Pyefleet Week at Brightlingsea Sailing Club - Day 3
by Fiona Brown 13 Aug 2014 08:34 BST
10-16 August 2014
Racing finally underway for almost all classes
Day three of Brightlingsea Sailing Club's Pyefleet Week 2014 brought a slight moderation of the winds which had plagued the the first two days and both the morning and afternoon racing sessions were run for almost all classes, with the exception of the Brightlingsea One Designs.
Although still a blustery force four to five from the west-north-west, the morning session went off without delays for the Fast Handicap, Lasers, Teras, Wivenhoe One Designs and Cadet Handicap. The classic Wivenhoe One Designs and the Cadets started from the club line and were set courses that kept them within the shelter of the river, while the other classes started from the committee boat and went out into the more open estuary.
Once again the Laser Class came down to a battle between Chris Rust and Ollie Newman with the two boats trading places around the course. As they turned into Brightlingsea Creek for the finish Ollie had a narrow lead, but he suddenly found himself caught be a combination of a strong gust and a slightly rogue wave and before he knew it he was broaching round with his rudder out of the water. It was all Chris needed to slip by and claim victory on the line. Stephen Williams took third place again.
Chris Bannister's Contender took a second victory in the Fast Handicap fleet. After their swim yesterday, Piers Lambert and Tim Bees made sure they stayed out of trouble and took second place in their Merlin Rocket, beating fellow Merlin sailors Andy and Sarah Bines who came third.
The Laser Radial race was won by Gary Pilgrim with Eddie Bridle second and Ollie King third. Having won yesterday's race Ollie still holds the overall lead in the class, but was a little disappointed with his upwind speed today.
Several of the Wivenhoe One Designs, the oldest of which was built in 1935, elected to reef to help them cope with the gusty conditions on what was their first race of the regatta. These pretty little classic day boats enjoyed great racing on an upriver course with George Brown and Ben Sharp beating Nigel and Peter Cook by a narrow margin on the line with Nick Blower and Dan Twyman third.
The Tera Class produced one of the pluckiest performances of the day. Leading the fleet were Matt Smith and Max King, both racing Tera Pros, who sailed with great confidence to take first and second respectively. Five of the eight-strong fleet retired as the race wore on, but Blake Tudor in his Tera Sport was determined to finish come what may. Blake is one of the smallest sailors in the class and he had to work incredibly hard to keep his boat moving through the big waves and strong gusts, but he kept plugging away and eventually crossed the line to claim a very well deserved third place.
The Cadet Handicap was also out for the first time this week and again the youngsters put in some very gutsy performances with eighteen crews coming to the line and twelve completing the race. There were a few capsizes and retirements, but the novice section of the cadet fleet is supervised by the club's cadet coaching team so everyone had a great time even if they didn't complete the course. Cadet Handicap winner was Brandon Hastings in a Topper with Ben Eales in a Laser Radial second. Alex Lightly in a Topper and Zoe Bees in a Topaz actually tied on corrected time and so shared third place.
The rising spring tide brought an increase in the wind strength and for a while the afternoon racing session looked to be in doubt, but fortunately it moderated a little and the race committee elected to run racing from the club line for all but the Brightlingsea One Designs.
Although very disappointing for the BOD fleet, some of which date back to 1927, the decision not to race proved to be the right one as heavy gusts were a major feature of the afternoon session. The BODs have a relatively large sail plan and although they can reef, the boats are still quite a handful on a windy day. They aren't easy to capsize, but it does happen from time to time and when it does the boats always require rescue boat support to recover so a cautious approach is always wise.
For those that did race it was to be an exciting first session on the water with some strong gusts and big chop to contend with. The Cat Handicap were first away and whilst the strong winds produced some spectacular bursts of speed, they also caused a capsize and some gear failures. Of the five-strong fleet only Neil Barnes in a Viper completed the course.
For the Fireballs it was to be a fast and furious race with father and son Pete and Tom Kyne claiming victory over second placed Roger Etherington and Joy Adams and Ben Richardson and D Pennewll in third. After racing Tom and Pete confirmed that at times they were right on the edge coping with the heavy gusts that accompanied the scudding clouds.
Fresh from a top ten finish at the recent Laser 2000 Nationals, Chris and Gill Jordan were on sparkling form in the Slow Handicap. Simon and Fiona Gillow's Scorpion took second place with Fergus O'Sullivan and Ian Hill in another Laser 2000 third. One of the advantages of Pyefleet's split racing programme is that it gives competitors the chance to race twice each day if the want to. Having finished third in the morning's Fast Handicap, father and daughter Andy and Sarah Bines stepped into their RS200 and took fourth place in the Slow Handicap.
Tomorrow is Big Wednesday at Pyefleet Week, which traditionally features an all in handicap start for all classes at 14.30. In addition a race will also be run for the BOD fleet at 11.30 in the morning. With the forecast for slightly less wind everyone is very much looking forward to finally seeing the BODs in all their glory and to enjoying some more relaxed racing for Big Wednesday. Pyefleet Week continues until Saturday 16 August.