Ramsgate Week 2014
by Royal Temple Regatta Office 26 Aug 2014 14:25 BST
17-22 August 2014
Monday (18 August 2014)
IRC Class 1 and Class 2 - IRC East Coast Championship
A busy day for the IRC fleets, with three back-to-back races. Races 1 and 2 comprised 3 laps of a windward/leeward & offset marks in a NW 12 to 24 Knot wind - Course length approximately 8.4 Nm.
Race 1: from a Committee boat start with a crowded line, Class 2 was the first off with 8 boats jostling for position at the Committee boat end to account for the slight line bias and the prevailing tide flow. Despite the crowding, the fleet got away first time and split tacks evenly and finding an oscillating wind giving advantages on both left and right in different sides up the first beat.
Class 1 started 5 minutes later and bad luck for Principessa had to sit out the race after snagging & tearing her Number 2 Genoa and missed the 4 minute start limit. Oystercatcher XXX was clean away from the start and like the Class 2 fleet; they rapidly spread out whilst different boats accommodated the vagaries of the oscillating wind direction.
Race 1 Results:
IRC Class 2
1 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
2 882 A Boen, Stern 33, Johan Bol, WSV Noord Beveland
3 4360 Roller Skate, ¾ Tonner, Paul Glover, Malcolm Flory & John Vincent, Royal Temple Yacht Club
IRC Class 1
1 4321 Oystercatcher XXX, HH42, Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club
2 2187 Stiletto, First 35, John Barrett & Paul Woodward, Royal Temple Yacht Club
3 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club
Race 2 was started immediately after minor changes to the start line were made to compensate for both tide & wind changes. First off again were the Class 2 boats and 5 minutes later the Class 1 boats got away. Oystercatcher XXX got clean away again from the line but got hooked up on the floating anchor warp of the spreader mark after the first beat allowing most of the competitors to get past.
Race 2 Results:
IRC Class 2
1 882 A Boen, Stern 33, Johan Bol, WSV Noord Beveland
2 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
3 8764 Buccaneer, Elan 333, Peter Pearson & Mike Lilwall Royal Temple Yacht Club
IRC Class 1
1 685 Oxygen, IMX 40, Axel De Cock, VVW Nieuwpoort
2 2187 Stiletto, First 35, John Barrett & Paul Woodward, Royal Temple Yacht Club
3 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club
Race 3 required a change to course as the wind dropped to a steadier WNW at 15 knots with a Triangle, windward/leeward & beat – 1 lap at approximately 9 Nm.
Race 3 Results:
IRC Class 2
1 882 A Boen, Stern 33, Johan Bol, WSV Noord Beveland
2 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
3 1597 Ickle Jura, J97, Kevin Moll, Haven Ports Yacht Club
IRC Class 1
1 4321 Oystercatcher XXX, HH42, Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club
2 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club
3 685 Oxygen, IMX 40, Axel De Cock, VVW Nieuwpoort
Class 5
The race started from the Club line in breezy gusty conditions with Didgeridoo making the best of the start at the harbour end of the line. However, being one of the smallest in the class, she was soon overhauled on the short windward leg to the Stonar buoy by three of the larger boats. On the run out to the Gull buoy it was Rush, Irene and Roxanne leading the fleet closely followed by Didgeridoo, Mallemok and Red Legend. On the windward legs that followed in the gusty, shifty conditions, the larger boats stretched away with Irene taking the honours and Didgeridoo and Red Legend taking second and third places on handicap respectively.
Class 6
Class 6 started today's race at 11.10am, with a solid 15 knot breeze from the west. The fleet headed to the Stonar buoy, led by Juniper of Ore, Escape and then Pippy third, closely followed by Santa Evita and then Juniper in a single tack on the wind. At The Stonar buoy Pippy rounded first with Juniper of Ore and Santa Evita on a dead run. They then left the St Georges Garage to port in the same order with Juniper of Ore passing Pippy on the gybe as they made their way to East Brake, which was rounded to port and then heading back upwind to the North Quern. Pippy regained the lead, on this leg with a strengthening tide, the fleet remained in the same order through the club line leaving the outer distance mark to port, rounding the West Quern buoy to port, back leaving the St Georges buoy to port and then this time to the RA buoy which was left to port also. The fleet then headed back to the North Quern buoy and through the club line to head around the West Quern and back to St Georges and finally the North Quern and finished on the club line with Pippy taking line honours with Juniper of Ore taking second place and followed by Escape, Santa Evita and Juniper. The finishing order being the same on corrected time.
Class 7
Wind speed 14 – 18 Knots - Overcast and gusty.
