CVRDA National Rally at Roadford Lake Sailing Club

CVRDA National Rally at Roadford Lake 2015 © Pat Jones

CVRDA National Rally at Roadford Lake 2015 © Pat Jones

Ros and David Downs win Fastest Boat Trophy at CVRDA National Rally © Alan Henderson

The CVRDA 'Nationals' is something of a regatta and rally combined with dinghies dating from 1946 to 1985. A group of Classic Finns and a group of low-rider Moths joined a range of other classes to make a fleet of twenty four.

Five races over the weekend were the main activity, but on land much time was spent looking at some rare survivors of forgotten classes. It may have been the first time for several decades that three Hits were sailing together. Other lovely rarities included a Duckling and a Flying Moth, (not a foiling moth but more of an earlier variant of the British Moth complete with its original cotton sail) both these two have been beautifully restored by Kevin Bond.

Two other unfamiliar boats with sliding seats were the ToY (an Olympic hopeful by Tony Allen) and the Minisprint. Perhaps the weirdest boat was the Scow Moth with its very eccentric hull shape.

In a mixed fleet it is always more fun when you have one or two similar boats to compete against. This year there were three Albacores, three I14s, three Moths, three Hits, and three Finns. The fine Osprey of Ros and David Downs, Ed Bremner's Firefly and Merlin 1066 completed the fleet.

The weather for racing could hardly have been better, though the wind for the first race was a little lighter and there were shifts to be used or confused by. Mostly the same pattern emerged in the five races with Ros and David's Osprey, Ian Marshall's moth and Sam Mason with Sally Smith crewing their Albacore, showing the way on the water and battling for the first three places after the handicaps had been applied. Closely behind was John Barnes' Finn and two more moths sailed mostly, but not always, upright by Alan Watson and Lyndon Beasley.

In the centre of the fleet the three fourteens and the Albacore of Sandy Lavelle, crewed by Pat Jones were usually having a good tussle. In race two Nessa Weedon-Jones and her crew Nikki Evans had a slow start for their very first sail in Agamemnon, a Proctor designed I14 from 1965, but the extra speed meant that by lap 2 she had convincingly over taken the other 14s (one an Uffa Fox designed Fairey boat from 1957, the other a Holt design from 1946). Then an awkward gust hit and Agamemnon capsized. Without transom flaps and especially without a very large bucket it was race over and a tow home to shore was needed.

Gear failure is common in old boats but there were not many problems at all. The Osprey's main halyard failed in race four and was seen sailing to shore to fix it before re-joining the race. They still managed to finish 12th out of 17 finishers! In Race two Sandy and Pat's Albacore had a jib halyard failure which lost them some ground whilst re-rigging and they then spotted a capsized Topper being blown well beyond the reach of the youngster floundering in the water. With skill they caught the Topper, asked another passing sailor to pick up the youngster and reunited the boat with the helm all before the lake's safety boat arrived on the scene. They were awarded a bottle of wine for services rendered!

Sunday morning racing saw the fleet more eager to start with Nessa's I14 over the start line, but a quick gyrate around the end mark lost them very little and they were soon pulling away from other boats to finish well up the fleet. Alan Williams in the Finn did not realise he was over the line until he was given OCS at the end. Meanwhile Tim Bury and Pat Kuenzler in Merlin Rocket 1066 were giving great entertainment with their spinnaker handling which included flying it (accidentally) inside the jib, wineglassing it and finally losing the spinnaker pole overboard.

The overall winners were: Ian Marshall, Moth, 1st. Sam and Sally, Albacore 2nd. Ros and David's Osprey 3rd. In the Finn fleet 1st place went to John Barnes. Alan Watson and Lyndon Beasley tied for second place in the Moths but on count back Alan was award second (Ian Marshall taking first). The Old wing was won by Sam and Sally's Albacore 5866, The Classic Wing was won by Tim Bury and Pat Kuenzler in Merlin Rocket 1066 and the Vintage wing was won by Chris and Lois Barlow in I14 no 483 (a hollow victory since there were no other ribbed boats!). The Youngest Competitor award went to Toby Callen, (10) who crewed Ed Bremner's Firefly.

At the Concourse: the 'Best on Land' was the International 14 of 1946, the 'Best on the Water' was the Osprey and the boat everyone 'Wanted to Take Home' was the Duckling.

Sunday afternoon, in a perfect breeze and sunshine, ended with several people swapping and trying other boats, whilst other relaxed and watched those on the water or those packing up their boats for the journey home.. To quote one of the winners: "All in all the best sailing weekend we have had for years. Good racing, Friendly people and no prima donnas... plus a memorable fruit cake."

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Overall Results:

CVRDA National Rally at Roadford Lake 2015 - photo © Pat Jones