Illusion Trafalgar Trophy Regatta at Bembridge Sailing Club

by Mike Samuelson 27 Oct 2014 07:24 GMT 25-26 October 2014

Bembridge Illusion Trafalgar Trophy 2014 © Mike Samuelson

Although not quite as good a turnout for Bembridge SC's Illusion Trafalgar Trophy Regatta as last year, there were still 15 boats out over the two days of racing held outside the harbour off Silver Beach.

Bright but sunless, Saturday started with only minimal wind so racing was delayed by half an hour, however conditions improved and there was a nice F3 South Westerly for the last two races of the day. It was no great surprise to see light wind specialist James Meaning establish a long lead in the first race; despite best efforts Julia Bailey and Bruce Huber were unable to haul him back and had to make do with second & third, and last year's trophy winner Graham Sunderland a fourth.

The breeze strengthened slightly for the start of the second race and there was no catching Graham Sunderland who came in well ahead of a surprise second placed Olivia Dowling who had an excellent race and did everything right, with James Meaning having to be content with third place & Bruce Huber fourth.

Bruce got his own back in the final race of the day, and after some close racing came in ahead of Graham with Raymond Simonds at last getting a well deserved podium place in third. Having been very disadvantaged at the windward mark on the first round Julia Bailey was awarded average points for the race so ended as fourth equal with James Meaning.

Still no sunshine on Sunday but the South Westerly F3, occasionally F4 breeze made for some excellent racing. Although he had to work hard for it, Graham Sunderland was on top form and won all three of the races. In the first, Raymond Simonds, James Meaning, Julia Bailey & Bruce Huber were never far apart and one bad tack or a bad rounding was enough for the order to change.

In the second race of the day, the first round was very close however Graham Sunderland seemed to find a different gear to the chasing group finally lead by Bruce Huber hotly pursued by Julia Bailey & Raymond Simonds who finished within second of each other.

Although the majority preferred the Committee Boat end of the line, the start of the final race was text book stuff. Again it was Graham who lead round the first windward mark and never looked like being overtaken despite best efforts by Raymond Simonds, Bruce Huber and James Meaning. Julia Bailey's decision not to go inshore on the first beat put paid to her challenge for the top three, however she did very well to make up enough ground to come in fourth.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail No	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	Graham Sunderland	80	4	1	2	1	1	1	6
2	Bruce Huber	101	3	4	1	5	2	3	13
3	James Meaning	31	1	3	4	3	5	6	16
4	Raymond Simonds	23	5	5	3	2	4	2	16
5	Julia Bailey	157	2	6	4	4	3	4	17
6	Philip Bown	130	8	7	9	6	7	5	33
7	Andrew Christie	149	7	11	11	7	6	8	39
8	Robin Ebsworth	12	13	12	7	8	8	9	44
9	Olivia Dowling	162	10	2	6	S	S	S	50
10	Alastair Speare‑Cole	135	11	8	5	S	S	S	56
11	Xander Shaw	15	6	10	8	S	S	S	56
12	Roly Wilson	144	S	S	S	9	9	7	57
13	Serena Gosling	122	9	9	10	S	S	S	60
14	Mike Till	155	S	S	S	10	10	10	62
15	Jonathan Nainby‑Luxmoore	158	12	13	12	S	S	S	69