Silver Firefly Pursuit Race 2014 at Christchurch Sailing Club

After a "retirement" of 27 years, one of Christchurch Sailing Club's most prestigious trophies, the Silver Firefly, once again became the prize that lured 12 boats to the start line against a dire forecast on August Bank Holiday Monday.

For the first time in recent memory, Christchurch Sailing Club adopted a pursuit race format, with the Avon Scow fleet setting off first at 10am, followed by a stream of Toppers, Splashes, Lasers, Solos and Finns over the next 19 minutes.

Early race leader, Stuart Percival, made good use of the early fresh breeze in his Scow and held a good margin over the chasing fleet well into the race. Jack Acton in his Topper gave chase but was unable to make significant inroads into the Scow's lead.

Starting last, the Finns of Simon Percival and Jack Arnell made short work of chasing down the Lasers of Mike Greenland, Richard Beasley, Glen Tizzard and Gary Mehson. Separated by no more than a few lengths, Jack and Simon worked their way through the fleet and were among the early favourites to take the lead by the end of the 75 minute race.

Starting just ahead of the Lasers, the RS Vision of Jim Lawrence and Jon Arnell made a good start and were able to extend their lead after a couple of fast genniker reaches. Disaster struck, however, when their mainsail halyard snapped early into the race and they were forced to retire. Having decided to remove 24 cans of lager from the boat in an effort to save weight, their long wait in the harbour was doubly frustrating.

Ela Miller, racing in her Splash, managed to overhaul the Topper of Jacqui Tizzard and moved into pole position as the leading Lady helm. Despite her best efforts, however, she was unable to resist the challenge of the Solo, Lasers and Finns in the final stages of the race as the breeze died away.

Sailing a borrowed Solo, Andrew "Rover" Rushworth had been seen out training on the course for several days in advance and was clearly taking the event seriously. He immediately set about chasing down the slower boats ahead and by mid-race had emerged as the main threat to Stuart in his Scow.

With 20 minutes to go the Scow still held a sizeable lead, with Rover moving past Jack Acton's Topper and into second place. Jack and Simon, in the Finns, were closing in slowly but would they have time to catch the Solo and Scow?

With less than 6 minutes remaining, the Solo finally drew level with the Scow. A short luffing match ensued but for poor Stuart, this was tantamount to bringing a pencil sharpener to a knife fight and Rover was able to dive to leeward and take the lead. On the final beat to the finish the two Finns, still separated by just a couple of lengths, managed to power past Stuart's Scow into second and third places.

At the prize-giving back at the Club, Rover thanked the race team who braved the wet weather and congratulated the hardy sailors who defied the forecast to make the race a huge success. The Silver Firefly remains under lock and key in the Club Trophy cabinet but a new winner for 2014 will be engraved to join her prestigious list of former champions.

Overall Results:

1. Solo – Andrew Rushworth (1st Grand-Master)
2. Finn – Jack Arnell (1st Junior)
3. Finn – Simon Percival
4. Scow – Stuart Percival (1st Legend)
5. Laser – Gary Mehson
6. Topper – Jack Acton
7. Laser – Richard Beasley
8. Laser – Mike Greenland
9. Splash – Ela Miller (1st Lady)
10. Topper – Jacquie Tizzard
11. Laser – Glen Tizzard
12. RS Vision – Jim Lawrence and Jon Arnell