The Course was an ever decreasing circle. First to Stonar was Wild Rover a feisty Impala. Following hotly on their heels were the rest of the class. Having fallen behind at the Start Lunar Sea made up good ground. Ahead of the pack were Karibia Breezes, Shoestring, Wild Rover, Hoodwynk and Impulse, with TS Leopold Muller, Lunar Sea, Outlaw and Amelie holding up the rear. There were some close waters between some of the boats at the buoys, but being the Gentleman's class they allowed each other to pass without incident.
The Eventual winner was Karibia Breezes, followed 2nd by Lunar Sea and in 3rd place was Shoestring.
Tuesday (19 August 2014)
IRC Class 1 and Class 2 – IRC East Coast Championship
The IRC fleets had a slightly easier day with Races 4 and 5 using 2 laps of a windward/leeward & offset marks in a WNW 12 to 16 Knot wind - Course length approximately 10.5 Nm.
Race 4: again from a Committee boat start with a crowded line, Class 2 was the first off with 8 boats making for the Committee boat end of the line bias. Despite the crowding, the fleet got away first time and split tacks evenly.
Class 1 started 5 minutes later and despite some animated discussions between boats over the legality of the entry to a crowded line, they all managed to stay the right side of the line and got away first time. Oystercatcher XXX again led the way round.
Race 4 Results:
IRC Class 2
1 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
2 882 A Boen, Stern 33, Johan Bol, WSV Noord Beveland
3 2907 ICOM Cool Blue, Cory Yachts 290, Simon Cory, Downs Sailing Club
IRC Class 1
1 4321 Oystercatcher XXX, HH42, Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club
2 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club
3 2187 Stiletto, First 35, John Barrett & Paul Woodward, Royal Temple Yacht Club
Race 5 was run on the same course and Class 2 got away cleanly at the start. Class 1 were all very pushy and as the clock wound down for the start, the Race Officer had no alternative but call them all back with a general recall as 6 boats were over the line. Second start was just as frenetic, but they got away cleanly with Principessa threading their way on Port through all the Starboard boats and finding themselves following Oystercatcher XXX round the first mark by going up the starboard side of the course.
Race 5 Results:
IRC Class 2
1 882 A Boen, Stern 33, Johan Bol, WSV Noord Beveland
2 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
3 2907 ICOM Cool Blue, Cory Yachts 290, Simon Cory, Downs Sailing Club
IRC Class 1
1 4321 Oystercatcher XXX, HH42, Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club
2 685 Oxygen, IMX 40, Axel De Cock, VVW Nieuwpoort
3 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club
Class 5
With almost a repeat of the previous day's race, a fast windward leg to the Stonar buoy was led out this time by Rush, followed by Irene and Roxanne. There then followed a run to the East Brake buoy a fetch to Broadstairs Knoll and a run out to the Gull. At the front end of the fleet, Rush and Irene were having a private duel leading to late spinnaker drops at the buoy with Rush having to struggle to get things under control, allowing to Irene stretching out her lead. The remainder of the windward leg saw few place changes on the final windward leg to the finish and saw a change in the results order with Red Legend getting the better of Didgeridoo by one minute on corrected time.
Class 6
With a west north westerly breeze forecast of 11 to 18 knots, Race Officer Peter Holland set class 6 the course from the club start line to the Stonar RTYC race mark, then leaving the West Quern cardinal mark to port, Northrop Sails buoy port, then out to East Brake where we hardened up to the wind and out to the Broadstairs Knoll to starboard and then Ramsgate Approach (RA) buoy to port. Escape just squeezed in front at the first mark followed by Pippy and Juniper of Ore, on the run to Northrop Sails, Pippy passed Escape with Juniper of Ore passing both to lead around East Brake onto a beam reach with up to 19 knots of breeze. Pippy passed Juniper of Ore, as did Escape who we're closing fast on Pippy all the way around to the RA buoy. The fleet then headed back to the north quern cardinal buoy and through the club line, Pippy extending their the lead with Juniper of Ore and Escape battling behind. The course was then back to the St Georges mark, north quern and finish on the club line. Local boat Juniper retired having ripped their genoa.
Pippy took their third first place in a row with Juniper of Ore second and Santa Evita third, and Escape fourth.
Class 7
Wind speed average 20 knots, with gusting up to 25 knots – patchy cloud and very gusty.
