Chris Somner Dinghy Services




News Archive

17/11/09 Contender deals Winter 2009 For all of you sailors thinking of upgrading your boats this winter we have some deals to help you out throughout November and December 2009. Beat the VAT increase (All orders must be accompanied by payment in full). Click here to view our deals available until the end of December. Have a great winter! Regards Chris

24/09/09 Hot off the press... The Contender Nationals have just taken place at HighCliffe Sailing Club with 53 entries. We had 7 of our boats sailing of which 3 finished in the top 10. Stuart Jones was 2nd overall with Matt Aston in 4th and Stacey Bray in 8th . All our boats finished in the top half of the fleet. Conditions were a mixture of very light winds and perfect contender sailing conditions showing our boats are performing well in all conditions. For full results click here. For more information on a new Contender for 2010 call us now on +44 (0)1202 736704

29/04/09 CSERVE News... We Now have N1 420 Foils in stock Other foils stocked include Milanes, Contender, cadet, GP 14, and wayfarer Blades and Teb Cadet foils And Yachting world dayboat Galvanised Center plates and Timber rudder blades Boat covers in stock Cadet Top covers, under covers and cocoon covers Dayboat covers, Mirror covers Topper covers Laser covers Poole Ab covers Contender covers top and bottom Call us on +44 (0)1202 736704 for prices.

25/02/09 Ziegelmayer 420's, 470's and Optimists ... We are proud to announce we are now able to supply 420's, 470's and Optimists from Ziegelmayer in Germany. Call us to discuss your requirements for 2009!

05/01/09 We will be at the Worlds Biggest Dinghy Show ... We will have our Cadet, Yachting World Dayboat and of course the International Contender on the relevant class stands at this years RYA Volvo Dinghy Show. It takes place over the weekend of the 7th and 8th March 2009. We look forward to seeing you there!

30/09/08 Check out the new picture gallery showing the rebuild of Chris's Albacore... We have added a new gallery called the Rebuild Gallery showing the rebuild of my Albacore at various stages of the project. Their are over 40 images showing the project from start to finish.

17/07/08 Chris and Anita go Albacore sailing... Chris and Anita took a few days out from the office and took part in the Albacore Nationals in Looe earlier in the month. Many customers who have been to the workshop this year will have seen Chris's 2008 rebuild project taking shape! With 40 entries on the start line they came 17th overall in their vintage Albacore winning some silverware along the way. Click here to see the full results.

10/07/08 Contenders do battle in Italy... 2008 saw 92 Contender Sailors head for Tuscany, Italy at the beginning of June for the 2008 European Championships. Competitors from all over the world including Australia , Austria , Canada , Denmark , Germany , Holland , Italy , Spain , Switzerland and the UK took part. Several different builders were represented including a few built by our selves. The event was finally won by Giovanni Bonzio of Italy followed by Marcus Hamilton form Australia in 2nd and Italian Andrea Bonezzi in 3rd. For a full report click here.	The British contingent arrive in style!
For current pricing of our Contenders please call us on 01202 736704 for our latest prices or email chris@cserve.co.uk

01/07/08 A Day in the Life of Chris Somner by John Yonwin, Honorary Treasurer of the Dayboat committee...... I was delighted to accept the challenge from my colleagues on The Committee that I meet with Chris and write an article for DB Ramblings. His firm, Chris Somner Dinghy Services Ltd, is one of our sponsors for our Dayboat Nationals being held in Poole in August this year, so I was keen to hear from Chris as to how the building of the new DBs was progressing and his thinking about boating generally. I arrived at his boat yard mid Friday morning and he was on the phone to a customer (all his customers sound like his friends to me, and vice versa!). “Another boat order – not a DB this time,” says Chris with that cheeky smile. Over a cup of traditional “boat yard coffee” our conversation set off to a brisk pace. I soon realised that this man has “enthusiasm”. I do hope this article does him justice. The Committee offered me a selection of questions to put to Chris and I sent them to him a day or so before our meeting. He had done his homework on them. Q What are your recommendations for long-term care of the hull? A Wooden: Keep a close eye on the condition of the hull at all times and the moment a repair job is spotted DO IT...delay is the “kiss of death”. Fibreglass: Always try and epoxy resin a new hull. The extra cost will be an excellent investment. Every two years, you need to apply a good compound polish, and wax every year without fail. Q Your advice regarding dealing with minor impact damage? A Repair them as they happen and do not tape a damaged area thinking “I will do that later”. Q Our moulds – what would be the single greatest improvement that could be made? A Without doubt, the Association should invest in new moulds. Q How has building a YWDB differed from your previous boat builds? A To a degree, “clinker is a stinker”...difficult to mould and this makes for a higher cost and making sure that the weight distribution is correct. Q How many people are involved in making a DB here? And how long does it take to make a DB? A We have three of us here in the yard and a typical build time is approximately TWO months but it really depends on the time of year. Q Can you describe a typical day here? A It depends whether the day is essentially a “repair” or “build” day. We open at 8am and shut up shop around 6pm. I spend a lot of time talking to our customers. They are the most important and best part of the job to me. At the end of the day I like to leave with a grin on my face when we have finished a job. Q What is your favourite sailing venue? A Poole – without doubt. Q What boats do you currently sail? A Yachting World Dayboat and Albacore. Q What other interests do you have? A Not much time for other interests. My wife, Anita, and I enjoy walking and socialising with friends, and I play a little golf. Q What do you consider are the essential attributes for the job you do? A A passion for boats (Chris says without hesitation) Q What is the worst part of your job? A Rolling over a Wayfarer! And seeing the price of resin go up by the hour – in three years the price has risen from £198 for 220kg to over £700. In the last three weeks alone the price has risen a further £60. Q What is your most memorable sailing experience? A Winning the Colraine 24-Hour Race some 8 years ago with Anita and crew. Q Who or what inspires you most? A Successful/passionate people in any walk of life. Q What would you like to have achieved by the time you are 70 years old? A Have a settled family, a business that has a quality team and a firm reputation for quality work, and that our run of successes for the boats we build continues. Contenders – our boats are in the top 5 in the world; Cadets – we are in the UK World Team; Dayboats – we pick up prizes on a regular basis...would love to see a “CS YWDB” become champion. Mind you, it is really all down to “the nut at the end of the tiller”. Q How did you get into sailing and boat building? A It was down to my grandfather and the Opi I started sailing in when I was little. I team raced at Sevenoaks School, then went to university to study cybernetics and business studies and I ran the sailing club whilst there. I worked at Bob’s Boat Shop (Poole) and gained my City & Guilds in Boat Building. Four years ago, I also qualified as a Yacht and Small Boat Surveyor. Q How many YWDBs can you build in a year and how many have you built so far? A We can make 5 or 6 a year and we have built 5 so far. What would be good to see are orders for 5 or 6 placed in the next two or three months so that we can enjoy a good build run between September 2008 and January 2009. I am up for it! Q Are you going to sail with the Dayboaters in Poole? A Yes. I am building a Dayboat as a demonstrator. Q How could a YWDB be improved? A (With a smile on his face)...Build it 50 kilos lighter! Q Are there any rules that could be updated from your point of view? A “Black Bands on Spars”: The rules say that these should be painted on. I suggest the word “painted” be removed from the rules. Q What dinghies have you sailed over the years? A 420s, Opies, Larks, Scorpions, Fireballs, Flying 15s, RS 200s, International Moths, Albacores and Yachting World Dayboats. As I was leaving, Chris introduced me to his colleagues, Steve and Andy, and we looked over the wooden Albacore that they are restoring. What a beautiful job! The last question of the morning was down to Chris... “OK, John, when are you going to order your new composite DB that you keep asking me about?” He quickly thrust a colour card into my hand and, just as the phone started to ring (again), he said, “Then I can start asking you some questions about the spec of your new boat!” Thanks, Chris, for taking the time to answer the questions.

22/02/08 Dinghy Sailing Show... The 2008 RYA Dinghy Sailing Show is due to take place next weekend (1-2 March) at Alexandra Palace in London. Although we don't have an official stand this year we will be at the show and would be delighted to discuss how we can help you in the 2008 season. Give Chris a call to arrange a chat at the show on 01202 736704.

03/12/07 Come and see us at Earls Court... We Are exhibiting at the Earls Court London Boat Show this week running from the 1st to the 9th December 2007. You will find us on Stand 1G20 with both the Yachting World Day Boat and Cadet on show. Come and talk to us about your plans for the 2008 season! Click here to find out more about the show.

