of course direction for race 5 seemed to change the dynamic, with Dave taking 3 of the 4 counterclockwise races to eventually win the LPROD category. Mention must be made of Stephen Cooke (HPROD) who sailed superbly in his first outing in the Brits, leading home both LPRODs and MPRODs in several races. Well done Stephen.

In addition to the cut and thrust of racing there were the usual range of gear failures and punctures to add to the excitement. Tom Carpenter suffered an axle failure during production race 4. Wayne Turner had a puncture just as dial-up started in performance race 4; all credit to the pit crew that replaced the wheel Red Bull style and got Wayne out in time to complete dial-up and start. Stephen McGeogh was less fortunate, he had a puncture in production race 2 as far from the start finish line as it was possible to be hence had a long walk back.

Sunday was a fantastic day’s racing, under challenging conditions. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those that contributed to a great Brits, Ed and Sharon, for officiating for the weekend, Ade Chalkley and Roger Jackson, for cooking great grub in the hangar, and finally the pilots that travelled from all over the UK, particularly Pat Letters, Martin Letters and George Brien who travelled from Northern Ireland. Llanbedr having delivered another great Brits; it was time to return to the hangar for the prize giving. The overall results are given below.

Performance Light
1st David Hare (Weston Blokart Club)
2nd Joe Nathan (Cornwall Blokarters))

Performance Medium
1st Peter Williams (Cornwall Blokarters)
2nd Francois Cilliers (Weston Blokart Club)
3rd Alan Gibson (Midlands Blokart Club)

Performance Heavy
1st Chris Moore (Weston Blokart Club)
2nd Wayne Turner (Weston Blokart Club)
3rd Steve Harvey (Midlands Blokart Club)

Performance Super-heavy
1st Nick Trollope (Weston Blokart Club)
2nd Adrian Chalkley (Weston Blokart Club)
3rd Roger Jackson (Weston Blokart Club)

Production Light
1st Dave Cooke (Weston Blokart Club)
2nd Tom Carpenter (East Coast Blokart Club)

Production Medium
1st Nigel Owen (Weston Blokart Club)
2nd Tim Seed
3rd Martin Letters

Production Heavy
1st Stephen Cooke (TI Shredders)
2nd Pat Letters

Production Super-heavy
1st Stephen McGeogh (East Coast Blokart Club)