Illusion Stratton Trophy at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Mike Samuelson 8 Feb 2016 06:44 GMT
6-7 February 2016
High winds for the Bembridge Illusion Stratton Trophy © Mike Samuelson
An early start on Saturday and a dismal forecast sadly meant that there were only eight takers for the first day of the Stratton Trophy; a far cry from the inaugural Regatta in memory of Vernon Stratton in 2012 when there were 46 entries. Mind you back then it was almost a flat calm, not blowing 18+ knots.
After a short delay to allow the Race Officers to get the course organised, the first race got away to a clean start. However it was not long before the relatively inexperienced Hugh Doherty realised that his boat kept nose diving in the turbulent conditions so he sensibly headed homewards. The next one to come unstuck was the Class Admiral Robin Ebsworth who filled up gybing round the left-hand gate on the second round. Rescue was close at hand and it did not take long to bail enough water out to allow him to get back into the boat and limp back to the Club. In the meantime, Jo Downer was having a great race and showing both her husband Mark and Bruce Huber how to handle an Illusion in such boisterous conditions. Ahead for most of the race it was bad luck that she was just pipped to the finish post by Mark.
As the second race got underway, a 30-knot gust came through and although most boats took in quite a lot of water, amazingly they all kept heading upwind towards the first mark. Not surprisingly, given his weight and strong wind experience Mark Downer was the first round the windward mark quite a long way ahead of Bill Daniels & Bruce Huber. Lower down the fleet Mike Toogood eventually filled up and had to transfer to the Safety RIB so that he could bail enough water out to allow him to sail back to Illusion Quay. Poor Julia Bailey, who had been gamely struggling to remain afloat also retired when she realised that her mast had gone through her deck and was in danger of falling down. This just left the front three and Jo, and with no sign of the wind abating, the ROs wisely decided to finish the race after two rounds and further racing was abandoned.
Although there were still some big gusts and it was certainly not "beginner" weather, conditions on Sunday were considerably better - just a pity that there were not more takers. However the six who did make it enjoyed some close racing in the four two round races that the ROs provided. In the first race of the day, Jo Downer had a bad first round but managed to catch up on the second and was not far behind the leader Mark at the leeward gate, however at the line it was son George who crossed a boat length ahead of her to take second place.
In the second race, the Downer 1, 2, 3 was upset by Mike Toogood who had a storming race and came in third not far behind George & Mark. With the wind strength varying between 14 knots & 26 knots, getting the start right every time is not easy even for the most experienced, particularly as more often than not the majority of boats are trying to be within a foot or so of the line at the start. In the third race of the day, Bill Daniel's over cooked it and had already started to go back when the whistle was blown. Although a number of boats thought that they might have been OCS, in fact only Mark was penalised and had to return. This put him almost last on the first beat however by the time they reached the leeward gate he was up to third behind George & Jo. On the second round he overtook Jo, but George held his nerve and finished a couple of boats lengths in front.
The final race of the day got away to a clean start and this time it was Bill Daniel's who put paid to another Downer 1, 2, 3 by holding Jo back in fourth place. A good finish to the day in some pretty testing conditions. No surprises in the overall winner, Mark, but well done to Jo who managed to do just enough to finish 2 points ahead of George with Bill Daniel's in fourth place a point behind.
Later starts for the Valentine Trophy next weekend so providing the weather does not put people off, hopefully we will see a good turnout for one the Illusion Classes oldest trophies.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Mark Downer | 124 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Jo Downer | 123 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 | George Downer | 15 | S | S | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | Bill Daniels | 68 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 18 |
| 5 | Mike Toogood | 142 | 4 | R | 6 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 24 |
| 6 | Robin Ebsworth | 12 | R | S | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 32 |
| 7 | Bruce Huber | 101 | 3 | 3 | S | S | S | S | 36 |
| 8 | Julia Bailey | 157 | 6 | R | S | S | S | S | 46 |
| 9 | Hugh Doherty | 73 | R | S | S | S | S | S | 50 |
Videos
Start of the first race on Saturday
Start of the 2nd race on Sunday
Mark's spinnaker handling on Sunday