01/12/07 Contender update... We have built 9 Contenders in the last 18 months of which 7 were complete and 2 were composite boats ready for home completion. The moulds have been in continuous use. We have been achieving a consistent quality of build with all of the boats produced to date. Results have been promising with 3 boats inside the top 20 at this years Worlds in Medemblik and Gary Langdown was 2nd at last years UK Nationals. We can supply boats in various stages of completion from a bare hull through to a complete boat decked out including Milanes foils with choice of Ronstan or Harken fittings and rig, covers and trailer.

01/08/07 Cadet Nationals nearing completion... The 2007 Cadet Nationals are now nearing completion. Pwllheli Sailing Club in Wales are playing host to the 151 boats taking part. Click here for results to date.

31/07/07 Final Contender World Championship Results... Australian Marcus Hamilton has Won the 2007 Contender World Championship. With no racing on the last day due to the weather, Thursday night's results ended up being the final standings. Andrea Bonezzi of Italy took second, and Jan von der Bank from Germany was third. Denmark's ICA Chairman Soren Andreasen was fourth, just ahead of top Brits Stuart Jones and Graham Scott. Hamilton had an outstanding regatta, never being out of the first three, winning four of his eight races, and discarding a third. Bonezzi also had a solid series but a 4th and a 5th made the difference. After these two the scoring was close, with just five points separating 3rd to 6th.
The British fleet generally performed well, with 10 boats in the top twenty overall of this highly competitive 144 boat fleet. Click here for full results.

25/07/07 Final Yachting World Dayboat nationals 2007 results... 23 YW dayboats took part in their nationals at Rock Sailing & W.S club in May with Bob Clewer and Margaret Clewer crowned as National Champions for 2007. Click here for full results and Click here for pictures from the event.

19/07/07 New Cadet moulds... We are in the process of producing a new hull mould for the UK cadet class association, to make sure that the new boats are class legal, and to incorporate a more efficient method of manufacture. Photos will follow so keeping checking the website for updates!

19/07/07 Chris Somner Dinghy Services will be attending the 2007 Cadet World Championships... Chris Somner dinghy services will be attending the Cadet world championships from 1st - 8th of August 2007 carrying Cadet spares and will be able to carry out on the spot repairs and Maintenance.

18/07/07 Contenders doing battle in Holland... This week 144 international contenders from 3 continents and 11 countries are taking part in the 2007 World Championships from the International Regatta Centre in Medemblik in the Netherlands. Several Chris Somner contenders are taking place in the week long event with Simon Mussell currently top placed Somner boat in 9th place after 6 races. The regattas finishes on Friday when the 2007 World Champion will be crowned. To take a look at the latest results from the worlds in Medemblik click here.

21/03/07 New Picture Gallery... We have added a new gallery to the website which begins with pictures we took at the Dinghy Show earlier in the month at Alexandra Palace. Pictures can be found of our Contenders including the insides of one before the hull and deck are stuck together, Cadets and the Dayboat. Click the Gallery button above to view more pictures from the show.

07/03/07 Dinghy Show 2007... With several of our boats at the show it was a very busy weekend for us. Thanks to all our customers and new potential customers who came to say hello over the weekend period. Boats on display included the International Cadet and Contender in 2 halves ready to stick together on our own stand, a finished International Contender on the association stand, a second Cadet and a completed Yachting World Dayboat on there association stand. If you were unable to make the show but are interested in one of our boats then please call us on 01202 736704.	One of our contenders!
Above and opposite: A Yachting World Dayboat built by ourselves on the DB association stand

02/03/07 Welcome to our new website! Welcome to our new website home. We are boat builders for the International Contender, International Cadet, Poole AB and Yachting World Dayboat classes. We also offer a complete repair service and hold boat spares in stock from all of the leading manufacturers. We plan to bring you the latest news of what's happening not only in the workshop but also out on the water over the coming months as it happens. So keep coming back to check the latest news! The picture opposite shows a recent contender in mould with internal stiffeners ready for decking. We hope you enjoy the site. Chris Somner.

02/03/07 The Dinghy Sailing Show 2007. The 2007 Dinghy Sailing Show will again be hosted at Alexandra Palace on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th March 2007. For more info visit www.dinghysailingshow.org.uk We will be exhibiting at the show for the first time. Come and see us right next to the Contender stand on stand C8.

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