Illusion Christmas Cracker Regatta at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Mike Samuelson 29 Dec 2014 08:11 GMT
27-28 September 2014
Although Day 1 of the Christmas Cracker was originally programmed for Boxing Day, it was probably a good decision to move it back a day, as it was chucking it down on Friday afternoon!
Unperturbed by the strong overnight winds, ten Illusionists braved the cold NNW F2 to F5 breeze on Saturday afternoon; although tempted to try for 4 races in the harbour, everyone agreed that they were cold enough after three! In the first race, Graham Sunderland established a healthy lead after the first round, although Mark Downer closed the gap a bit on the final round. Bruce Huber was third, and George Downer sailing his mother's boat was a very creditable fourth.
In the second race, Mark, Graham & Bruce were very close at the start of the second round, however with the breeze picking up a bit, Mark gradually pulled away and never looked liked being caught and George chalked up his second fourth place.
With at least half the fleet over the line for the start of the third race, the First Substitute was flown to signal a General Recall; the subsequent Black Flag start was a classic in risk taking with the top three boats only inches from dis-qualification for being OCS. However, Mark soon pulled out a good lead and despite best efforts by the chasing pack, finished well ahead of Graham and Bruce with George scoring his third fourth place of the day.
With the tide an hour later on Sunday it was always going to be touch and go whether three races were going to be possible before it got dark. In the event, it was just possible, albeit prize giving in the dinghy park was certainly interesting! With neither Graham Sunderland or Bruce Huber racing, the way was left pretty open to Mark Downer to clean up, however, he certainly did not have it all his own way and had to work hard to keep ahead of Raymond & Colin Simonds and James Meaning who had joined in the fray. In the first race, Mark was chased home by Colin & Raymond who finished within seconds of each other with James in fourth.
A quick course re-set was then required as the NE F3 breeze backed to NNE. Mark and Raymond were well matched for the first round of the second race, however Raymond had a problem with his spinnaker and retired after two rounds, which left the way open for Colin to take second and Alastair Speare-Cole third. James meanwhile joined Raymond heading back to the Illusion Quay to get warm. Although towards the back of the fleet David Peerless and Serena Gosling had an excellent duel with the former just crossing the finish in front despite loosing his mainsheet. The final race started with the sun rapidly disappearing below the horizon. Colin lead after the first round with Alastair and Mark in hot pursuit; just behind Robin Ebsworth and George Downer were neck and neck. However, George surged past on the second beat and ended up even going ahead of his father on the final beat to come in third just behind Alastair.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Mark Downer | 124 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | George Downer | 123 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 19 |
| 3 | Alastair Speare‑Cole | 135 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 22 |
| 4 | Serena Gosling | 122 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 31 |
| 5 | Robin Ebsworth | 12 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 33 |
| 6 | Colin Simonds | 138 | S | S | S | 2 | 2 | 1 | 35 |
| 7 | Graham Sunderland | 80 | 1 | 2 | 2 | S | S | S | 35 |
| 8 | Bruce Huber | 101 | 3 | 3 | 3 | S | S | S | 39 |
| 9 | Bradly Mclaughlin | 23 | 9 | 10 | R | 9 | 8 | 8 | 44 |
| 10 | Ed Eddy | 125 | 10 | 8 | 5 | S | S | S | 53 |
| 11 | David Peerless | 8 | S | S | S | 10 | 6 | 7 | 53 |
| 12 | Mike Toogood | 142 | 8 | 5 | R | S | S | S | 58 |
| 13 | Raymond Simonds | 23 | S | S | S | 3 | R | S | 63 |
| 14 | James Meaning | 31 | S | S | S | 4 | R | S | 64 |
The next Regatta is the Icebreaker on Saturday & Sunday 3rd & 4th January.
Start of Race 2 (Saturday)
Spinnakers on Saturday
Start of Race 6 (Sunday)