Bart's Bash at Christchurch Sailing Club

Bart's Bash event at Christchurch Sailing Club © Gary Sibbald

Bart's Bash event at Christchurch Sailing Club © Gary Sibbald

"The atmosphere here today – we need to bottle it" "Why can't we be like this more often?" These were just a few of the remarks from sailors and supporters of Bart's Bash at Christchurch Sailing Club. The buzz and excitement around the club and dinghy park was tangible in the early morning sunshine of September 21st.

The largest Club fleet in memory, 45 boats, set off in a sparkling north-easterly breeze as race officers Ian & Jill Martindale and their team of volunteers set a perfect line ready for a 10:30 start.

Pretty much every boat class at Christchurch was represented with sailors aged from 10 to almost 80 years racing together. Despite the large number taking part there were no issues or delays with rigging and launching and the whole fleet arrived safely at the start in good time for the race.

Quickly out of the blocks were the heavy mob in the Finn fleet followed closely by the assembled lasers and radials and the RS Vision of Jon Arnell and Jim Lawrence. RS300 sailor Chris Arnell managed to dismantle his mainsheet block on the first planing reach and was the first retirement of the day.

Chasing the Finns hard was Rory Barnes in his laser, probably one of the pre-race favourites for the overall win.

Early leader, Ray New was overhauled by Simon Percival and the Finn boys slugged it out amongst themselves at the front of the fleet. Further back, the RS Vision managed to fly as genniker on a few planing reaches as Jon Arnell & Jim Lawrence worked hard to stay in contention.

An interesting newcomer to the fleet, the Topaz 16CX Catamaran of Graham Woods and Tim Turner, turned a few heads off and on the water. Despite some exciting moments they never looked like featuring in the overall results while racing around the confined waters of the harbour. It didn't matter – pretty much everyone in the race just wanted to be part of the occasion.

We learned at last week's Junior Interclub regatta that you ignore well sailed slow boats at your peril. The Scow of Graham Fairbrass, Stacey Herring in a Topper, and Sam De La Feuillade were quietly going about the business of sailing fast in clear air in the middle of the fleet. Mixing it up with the lasers and faster boats it became clear that some of these guys were going to be a challenge in the overall standings and so it turned out.

Bart's Bash event at Christchurch Sailing Club - photo © Gary Sibbald

Thirty-seven minutes and 18 seconds after the start, race leader Simon Percival crossed the line in his Finn. Over the next half an hour the rest of the fleet completed the 5300 metre course, with the last recorded finisher, Charlie Lawrence, bringing his Optimist home in 1 hour 11 minutes.

Working out the final results took a short while and allowed the assembled sailors some time to enjoy a BBQ and a drink (or two) while watching the medal races from the ISAF Worlds. At the impromptu prize-giving, race officer Ian Martindale commented that this race had been the most exciting experience of his 46 years as a Club member.

When the overall results were announced there was really no surprise in discovering that our overall winner was Sam De La Feuillade in his Optimist. A huge round of applause was followed by a short speech ("Thanks"). Everyone who took part was a winner, today.

Sam De La Feuillade wins the Bart's Bash event at Christchurch Sailing Club - photo © Gary Sibbald

Overall Results:

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