Final August racing for the Bembridge Keelboats
by Mike Samuelson 29 Aug 2017 08:49 BST
21-28 August 2017
Sparking racing on Saturday for the Bembridge Redwings © Mike Samuelson
Monday 21st August
Despite a dozen plus Redwings on the moorings at Under Tyne, racing on Monday was limited to four One-Designs. Despite initial talk of genoas, they appeared for the start with normal jibs which meant that progress in the mainly NW F2 breeze was quite slow. After a clean start, James Row sailing single handed in No 2 and Jos Coad crewed by Anna Row in No 11 headed in towards the Under Tyne moorings, while Mark Grzgorczyk single handed in No 9 and William Bland with D Orange in No 12 went out. James & Jos were well ahead when they got to the windward mark (Footprint) and having been ahead at the inflatable leeward mark James finished ahead by about 20 seconds. D was quite a long way back in third and Mark was awarded fourth place!
With the breeze veering to the North for the second race, the windward mark changed to Britten. As in the previous race two boats stayed on starboard and two boats quickly tacked onto port to try to find the better tide, Mark, James & Jos were all quite close as they headed back to the inflatable leeward mark, however after a nice little beat back to the line, where the race was shortened, Mark in No 9 came in ahead of James by nearly one and a half minutes. Jos was third some two minutes later.
Tuesday 22nd August
Again no Redwings and the One-Designs opted to have two races for the Cartwright Prize. Although normally based on the old Olympic course of a triangle, sausage and triangle, it was agreed that the more modern windward/leeward course would still meet the spirit of the terms for the Cartwright prize.
Five One-Designs, with genoas today, made a clean start from Fitzwilliam to Moreton in the pretty steady Easterly F3 breeze. Despite the lumpy sea conditions, all made good progress on a variety of tacks. Mark Gregorczyk, again single handed in No 9, was first to round the windward mark and never looked as if he was going to be caught on the long run to Garland and the beat back to Fitzwilliam. However, it was by no means a procession and Jos Coad with Willie Cobb in No 6 was only 16 seconds behind at the finish. D Orange with William Bland crewing was third well over a minute later. Having hit Moreton and taken a penalty, James Row in No 8 was fourth.
With the breeze veering to the SE, the start line for the second race was reset using the inflatable buoy carried by Sea Breeze and Cochrane & Footprint became the windward & leeward marks. Two boats started on Port and just got away with it; after a testing beat to Cochrane, James Row in No 8 lead Russ Fowler in No 1 and Mark in No 9 back to Footprint, however, on the beat to the finish at Under Tyne, Mark managed to steal a march on the others and took his second first of the day thereby winning the Cartwright prize outright. James was second and William Bland helming No 12 was third.
Wednesday 23rd August - WSW F3 - F4
No Redwings again and only four One-Designs, of which only one (No 8, Anna & James Row) qualified for the re-scheduled Spouses race. Unless they won overall the day's two races, then it was thought that it should be re-scheduled again!
Started at Fitzwilliam with Goarland as the windward mark, Under Tyne to give them another buoy to go round and Moreton as the leeward mark. Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9 and D Orange in No 12 got the best start. Anna in No 8 tacked early to get clear wind and then went right into the moorings rather than follow the others who continued out towards Seaview. Although it did not pay off, it was not a disaster and she rounded Garland in third behind No 12 and No 9. D just held off Mark on the run to Moreton, but with the breeze increasing to F4 and the sun making an appearance they had a very close race back to the finish at Fitzwilliam with No 12 beating No 8 by 30 seconds with No 9 less than a second later. Norman Marshall in No 7 finished a bit further back.
For course for the second race, although still basically windward/leeward, was moved southwards to ring the change. All four made an excellent start; Mark in No 9 risked a port flyer but had to duck the rest. They were all very close as they rounded the windward mark with James in No 8 just ahead of D in No 12, Mark in No 9 and Norman in No 7. They remained close as they ran to Fitzwilliam (starboard) and then on to Cochrane which was also a starboard rounding. Unfortunately the breeze then veered more to the west so the leg back to the finish at Under Tyne was no longer a beat; that said it was still quite challenging and James made up a place to finish twenty seconds ahead of Mark who was twenty seconds or so ahead of D. This meant that James and Anna finished in first place overall and therefore win the Spouses Trophy.
Thursday 24th August - WSW F3 - Sunny periods
No Redwings and only three One-Designs which was a pity as there was a lovely gentle breeze and the sun even came out! All three One-Designs made a good start with Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9 ducking on port and continuing out on port tack until he reached the starboard layline for the windward mark, Garland. William Bland with D Orange crewing in No 12 did almost the opposite on starboard and Robin Joy with Charlotte crewing in No 10 kept in the middle! William choose the right option and was well ahead at Garland; Mark and Robin were close and swapped positions on the run to Fitzwilliam via Under Tyne. No 12 maintained their lead and finished a minute and a half ahead of No 9 who just outsmarted No 10 on the line.
Another good start albeit D Orange helming No 12 was pretty kind to Mark in No 9 and let him in on the Committee Boat. No 9 & No 10 were neck and neck as they rounded Garland and headed downwind to Under Tyne. There was little to separate all three at the leeward mark, Moreton, so it was interesting that Mark in No 9 pulled out a forty second lead on Robin in No 10 by the finish at Garland.
Friday 25th August - ENE/ESE F2-3 - Sunny
The first Redwings of the week, albeit only two of them, and no One-Designs for the morning racing anyway. With just enough of a breeze to make it worth trying to race, first blood went to Richard Jessel in Blue Jay II who managed to force Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore in Snowgoose over the line at the start. However his lead was relatively short lived as they headed up the beat to Janson and Snowgoose rounded well ahead. The slow run to Garland and the short beat to the finish was a bit of a procession, however there was always the possibility that the leader would grind to a halt in a windless hole.
With the breeze veering to the east just before the start of the second race, there was quick change of course and immediately after the start the pin was lifted and taken up wind as the windward mark. In fact it was left on the back of Sea Breeze and the M Flag flown! Snowgoose had the better start and soon established a considerable lead, however full marks to Blue Jay II, helmed by Chloe, who refused to give up and take a lift from Rod back to the moorings.
In the afternoon, the top four One-Design helms raced for the prestigious Jubilee Trophy. This involves three races with helms and crews changing boats for each race. With the ESE F2 breeze just enough to make racing possible and with nothing to be gained wind-wise by going further afield, a line was set just to the west of Under Tyne with Tara as the windward mark and Under Tyne the leeward one. In the first race James Row with Hugh Doherty crewing were caught OCS and having taken some time to get back was never able to catch back up. The other three were quite close and John Deacon with Willie Cobb and D Orange with Mark Grzegorczyk were neck and neck on the run to the finish after it was wisely decided to shorten the course after one round. First went to D in No 12 who managed to finish ten seconds ahead. Robin with his son Ollie crewing was third.
The breeze increased enough during the second race for two rounds; John was first round Tara but there was not much separating all four boats, however by the time they got to Tara the second time, James was well ahead and finished nearly two minutes ahead of Robin with John third. With the breeze threatening to drop off, the third and final race was another one rounder. James was shut out at the Committee Boat and despite trying different tacks to the others, was never in the running. Little separated Robin and D as they rounded Tara and either could have won, however Robin in No 6 held his nerve and finished ten seconds ahead of D to become this year's Jubilee Trophy winner by one point. D was the runner up and John was third.
Saturday 26th August - SSE F3-4 - Sunny
Having been greeted by a windless morning, the decision was made to postpone the Redwing's three boat race for the Jeannie Cockrane Trophy until after the afternoon's Regatta race. The One-Design Burrow's single handed race was postponed until a suitable opportunity in September.
By 14:00 the SSE'erly breeze had picked up and together with the sun provided almost perfect conditions for the keelboats for first day of Brading Haven YC's annual Regatta which as normal was looked after by the BSC's RO team. Starting at Moreton, the twelve Redwings made a clean start and then split tacks on the beat to Cochrane.
Jockey Wilson in Quail led the long run to St Helens channel mark, with Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II and Becky Samuelson in Toucan not far behind. The beat in from St Helens to Tara was a humdinger and probably the best sail of the season. Henry Thorpe in Redwitch clearly everything right and rounded Tara well in the lead. Joe was second and Jockey was third as they headed for Janson and the final beat to Under Tyne. Although Henry was still in the lead at the finish, Jockey made a late surge and overtook Joe to secure second place fifteen seconds behind the winner. Tom Scott in Siskin was fourth.
YouTube clip of the start
Sadly, particularly given the almost perfect conditions, there were only three One-Designs racing, however what a great race they had! Their first two legs were the same as the Redwing's but instead of the extra leg to Janson their long beat in from St Helens finished at Under Tyne. Although initially up with the front two, there was little that Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9 could do to overtake them as D Orange in No 12 and Robin Joy in No 10 effectively match raced all the way round the course. They were neck and neck as they come towards the finish and either could have been the winner, however victory went to D by about a foot - pretty good after just over an hour and a half's race.
A new course was then set for the three Redwing Jeannie Cochrane finalists - Jockey Wilson in Quail, Colin Samuelson in Toucan and Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II. The first leg was from Ruthven to Cochrane so was similar to the previous race so much was as always going to depend on the start. Both Jockey & Colin pushed their luck too far and were OCS so had to return, leaving Joe clear ahead on the beat to the windward mark. At the start of the run to Janson, Joe's victory was looking pretty secure, however it was not to be as Jockey caught and overtook him. All three were very close rounding Janson and it was not until the final tack to the line at Under Tyne that the winner emerged as Colin & Becky in Toucan who yet again pulled the genie out of the hat to finish ten seconds ahead of Jockey in Quail.
Sunday 27th August - SSE 2-3 - Sunny
After a windless morning, which kept a number of boats on their moorings, a light SSE'erly breeze developed in time for the second day of BHYC's Regatta. The eight Redwings made a clean start from the laid line between Moreton & Fitzwilliam and made reasonable progress on the first leg of their Special Course 1 course (triangle, sausage, triangle), however the run to Ruthven via Morteton was very slow so it was decided to change the course and finish it at Tara. Meri Benham in Paroquet lead the fleet round Cochrane, Moreton and Ruthven and despite best efforts by Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II and Henry Thorpe in Redwitch (who had initially been at the back of the fleet having been shut at the Committee Boat at the start) never really looked under pressure. However with the breeze beginning to fade and vary, she only crossed the finish line fifteen seconds ahead of Henry who was a similar time ahead of Joe. James Bunbury helming Blue Jay II was fourth.
Again only three One-Designs were racing which was a bit disappointing: Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9 tried a port tack flyer at the start but had to duck Hugh Doherty with Anna Row in No 10 and William Bland with Do Orange in No 12 who were both spot on when the hooter went. Hugh was first round Cochrane and by the finish at Tara had established a substantial lead. Mark and William were quite close as they rounded Ruthven however on the slow beat to Tara, No 12 missed out on what little breeze there was so having been awarded third place headed back to the moorings!
Monday 28th August - E 2 - Sunny
Being optimists and in anticipation of the light easterly breeze building a bit, the Race Officers (Mike & Alexis) set a challenging windward leeward course to Moreton and Britten for the final race in August. However, sadly the breeze remained at around 4 knots for most of the afternoon.
Other than Gosling, helmed by Serena who was OCS having come to the start line upwind so had to duck, the other six Redwings got away to a clean start. Except for Andrew Eddy in Plover who went inshore for a bit, all kept out to sea on starboard in the hopes finding the better breeze and less tide. Progress was slow but all eventually made it and ran down to Britten with the tide lead by Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II & Henry Thorpe in Redwitch. With the breeze appearing to die it was decided to shorten course at Britten rather than having to battle against the tide on a beat back to the line. This meant that Joe finished first, Henry second and Jessica Speare-Cole in Avocet was third. Inevitably the breeze picked up within a few minutes of the finish, however, by then it was obviously too late to do anything about it and anyway everyone was happy to get back into the harbour a little bit earlier!
Moreton was also the windward mark for the six One-Designs. After a clean start with Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9 having to duck the two leading boats as he crossed on port, the fleet then split with some going well out almost into the Spithead anchorage while D Orange in No 12 and James Row in No 4 took the opposite view and went inshore via the Lifeboat Station. Jos Coad in No 8 lead the fleet back from Moreton with Mark in No 9 hot on his heels. However, with the course changed to Janson and shortened, Mark managed to overtake and finished a couple of boat lengths in front. Rob Mathieson in No 1 was third. A result that meant that Mark won the Victory Trophy for the weekend.