Tasar Open at Porthpean Sailing Club

Porthpean Tasar Open winners with Race Officer James Dorwick © Lionel Rigby

Sailors 30, Jelly Fish 0

Free entry, yes I repeat FREE entry for the Porthpean Tasar Open Meeting, and it was enough to tempt teams from Milton Keynes, Queen Mary, Wimbleball & Babbacombe Corinthian to attend the annual Tasar Open meeting at Porthpean. With 6 races on the programme we were set for a busy weekend. Invariably the weather proved to have a major influence on plans when the 2 races scheduled for Saturday afternoon had to be abandoned by believe it or not no wind at all. After an abundance of wind week after week in Cornwall the wind Gods decided to take the Bank Holiday literally and go on holiday themselves and left us all basking under some gorgeous Cornish Sunshine. Without the breeze the temperatures climbed and with the blue seas of St. Austell bay in the background the beers and pasties were broken out and the fleet settled down for an afternoon of conversation and reminisces.

Saturday evening entertainment was provided by our own Tasar social secretary Tony Dunn who together with his trusty aid Colin Wainwright constructed a skittle alley in the Club house and a hard fought battle broke out, which eventually was won by Tony's team. I don't think anyone managed to knock all 9 skittles over but one or two managed 8.

The Sunday forecast was for a nice little north westerly plus some rain. Well we must have been very righteous as the nice little north westerly arrived but the rain didn't, and the early morning drizzle soon melted away and things were looking good for a reduced 4 series set of races around a "q" shaped course. Our young resident Race Officer James Dowrick and his team of Speedy Gonzales Paddy & Steve soon had a nice sized course arranged and without further ado we came under starter's orders for the 1st race.

Now the reservoir sailors must have thought they were back at home as the 8-10 knot westerly produced a very flat bay with virtually no swell, almost perfect reservoir conditions. The only danger to anyone was the giant jelly fish which we have in abundance at the moment, there are literally 1000s out there and our visitors from Babbacombe tell me that they are having the same problems up there. Many of them just glide along only just under the surface. They look very spectacular as you sail past them but I don't think any one survived the day without slicing through at least one with our dagger boards. I must admit that it is rather alarming when you hit one as the sudden deceleration comes as a bit of a shock and the sacrificial packing in the dagger board case becomes very welcome. Anyway enough of that the conditions were nigh on perfect for Tasar sailing, with enough wind to keep everyone hiking and the reaches tight enough for some exhilarating planing; just what a Tasar was designed for.

Lionel Rigby & Ken Fobbester nailed the start and with the aid of some nice wind shifts sped up the beat to round first followed by Ian & Sue Butterworth. These 2 pulled away from the rest of the fleet before Ian & Sue's better speed on the run took them into a lead that they held to the end. Steve Mitchell & Polly Newman had an uncharacteristic poor first beat and spent the entire race playing catch up to eventually take 3rd.

Steve & Polly made up for their earlier mistakes by nailing the 2nd race with Lionel & Ken again taking 2nd place and more importantly keeping the Butterworths behind in 3rd place, and then it was time for lunch. The tried and tested pasty boat was left on the shore and we retired to the more comfortable surroundings of the Clubhouse and decking, when quite naturally the morning's races were discussed and the various tales of missed shifts and struck jelly fish dominated the conversation; all this whilst being served by a hot lunch provided by Nigel, Catherine & Sophie Dowrick.

The breeze was still holding and with the rain showing no signs of arriving meant that we could launch again in comfort from the nice sheltered sandy beach, that many of you may have sailed from at Nationals gone by. Another good start by Rigby & Fobbester allowed them to dominate the first beat and subsequent reaches to build up an almost unassailable lead, but being on the wrong side of a massive shift on the last beat almost allowed Steve & Polly to spoil their party but there was enough separation to allow some tight covering to ensure that the Rigby team took the win. The Butterworths again took 3rd.

We now had the situation that after 3 races we had the same top 3 and each team had won a race so the 4th race was going to be decider. Once again team Rigby nailed the start and first beat, but only just and eventually had to give way to Steve & Polly on the run. I think the fleet as a whole were getting better at spotting the windshifts by now as we had quite a gaggle of boats contesting the beats and the majority seemed to be arriving at the windward mark very close together. John Lawton & Lizzie Ball who had been battling with Liz & Roger Pescod and Tony & Sandy Pane for most of the races joined the top 3 for a while and approaching the end of the 2nd beat were right in the mix in the shifty conditions to be found near the windward mark. A new pairing of Justin Phyall and Charlie Austin suddenly found a higher gear and slipped into 3rd position for a while and appeared quite fast on the reaches but slipped back again on the 3rd and last beat. Once again Steve & Polly maintained good downwind speed to take the lead and the win, leaving Lionel & Ken to finish 2nd and a good recovery from the Butterworths moved them back up to 3rd by the end of the race.

All in all we had a very busy and highly competitive and enjoyable weekend, with no disasters apart from several damaged or worse jelly fish. Summer in Cornwall is starting to show itself.

Overall Results: