Harrison Shield and Centenary Cup at Crouch Yacht Club
by Tony Merewether 11 May 2008 09:51 BST
4-5 May 2008
Amazon leads the start of Race 3 during the Harrison Shield and Centenary Cup at Crouch YC © Russ Cashel
The Harrison Shield three race mini series and the Centenary Cup were held over the bank holiday Sunday and Monday the 4th/5th May and run by the Crouch Yacht Club. With a competitive fleet of ten yachts and at long last warm and sunny weather, an enjoyable weekend’s sailing was had by everyone who took part.
Race One started in a light easterly and the fleet was sent on a slow foul tide beat through the town to Horse Shoal, then a short run back to No.3 before beating further east to Redward. The larger boats led by Alan Bartlett’s Inn Spirit and then Ian Langston’s The Geek eventually reached the windward mark after nearly two hours with the smaller boats not far behind. The Committee boat was moored near the mark and flying flag H indicating that the fleet round the mark and sail directly to the finish, but The Geek unfortunately didn’t see the flag and sailed the full course, putting her back down the results. Inn Spirit won on handicap with Nick Poole’s Gambit second and Ian Hart’s Ace of Hearts III in third place.
Most of the fleet rafted up on the end of the Club pontoon for lunch before the next race started at 14.45 with the tide now ebbing fast and a fickle easterly slightly stronger than in the morning. The first leg was a short beat to No.5 with the fleet arriving together giving some close calls and then having to decide whether to run back through the town against the tide down the north or south shores to No.13. The Geek, Gambit, Russ Smith’s Zipper and Mick Willett’s Polaris III all chose the north shore and it certainly paid for the first run. With a short fair tide beat back to No.7 the decision again was which shore to choose, but this time the south shore was slightly better with Tony & Chuffy Merewether’s Amazon, with their larger spinnaker choosing to change shores but still just managing to stay just ahead of the pack of smaller boats, but not quite far enough. At the finish Zipper was the winner followed by Polaris III and The Geek in third place.
Sixty members and crews sat down that evening for a black tie Founders Day dinner in the Club, where the Centenary Cup was presented for the first two races to Nick Poole and his Gambiteers in Gambit with Zipper second and Inn Spirit third. Overnight only two points separated the first five boats, so going into the final race the outcome was still wide open.
Monday morning was another bright and sunny day with a 10-knot breeze slightly north of east which gave a more one sided and faster foul tide beat to Redward. Amazon led from the start those who chose the north shore while The Geek led on the south shore. The course was then a shy spinnaker reach up the Roach with a beat back to Branklet, followed by a run to No.13 with a short beat and run back to the finish. The Geek got tangled for a while with a sunken mooring and Inn Spirit tested the depth with the bottom of her keel allowing Amazon to stay close and eventually win the day with Gambit second and Zipper third.
This gave the Harrison Shield and a well deserved win to Nick Poole in Gambit, with Tony & Chuffy Merewether’s Amazon second and Russ Smith’s Zipper third.