Bembridge Redwing & One-Design Weekend Racing
by Mike Samuelson 12 Jun 2017 08:16 BST
10-11 June 2017
Earlier in the week the forecast for the weekend had been pretty dismal, so sadly it was decided to cancel the two days of racing in the RYS J70s that had been planned. In the event the weather was not as bad as had been predicted so a number of Redwings & One-Designs enjoyed some racing on both Saturday and Sunday.
Four Redwings and three One-Designs had two shortish windward/leeward races on Saturday in the pleasant Southerly F4 breeze with hardly a cloud in the sky. Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore sailing three up in Snow Goose won both Redwing races pretty convincingly with Tom Scott, only two up, in Siskin securing two seconds. Jim Conybeare-Cross in Gannet had a third and a fourth, and Nick Wakefield in Bizarre a fourth and a third.
Mark Grzegorczyk with Anna Row as his crew in No 9 One-Design lead the way in both of their races, however James Row, sailing single handed in No 8 managed to catch up and by the finish was just over half a minute ahead in the first race and a minute in the second. James Palmer, also single handed was third quite a long way behind in the first race but only just over half a minute in the second.
Sunday brightened up as the day went on and with the breeze forecast to increase towards lunchtime, the ROs decided to play safe and set a course off Drum so as to get some shelter for the six Redwings and three One-Designs. After a fairly vociferous start with Sue Wakefield helming Bizarre taking a penalty, the Redwings did not take long to reach the windward inflatable that had been laid inshore. First round was Jonathan N-L in Snow Goose with Meri Benham in Paroquet a couple of boat lengths behind.
Having rounded Britten as the wing mark and Derrick as the leeward mark, the beat back to the windward inflatable via the line proved to be quite challenging particularly with the F5 gusts and 10 degree wind shifts. Snow Goose lead the way but Paroquet was never that far behind and indeed crossed the finish line a second ahead, however having touched Derrick on the third and final round and not taken a penalty announced that they were retiring which meant that victory went to Snow Goose. Having moved up to third by the end of the first round, Tom Scott in Siskin finished second 2 minutes later. Sue Wakefield in Bizarre did well in blustery conditions to finish third having had a close race with Jim Conybeare-Cross in Gannet and Philip Bown in Redwing.
The three One-Designs were within boat lengths of each other for the first round, however James Row, sailing single handed in No 8 pulled ahead on the second and finished a minute ahead of Jos Coad and his crew Rupert White in No 12. Having been in the lead for the first round, James Palmer, sailing on his own in No 3 slipped back and finished a minute behind Jos.
Next weekend, in addition to the normal Redwing & Design racing, we are hosting, with support from SVYC an RS Elite Regatta.