Hydes Team aboard Troys in Fowey
by Hyde Sails 9 Jul 2005 09:43 BST
6 July 2005
The evening of Wednesday 6th July saw Paul Austin from the Hyde Sails head office and Wooderz from Hyde’s South West office in Exeter take a trip to Fowey (Cornwall ) for an evening of Troy sailing. The ‘Troy’ class is based in Fowey and is raced very competitively throughout the summer. With another new suit of Troy sails on the order books, the Hyde team were dispatched to gain the required information.
With his new boat having just been launched, John Forsyth, along with Hyde’s, were keen to ensure that his new sails would complement his new wooden mast. Using his old Hyde sails from his previous Troy as a starting point, the Hyde team could quickly assess the design alterations required to produce a perfectly shaped new suit to complement the masts characteristics.
Having jointly assessed the sails onboard Johns Troy (T24), Paul joined Doug Davis (T13) for the evening race. The race started in the river, with the boats heading out into the bay before returning to the river for the finish. The eastern side of the river was favoured by all for the leg out to sea, with some big shifts and pressure changes being experienced by all. Once past the headland and out into open water, a big bear away allowed kites to be hoisted. Paul was handed the helm aboard T13 at this point, as Doug was fully clued up on the unique way these sails are flown and handled.
Having raced a circuit around the bay in testing conditions the fleet returned to the river. The final ‘sprint’ to the finish, (still in testing conditions, but due to a light shifting breeze as opposed to the strong gusty conditions out at sea) still saw boats changing places right up to the finish line. Having suffered a ‘spring loaded’ start (but we were only slightly over and we did restart properly) John and the crew (Pete & Wooderz) aboard T24 managed to work their way through the fleet to finish 2nd, whilst Doug and Paul finished mid fleet.
A very convivial evening in the Fowey Gallants club house followed (where an excellent curry is served), before retiring to The Ship Inn, (run by Doug) for a final night cap, where sail shapes (and associated subjects!) were discussed well into the night.
The Hyde Sails team would like to thank all those who made the evening both afloat and ashore so enjoyable and look forward to meeting them again.
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