The week's keelboat racing at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Mike Samuelson 13 Aug 2018 06:32 BST
6-12 August 2018
The week's keelboat racing at Bembridge © Mike Samuelson
With the Redwings at Cowes, the One-Designs had it to themselves last week. Monday afternoon saw another glorious couple of hours of champagne conditions for the seven One-Designs out racing.
Starting at Janson with the first leg to Cochrane then a run to Britten with the finish at Under Tyne, Jos Coad in No 8 opened up a considerable lead and finished a minute ahead of Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9; Alexander Ross in No 11 was third.
Having re-set the start line back at Janson, the fleet initially headed to Under Tyne, then to Tara and back to Janson with a final beat to the finish at Under Tyne. The last beat from JJ to the finish had all to play for and it was a lottery who was going to get line honours. Either by luck or good judgment Russ Fowler in No 1 found the line bias at the committee boat end of the line pipping Norman Marshall in No 7 by 5 seconds and Jos Coad in No 8 by 20 seconds.
Tuesday afternoon initially look so promising that nine One-Designs left their moorings and headed for the start area at Fitzwilliam. With the forecast suggesting a SW'erly F4, it was decided to use normal jibs rather than genoas, however with the NNE'erly breeze dying and veering to the SSW, the decision was made to change to optional genoas. With minutes to the start the breeze settled and after a pretty good start, the fleet soon split tacks on the first beat to Under Tyne. Alexander Ross in No 11 was first round and was a good 50m ahead of Susie Beart in No 5, Mark Gregorczyk in No 9 and Penny Stanley in No 1. Although still ahead at Ruthven, his lead had been reduced and then there inevitably came the decision which tack to take. Those that tacked onto starboard and headed offshore seemed to be doing best until the breeze veered more to the SW which hugely benefited the port tack boats of which Susie Beart in No 5 was one and finished at Fitzwilliam two minutes ahead of D Orange in No 12 who had had a excellent final leg particularly as she was sporting a normal jib. Charles Abel Smith in No 6 was third.
For the second race, it was another simple course to Garland, back to Fitzwilliam and with the finish at Garland. After a good start, the fleet again split tacks as they tried to work out the best side of the course to be on. D Orange in No 12 was first to round Garland with Alexander in No 11 and Tim Bonham (also on a normal jib) in No 2 close behind. The run back to F saw the fleet surprisingly spread out and No 11 take over the lead. Alexander extended this and finished just over a minute ahead of Norman Marshall in No 8 with D in No 12 showing again that in the 10-12 knot range, the normal jib was not significantly slower overall than the genoa. All in all an excellent afternoon's racing.
The sun was still with us on Wednesday afternoon and coupled with a F4/F5 SSW'erly breeze provided almost perfect conditions for the eight One-Designs out racing. Having decided against setting up at Fitzwilliam because of the confused wind over tide sea state, a line was laid to the south of Janson. Three boats went for a port tack flyer at the pin end of the line, and the rest tacked quite quickly as at one stage it looked as if Garland was going to be reached on one tack; however the closer they got, the more the wind veered and knocked them off. D Orange in No 12 was first round with James Beart in No 5 and Alexander Ross in No 11 hot on her heels. There were quite a few place changes on the long run to Ruthven and the beat back to the start/finish line; at the front, Alexander in No 11 crossed the line six seconds ahead of John Suffield in No 4; D in No 12 was third three seconds later.
Rather than going out to Ruthven again as the breeze was gusting 20 knots at times, the course for the second race was Garland and Janson two and a half times round. After a good start the fleet soon split tacks and although at one stage it looked as if the left side of the course was the better one, in the event it was actually the right. James Beart in No 5 was first round with D in No 12 and Alexander in No 11 close behind. By the time they returned to Garland, D had taken the lead and finished the slightly changed course at Under Tyne twenty seconds ahead of James with Alexander six seconds later. Another excellent afternoon's racing.
For some photos see flic.kr/s/aHskCBoevM
Programmed for the annual 'Spouses race' within the normal August Points race, it was sad that only two of the eight One-Designs racing were helmed by spouses. The start for both races was at Fitzwilliam and although the breeze was much lighter than the previous day, at least it was from the West so Footprint worked well as the windward mark. After an interesting start as at least half the fleet failed to compensate for the strong easterly going tide, half went left and half went right. Charles Abel Smith in No 7 lead the way back to an inflatable leeward mark just ahead of Alexander Ross in No 11 and Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9. After something of an altercation between the leading two, Mark jumped into the lead and finished three quarters of a minute ahead of Hugh Doherty in No 10. Jos Coad in No 8 was third. As far as the spouses went, the Bonham's in No 2 was fourth and the Mathiesons were seventh.
