Squib National Championships at Weymouth Sailing Club - Day 5

Peter Jacobs the National Squib's OOD excelled himself today. He made a great number of smart decisions, particularly in respect of selecting a course, managing the starting arrangements and deciding on a length for the beats. Despite innumerable starts nobody was black flagged.

The weather forecast suggested that the wind would be from the south west, and that it would increase in strength all day, and that's exactly what it did. When the squib crews launched in Weymouth the wind was a mere 8-9 knots. It was expected to increase to sixteen knots with some stronger gusts. The eventually flagship recorded a consistent 17 knots with strength rising to 21 knots for a while.

The start was scheduled for 12.30 p.m., so the Squib fleet were in place at 11.45a.m. checking the wind direction, checking whether the wind was steady or if was inclined to shift back and forth. The start area was about 3 miles east of Weymouth port.

When the OOD prepared for the first start, most competitors had decided that the wind was steady in direction. Initially the fleet considered that the pin end was favoured. 5 seconds before the start The OOD called for an AP, due to the number of boats on the course side. (OCS).

On the second starting attempt under the 'U' flag, again most competitors decided that the pin end was favoured. Again the tidal flow pushed the ambitious fleet over the line and again 5 seconds before the start The OOD called for an AP, due to the number of boats over the line.

Was this going to turn into 'Groundhog Day'? When the Squibs were last in Weymouth for their national championship, they spent all day Thursday starting, without completing one race.

On the third attempt the pin boat was moved in order to ensure a spread of boats along the full length of the line. In this respect he succeeded, but when the fleet started a general recall was necessary.

It is hard to remember how many starts were signalled thereafter, and how many time the fleet had to come back.

Eventually the 60 boat Squib fleet started cleanly, without any boats declared OCS. By now the wind had increased to about fifteen knots. The sea state was very choppy for Squibs (which are only 19 feet long) on starboard tack, resulting in some boats taking a lot of water on-board, but port tack was entirely different. At the first windward mark 1.2 miles upwind of the start, the fleet arrived together.

Some boats created mayhem by under-laying the windward mark, and trying to force a space by tacking onto port. On the offwind spinnaker running leg Lady Penelope, Cariad Bach, reHydrated, and Spoof maintained good speed and spread widely before they all came together at the leeward gate. Everybody adopted the port hand mark in the belief that there was a tidal advantage.

At this stage Richard Robinson (former Cadet and Laser champion) with crew Steve Allso in Greyling led the fleet. On the second beat they headed inland towards Weymouth and away from the steep waves. Most of the rest of the fleet followed, and those who didn't suffered by losing places.

The fleet sailed four beats and three runs before they finished and the finishing places were:

1st. No.23, Greyling, Richard Robinson and Steve Allso
2nd. No. 123, Cariad Bach, Alan Johnson and David Garlick
3rd. No. 881, rehydrated, Nigel and Jack Grogan
1st Silver fleet: Siadwell in 22nd place, with Richard Date and Mark McGarry
1st. Bronze fleet: Quidsin in 25th place, with Mark and Ian Knights

1st lady crew was Alex Porteous in Spoof in 9th place. This result was impressive in the challenging conditions.

This result has turned the overall championship ranking upside down:

1st. ReHydrated on 9 points
2nd. Cariad Bach on 17 points
3rd. Greyling on 18 points
4th Aquabat on 19 points

For full results see the Weymouth Sailing Club website.

Tomorrow the battle will be for runner-up places....