THE BALATON GROUP
Part 1.
The Balaton Group is the most recently formed (September 2011) and fastest growing group within SAMM. It owes it´s existence to the generosity of a past SAMM member Peter Sharpington who offered a boat to SAMM for a modest sum, which included a payment of €500 to the Paul Cunningham Nurses charity.
This boat was a Balaton 18S, a 5.48 meter (18ft) sloop built in Hungary in 1977. She carries 8.06sqM of sail, main and furling jib, has tiller steering, a 4 hp outboard and a small cabin. She is easily sailed by two, but will take four, and has 4 small berths and a chemical toilet so can be used for overnight trips provided picnics are taken as there are no galley facilities.
As SAMM does not own boats it was decided that a new group should be formed and 16 people expressed an interest in joining, but this gradually reduced to 11 who proceeded to sign up. In addition to the monies requested by Peter the boat needed some TLC, including new anti-foul and some rigging, as she had lain idle for over a year plus a new mooring and insurance. The group membership fee was therefore set at €350 plus an Annual Fee of €120 to cover all the costs.
One of the group, Carol Sibson, previously owned the boat and generously offered to pay for a complete repainting provided the hull was returned to the original dark blue and the boat returned to her original name of “Conny”. The other group members gratefully accepted the offer.
By 23rd November 2011 the repainting and anti-fouling was completed and the boat returned to the water and on the 28th November she was moved to her new mooring at Los Alcázares.
Part 2.
A waiting list for potential new members soon developed and when, in February 2012, another two boats, both Sailfish 18’s in need of refurbishment, were offered to the group it was decided to purchase both and enlarge the membership.
The Sailfish is similar to the Balaton but has a transom fitted main sheet which makes the larger cockpit very spacious plus a lifting keel so the boat can be easily trailed and beached.
The members decided to do the refurbishment and themselves and the first, to be renamed “Sirocco”, was acquired immediately. She was repainted inside and out, anti-fouled, all the woodwork striped back, stained and varnished, new windows for the cabin purchased and fitted plus many other small repairs to the hull, deck and rigging. A new swinging mooring was laid and the boat was launched on the 14th March, a fantastic team effort by the members.
Part 3.
The second, already named “Mistral”, was acquired by March 19th and work on her started immediately. Less was needed but the outboard proved unreliable and had to be stripped down and serviced although luckily no new parts were required. Another superb team effort saw the boat ready to be launched within three weeks but another new mooring had to be constructed and laid but unfortunately this had to be delayed due to a period of high winds. Eventually all was well and “Mistral” was launched on April 22nd 2012.
This was also designated a “work day” for the other boats so small improvements could be made to improve the handling. The enthusiasm of group members was clearly displayed when all but two were able to work and participate in the launch. All tasks were completed within three hours so a lucky number had time for a quick sail in the afternoon.
All boats are great little vessels for those who enjoy “messing about in boats”, but will also be competing in the SAMM race series. You can see how they are doing by checking the Race Results page on this web site.
A waiting list for potential new members is available and interested parties should speak to one of the members or email to julianpering@live.co.uk
Balaton Group Members
The Balaton Group Boat “Conny” under sail.