Although a slightly better start, the tide continued to out fox some boats as they prepared for the second race. Most went right although a couple of boats (No 10 & No 7) chanced their arm and went inshore; a tactic that paid off for Hugh in No 10, but not for Charles in No 7! Hugh lead the fleet to Moreton ahead of Alexander in No 11 and the Mathiesons in No 1. The final beat from Moreton to Under Tyne was spot on and again the fleet split half & half which side of the course was best. In the event, it was the left side that came out best with Hugh in No 10 finishing three quarters of a minute ahead of Alexander in No 11; the Mathiesons in No 1 were a minute later in third but it was good enough to win the Spouses Trophy by 2 points. Mid-fleet, Charles in No 7 and John Suffield in No 4 finished less than a second apart.
Friday afternoon was wet and windy and although it cleared in time for the Red Arrows, the three Queens and Cowes Fireworks, afternoon racing was cancelled.
Although initially it was looking doubtful, fortunately there was enough of a breeze on Saturday morning for two keenly contested Brinton Trophy races. The first turned out to be slightly short as the breeze picked up a few knots. The first beat to Tara from the line at Under Tyne was against quite a strong tide so the big question was whether to go into the moorings or remain offshore. The front three at Tara were Alexander Ross (with Sophie crewing) in No 11, Anna Row (with James crewing) and D Orange (with Maya crewing); Rob Mathieson in No 1 was fourth after a very late start! The leeward mark was Footprint and although the leg back to the finish at Under Tyne was still a beat, the breeze had veered to the South so some boats got away with only a few tacks. Anna in No 8 was one of those and finished a minute ahead of Alexander in No 11 who crossed the line less than a second ahead of D in No 12.
With the southerly breeze holding pretty steady, the start line had to be re-set at Janson with Tara as the windward mark, Britten (as the leeward) and with the finish at Under Tyne. Although just OCS, Norman Marshall in No 7 managed to reposition himself after being shut out at the Committee Boat and came in from above the line! All bar one (Robin Joy in No 10) went in towards the moorings to get out of the tide. The front three rounding Tara were James Row in No 8, D Orange in No 12 and Rob Mathieson in No 1. After a slow but testing run to Britten, the beat back to Under Tyne saw boats on both sides of the course. No 8 picked up a second win finishing a minute ahead of No 12 and No 11 about three quarters of a minute later. No 7 was fourth.
The forecast for Sunday morning was looking pretty horrible, but in the event it was not as bad as predicted. Although the morning after the Summer Ball, there were four Redwings for the rescheduled Chetwood Trophy (Under 30 helms) and five One-Designs for the second day of the Brinton Trophy. With a SSE'erly F4, the start line was at Janson and with just one race planned, the windward mark was Tara and the leeward mark Derrick. The start of the Redwings was certainly 'interesting' with Snow Goose helmed by Ed Nainby-Luxmoore shutting the Committee Boat door on Chloe Crisp in Blue Jay II and Thalia Chetwood helming Plover. Although not involved, Ben Stoddart-Stones in Vera was unable to capitalise and it soon became a bit of a procession with Snow Goose extending their lead on every leg to finish nearly two minutes ahead Blue Jay II. Vera was third and Plover fourth.
The five One-Designs had the same course; although Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9 was shut out and had to circle back, the rest were all pretty close to the line at the start. Three continued out to sea on starboard tack while Hugh Doherty in No 10 and James Row in No 8 headed inshore. In the event there was little in it with Hugh and James rounding Tara just ahead of D Orange in No 12. As the race progressed James dropped back a bit and it became a two boat race between No 10 and No 12. Hugh led round Janson but D found the best route to the finish at Under Tyne and crossed the line thirty seconds ahead of Hugh. Mark in No 9 was third, James in No 10 was fourth and Alexander Ross in No 11 brought up the rear. Although only by the narrowest of margins, congratulations to the Rows in No 8 who therefore won the Brinton Trophy.
Congratulations to Matt Alexander and John Raymond in Harlequin who were not only top of the Redwing leader board at Cowes, but were also runners up in Wight Group overall. James Wilson in Quail was overall second in the Redwing Class and Hugo Cuddigan in Capella II was third.