Round the Goodwin Sands Race at Ramsgate Week 2014
by Royal Temple Regatta Office 18 Aug 2014 15:06 BST
17-22 August 2014
The first race of the Ramsgate Week series and one to remember for the epic close racing in wind and wave conditions that tested yachts and crews to their limit. This was highlighted by a call out to the RNLI lifeboat to attend a race crew with head and shoulder injuries at the end of the Ramsgate harbour approach channel shortly after the race start. The casualty was assessed by two RNLI personnel who stayed on the yacht whilst being escorted back to Ramsgate harbour by the Lifeboat where the casualty was reassessed by the waiting ambulance crew. He was able to walk to the ambulance with assistance.
22 yachts in a westerly 25 knot wind started from a committee boat start approximately 1 Nm offshore and heading in towards a turning mark and then out towards the Goodwin Knoll. Once round the East Goodwin buoy and heading south, the wind increased with gusts up to 35 knots as they passed the East Goodwin Light Vessel and eventually turning past the Southwest Goodwin buoy homeward past the South Brake buoy and finishing at the St Georges buoy off Ramsgate. First across the finishing line was Oystercatcher XXX – Richard Mathews - in a corrected time of 3 hours 29 minutes,probably one of the quickest times for the race.
This last leg was also the most destructive with a yacht taking structural damage to the mast shroud fastenings partially pulling through the deck and disabling the rig whilst the falling spinnaker pole hit one of the crew members on the head and required another callout of the Lifeboat to attend the casualty and take him off the yacht and return him to Ramsgate where a waiting Paramedic assessed the casualty and advised that he be taken to A&E as a precaution. Further failure of the yachts radio and engine also necessitated them being towed back into the Ramsgate harbour.
IRC Overall: (top three)
1 Oystercatcher XXX – Richard Mathews, West Mersea Yacht Club – 3:29:21 hours
2 Slingshot - Rod Oates & Gavin Magee, Royal Temple Yacht Club – 3:43:04 hours
3 Vanilla – Niek Spiljard, WV Arne – 3:49:24 hours
For more information on the Ramsgate Week racing, take a look on the Royal Temple Yacht Club website, www.ramsgateweek.com