The Course was centred round the Broadstairs Knoll. First to Stonar was once again Wild Rover, who along with Shoestring, Amelie and Karibia Breezes hugged the shoreline to make the most of the wind. After Stonar, Shoestring, Wild Rover, Amelie and Karibia Breezes pulled away into the lead, where they stayed for the remainder of the race. Outlaw, TS Leopold Muller and Hoodwynk battled it out to the East Brake arriving at the same time, but TS Leopold Muller kindly gave Outlaw water to get round the buoy. Keeping up the rear was Mystique, Lunar Sea and Impulse.
It was a fast sail in the gusty conditions with Shoestring keeping the lead and coming in 1st, followed by Karibia Breezes in 2nd and Wild Rover 3rd.
Wednesday (20 August 2014)
IRC Race 6 - Round-the-cans
The IRC fleet spread their racing area on this day and utilised a wider range of fixed navigation marks along the Kent coast for their race with just one lap covering approximately 18 Nm. With the wind dropping to 8 – 12 knots WNW, IRC Class 2 was first away from the Committee Boat and followed 5 minutes later by the Class 1 boats. The lengthy foul tide beat soon started to spread the yachts and generally favoured those with longer waterlines.
Race 6 Results:
IRC Class 2
1 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
2 882 A Boen, Stern 33, Johan Bol, WSV Noord Beveland
3 8764 Buccaneer, Elan 333, Peter Pearson & Mike Lilwall, Royal Temple Yacht Club
IRC Class 1
1 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club
2 4321 Oystercatcher XXX, HH42, Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club
3 685 Oxygen, IMX 40, Axel De Cock, VVW Nieuwpoort
Thursday (21 August 2014)
Races 7 and 8 for the QE 2 Cup
With a Westerly wind between 8 – 10 knots, the IRC Classes 1 & 2 completed Race 7 and 8 for the QE 2 cup on a 2 lap windward/leeward course. Each course comprising a race of approximately 6.8 Nm length.
Race 7 Results:
QE 2 Cup - IRC Class 2
1 5111 Capella, One-off Design, Frans Mass, Breskens Yacht Club
2 4360 Roller Skate, ¾ Tonner, Paul Glover, Malcolm Flory & John Vincent, RTYC
3 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
QE 2 Cup - IRC Class 1
1 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club
2 2187 Stiletto, First 35, John Barrett & Paul Woodward, Royal Temple Yacht Club
3 35080 Dunkerque Plaisance, A35, Philippe Bourgeois, Dunkerque Plaisance – Class 1
Race 8 Results:
QE 2 Cup - IRC Class 2
1 5859 Vanilla, X332, Niek Spiljard, WV Arne
2 5111 Capella, One-off Design, Frans Mass, Breskens Yacht Club
3 8764 Buccaneer, Elan 333, Peter Pearson & Mike Lilwall Royal Temple Yacht Club
QE 2 Cup - IRC Class 1
1 4321 Oystercatcher XXX, HH42, Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club
2 35080 Dunkerque Plaisance, A35, Philippe Bourgeois, Dunkerque Plaisance
3 2187 Stiletto, First 35, John Barrett & Paul Woodward, Royal Temple Yacht Club
IRC Classes 1 & 2 - QE 2 Cup Overall
1 35080 Dunkerque Plaisance, A35, Philippe Bourgeois, Dunkerque Plaisance
2 2187 Stiletto, First 35, John Barrett & Paul Woodward, Royal Temple Yacht Club
3 5111 Capella, One-off Design, Frans Mass, Breskens Yacht Club
Class 6
With light airs forecast the fleet set off to the Stonar buoy and then on to leave the RTYC race mark and west quern cardinal to port before heading off to the downs off Deal. The bulk of the fleet stayed close to the quern bank and Santa Evita was the first boat to round the Stonar, followed by Escape and Juniper of Ore. Pippy had tried to take advantage of the back eddy close to the harbour wall but the gamble did not pay off. The boats retained their positions with Santa Evita taking line honours, Escape second, Juniper of Ore third, Pippy fourth, High Flyer from Medway yacht club fifth and Juniper sixth.
Class 7
Wind speed average 10 knots, gusting up to 20 knots and very variable – patchy cloud and gusty.
The course was to Deal Dolphin via St Georges and Brake. With very little wind at the start it was slow to Stonar with Shoestring rounding it first and Outlaw only crossing the start line at the same time as Class 6, which confused the race hut as to whether the line was clear or not. In such light winds, Lunar Sea and Mystique struggled to Stonar but then retired.
