Incat Squib Nationals at Royal Victoria Yacht Club

Incat Squib Nationals at Royal Victoria Yacht Club - Day 4

by Helen Vrba 6 Jul 2006 09:55 BST 30 June - 7 July 2006

Action from the Incat Squib Nationals at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club © Eddie Mays

Saturday

There couldn’t have been better weather for the start of the 2006 INCAT National Squib championships. All 89 boats were scrutineered, craned into the water and out on the especially-laid trots well ahead of schedule. So there was a good take-up for a fun round-the-cans race on Saturday afternoon organised by RVYC Squib class captain, Chris Gear.

This gave the visitors a chance to get to know the Solent waters again while the locals made good use of the opportunity to fine-tune their tactics. Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall in Alchemy were winners, ahead of RVYC’s Graham and Hubert Smyth in their newly-acquired Lee Deck, and Bryan and Jenny Riley took third in Brimstone.

Once the fleet was ashore, everyone gathered in the marquee for the footie on the big screen. Nothing more to be said as there was general disappointment for all – but no-one was downhearted for long and there was plenty of post-match opinion heard along with all the usual nationals pre-event chat!

Sunday

Practice race

Another beautiful hot and breezy day greeted the competitors as they set off from the mouth of Wootton Creek for the race area off Hill Head. After two false starts and general recalls, the fleet had what one described as a perfect race in ideal conditions. Alchemy was first, with Cheque Mate (Ian Gray and Ian Simmons), second and current national champions, Chris and Mark Hogan in Ric O’Shea, in third place. Best-placed RVYC boat was Firestreak (Sarah and Robert Everitt) who had an excellent race and finished fourth.

Race 1

After the two general recalls in the practice race, race officer, Ian Lallow, used the black flag to keep the fleet back behind the line, leading to a clean start for all.

With a port-end bias, Crossfire (David Best and Peter Richards) decided that the pin end was the best place to be and were first round the first mark ahead of Nimbus and Tears for Fears (Peter Marchant and Andy Biddle). In the light run against the tide, some people dropped back and although there was plenty of place changing throughout the fleet, Crossfire kept her lead to take line honours and the Royal Northern Ireland Trophy, ahead of Alchemy and Brimstone (Bryan and Jenny Riley). Trophoblast (Chris Goodfellow and Martin Hipsey) had an excellent race and moved steadily through the fleet to finish sixth two places ahead of Ric O’Shea.

Steve Warren Smith was MC for this and Babs Wise presented David Best and Peter Richards with the RNIYC trophy. As Squibs are 38 years old this year, there is a daily specialprize donated by Batt Sails for the boat in 38th place and for the practice race, this was won by Simon Griffin and Phil Aspinall in Spoof. Kinnard was 38th in race 1 and Nigel Squirrell and Stuart Howells collected their prize. Using the ten per cent rule, the first nine boats were presented with bottles of specially-labelled championship wine. In spite of some tough competition from other nominations, first winner of the ‘dick of the day’ jacket was Adrian Fluker – a very popular win!

The championship social programme got underway with the Commodore’s reception. With the weather still on the tropical side, the lawns were packed with competitors, who gave Babs Wise, RVYC Commodore, a warm welcome and joined her in thanking the club members who had worked so hard to get everyone’s boat in the water in plenty of time. The string quartet played, supper was served, Pimms was consumed and a very pleasant evening continued.

Monday

With a shortened course starting off Peel Bank, those back at the club were treated to a splendid sight of the fleet sailing past the creek giving them a good view of the action.

Chris and Mark Hogan were back on form with a firm, ahead of Crossfire (David Best and Peter Richards), and Confusion (Peter Horton and David Gooch).

Best-placed RVYC boat was Sarah and Robert Everitt in Firestreak with Aquabat (Steve and Fred Warren Smith) a few places behind them. RVYC’s club boat, Beatrice (crewed by cadet members, Richard Talbot and Ben Gibson), also had an excellent result.

During the evening, the club was transformed into a Mexican taverna with wonderful music from JC and Angelina and plenty of tequila – no doubt people were hoping the sun wouldn’t be too bright the next day!

Tuesday

What a difference a day makes! Where did the tropical sunshine go? Everyone woke up to horrible murky conditions and dire predictions of severe weather – torrential downpours and thunderstorms. And the downpour arrived and the gloom deepened – not only did the mainland (north island to locals!), disappear but so did the trots at the mouth of the creek.

After a postponement, the fleet got afloat before ten, still amid a downpour, and made their way over to Lee on the Solent where race officer, Ian Lallow was basing today’s race. The first start was abandoned and, after re-laying the course, the fleet got away at lunchtime. The race was described by one competitor as short and sweet – but added that the sweet part depended you finished!).

In themed-fleet, there was a lot of traffic around the marks – if you go through the jams, said one mid-fleeter, you were well-rewarded.

Although Ric O’Shea (Chris and Mark Hogan), led from the start, it was a great day for the host club. RVYC’s Steve Warren Smith and his son, Fred, knew that they needed clear air and kept away from all the other boats at the start. When other boats were coming up to them, instead of pinching to get in front, they ducked behind and this all went in their favour. When White Magic (David Wines and Nick Emery) and Ogo Pogo (Toby Taylor and John Sharman) got into a tangle at a windward mark, this again cleared the way for Aquabat. Nine year old Fred took the tiller and basically followed the Hogans! None of the large bunch following had a chance to catch these two boats as they were all busy luffing! On the last beat, Aquabat kept the wind and half way there, the S flag was hoisted and for the Warren Smiths it was straight to the line and a super second place.

Event sponsors, Incat and their guests, were on board Global Surveyor which was at the finish line and were able to give Steve and Fred a rousing cheer as they took second place. Fred is possibly the youngest ever competitor in the Squibs nationals and is certainly the youngest ever winner of one of the top three prizes.

Beccy Holdstock and Emma Robinson are also racing in their first nationals. International sailor, Harold Cudmore has lent them a Squib, now named Rattle ‘n Shake and Becky and Emma have spent the winter working on the boat – and taking part-time jobs to pay for all the work. ‘We’ve also been training hard through the winter as this would be our first national competition and we wanted to be in top form’, said Becky. “It’s just amazing to be part of such a big one class fleet – we may be near the back, but we’re having the best time ever and there’s such a great atmosphere”, said Becky. There are quite a few RVYC cadet members taking part in the event and while they may have fun before the start and off the water, they’re all very serious and determined once racing is underway and keen to make the most of the opportunity.

Results after Race 4: (1 discard)

