Squib National Championships at Dun Laoghaire

Racing at the National Squib Championships in Dun Laoghaire © Gareth Craig / www.fotosail.com

2010 National Squib Champions, Mike and Penny Fenwick © Gareth Craig / www.fotosail.com

The 2010 National Squib Championships, sponsored by SF Marina irl.com, began with glorious sunshine, light winds and samba dancers at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dublin Bay. The fleet was received by the Cathaoirleach in the Town Hall, given the courtesy of the Carlisle Pier for rigging by the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Authority and it was announced that, in addition to the National Championships, the Irish Sea Cup would be competed for by four Welsh and four Irish Squib teams during the week.

Race one was virtually a palimpsest of the rest of the week. The morning dawned fine and fair with light winds from the North West. A general recall was followed by a black flag start. The wind veered to the East, dying as it did so. At one point half the fleet was beating whilst the other half had spinnakers up – on the same leg. The racing became something of a lottery as the gradient winds fought the sea breeze each day.

The sun shone, the race officer sweated and the fleet went around in circles with the variation that on Monday a sea fog prevented any attempt at racing as visibility dropped to 100 yards. Over the land, of course, the sunshine continued unabated. Tuesday saw two races but on Wednesday the fleet practised starting. All in all, there were six starts and three attempts at a race, each abandoned as the wind did its thing again. In the end, the race officer sent the fleet home to the hospitality of the ‘George’, unrequited. Thursday again saw two races so that the championship was secure and the final race on Friday was enough to provide a discard.

Given the unpredictability of the winds, that discard was vital as crews experienced dramatic shifts in fortune, the winning crew discarding a 25th but counting a 21st for a winning total of net 41 – and no one could remember a winning score that high.

For a long while, it looked certain that Nigel Harris and John Stephenson, Banshee 65, would repeat their 2000 victory and claim the championship as their results improved steadily. Discarding a 27th, their series continued 19, 7, 3, 1 – but then a final 21st destroyed their hopes. Fellow South Caernarvonshire YC crew, Dave Best and Pete Richards, Crossfire 797, champions in 1999 and 2008, discarded a 21st and looked good for the championship with scores of 2, 11, 11, and 8 but the final race 11 was two too many as the 2007 Champions, Mike and Penny Fenwick of Weymouth SC in Ghost Rider 758, won the final race to steal in ahead.

Behind these three, Nigel Grogan and Daniel Cripps, from Royal Corinthian YC in Helmut Shoing 105, discarded a 56th for 4th place while Mike Probert & James Bryer, from Royal Victoria YC in Pani Munta 128, discarded a 31st for 5th. The ever present and ever challenging Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall in Alchemy 800 from Royal Yorkshire YC, had to discard a 45th and despite winning the third race, could only finish 8th.

The Silver award went to Sam Cole and Denise Sinclair, in Sophie 846 from Royal Norfolk & Suffolk YC, who won race four (so no more silver fleet for them!) and the bronze award went to local heroes Pete and Anne Evans (assisted by Paul Maguire) in Anemos 832. This Royal St George crew had an excellent 9th and an even better 6th which made for mutterings about the handicapper!

Mind you, the time spent waiting for the wind was not all wasted. The fleet spent many happy hours checking out the technical developments on leading Squibs. Banshee carried a very clever indicator for jib halyard tension, featuring some bungee and string marked up against a scale on the mast, all driven off the jib halyard hook. Jib halyard tension has always been seen as critical but, amazingly there is now a growing yank-it-on-and-forget-it school. Doubled jib sheets are very much in vogue, not just to assist the weaker Squibber but as a way of fine tuning the jib.

In a similar way, fine tuners for barber haulers are increasingly seen while the fashion is now for the barber haulers to be set further out from the centre and indeed further aft than hitherto. Lady Penelope was out over the winter, electric drill in hand, a series of holes going from the centre outwards and back the result.

Intriguingly, a serious fashion for the helm to tack only in front of the track is predicted. Indeed, several boats now have mainsheet track controls moved forward to where the cunningham or kicker used to be. It is a bit “hands, knees and bumpsy-daisy” as the helm and crew brush nether ends during the tack. A prediction for more mixed crews may follow

And yes, the helm does face aft during the tack – and since when has that been normal? What goes around, comes around. My wife has a fridge magnet which advises, “Don’t get rid of your old husband. He may come back into fashion.”

A frustrating event? Yes, but made bearable by the excellence of the hospitality, the enormous efforts of the PRO, the beautiful weather - and by the secret joy of the odd back ender who drew a lucky ticket in the lottery and found themselves near the front for once! Certainly the Dublin Bay winds were fickle but the glittering sea, the perfect cream foam on the Guinness and the warmth of the welcome made for a splendid week. By the way, a Welsh team won the Irish Sea Cup.

Now the fleet has separated to all parts of the UK and Eire for local regattas including Cowes Week, Menai Straits, Bridlington and Oulton Broad, to come together once again in Weymouth for the South Coast Championships in September. Now let’s vote for a coalition – sunshine and a reliable force three to four!

More photos available from www.fotosail.com

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