Frensham Pond Model Yacht Group at Royal Southampton Yacht Club
by Paul Brooks 11 Oct 2012 12:05 BST
16 September 2012
Frensham Pond Model Yacht Group on the Beaulieu River © Eddie Hill
The Royal Southampton Yacht Club hosted the Frensham Pond Model Yacht Group's radio controlled yacht regatta at its picturesque Gins Lane clubhouse on the River Beaulieu. Sunday 16 September was chosen to take advantage of a midday high water and the long high water stands at Springs, characteristic of the Solent area.
The day was overcast but warm with light offshore winds, which picked up throughout the morning. The FPMYG sailors revelled in the flat water and more constant breezes - their Frensham Pond home site being notorious for gusty, fluky conditions. This allowed the larger yachts, such as the 10 Raters, probably the fastest of International RC Classes, to get up to their maximum hull length related speeds. The well known but slightly smaller 1.2m long Marblehead class, the Formula 1 yacht of the International RC Classes, also enjoyed these conditions, notably nimble and accelerating quickly, before the larger 10 Raters hunted them down.
In the more normal pond conditions experienced by RC yachts, the most popular of the RC classes, the 1m long International One Metre (IOM), usually gives the larger classes a run for their money. Being agile and more forgiving to sail they can be kept moving and often leave the larger yachts bogged down between gusts. Not so at Gins - the IOMs fought bravely amongst themselves, also with a local RC Laser, but with the long course legs and their shorter waterlines, they inevitably trailed behind the larger yachts.
Besides the normal RC classes, the Gins event brought out a variety of other vessels including a version of a New Zealand Americas Cup boat, a beautifully constructed replica 'J' Class and the FPMYG Sailing Secretary's historic RC Yacht 'Black Swan' dating from the 1920s. The controls of this historic vessel passed (temporarily) into the hands of a past Commodore of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club who was visiting. Also present was an electric speed boat and a functioning model tug complete with a water spray capability that entertained the watching RSYC members in front of the Clubhouse. Notably, the tug was also able to rescue two yachts that became caught on one of the channel markers. The large model Lifeboat was fortunately not called upon to do its duty but instead gave the tug a towing task.
The sailing was followed by the excellent carvery lunch for which Gins is famous. All went home happy and content that this inaugural event had been a success for the two clubs and should be repeated in the future.