Bembridge Sailing Club Keelboat Racing and Annual Regatta
by Mike Samuelson 14 Aug 2017 13:50 BST
7-13 August 2017
Monday 7th August
After a gruelling week at Cowes, only three Redwings were out racing on Monday morning. With a SSW'erly F3 breeze and the start line at Fitzwilliam, Under Tyne was the obvious choice as the windward mark and Ruthven the leeward mark. Musicus helmed by David McCue lead for most of the two round race and finished a minute ahead of Meri Benham in Paroquet; David Swinstead in Vera was the back marker.
Six One-Designs meanwhile had two shorter races. The first followed a similar course to the Redwings. After a pretty good start with James Row on port sailing single handed close to Fitzwilliam, reached Under Tyne on one tack and remained in front for the rest of the race. After a good beat in from Ruthven, Alexander Ross in No 11 was second a minute behind James; D Orange in No 12 was third 30 seconds later. The second race had a running start; Helen Mathieson helming No 2 was OCS but cleared herself by coming back. D Orange in No 12 was first round Janson with James Row in No 8 and Norman Marshall in No 7 not far behind. On the second beat to the finish back at Under Tyne, Helen in No 2 surged through from mid-fleet to take second place behind James in No 8; D in No 12 was third.
Tuesday 8th August
After a slight misunderstanding on the Redwing front as to who was or was not racing, David Swinstead & Ben Stoddart-Stones in Vera joined in with the six One Designs for the day's two races. Starting at Under Tyne, the windward mark was set as Nainby with Tara (via Under Tyne) the leeward mark. After a pretty good start, albeit Martin Bonham in No 2 sailing single handed was shut out at the Committee Boat by James Row (also single handed) in No 8, the fleet split on the beat to Nainby with James in No 8, Alexander Ross in No 11 and Susie Beart in No 5 rounding very close together. They were neck and neck as they past Under Tyne and although it looked as though Susie was just ahead as they approached the finish, Alexander just got his nose in front and crossed the line a second ahead. James was third, five seconds later.
A second Redwing, No 21 helmed by Oscar Bown with his grandfather Philip crewing, decided to join in the second race that again started at Under Tyne but had Drum as the windward mark, Tara the leeward one with Nainby for the finish. With the NW'erly breeze increasing slightly, and a lumpy old sea, conditions were challenging at times. As to be expected the two Redwings were ahead by the time they reached Drum, albeit James in No 8, Charles Abel Smith in No 7 with Anna Row crewing and Martin in No 2 were not far behind. There was little between the two Redwings as they ran down to Tara and beat back to Nainby; indeed victory could have gone to either boat. However in the end it was Redwing who managed to cross the finish line a second ahead of Vera. James in No 8 One-Design meanwhile extended his lead and finished a country mile ahead of Jos Coad in No 12 who overtook Charles in No 7 and Martin in No 2 on the final beat from Tara to Nainby.
Wednesday 9th August
With very wet and windy conditions forecast for the afternoon, it was agreed that the annual BSC v SVYC team racing would be limited to just racing in the Mermaids at Seaview followed by lunch and that the afternoon racing in One-Designs would be binned. The first flight of two races was one round only with the Northerly breeze hovering around 5 knots; despite successfully avoiding last place in both, the home team won both having taken first and second places. With the breeze increasing to F5 at times, the second race was two rounds. Again the home team were just too strong and too consistent so scored two more wins giving them a 4-0 victory.
Thursday 10th August
It was nice to see the sun back out again and although the forecast was suggesting stronger winds, the Northerly breeze was a bit on the light side at times. Both classes had two races; the first for the two Redwings racing was towards the Centenary Cup and the second for the cadet's Norman Phillips Trophy. After a close start the young crew of Rosetta assisted by George Greenwood took an early lead and was first round Derrick, Nainby and the inflatable leeward mark, however victory went to Plover's crew assisted by Andrew Eddy who took the best route back to the line on the final beat. In the second race, Hugh Laughton-Scott helming Plover took and early lead and managed to round Derrick just before the wind dropped off and left Rosetta struggling to reach the buoy. The course was shortened at the leeward mark with Plover a long way ahead.
