Medway Regatta 2016
by Catherine Gore 22 Jul 2016 15:53 BST
7-11 July 2016
Sonata Easterns
Friday 8th July bought the first serious racing of the regatta and the Sonata fleet were ready for a windy few days racing for the Eastern Championship Title. The event promised to be competitive with White Noise being reigning Eastern Championship holders and Red Dwarf II holding the regatta trophy from last year. Some boats were also keen to use this event as a warm up for the Sonata Nationals in a few weeks' time so everything was all to play for.
The Friday was a long distance race incorporating some buoys in the Thames Estuary, not somewhere the Sonatas often get the opportunity to venture so there was an air of nervous anticipation through the fleet as the course was read out. The fleet started well with 3 boats rounding the windward mark as close as 3 boats could be. With spinnakers up it was a long race towards the mouth of the river.
The Thames Estuary provided a challenge to the fleet to navigate their way to the buoys (some interesting methods were used including charts, co-ordinates and trying to google images of the Thames!) whilst trying to maintain speed with the waves catching the boats, the lead two gave the rest of the fleet something to watch as they were picked up on waves and quickly after broached. The fleet were split at this point on whether Spinnakers were still manageable or white sails. Rounding the first mark in Thames saw the lead boats settle into positions which ultimately completed the overall finishing positions.
Day 2 again saw breezy conditions which were due to build and with 4 windward leeward races planned the fleet had another busy day. The first race saw a port/starboard collision which left two boats sailing without wind instruments and Spring Sonata also experienced equipment issues which hindered their progress for the days racing. There were close battles for positions throughout the fleet with Munchkin managing to secure 2nd in two races just in front of White Noise.
As the breeze increased boats made changes to their sail plans with Cry Havoc scoring 4th place as they managed the conditions well. Red Dwarf II and White Noise showed their consistency with scoring 1st and 3rd places respectively for all races so far in the series. With the wind building, the committee decided to abandon the last race of the day and the fleet made a very wet journey back to the club for the shore side evening frivolities.
Day 3 again brought the breeze and a shorter round the cans race. Red Dwarf II were leading the fleet and just needed to finish the race to secure overall victory and took a cautious approach to the race and start line which White Noise capitalised on to lead the fleet from start to finish. Spring Sonata bounced back to finish 3rd after completing some much needed repairs, however it wasn't enough to reclaim 3rd in the overall series which went to Munchkin, with Red Dwarf II winning the Eastern Championships trophy and the Cinder Plate, and White Noise finishing in 2nd.
Dragon Fleet Captain's report (from Bruce Boyd)
It's now almost 30 years since I started racing Dragons on the Medway. The format has changed a bit over the years but the original concept of long distance racing has been retained for one of the three days.
The first day of this year was full-on perfect wind and tide conditions, providing a short beat start in Pinup reach, followed by a 12 mile run past Sheerness and out into the Thames and Medway Estuaries to Sea Reach 2 (in the Thames channel). This in Dragon terms was just off the Belgian coast! Wind strength kicked up to top twenties and gusts to mid-thirties making the first proper 5 mile beat to Mid-Swatch a bit of a tough one. Dragons OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Dragonistas) and Gandalf went to Essex but had no time to stop off at Southend for ice cream. The fleet was down to 6 boats at this stage, the Commodore's boat COY (Colin's Other Yacht) having lost a backstay on the long run. The reach to No.10 was epic, the usual suspects had some interesting horizontal moments. FLOS (Fat Lads Out Sailing) certainly won the prize for the best broach of the day and there are some great pics on Marine Photographer – Nick Champion's website recording it for posterity. Now at this stage most Race Officers would have taken pity on us poor dragoners and directed us back into the safety of the river. Alas no! in the absence of flags from RIB guard boat Blue Movie, the fleet headed off in search of more Belgian chocolates back out again to Sea Reach 2. The comments on Blue Movie concluded that RO – Richard Stone, probably didn't like Dragons anymore whereas most of the dragoners thought that he should try this stuff with his Wayfarer (that would certainly fill up his bespoke green wellies!). The 13 mile beat back to Gillingham Reach and The Committee Boat was a classic with Suti taking line honours just ahead of Fit Chick.
In the MYC bar afterwards, the thirty-seven-mile race was already being considered by some dazed dragoners for The Guinness Book of Records while others were a bit concerned about what might happen for the rest of the Regatta.
Eight Dragons participated in 5 races. No injuries and some great racing left some very satisfied racers. The Medway is still the best kept secret for Dragon Sailing (especially with its proximity to London) offering some superb long and wide reaches that also provide virtual lake sailing conditions (with a bit of tide thrown into the mix!)
Cruiser Report - Big winds, big waves and the occasional big wipeout!
With a very punchy looking forecast, 28 cruisers turned out across four classes, ranging in size from "Festina Lente" a tiny but tidy Limbo 6.6, all the way to the smartly turned out Arcona 39 "Full Tilt".
The weather started as it meant to go on, and with regular gusts above 20 knots on the Friday, there was no chance of a gentle bedding in period for the fleet. Race 1 saw classes large and small head out to the Thames Estuary where wind over tide conditions had created some challenging waves. Race 2 was more of the same, and some pretty tired crews stepped off their boats to enjoy a very welcome slap-up meal at the club house that evening.
Saturday was windier still, with many of the sportier boats hitting double figures for long periods. The tough conditions also led to a few retirals, and some swift trips home to raid the garage for spare sails and gear. MYC again did competitors proud with some quality entertainment in the evening.
If conditions on Friday and Saturday were testing, Sunday was something else, with regular gusts over 30 knots and the added phenomenon of the Admiral's Cruise to contend with, a spectacular convoy of hundreds of powerboats making their way out to the wreck of the SS Montgomery and back.
The IRC class was won in some style by Robbie Stewart's newly refitted quarter tonner, "Hellaby". Second went to Ian Foxwell's recently arrived Hanse 291 "Sea Horse", and third place was claimed by "Zephyros", Tim French's Dehler 34.
In NHC2, Keith Lennox's J/80 "Jemini" took full advantage of the planing conditions to win the class convincingly with a 1,1,2,1. Mike Wilkinson's Contessa 34 Nazca II revelled in the tough conditions to claim second, and Roger and Julie Griffiths (racing shorthanded) gained a well-deserved third place in their Dehler 35 "Sulis".
In NHC3, Aaron and Paul Goodman-Simpson's well set up and sailed Robber 3E, "Reefer" was unstoppable in the heavy conditions and took the win. Mike Wood's Limbo 6.6 "Festina Lente" from Greenwich Yacht Club claimed second place, with Phil Clandillon and Dulcie Ireland's Beneteau First 235 "Amberjack" rounding out the podium in 3rd. The conditions were particularly tough for the small boats but to the credit of the class there were only two DNFs (due to gear failure) all weekend.
The NHC4 (white sail) class was won emphatically by Philip Clarabut's Feeling 32 "Eleison", with Timothy Andrews' very well sailed Bavaria 33 "Astral" coming in second. Ian Pearson's Beneteau Oceanis 411 "Fleet" sailed well against a tough rating to claim third place.