Hornet Open at Shoreham Sailing Club
by John Shelton 26 May 2009 15:41 BST
24-25 May 2009
The Hornet fleet returned to Shoreham for the first time in 25 years, 1984 being the last (known) time that the Sussex Slide was sailed for. In fact, some of the weekend’s protagonists remembered previous events, originally held up the river at Sussex Yacht Club, and as Jim Ingram was plied with more beer, all the old stories came out!
Visitors converged from as far afield as Port Dinorwic, Wolverhampton and Leicester, eager to try out the normal Shoreham fare of big seas and sea breezes, but it didn’t work out quite like that, as Sunday dawned with a tentative north-easterly.
As PRO Bill Whitney attempted to get the fleet away for the first race, a few ripples appeared from out to sea, and a feeble 5 knots started to fill in from the south.
After the restart, Strangler and Alex Rogers took the first windward mark, followed closely by locals Peter Bennett & John Shelton, and the order stayed the same to the end, with Graham and Jim Ingram bringing up the rear.
In the second race, the battle between prevailing and sea breezes turned the first beat into a fetch, again with Strangler leading, followed by the Ingrams. A strong spring ebb tide stretched out the fleet at the end, with Strangler again winning from Bennett, who was regretting the decision not to fit transom flaps.
The wind gods were even more undecided on Monday. An hour before the start, there was a cold Force 4 easterly, with a side-salad of rain, quickly replaced by nothing, before a 15 knot south-westerly filled in. By the time we reached the start line, it was already fading, and although Strangler again took the lead on the first two legs, Bennett managed to drift faster on the final leg against the tide, to take the gun, as race officer Chris Seymour sensibly called a halt to proceedings for the rest of the day.
So, a disappointing weekend wind-wise, but more than compensated by Shoreham’s excellent hospitality and organisation.
It was also good to see some of the old boats of the fleet, such as Mike Owen’s 1051 “Francessa”, which is now 45 years old, and was probably raced several times in the hey days of the Sussex Slide! It was also allegedly the first time Graham Ingram had helmed a Hornet for 30 years, so it was perhaps as well the wind stayed away.
Now all we need is a decent breeze for next year!
Overall Results:
1st 2132 Strangler & Alex Rogers (Rutland SC)
2nd 2144 Peter Bennett & John Shelton (Shoreham SC)
3rd 2114 Graham Ingram & Jim Ingram (Bexhill SC)