Illusion Bill's Barrel Regatta at Bembridge Sailing Club

by Mike Samuelson 18 Dec 2013 14:37 GMT 14-15 December 2013

Illusion Bill's Barrel Regatta at Bembridge © Mike Samuelson

Despite the early starts because of the tides and the strong wind warnings, the inaugural running of 'Bill's Barrel' supported by Goddard's Brewery was voted a great success by the 17 competitors. The brain child of Bill Daniels, the NoR was somewhat different from the norm - for instance, the briefing was held at the prizegiving, only races 2, 3, 5 & 6 counted and there was no discard!

Saturday was glorious in Bembridge with a gentle SW 2 - 3 breeze and bright sunshine. With the first race of the day as a warmer up, James Meaning again showed that in light airs he is hard to beat as he crossed the line nearly a minute ahead of Graham Bailey with Julia Bailey close behind.

In the second race, it was Graham's turn to show the rest of the fleet how to maximise boat speed in the light airs as he finished half a minute ahead of Mark Downer with Julia again in third.

In the final race of day, Graham and James battled it out at the front, but it was good to see Robbie Southwell in third and the event organiser Bill Daniel a very creditable fourth.

Fortunately conditions on Sunday were not as bad the forecast had predicted however with the Southerly breeze increasing to F5 for the final race, it was not for the feint hearted. Even though the first race of the day was again not counting towards the weekend trophy, the start was as close as ever and no quarter was given in the short three lap race. Having missed the last race of the previous day because of a lunch date, the Class Captain, Mark Downer, obviously wanted to reminded everyone that he was going to make them work for their beer so posted a first place just ahead of Graham Bailey with Robbie Southwell in third.

Race 4 should possibly been a General Recall but the race team of Mike Samuelson, Alexis Dogilweski & Richard Bailey let them off with just the X-flag with only one boat (a green one so it had to be James Meaning!) definitely being identified. Although he did not return, James subsequently retired as the breeze increased and the prospect of some good kite-surfing off the south of the Island beckoned! Despite sailing another great race, Julia Bailey was unable to get ahead of husband Graham but did manage to stave off a prolonged challenge by Mark.

There were too many over the line at the start of the final race so this time a General Recall was called with a Black Flag for the re-start successfully keeping everyone a few feet off the line. It did not take long for Graham Bailey to show his dominance and work up a substantial lead ahead of Robbie Southwell and Mark Downer with Tom Wilson in fourth.

Some excellent racing and a big thank you to Bill Daniel's & Goddard's Brewery for a fun weekend. Hopefully it will became an annual event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail No	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	Graham Bailey	132	2	1	1	2	1	1	4
2	Robbie Southwell	161	11	7	3	3	5	2	17
3	Julia Bailey	157	3	3	7	8	2	7	19
4	Mark Downer	124	5	2	S	1	3	3	26
5	Bill Daniels	68	12	6	4	9	7	10	27
6	Shreda Duke/Tom Wilson	4	10	8	9	5	9	4	30
7	Robin Ebsworth	12	8	11	6	11	8	8	33
8	Jo Downer	123	6	4	S	6	6	6	34
9	James Meaning	31	1	4	2	7	R	S	42
10	Rupert Holmes	47	S	S	S	4	4	5	45
11	Karl Feeney	(W)	R	14	14	14	11	11	50
12	Steve Warren‑Smith	146	7	10	5	10	R	S	51
13	Matthew Muhlenkamp	152	4	9	8	S	S	S	53
14	Shreda Duke	4 & 80	10	8	9	13	R	R	53
15	Ian Turnbull	(R)	S	S	S	12	10	9	55
16	Mike Toogood	73	13	12	10	S	S	S	58
17	Olivia Dowling	162	9	13	S	S	S	S	67