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	797	CROSSFIRE	DAVID BEST	PETER RICHARDS	SCYC	1	1	2	19	4
2	136	RIC O'SHEA	CHRIS HOGAN	MARK HOGAN	SCYC	8	90	1	1	10
3	800	ALCHEMY	GERARD DYSON	TONY SALTONSTALL	RYYC	2	11	26	3	16
4	758	GHOST RIDER	MIKE FENWICK	PENNY FENWICK	WSC	9	16	5	6	20
5	127	MISFIRE	ROGER HARRIS	JOHN STEPHENSON	SCYC	11	90	4	7	22
6	801	TEARS FOR FEARS	PETER MARCHANT	ANDY BIDDLE	RCYC	5	14	11	10	26
7	38	SMIFFY'S NIMBLE	PETER WHITE	MELANIE TITMUS	FFSC	13	5	58	8	26
8	73	BRIMSTONE	BRYAN RILEY	JENNY RILEY	W&OBYC	3	18	90	5	26
9	50	FIREBIRD	OWEN DELANY	M DUFFIELD	RNSYC	14	2	90	18	34
10	99	REBOUND	RICHARD PEACOCK	GLYNNE ROBERTS	R.ANGLESEY YC	19	9	9	45	37
11	37	KERFUFFLE	PATRICK WILTON	JOHN CARTER JONAS	WALDRINGFIELD SC	17	7	14	16	37
12	96	MOONSTONE	MALCOLM BLACKBURN	FRAN BLACKBURN	SCYC	23	12	10	15	37
13	47	INSATIABLE	JOHN BIBBY	LOU BIBBY	R.ANGLESEY YC	25	15	6	17	38
14	810	CLEVER DICK	RICHARD SULLIVAN	RICHARD FRYAR	W&OBYC	12	6	21	29	39
15	108	OGO POGO	TOBY TAYLOR	JOHN SHARMAN	SCYC	15	21	16	9	40
16	838	MAXIMUS	MAX EVANS	TIM REILLY	FFSC	31	27	12	4	43
17	94	CONFUSION	PETER HORTON	DAVID GOOCH	W&OBYC	32	10	3	47	45
18	761	TROPHOBLAST	CHRIS GOODFELLOW	MARTIN HIPSEY	RCYC	6	34	15	24	45
19	142	SQUIGGLE	JOHN LEWIS	JAMIE KNIGHTS	BSC	10	90	17	21	48
20	823	HUMPHREY	ROBERT COYLE	MARK RAWINSKY	RCYC	22	4	34	23	49
21	13	AQUABAT	STEVE WARREN-SMITH	FRED WARREN-SMITH	RVYC	29	25	25	2	52
22	627	FIRESTREAK	SARAH EVERITT	ROBERT EVERITT	RVYC	16	20	19	36	55
23	140	KINNARD	NIGEL SQUIRRELL	STUART HOWELLS	WALDRINGFIELD SC	38	13	8	60	59
24	36	ARTEMIS II	MARK WINCER	PETER HALLIHAN	FFSC	7	26	37	26	59
25	19	SEABRIGHT	ANDREW KNIGHTS	MARK KNIGHTS	BSC	20	3	38	41	61
26	17	NIMBUS	ALAN JOHNSON	DAVID GARLICK	SCYC	4	90	47	14	65
27	757	JUMBLE	ALAN McDINE	DEO McDINE	WSC	24	35	24	22	70
28	157	CHEQUE MATE	IAN GRAY	IAN SIMMONS	RCYC	34	90	7	30	71
29	828	WHITE MAGIC	DAVID WINES	NICK EMERY	WEST HOE S.C.	30	30	50	13	73
30	662	EMBER	DAVID EAST	CHRISTOPHER EDWARDS	WALDRINGFIELD SC	36	90	18	20	74
31	789	DREAM ON	BRIAN HOLLAND	ANDREA HOLLAND	SCYC	26	8	52	42	76
32	818	TOY FOR THE BOYS	PETER WALLACE	AOIBHIN DE BURCA	RNIYC	21	22	59	37	80
33	796	BOOTNECK	JOHN LEWIS	BOB RIMMER	WEST HOE S.C.	90	23	22	35	80
34	51	BATTALION	DICK BATT	PAM PHELAN	HAYLING ISLAND SC	39	90	13	32	84
35	749	TRACTOR WILSON	COLIN BENTLEY	KEITH TWINN	FFSC	45	90	33	11	89
36	636	SQUIFFY	JOHN BARTON	PETER ROLFE	WEST HOE S.C.	41	29	20	65	90
37	640	FIRECRACKER TOO	ANDREW PORTEOUS	JERRY WESTBROOK	RVYC	18	32	40	40	90
38	755	CYBI	RICHARD ROBERTS	JUDY ROBERTS	R.ANGLESEY YC	28	33	29	38	90
39	120	SQUIBLISSITUDE	TED REILLY	TOM CREAN	FFSC	27	90	36	28	91
40	380	MINT SAUCE	JANE PAULL	TIMOTHY PAULL	HAMBLE RIVER SC	85	17	23	52	92
41	42	EASTWIND	JOHN CORNFORTH	GORDON STAINER	RVYC	55	37	31	39	107
42	15	LEE DECK	GRAHAM SMYTH	HUBERT SMYTH	RVYC	56	28	53	31	112
43	473	GREENFLY	WILLIAM BIBBY	NICKY BIBBY	R.ANGLESEY YC	43	90	46	25	114
44	88	HUSSY	VERNON TAYLOR	SHEILA TAYLOR	WSC	49	31	35	63	115
