Emsworth Bottle Race at Emsworth Sailing Club

Sunday 30 December dawned sunny with very little breeze. One brave soul, Tom Dear, was out paddling a windsurfer across the Millpond, soon to be busy with a fleet of the latest bottle boat creations.

As the queue of entrants for the 13th annual Bottle Race grows and the various craft appear to be measured some look like the work of a top design team, others clearly owe more to Blue Peter than a study of Skene’s Elements of Yacht Design.

The race officer, Matt Townsend, and his team were keen to avoid controversy so all are allowed to sail, even if one or two people seem to have misinterpreted the rules - perhaps they should ask Father Christmas for a new measuring tape next year. There are some interesting ideas – a large slab of slate taped under a bottle certainly promises stability and the Tucker family threatened to take the matter to the New York courts when it seemed that the foliage still growing on their mast might be deemed out of class.

In due course, 28 entrants and a few generous benefactors have paid their entry fees, the race officer picks up his loud hailer and the crowd moves to the edge of the Millpond for the start. In view of the large numbers and the small pontoon, those on the pontoon are only allowed to push start whilst those on the shore behind are allowed to lob their craft onto the race course, so pit crews have to decide which will work best for them.

Suddenly the race officer has finished his coffee and the flotilla sets sail - or it would do if there was any breeze at pond level. Eventually a zephyr catches the small and simple Dear/Hales entry Holy Sinker 7 meanders quietly into the lead - that’s the boat that’s small and simple, not Messrs Dear and Hales. The Holy Sinker is shorter, heavier and with less sail than almost all other.

Holy Sinker is clearly set to get to the other side first, so attention turns to the also rans. The Ho Ho Ho of Louis and William Greaves is going well, making less leeway than Dad’s Shrimper, with Henry Cunnison’s “How’s my Sailing?” close behind. The finishing order is Holy Sinker 7 first, Ho Ho Ho second and then How’s my Sailing, The Tri King (Ben Tweedie) and Bowman 2 (Claire Bowman), but the Race Officer has spotted something amiss. Holy Sinker has had outside assistance – a tall chap had been hiding behind a rubbish bin on the sea wall at the finish, calmly pulling the Holy Sinker across on a thin fishing line. They do the decent thing and retire, (good decision as Tom’s Dad is a police officer).

The main event was followed by an experimental race back across the pond. Unfortunately the lack of steady breeze and the fact that many of the bottle boats had only been designed to go downwind meant there were no finishers. Matt Townsend had created for this event the Lost Track Trophy. This is a short length of America’s Cupper mainsheet track which had torn of the deck of one of the leading boat’s in the final race of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland. Matt told how the track failed because the nut was left off one of the securing bolts – a useful message about boat preparation for anyone planning an entry for next year’s bottle race.

The prizes were presented by Mark Rushall, founder with wife Liz of the event. He congratulated the entrants on the quality of the vessels, noting an encouraging increase in the use of Ecover bottles, and encouraged people to come back next year with designs capable of sailing back across the pond. The event raised £150 for the Breast Cancer Care charity.

Overall Results: