Inaugural Pratt Regatta at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club
by Gary Smith 15 Jul 2015 07:27 BST
12 July 2015
It wasn't supposed to happen like that...
Pratt Racing was designed, tested and tweaked to give everyone a chance of winning. A personal handicap system with a few twists to put the fun back into your club sailing. The advantage taken away from the talented sailing gods and given to the mediocre and needy. Sure they might still be first across the line, but would it be by enough?
For most of the races held over the last 9 seasons of Pratting about on a Wednesday night at Eastbourne there has emerged triumphant a series of underdogs. Unfit and untrained, too old to look sexy and sporting knackered sails and smelly wetsuits they have basked in the glory of being declared Pratt winner of the day. Their moment of glory far greater than a standard race victory, theirs was a Pratt victory.
Second hand Lasers became like dollars in Greece, the only currency.
The first ever Pratt Regatta was set to follow this pattern. A days racing that most of the entrants would not normally consider taking part in. They would race 3 races in a day with a generous lunch break between but otherwise run to Open meeting standard. It didn't matter that most of them were sailing cheap 'second' boats with a mix of replica and repaired rigs, this was Pratt Racing and they had the edge over the rock stars with their GBR logos.
The weather gods dealt them their first blow, it was blowing dogs off chains with a big Eastbourne swell though the launching was easy which tempted a few out who might have not.
A new addition for this event was a doublehanded class in the Pratt Format. No-one wanted to risk their expensive shiny craft in the maelstrom so crews quickly grabbed the go-to boat in these conditions a Dart16.
Even these were reefed showing the strength of the wind. Past National Champion Nick Hart sailing with leader of the opposition Di,sailed past and weaved around the whole fleet who capsized and eventually all retired. Their + 5 minute rating made them far from favourites but as the only finisher the only thing to decide was who took the red wine and who had the white.
It wasn't supposed to happen like that, the best sailors actually won.
The singlehanders were all Lasers as they were already scratched and battered so expendible
Eastbourne with the wind up and the waves big is hard to beat and the race area only 5 minutes out and free from rocks, reefs, sandbanks, bars, mud and ferries can be epic!
You would have thought that some of the sailors with a 9 minute allowance were already imagining the taste of the winners chocolates, those with 2 or 3 minutes bonus determined to stay in touch with the leaders and nab the win.
This is where fate took a second cruel twist. One of the sailors could actually sail a Laser, not only could he sail it but he revelled in big wind and waves. Neil Peters had shown his hand previously on a Wednesday night by visiting and joining in the fun on the small courses and generally light winds. He was fast but catchable. This was different though, it was his domain and his day. From the start he powered away upwind. Unbelievably practice, fitness and technique seemed to actually work over cellulite pie and beer. Who'd have thought it?
The morning race was enough for everyone. It had gone past epic to biblical out there and that was it. The championship would be decided on a single race.
Race officer Clare Day and her crack squad of timekeepers had the timing nailed down and the shore team were ready with abacus and thick felt pen to destroy those times into a Pratt format.
You can make a race of it by awarding bonus time and penalty time, you can have your moment of glory, and your time in the sun, but all had to admit Neil 'Sticky' Peters deserved to win the first Pratt Regatta.
Not only because he demonstrated the noble art of making a Laser look fast but because most of the fleet didn't check their class flag and thought they'd finished a lap early... The others were either OCS or retired.
It wasn't supposed to happen like that but it did.
Proving that Pratt Racing gives EVERYONE a chance of winning.