Enterprises at Penarth Yacht Club Regatta

The Enterprise racing at Penarth Regatta on the weekend of August 31st September 1st was also a qualifying event for the Enterprise Association Severnside Area series. Three visiting boats joined eighteen Penarth boats for a weekend of great racing.

The forecast was good for the weekend, moderate winds and sunny periods. With a 1300 hour start time, a leisurely feel was about the main deck bar, bacon rolls and coffee were being consumed when sailing secretary and officer of the day, Ioan Lavery started the briefing; the most professional the club has ever seen; Powerpoint in full colour.

Outside I decided that I would risk my new sails and get the boat rigged then check out the opposition. It was a pleasant surprise to see Alistair and Toby Ramsden from Mumbles Yacht club unpacking their Ent. They informed me that there are now two Ent's back at Mumbles once a prime club in the Severnside Area, lets hope their fleet flourishes.

Looking round I found that Simon Cook and his son Jamie had borrowed Ioan's MK3 Enterprise, he was hoping the wind was staying light. This was going to set up an intense battle with his ex long time helm Jeff Dyer who was also sailing with his son, Evan.

The program for the day was two fleet races with starts for Laser, Enterprise and General Handicap fleets with two races for the club sail training fleet starting on the other side of the committee boat these were followed by a mass start, handicap race, the Penyot pin for a barrel of beer; so Ioan and Pauline on the committee boat and the team were kept very busy.

The winds were northerly with a touch of westerly in it which brought Penarth Head into play with some severe oscillations in its direction, one of which arrived during the Ent start at race one. Every one started on port as close to the pin end as they could. Penarth sailor Steve Berry with crew Peter Hughes had just taken delivery of his new MK3 Enterprise, it was their first race and they showed plenty of speed off the line and up the beat in most of the races. The first race was led by Simon and Jamie but they were beaten into second by Tom Atkin and Minnie Lucey.

Chris Palmer and Dee Larkin were third, a sign of a very good series to come for Chris. Jeff and Evan Dyer were fourth their worst result of the weekend. Race two saw a second win for Tom and Minnie this time they had Phil Kirk and Lewis Bennett (Frampton upon Severn SC) hard on their heels with Jeff and Evan in third. The wind had increased by a force and I (Richard Leach) with crew Jane Pickford just managed to hold off Ian Wakeling and Sean O'Neil (Bristol Corinthian YC) up the last beat for a fourth.

The day was finished off with the race for the barrel of beer. For a long time Cardiff Bay Yacht Club sailor Harri Pain (14) led the race by a considerable distance in his Laser Radial but the wind dropped and as he said the Enterprises just kept going and passed him, Phil and Lewis managed to hold Tom and Minnie off to win on the water and the beer on handicap.

The trees on the top of the cliff were moving vigorously on Sunday morning it was a strong Westerly, This means flat water and gusts. The course was closer to the shore than it some times is which made the windward mark interesting. The first race was pursuit race and the Severnside committee had decided to use it in the series as there was a chance of abandonment's of later races. We should not of worried, Ioan managed to get all three races in, 45 minutes for the pursuit race and two mercifully short sharp fleet races.

The pursuit race was full of incidents most of them unseen my me. Near the front of the fleet at the leeward mark, I yanked on the kicker and the Dyneema parted at the boom with a large crack. This was the third large bang in a month having had a main halyard part in race two at the nationals and a goose neck break in race 3. I managed to jury rig the kicker by cutting a metre off my main halyard rope. I discovered that I was still on the same lap as the fleet and only twelve Ents were still sailing. One of missing boats was Tom and Minnie who had been leading yet again last time I looked. However Jeff with his Sunday and high wind crew Helen Jones were leading the race from Steve Lucey and Claudia Haynes with Russell Bright and Alison Culverwell in third. I discovered that Tom had tacked on top of Jeff at the windward mark, taking Jeff's wind, who heeled and nearly capsized to windward and his burgee sliced Toms main sail in half. Jeff told me he water-started his Ent and went on to win the race. Toms and Minnie's racing was finished for the day.

The fleet was down to twelve for race three. Great fun was being had by those who liked heavy weather. Jeff and Helen won the next two races and the series. Steve and Peter had a mixed pair of races with a second in race three and a capsize and retirement in race four where they discovered that recovering from a capsize in a MK3 requires a different technique and some practice. Phil and Lewis were third and fifth giving them second overall. Ian and Sean managed their best position in race four giving them third in the series. Russell managed to keep Alison out for the whole day and a pair of fourth places gave them fourth in the series.

Enterprise Results: