Salcombe Yacht Club Sailing Club Series Race 1
by David Greening 28 Apr 2015 15:15 BST
25 April 2015
Saturday 25th April saw the start of the Salcombe Yacht Club Sailing Club series. Many were wrong footed by this, and assumed that Race Officer Adrian Griffin's setting of Blackstone Crossways was due to the inclement sea mist, but in fact it was an abbreviated course set for the Junior Handicap race.
The largest start of the day was for the Solo Class, when over 30 boats assembled on the line. With a strong ebb tide, some held back on the assumption that there would be an inevitable restart, but a wind-shift to port meant allowed Ed Stephens and Andrew Borne to flick onto port tack, and get away.
Ed held his lead at the start of the run, whereas Andrew chose to inspect the bottom of his boat at Biddle Head. The pursuing pack enveloped Ed off Mill Bay, and a group of the usual suspects proceeded to follow the classic route crossing at the appropriate tidal gates, except for Peter Sturgess, who threw a couple of double sixes, once when crossing the harbour at Biddle Head, which got him into the leading group, and later by defying local lore by not crossing at Ox Point, this gave him a brief moment of fame.
By Gerston David Greening had secured a tenuous lead from Chris Cleaves and Peter Hammond. The three diced all the way back to the finish line on a dying breeze, with Chris eventually keeping momentum to take the win from Peter Hammond.
Alongside the usual club events The Salcombe Yawl Owners Association ran a training to help new Yawl owners and existing owners improve their racing skills and learn more about sail trim and handling a Yawl around a course.
It was organised by the Chairman of the Yawl Owners Association, Andrew Stirling, and was run by Richard Whitworth who has trained Olympic teams, Merlin Rocket teams and many more. Richard ran many different exercises, from classroom work to practical manoeuvres on the water, which included practice starts, to going around the windward mark and general boat control. He also went through sail trim on a Yawl in the boat park. There were nine Yawls on the water and twenty participants. Even though there was very little wind and a bit of rain, Richard kept everyone so engaged that did not notice.
The feedback from the weekend was, "please can we do it again!".
The Yawl fleet in Salcombe is unique and there are a limited amount of boats. Many visitors coming to Salcombe fall in love with the Yawls, want to buy one and participate in club racing events. The Yawl Owners Association is keen to create a platform for new sailors to learn and get involved.
If you want to follow the Yawls and learn more about their history check out the Yawl website site www.syoa.co.uk
Race 1 Results: (top three)
1st Solo 5573, Chris Cleaves
2nd Solo 5271, Peter Hammond
3rd Solo 5301, David Greening