Salcombe Yawl Open at Salcombe Yacht Club

Salcombe Yawl Open © Malcolm Mackley

Salcombe Yawl Open © Malcolm Bell

The May Bank Holiday weekend saw plenty of action in Salcombe Harbour, when the Salcombe Yacht Club hosted the first Salcombe Yawl Open meeting of the year, combined with a Gul National 12 series event, with 22 Yawls and 14 National 12's on the water.

Saturday afternoon saw light easterly breezes, and the Race Officer, Julian Meek, chose to send all of the fleets "up harbour" toward Gerston on a dank and drizzly afternoon.

In the Yawl "Modern" fleet, Simon Gibbens and Andrew Reed, in a borrowed boat, were early beneficiaries of more pressure in the middle of the harbour, leaving some of the fancied teams, languishing alongside the Cliff House gardens sea wall, though the ubiquitous Will Henderson sailing with Tristan Stone managed to make a strong recovery from a slow start to finish second on the return home.

In the "Classic" fleet, John Smithers and Pete Hughes appeared to have the race in the bag; however an unfortunate broach saw them lose their bowsprit, allowing Simon and Nicki Dobson through to take the winning gun, from Anthony and Francesca Lofts.

The annual Yawl Association dinner saw some bleary eyes on Sunday morning. A more solid Force 3 to 4 Southerly breeze; sailed on a spring ebb tide, made for more interesting racing, and Race Officer Malcolm Mackley sent the fleet to Blackstone, Gerston and then returning to Blackstone.

Simon Gibbens and Andrew Reed made a clean break, and the main competition was for second place, with Will Henderson and Tristan making a good recovery to nick second place from Ian Southworth and Tim Fells.

Ian and Dawn Savell secured the Classic win from Simon and Nicki Dobson.

The race after lunch was the most challenging, by the time of the starts; the fleets had to beat into a Spring ebb tide, with an increasing breeze that would reach a solid force 6 by the final lap.

Once again Simon Gibbens and Andrew Reed led around Blackstone pursued by David Greening and Stephen Galvin, who eventually gave way to Dan Bridger and David Jayne followed by Henderson.

This was enough to secure Gibbens and Reed the meeting.

In the Classics there was much excitement, when series leaders Simon and Nicki Dobson succumbed to the increasing breeze, with a capsize, which allowed Andrew Wood and class Chairman Andrew Sterling to take the win.

More benign conditions on Monday saw the fleets make their way up to Millbay, with a shortened beat due to the excessive swell from the previous night's storm.

This presented a most interesting challenge, since whilst the fastest route back through the harbour would be obvious had the fleet gone to the more usual Blackstone mark, the best route from Millbay created some interesting routing decisions.

Southworth and Fells took the initial lead of the Modern fleet, but chose to gybe straight into the Spring Ebb tide, whilst Henderson and Greening headed straight for the Portlemouth shore, crossed before Smalls Cove to feed in with a healthy lead on the pursuing pack. Henderson then gave a master class in routing around the tidal gates of the harbour, whilst Mike Webster and Sue Proudfoot pulled through to second place, showing excellent speed across Widegates.

The Classic Fleet saw its fourth different winner of the weekend, with Guy Rigby and Tom Crampton-Smith taking the race from the Wood Sterling combo.

So the overall winners of the Classic Fleet were decided by a last race countback, with Simon and Nicki taking the trophy, as well as an early nomination for the Capsize Belt.

Overall Results: (top three)

Salcombe Yawl Modern Fleet
1st Y172, Simon Gibbens and Andrew Reed
2nd Y183, Will Henderson and Tristan Stone
3rd Y163, Michael Webster and Sue Proudfoot

Salcombe Yawl Classic Fleet
1st Y112, Simon and Nicki Dobson
2nd Y140, Ian and Dawn Savell
3rd Y74, Andrew Wood and Andrew Sterling