Illusion Valentine Trophy at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Mike Samuelson 2 Feb 2015 14:57 GMT
31 January - 1 February 2015
Despite the early start (09:00) and pretty pessimistic forecast, eight sailors took part in the Bembridge Illusion fleet's Valentine Trophy last weekend. The conditions on Saturday were westerly to north-northwesterly F3-5 winds with powerful gusts and near-freezing air temperatures. Mark Downer led throughout the first race, apart from the first run, when Steve Warren-Smith was briefly ahead. Steve managed to hang on to second, beating Rupert Holmes by three boat lengths.
A right shift just before the start of the second race resulted in the whole fleet battling for the committee boat end of the line. Mark managed to get away first as the most windward boat, while Rupert was shut out but neatly gybed round to retain an advantage on the boats starting near to the pin. Mark had a 30 second lead by the time he reached the windward mark, but Rupert had overcome his shaky start and was busy trying to overtake Steve in second place by the first run. Steve's decision to go right at the leeward gate when everyone else went left cost him second place. A big right shift accompanied by large gusts on the second run saw both Mark and Rupert opting for early spinnaker drops, and the race committee opting to shorten the course.
After resetting the course for the more northwesterly direction, the final race saw most of the fleet starting at the pin end, with Steve having to return after being OCS. While Rupert was nipping at Mark's heels for most of the race and even ahead of him briefly, Mark stretched his lead from four to ten boat lengths on the final run, winning a third bullet. Meanwhile Robin Ebsworth managed to take third ahead of Steve, who finished as he started by having to circle back to cross the line.
The early start time, combined with frigid north-northwesterly F6 winds with gusts well over 30 knots caused half of the competitors to hit the snooze button on Sunday morning. Of those that did make it down to the Bembridge Sailing Club on the second day, only two were likely to improve their final standing by going out, and a bit of cost-benefit analysis over coffees resulted in the racing being called off. The Valentine Trophy was awarded to Mark for his three firsts on Saturday, followed by Rupert in second and Steve in third.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Mark Downer | 124 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Rupert Holmes | 47 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | Steve Warren‑Smith | 146 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | Robin Ebsworth | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | Mike Toogood | 142 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | Jeremy Waitt | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 18 |
| 7 | Guy Matteson | 161 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
| 8 | Richard Palmer | 14 | 8 | R | S | 26 |
Next Regatta: Stratton Trophy Regatta - Sat & Sun 7th & 8th Feb.