45	153	ALDEBARAN	IAN JONES	PETER JACKSON	WSC	51	41	27	48	116
46	808	OSPREY	CHRIS GEAR	ALEX PORTEOUS	RVYC	58	24	60	34	116
47	619	SCARAB II	PETER EDDIS	SUSANNAH EDDIS	RVYC	40	90	44	33	117
48	442	SQUIDNEY	PHIL WRIGHT	KIERON BLAMEY	RVYC	65	43	32	43	118
49	812	WHIRL'N DERVISH	IAN BRAND	JOHN CHASE	RCYC	48	90	28	49	125
50	835	BEATRICE	RICHARD TALBOT	BEN GIBSON	RVYC	64	36	30	61	127
51	78	WHIZZARD	HILARY MARTIN	KEITH COCHRANE	RVYC	62	44	45	46	135
52	844	SASKIA V	MARK BUGLER	RIMA BASCOMBE	WSC	33	90	90	12	135
53	83	EASY	DAVID WHITE	PETER BALLAM	FFSC	90	19	90	27	136
54	128	PANI MUNTA	JAMIE POPE	PETER MORGAN	SCYC	52	90	49	44	145
55	519	BLUE PETER	PETER READ	GLYN HUMPHREYS-JONES	R.ANGLESEY YC	63	42	43	62	147
56	737	HALCYON	ANDY HOUGH	PETER HOUGH	RVYC	46	51	71	51	148
57	532	JESS	JIM HOLDSTOCK	SARAH HOLDSTOCK	RVYC	44	48	57	73	149
58	544	BRIGAND	KIT NOBLE	JIM PROWER	ROYAL DART YC	60	40	56	57	153
59	708	SATU	KEV GIBSON	MARNEY GIBSON	RVYC	54	38	62	75	154
60	510	NO WONDER	EDWARD TOLLIDAY	KATHERINE TOLLIDAY	ROYAL DART YC	35	90	65	55	155
61	86	JUBILATION	ERNIE LEE	MARCUS BRAY	WSC	59	90	42	54	155
62	809	SQUFFY	CHRIS STONEHOUSE	CHRIS STONEHOUSE	RVYC	71	39	54	71	164
63	841	BILLY RUFF'N	DAVID WEST	PHILIP CRESWELL	L&OB	66	59	41	69	166
64	391	VIKING GOLD	ROBIN HASLER	ALEX BASCOMBE	WSC	68	90	39	59	166
65	762	PATRICK	ADRIAN FLUKER	MATTHEW ANTHONY	RCYC	67	52	51	72	170
66	551	ABNORM	JOHN MCLAUGHLIN	SUE MCLAUGHLIN	RVYC	50	47	75	78	172
67	728	FINO	JAMES PAYNE	LEN PAYNE	RVYC	72	46	55	83	173
68	92	HEARTBEAT	HEDLEY BEWES	PHILIP WHITTINGTON	HAMBLE RIVER SC	47	90	70	56	173
69	107	TAXI	NEIL YOUNG	SANDY BREMNER	ROYAL TAY YC	37	90	63	77	177
70	543	POLLY GARTER	DAVID HALL	ANN ELLIOTT	R.ANGLESEY YC	57	90	72	50	179
71	811	SPOOF	SIMON GRIFFIN	PHIL ASPINALL	RCYC	42	90	48	90	180
72	20	BUCCANEER	PETER DONALDSON	MARK PEARCE	RVYC	79	45	61	74	180
73	736	MAGIC ROUNDABOUT	M. BRADLEY	CARL ANDERSON	BSC	61	55	78	66	182
74	689	MR BUMBLE	TIM FARQUHAR	PIM FARQUHAR	SEAVIEW YC	53	90	66	64	183
75	777	ALICE	CATHERINE HOUGH	A. PRIME & L. CORNFORTH	RVYC	82	53	74	58	185
76	585	QE 3	JOHN SMITH	RACHEL STAINER	R.LYMINGTON YC	83	56	79	53	188
77	481	QUIBBLE	CHRIS GIBSON	ANGELA WATERS	RVYC	76	50	69	90	195
78	595	RATTLE'N'SHAKE	BECCY HOLDSTOCK	EMMA ROBISON	RVYC	70	58	67	84	195
79	21	TOMBO	WILLIAM JONES	BRIAN TUCKE	RCYC	77	54	76	67	197
80	541	SEREN WIB	DAVID LEAL	ALAN HOWIE-WOOD	RVYC	81	49	73	76	198
81	596	RHAPSODY IN BLUE	IVAN MACAULAY	MAT BEATON	RVYC	69	90	64	68	201
82	632	ESME	IAN SAVILL	JAN FORD	RVYC	75	61	90	70	206
83	688	LIZ WHIZ	SAM PRIME	RAY PRIME	RVYC	80	57	83	81	218
84	437	MERLIN	MARK AGER	DAVID FOTHERGILL	RVYC	87	62	81	80	223
85	333	SALAMANDER	MALCOLM ROWNTREE	RODDY WATTON	RVYC	73	90	68	82	223
86	428	SPARKY	JOHN McDONNELL	CAROL McDONNELL	RVYC	84	60	80	90	224
87	414	HOOLIGAN	BRIAN HARDING	ANDREW MILLBAND	RSYC	78	90	77	79	234
88	40	FORTY WINKS	JOHN ADAMS	J .MACALLISTER	ALDEBURGH YC	74	90	90	90	254
89	521	NAN	BOB CHEEK	KATHY WOOLFENDEN	RVYC	86	90	82	90	258