0.1 Square Metre Championship at Emsworth Sailing Club
by James Lavery 3 Jan 2006 08:15 GMT
2 January 2006
Action from the Emsworth 0.1 Square Metre championship © James Lavery
The 2005-06 Emsworth 0.1 Square Metre championship (otherwise known as the Bottle Race) had a good turnout this year, with 26 entries on Monday 2nd January.
The usual range of construction techniques was evident - with performance belying looks, in some cases. Conditions were testing, with a light North-Westerly producing a sheltered start on the Western millpond wall, and a tactical quandary - unstable reach, or steady, longer run to the other side of the pond (which formed the long, undulating finish line).
The square-rigged schooner (or brigantine?) 'Black Bullet', entered by Henry Cunnison, showed the fruits of several years' research, with steady progress on a perfect port beam reach, taking the left hand side of the course. This was definitely the right way to go, as it was the shortest distance to the finish. Bob Jarvis's 'Fireball' took a longer route to the right, finishing second after a long run.
Unfortunately Jarvis, the official measurer, had to disqualify his own entry as it did not comply with the rules. This left Jess Lavery's 'Highland Spring A Leak' to take 2nd - this boat's 4th year of competition. 3rd was Rebecca White's 'X White Sails' - a lightweight flyer. 4th equal were two entries from Leo Patterson, his canting keeled 'Optimist' and 'Woodpecker'.
After recovering the casualties (an exercise which kept the author warm in a rowing boat), all retired to the clubhouse for a Quiet Little Drink and post-mortem. Thanks go to Simon O'Hea( PRO), Bob Jarvis (measurer) and Ros Oakley (accounts and entries) for a successful event, which raised £230 for the Lavender Trust.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Type | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm |
|---|
| 1st | Square Rigger | Illegible | Black Bullet | Henry Cunnison |
| 2nd | Monohull | £1.32 | Highland Spring A Leak | Jess Lavery |
| 3rd | Catamaran | Unknown | X White Sails | Rebecca White |
| 4th | Canting Keeled Optimist | Unknown | Canting Keel | Leo Patterson |