The front group to Brake was Shoestring, Amelie, Wild Rover and Karibia Breezes, followed by Hoodwynk, Outlaw and TS Leopold Muller. Impulse struggled to the Brake but retired when they were making no headway. The wind was very variable and gusty down to Deal and so it was tacking all the way. Once round the Dolphin it was enjoyable surf back to B2 and the finish with Shoestring taking 1st, followed by Amelie in 2nd and Wild Rover in 3rd.
Friday (22 August 2014) Gold Cup
With the weather and wind conditions remaining stable and the Westerly wind offering a 10 – 14 knot breeze, the days racing entered the last day of Ramsgate Week 2014. The final day racing was exclusively for the Gold Cup; this prestigious and beautiful trophy was presented to the RTYC in 1903 and has been engraved with the names of many famous yachtsmen.
With a committee boat start, the Senior Race Officer Peter Rumbelow laid a challenging 21 Nm course due West, giving a fair beat towards ICOM (P) and then to Brake (P), Deal Bank (S), Deal Dolphin (S), South Brake (P), Gull Stream (P), Broadstairs Knoll (P), ICOM (S), St. Georges Garage (P) – finish.
With plenty of racing practice during this week, competition had dramatically improved and the fleet were closely matched with the first yacht home (Oystercatcher XXX) in a corrected time of 3 Hours 5 Minutes and the last yacht home in 3 hours 24 Minutes.
Gold Cup Race Results: (top fifteen)
1 4321 Oystercatcher XXX, HH42, Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club – Class 1
2 35080 Dunkerque Plaisance, A35, Philippe Bourgeois, Dunkerque Plaisance – Class 1
3 882 A Boen, Stern 33, Johan Bol, WSV Noord Beveland – Class 2
4 8764 Buccaneer, Elan 333, Peter Pearson & Mike Lilwall RTYC – Class 2
5 35 Xwaves, X35, Mike & Jo Brand, Royal Temple Yacht Club – Class 1
6 906 Assassin, Pronavia 42, Peter Jackson, Royal Temple Yacht Club – Class 1
7 2187 Stiletto, First 35, John Barrett & Paul Woodward, RTYC – Class 1
8 9596 Slingshot, J105, Rod Oates & Gaving Magee, RTYC – Class 1
9 685 Oxygen, IMX 40, Axel De Cock, VVW Nieuwpoort – Class 1
10 35221 X-Mary, X34, Bertrand Fetel, SRC Les Voiles de Calais – Class 2
11 5111 Capella, One-off Design, Frans Mass, Breskens Yacht Club – Class 2
12 2186 Principessa, Grand Soleil 43b, Andy Beaumont-Hope, RTYC – Class 1
13 4360 Roller Skate, ¾ Tonner, Paul Glover, Malcolm Flory & John Vincent, RTYC – Class 2
14 1605 Jazz II, J105, Arthur Freeman, RTYC – Class 1
15 1804 Xpedite, X99, Julian Poupard, RTYC – Class 2
Class 6
Gold cup day with a committee boat start for all competitors. Principle race officer Peter Rumbelow set the course from RTYC start line to Stonar buoy then leaving the RTYC Navigation School buoy to starboard and then on to Brake, Deal Bank, Deal dolphin, Downs, Gull stream, Northrop sails, ICOM and the finish line set between the committee boat and St George's Garage buoy. Escape took an early lead but a navigational error cost them first place and this left Pippy to take line honours with their fifth first place of the week. Santa Evita took second place helmed all week by owner James Fishers daughter, who we understand has been sailing since she was four years old! Juniper of Ore and Escape all from HPYC being third and fourth respectively,
Class 7
Wind speed Average 18 Knots, gusting up to 24 Knots and very variable – patchy cloud and gusty. W - NW
The course today was triangular taking us up to Gull Stream and Gull and then over to Broadstairs Knoll. In keeping with their form throughout the week, the first to Stonar was Shoestring flashing their Union Jack bottom. The tide was very strong from the start and the wind very variable and gusty. When the wind dropped it was hard to make headway against the tide and Mystique retired after losing the battle. As was the form for the rest of the week, the front group to the Gull Stream was Shoestring, Amelie, Wild Rover and Karibia Breezes, followed by Hoodwynk, Outlaw, TS Leopold Muller, Lunar Sea and Impulse holding up the rear. It was a great sail to Broadstairs Knoll, with the variable wind making multiple tacking necessary.
The winner was Shoestring, followed 2nd by Wild Rover and 3rd was Amelie, with Hoodwynk and Outlaw battling it out across the line.
A great week of sailing and fun in the club made it a very enjoyable week. With big thanks to the RTYC and the Race Hut for handling the vagaries of the weather and satisfying the competitors with both the competitive racing and excellent after race entertainment.
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