ICAP Squib Nationals at Royal Dart Yacht Club - Wrap-Up

ICAP Squib National Championships © Mike Wynne-Powell

Silver Sponsors John Holman (left) of Darthaven Marina and Matt and Charles Quartley of Valeport, Totnes at the ICAP Squib Nationals prizegiving reception © Susan Swan

The 44th ICAP 2012 Squib National Championships, hosted by the Royal Dart Yacht Club (RDYC), took place over six days. Sunday through Wednesday saw fantastic sailing conditions and even some sunshine but on Thursday driving rain and poor visibility meant the windward mark could not be seen from the start line by the 72 competitors and the Committee launch, which stood alongside, could only be seen as a dim silhouette. Friday’s forecast was for winds of 17 knots but out in Start Bay it was gusting at 28 knots. Some boats retired early; two with broken rudders, another two with shrouds wrenched out and several other boats took a bashing. A short chop in the sea conditions seemed to be the problem along with waves around a metre high. Lighter crews found it difficult to compete with fitter or heavier crews. There was a real sense of achievement in those crews that finished the race and gratitude toward the host of volunteers on the water who helped them out.

I caught up with some of the competitors at the Prize Giving which took place in the marquee on Darthaven Marina on Friday night. Mike Moody, Chairman of the Organising Committee, thanked the competitors, race committee and volunteers and the sponsors of the event: gold sponsor, ICAP; silver sponsors Specialty Fastners, Valeport Ltd., Knight Frank and Darthaven Marina; Bronze sponsors Wollen Michelmore, Caterfood and Dart Harbour Authority; and other sponsors Linden Homes and Coast and Country. Jenny Riley, Chairman of the National Squib Owners Association, thanked the RDYC and presented a gift to the Club for hosting the event and Diana Dewing, RDYC Commodore, presented the prizes.

The overall winner was the South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club (SCYC) boat, ‘Cariad Bach’, helmed by Alan Johnson with David Garlick crewing. “Dartmouth and Kingswear is an excellent venue to come to,” said Alan Johnson. “To sail out there into the Channel is fantastic – it’s a beautiful place. The RDYC facilities are marvellous; to get into a Royal Yacht club and see how it should be done was great. Everyone we’ve met has been very helpful, very friendly and nice to deal with.”

Alan and David won three other trophies – one for being the first boat with a helm over 65 years old, one for the first boat with an average age of over 50 years and another for being the first boat with a combined crew age of over 125 years - which goes to show that experience triumphs in Squib racing.

Second place went to another SCYC boat – ‘Harry 11’, skippered by Mike Budd with Rob Larke crewing. “We’ve had a strong breeze and that’s helped us do well,” Mike told me. “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed being in Dartmouth – it’s a beautiful town and the Club is fantastic.”

The SCYC, with fourteen Squibs, was the club with most entries. Commodore David Shiel told me they were looking forward to hosting the Championship themselves next year in Abersoch.

‘Helmut Shoing II’ from the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club at Burnham took third place. I asked Nigel and Jack Grogan if they were disappointed with the result as they were in second position before the last race.

“We did a lot better than we should have,” Nigel told me modestly. ”In any event you need luck and we were lucky to do as well as we did.” The Essex-based skipper went on to say, “We sailed here on our big boat towing the Squib and were battling relentless headwinds and rain the whole way. It was like Noah’s Ark. We struggled to see the entrance to the harbour. The conditions are different to what we are used to- in Essex there’s a drought. For first 3 days of the competition we didn’t have a clue what we were doing – we couldn’t work out the tide at all!”

So were the local boats at an advantage with their knowledge of the vagaries of tide and wind?

“Not really,” Hugh Conway told me, who crewed in the first RDYC boat, ‘Bobby Dasler’, with helm Ian Morton, captain of the local Squib fleet. “We aren’t used to sailing way out in Start Bay. We usually race nearer the mouth of the River. It’s a long haul out there. We haven’t read the wind particularly well this week but visiting boats have mastered which way to go.” He went on to explain that the RDYC Squibs are ‘Hunter’ boats which are not as quick as some others which was why, as a group, they were further down the fleet.

The sponsors had also enjoyed the event. Many of them went to watch the sailing in the Bay in ‘Vital Spark’, the valiant Aquabell 29 owned by Jock and Diana Douglas.

“It was a great experience,” commented Christopher Bailey who heads up the Waterfront department of Knight Frank. “Events like this raise the profile of Dartmouth and bring new people into the area. We are honoured and proud to be part of the Squib Nationals.”

Mark Yallop representing gold sponsors ICAP, though unable to attend the prize giving, echoed this. “There is a resonance between what we do at ICAP and sailing; teamwork, excellence, competing aggressively and being friends afterwards are important elements of both. The Squib Nationals publicise Dartmouth’s fantastic facilities and raise its stature within the racing community.”

The prize giving was followed by a buffet supper and live music from local band ‘Sax Appeal’ which saw Squib sailors and sponsors celebrating a fantastic week’s sailing.

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Squib nationals then fill in your Gear Guide information here