Wayfarer Eastern Area Championships at Medway Yacht Club

The Wayfarer Eastern Area Championships took place over the weekend 12 – 13 June 2010 under the flag of Medway Yacht Club. Racing took place in the large area of water between the Victorian Folly and Darnet Forts, originally built to protect Chatham Dockyard.

On the first day the wind was typically NNE 6 - 8kts, with a foul flooding tide until the 3rd race.

Race 1 - The leaders came from the pin end of the line tacking early to the right side of the course to get tide protection in Yantlet Creek. Richard Stone and Phil Stacey established an early lead and went on to win the shortish 2 lap race. Behind them there was much place changing with Dave Roberts and Mike Bryant keeping their cool to take 2nd and Michael McNamara and Simon Townsend recovering from a poor start to catch-up to 3rd.

Race 2 - The pin end was again much favoured, however early tacks were the order, again over to the right side to shelter from the last of the flood tide. Those on the righthand side of the first beat received a handsome reward with a 20 degree rightie plus more pressure. Marten Collen and Tom Preston established an early lead which they maintained for the first lap, eventually succumbing to McNamara on the second beat. Bill and Lisa Whitney and John Goudie and Suzanne Hall both sailed great races in their new Hartleys finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.

Race 3 - With the tide now ebbing, Simon Winn the race officer sent a round-the-cans finish-up-river course for the final race, the first mark a short distance to windward. Neil Collingridge and Ann Spalding were OCS and restarted, several others did not and were either lucky or flicked. Another large rightie with pressure arrived in the minutes before the start allowing those starting at the committee boat end to reach the mark in a single tack. McNamara won the chase to the windward mark with Quentin and 10 year old son Harry Strauss 2nd and Stone 3rd. The fleet were all closely bunched as they reached the first leeward mark under spinnaker and then turned for another long fetch to a second ‘windward’ mark. Some confusion arose with McNamara setting off in the wrong direction for ‘SY4’. Local sailors Strauss and Stone took advantage of this and took the lead and set off on the 1.5 mile foul tide run to the finish. Strauss maintained his lead to the finish, taking advantage of his son’s excellent spinnaker handling (not bad for his very first time trimming a spinnaker and sailing a Wayfarer). Stone finished 3rd, succumbing to a course corrected McNamara who finished 2nd. Collen finished 4th and Collingridge achieved a great recovery from his OCS start to finish 5th.

The many who stayed at the club enjoyed a great dinner and a sneaky peak at Robert Green’s faux pas.

On the second day the wind swung around to the SSW and gradually build throughout the day from 5kts to 14kts.

Race 4 - Close racing took place throughout this race. The committee boat end was marginally favoured, but not by enough to have a significant impact. After 3 laps the top half dozen boats were still closely packed and fighting for every place. On the final spinnaker reach McNamara had a final winning lead, Strauss gybing on the inside of the group and sailing hot to the line took 2nd from Collingridge 3rd. Brian Lamb and Tony Hunt, Collen and Stone all were shut out to finished 4th – 6th respectively.

Race 5 - Again another close fought race with plenty of place changing as boats balanced wind versus tide advantage. Another win for McNamara from Collen and Lamb.

Race 6 - A leftie before the start had most boats tacking onto Port at the start. McNamara won the pin and led the race from start to finish. A number of new faces were in the hunt for the first lap or so including Stuart Bailey and Zoe Noble proving older plastic boats can be competitive. Eventually the same faces rose to the front Stone taking 2nd and Collen 3rd. The fresher winds and some smart sailing suited Roberts who took 4th.

Overall: McNamara won the event comfortably, albeit a number of teams were pressing at his heels from time to time and once or twice getting the better of him. 25 Wayfarers in all, 8 of the top 14 boats were Hartleys Mark IVs, 5 were woodies and 1 an older plastic boat, clearly there was excellent racing for all, no matter their chosen boat. The club put on a very well organized and friendly regatta and final special thanks to race officer Simon Winn who did a generally excellent job, and very noticeably not hanging around between racing.

Overall Results:

1st Michael McNamara and Simon Townsend
2nd Richard Stone and Phil Stacey
3rd Martin Collen and Tom Preston
4th Quentin and Harry Strauss
5th Neil Collingridge and Ann Spalding
6th Brian Lamb and Tony Hunt