Illusion Bill's Barrel at Bembridge Sailing Club

Bembridge Illusions Bill's Barrel © Mike Samuelson

Bembridge Illusions Bill's Barrel © Mike Samuelson

The forecasters were right, a severe gale over Friday night with a lull on Saturday and possibly windier on Sunday. It was good therefore to see eleven boats on the water on Saturday afternoon for "Bill's Barrel", supported by Goddards Brewery, in a reasonably steady NW'erly F3 that occasionally gusted to F4 and then dropped to F2 towards the end of racing.

Despite the pin being directly into the sun, the first race got away to an excellent start and it was good to see the event sponsor Bill Daniels in third place after the first round not far behind Bruce Huber & Mark Downer. However with Julia Bailey snapping at his heels, he dropped a place on the next two rounds and had to be content with a fourth.

Another excellent start to the second race with James Axtell somehow just managing to stave off being OCS. It was great to see Steve Warren-Smith rounding the windward mark in the lead and despite relentless pressure from Mark & Bruce and the breeze flicking around over the next two and a half rounds, he kept his nerve and finished a couple of boat lengths in front. George Downer had a good battle with his mother Jo and did well to come in just ahead in fourth place.

In the final race of the day the breeze continued to vary in strength and direction which whilst not dramatic made for some challenging racing. With the pin end of the line definitely favoured, the best start was by Bruce Huber who timed his port tack flyer to perfection and looked as if he was going to round the windward mark well ahead. In the event, he was not that far ahead on the first round, however by the second round had developed what looked like an unassailable lead. But of course its never over until its over and Mark & Julia Bailey both found extra speed and had closed the gap, indeed had moved into first & second places on rounding the windward marks for the last time. Bruce came third and Bill Daniels picked up his second fourth of the day.

An hour and a half before racing was programmed to start on Sunday, conditions were not looking very promising, however having made the decision to go ahead, the Westerly breeze kindly began to drop and by the time the first race got underway at 14:07 once there was enough water, it had settled to a reasonably steady F3 to F4. Although the top helms all went for the pin end, no one was very far off the line at the start; indeed Bill Daniel's risked all and was inches perfect with his port tack flyer close to pin. Mark Downer continued where he left off the day before and was the clear leader after the first round; Steve Warren-Smith was second just ahead of Bruce Huber. However as the race progressed Julia Bailey managed to work her way up to second place and although at one stage he was just behind George & Jo Downer, Bruce managed to take third place.

Another excellent start for the second race of the day, although Bill Daniel's port tack flyer went slightly wrong and he had to give way to the majority of the fleet. Head almost from the start, Mark Downer built up a considerable lead ahead of Bruce & Julia who in turn were well ahead of Bill with another sizeable gap to the rest of the fleet lead by George Downer. That said, the bottom half of the fleet enjoyed some very close racing with the only inches between some of them at the finish.

In the final race, Bill's risky port tack flyer did him no favours as he was a couple of seconds too early crossing the line, however being down at the pin end at least meant that it did not take him long to correct himself. Unfortunately Serena Gosling also thought she was OCS (which she wasn't) but took rather longer to get back racing. At the windward mark, it was again Mark's grey boat and the Bruce's green boat that lead the way for the rest of the race; third place was initially a tussle between Jo & George, however on the second round Julia found some extra speed and managed to work herself up into third by the finish. In accordance with the NoR, the final run had an extra mark laid (representing Bill's Barrel) for a bit of added fun.

With no discards for the Regatta, there were no real surprises in the top three - Mark Downer, Bruce Huber & Julia Bailey. George Downer picked up fourth place one point ahead of Steve Warren-Smith. Jo Downer in sixth took the mid-fleet prize and young Alex Downer in tenth won a beer towel for the most points having successfully finished all six races.

Bembridge Illusions Bill's Barrel - photo © Mike Samuelson

Overall Results:

Start of the 2nd Race on Saturday

Start of the 2nd Race on Sunday

Start of the final Race on Sunday