Illusion Trafalgar Trophy at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Mike Samuelson 19 Oct 2015 07:59 BST
17-18 October 2015
Illusion Trafalgar Trophy at Bembridge © Mike Samuelson
The first of the Winter season's Regattas for the Bembridge Illusion Class was run by Bembridge SC over the weekend. There were similar numbers to last year with twelve boats out on Saturday & fourteen on Sunday, however unlike last year when racing was possible on both days outside the harbour, the NE breeze this year meant that racing was kept in the harbour, where fortunately enough boats had moved ashore for the winter to allow reasonable length courses to be set.
After a short postponement on Saturday when the temporary Committee boat Gander had to be re-anchored, all three races were dominated by Mark Downer who established unbeatable leads in the NNE F4 breeze. Although unable to dent Mark's lead, James Meaning & Raymond Simonds were never far apart, with James coming second in the first and third races and Raymond coming second in the second race. Behind them, places were regularly changing with Bill Daniels, Jo Downer and Steve Warren Smith coming out best.
The breeze was a bit lighter and certainly more shifty on Sunday which suited James & Raymond better than Mark. In the first race of the day, after a clean start and a few boats deciding that the Bembridge side of the course with less tide would be better, James & Raymond proved them wrong and crossed the finish line after two rounds ahead of Mark. Richard Ambler & Xander Shaw, neither of who had not raced the day, filled fourth and fifth places.
In the second race, Bill Daniels was OCS but came back and then proceeded to show excellent boat speed and end up in fourth place just ahead of Mark. Although it was nip and tuck for all three rounds, Raymond just managed to hold onto the lead and cross the line about 5 seconds ahead of James. Third place went to Xander who again showed that he is capable of podium finishes when he gets the favourable wind shifts.
In the final race of the day and the wind dropping, the start was somewhat unusual in that the lead boats all came to the line a few seconds late. However, light airs expert James was unbeatable and although it looked at one stage that Raymond was catching him, it was not to be. With Mark having to be content with a third place, it meant that this year's winner of the Trafalgar Trophy was James, one point ahead of Raymond who was one point ahead of Mark.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | James Meaning | 31 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | Mark Downer | 123 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 3 | Raymond Simonds | 23 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | Bill Daniels | 68 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 27 |
| 4 | Jo Downer | 123 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 27 |
| 6 | Andrew Christie | 149 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 34 |
| 7 | Ed Eddy | 125 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 41 |
| 8 | Guy Mattinson | 147 | 7 | 6 | 4 | S | S | S | 53 |
| 10 | Steve Warren‑Smith | 146 | 5 | 4 | 9 | S | S | S | 54 |
| 11 | Xander Shaw | 15 | S | S | S | 5 | 3 | 9 | 53 |
| 11 | Richard Ambler | 156 | S | S | S | 4 | 8 | 8 | 56 |
| 12 | Peter Eddis | 144 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 57 |
| 13 | Alastair Speare‑Cole | 135 | S | S | S | 8 | 7 | 10 | 61 |
| 14 | Robin Rotherwick | 22 | 11 | 11 | 10 | R | 12 | S | 62 |
| 15 | Robin Ebsworth | 12 | S | S | S | 11 | 11 | 11 | 69 |
| 16 | Mike Till | 155 | 12 | 12 | 11 | S | S | S | 71 |
| 17 | Hilary Martin | 23G | S | S | S | 13 | 14 | 12 | 75 |
The next of this season's Illusion Regattas is the Picnic Hamper on Saturday & Sunday 24th/25th October."
Start of Sunday's 1st race (Race 4)
Start of Sunday's 2nd race (Race 5)