Classic & Vintage Racing Dinghy Association rally at Hunts Sailing Club
by Dougal Henshall 12 May 2014 11:57 BST
3-4 May 2014
Intense concentration was the order of the day at the Classic Dinghy meeting at Hunts - Ben Marshall in his immaculate 1961 built Merlin Rocket leads the fleet in Race 2 © David Henshall
After the success of their open Classic weekend, held at the club the previous year, Hunts SC were keen to build on what could be an interesting way of hosting events. On the Saturday, the normal classic fleet was joined by the Merlin Rockets who were enjoying a one day event in their 'DeMay' classic series. Then, on the Sunday, the classic dinghies, (plus some of the Merlins that had stayed on) were joined by the Signets, who were also holding a one day event under the overall 'umbrella' of the weekend. Certainly this is a clever way of maximising available time and resources and could suggest that other clubs follow the lead set by Hunts.
Certainly the Signets, (the boat designed by Ian Proctor in 1961 for easy home construction) were to enjoy the best of the weekend afloat as the wind, though light, blew reasonably steadily all day. The Saturday was another matter all together! The day had dawned with the lake looking glassy and still, a state that it kept reverting to at various times of the day. With big shifts and even bigger holes, the day would test the patience of both the Race Officer, Andy Alcock, and the competitors, as what wind there was refused to settle.
The Hunts weekend was also significant as it marked the start of an initiative to bring the classic 'lowrider' International Moths together, with three boats of very different styles on display. There was a 'kitchen door' – a tunnel scow moth that was never going to be happy in the drifting conditions. This was joined by one of the all time 'great' Moth designs, a Magnum 5 and a very attractive boat that is as yet of an 'unknown design' (one thing about the Moth fleet, they certainly provide plenty of talking points!).
Do you recognise this Moth? As yet it is classed as 'unknown' but maybe of Scottish origin!
Within the Merlin Rocket fleet, once the Class agreed age specific handicaps had been worked out, it was clear Mike Liggett from the host club had made the most of his local knowledge to gently ease his 1950 built Holt boat Squirrel to victory. He finished clearly ahead of Nick Crickmore in the splendid looking David Thomas designed one-off Nitro. Away from the Moths and the Merlins, the other classics boats that included a Fairey Jollyboat, National 12, Graduate and Albacore were working hard to keep up with a boat from another class that is seeing a growing interest in 'going classic' for the older boats, the Solo.
Richard Keefe working hard to keep his classic Solo at the head of the fleet. The Solos are relative newcomers to the classic scene but there is an increasing interest from some of the older boats.
The competition between the leading boats was very close and in the end it came down to the Proctor 8 National 12 of Steve Tomkins and Abby Freeley finding an unhelpful 'hole' in the wind that gave a well deserved victory to the all varnished, Lovett built Solo of Richard Keefe.
In the testing conditions that could see boats on the same heading but different tacks, intense concentration was required. Here Steve Tomkins and Abby Freeley are totally focused on keeping their Proctor 8 National 12 moving in the lightest of zephyrs. Sadly, have done all the hard work so well, they were to sail into a hole at one of the marks, which resulted in victory going to the Solo.
It almost seemed as if the Signets brought the wind with them, for the Sunday was a much better day out on the lake. This was just as well, as with the classic fleet, the Signets and the home club fleet all afloat, the racing area was well 'occupied'!
Moths, Merlins and Mirrors, Solos and Signets, all sharing the same stretch of water as Jollyboats and the club fleet. Hunts SC gave them all a warm welcome and added yet more impetus to the growing 'Classic Scene'!
It was interesting to watch the Signets, (which started life as the Sunday Times dinghy, hence 'ST') for this is a class that is at the other end of the scale to the modern, white FRP skiff inspired classes. Yet, like a number of other so called 'older' classes, they have made a virtue out of getting the important things right. On smaller and more restricted stretches of water they still offer affordable 'enjoyment', yet with no compromise on the close, competitive racing.
The classic scene now heads off across the Midlands to Blithfield, where yet more Merlins and Moths are expected to be swelling the numbers, before heading off to the darkest regions of the SouthWest for a Lowrider MothFest and the Classic Finns Nationals, which will all form part of the popular Roadford Lake Classic weekend.
Overall Results: (top three)
1st Solo, Richard Keefe
2nd National 12 (Proctor 8), Steve Tomkins/Abby Freeley
3rd Graduate, Tim Issac