The start of the first race for the five One-Designs was certainly not the best of the season! The beat to Derrick was quite slow but No 2 helmed by Martin Bonham with Charlie Harcourt-Smith crewing managed to find the what breeze there was and rounded a long way ahead. Indeed he was so far ahead that he somehow remained in front even after taking a huge detour to look for Nainby in its very old location off the Baywatch Cafe! Ashley McLucas and Charles Abel Smith in No 6, Sophie and Alexander Ross in No 11 and Peter Truman and James Row in No 9 all finished within 20 seconds of each other. Max and Patrick Aylmer in No 8 never caught up after their late start and struggled with their jib shackle to headed to Under Tyne after finishing. The start of the second race was marginally better and despite slow progress again, Alexander Ross in No 11 was first round Derrick and held on to win by just under two minutes. Charles Abel Smith in No 6 and Peter Truman in No 9 had a very close race with less than a second separating them at the finish.
Friday 11th August - Day 1 of BSC Annual Regatta
With Scow Week and Cadet Week 2 on their final day, the number of boats entered for the Inshore Regatta on Friday were a record 106 which certainly tested the race committee! Although there were a lot of capsizes in the WSW'erly F4 gusting F5, the safety boats coped admirably and those that made it round the challenging courses had a great race. Obviously not nearly as many for the Offshore keelboat Regatta that runs in parallel, however they too had excellent racing.
- Redwings (7) - No 30 James Wilson; No 24 Joe Robertson; No 47 Nicko Robertson
- Seaview Mermaids (7) - U4 Nick Stewart; U7 Hugo Mills; U5 Richard Taylor
- One-Designs (5) - No 6 Ashley McLucas; No 1 Russ Fowler; No 11 Alexander Ross
- Squibs (5) - No 626 Jo Downer; No 20 Sam Prime; No 500 Martin Harrison
- Scows (21) - No 13 Peter Hayward; No 619 Jodi Spence; No 638 Oliver Morgan
- Optimists (22) - No 5137 Thomas Knocker; No 4389 Nestor Montagu; No 5651 Hannah Knocker
- Slow Handicap (4) - No 11094 Sarah Gabbani; No 4 Aileen Armstrong & John Gabanni
- Laser 4.7 (26) - No 208186 Arthur Farley; No 119333 Charlie White; No 143596 Harry White
- Swan (1) - No 17 Clive & Tone Spash
- Fast Handicap (13) - Solo 5267 Martyn Davies; Europe 387 Giles Easter; Laser (R) SAA20 Alex Downer
- Feva (19) - No 5924 SVYC?; No 2033 Arabella Wilson & Freddie Zlattinger; No 4763 Chloe Holbrook & Ed Quirke
Start of the Feva race
Start of the Fast Handicap race
Start of the Laser 4.7 race
Saturday 12th August - Day 2 of BSC Annual Regatta
With the dinghy courses over, the entry number for the Inshore Regatta were reduced, however there were still 64 boats signed up. The NNW'ertly F4 breeze made course setting a bit harder and sadly the final beat into the line was not great as the breeze backed more Westerly, however there were no complaints - certainly from the front runners! Offshore, the larger keelboat fleets also had some challenging and close racing.
- Redwings (13) - No 30 James Wilson; No 38 Olav Cole; No 11 Colin Samuelson
- Seaview Mermaids (8) - U7 Richard Ambler; U9 Richard Taylor; U3 Jo Mills;
- One-Designs (11) - No 12 Xander Shaw; No 3 Jos Coad; No 1 Russ Fowler
- Squibs (5) - No 626 Jo Downer; No 500 Martin Harrison; No 20 Sam Prime
- Scows (19) - No 13 Peter Hayward; No 619 Jodi Spence; No 638 Oliver Morgan
- Optimists (11) - No 5936 SVYC; No 616 SVYC; No 2608 Thomas Wilson
- Slow Handicap (4) - No 2382 Grainne Andrews; No 4 Aileen Armstrong & John Gabanni; Pink Janette Webb
- Laser 4.7 (8) - No 208186 Arthur Farley; No 119333 Charlie White; No 143596 Harry White
- Swan (1) - No 17 Clive & Tone Spash
- Fast Handicap (12) - Wayfarer 62288 Duncan Bates & Will Morris; Laser 2 9600 Tony Burton & Ricard Hall; Europe 387 Giles Easter
- Feva (9) - No 5533 SVYC?; No 4641 Alex Andreae & Libby Butler; No 2783 James & Ben Hall
Start of the Scow race
Start of the Fast Handicap race
Sunday 13th August - SVYC Regatta (Day 1)
The absence of any wind mid to late morning at Seaview meant a postponement of over 2 hours being announced. As they were not programmed to start until lunchtime the Redwings and One-Designs decided, with the BSC AGM due to start at 17:30, that racing was simply not practical so cancelled their races. Hopefully a bit more of a breeze tomorrow. A few dinghies raced - results not yet known.