Bembridge Sailing Club Inshore Regatta
by Mike Samuelson 22 Aug 2018 20:42 BST
13-18 August 2018
Bembridge Sailing Club Inshore Regatta © Mike Samuelson
Although initially less wind on Monday afternoon than forecast, the SW'erly breeze did get up to F5 (20 knots) just as the three Redwings and eight One-Designs were about to start. Despite this, Colin Samuelson, three up in Toucan and TX Finney helming Redwing with Peter Grimaldi crewing had excellent starts and headed off to Garland. However, Mary & Roger Luxmoore-Styles in Capercaille decided it was too windy to race so retired and went for a sail instead! Redwing soon tacked onto port leaving Toucan to continue inshore on starboard tack. By the time they reached Garland, Toucan was comfortably ahead and remained there for the rest of the reduced length race, finishing over two and a half minutes ahead. As it turned out, the race was a bit short but not going out to Ruthven or Moreton was probably a wise decision!
The eight One-Designs meanwhile also made an excellent start in the gusty conditions and had some very close racing with split tacks on each of the beats. Susie Beart & Fi Smith in No 5 were first round Garland closely pursued by Penny Stanley & Anna Row in No 9 and James Row & Charles Abel Smith in No 8. As the race progressed the added weight of James & Charles began to tell and by the end of the slightly shortened race at Under Tyne, they were just over a minute and a half ahead of Susie & Fi. Mark Grzegorczyk sailing single handed in No 11 was third, twenty seconds ahead of D Orange & Jane Bland in No 12.
Conditions on Tuesday afternoon were pretty similar with a SW'erly F4 gusting F5 which backed and then dropped a bit towards the end of racing. The main difference however was that although there were only four One-Designs, we had twenty three Redwings! It was the first day of the Redwing 80th Anniversary of the 1938 designed boats and entries included five of the original wooden boats that had sailed up from Poole. The subsequent report on this Regatta can be found here.
The four One-Designs, on the same course as the Redwings but one round less, also had some exciting racing. Sophie Ross with Caroline Boyle crewing in No 11 had sensibly put on storm sails and although ahead for most of the race, they still had their work cut out to keep in front of No 1, helmed by Russ Fowler with Charles Abel Smith who had decided to use normal sails. Also wisely on small sails Susie Beart with Anna Row in No 5 was third a second ahead of Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9. A fine sail in some challenging conditions with only forty seconds separating them all at the finish.
With many of the normal helms helping out with Scow Week, there were no One-Designs racing on Wednesday.
On Thursday, there were three One-Designs racing; like the Redwings they had Nainby as the windward mark but then Ruthven as the leeward one. Mark Grzegorczyk in No 9 sailing single handed soon built up an unassailable lead ahead of Robin Joy & Russ Fowler in No 10 and Sophie Ross & Caroline Boyle in No 11. Although it made little difference to the end result, unfortunately the course change at Ruthven did not provide the extra beat when the breeze backed Southerly, but they still all had a nice sail.
Friday was the first day of the BSC annual Regatta. Conditions were almost perfect with quite a lot of sunshine and a pretty steady F4 SW'erly breeze. The twelve Redwings had a shortish first beat to an inflatable windward mark & a spreader and then a run to St Helens twice round. Edmund Peel in Quail got his own back from the previous day and finished first just over thirty seconds ahead of Colin Samuelson in Toucan. Joe Robertson, having initially been in the lead in Red Gauntlet II was third, ten seconds later. The other three classes did not go out to St Helens but went instead to Ruthven three times round. The eight Seaview Mermaids had some very close racing with less than fifteen seconds separating the first three boats; Ben Few-Brown lead from the start in Jade, Richard Taylor in Bluebell was second and Richard Bowtell in Sheen was third. Alexander & Sophie Ross in No 11 One-Design finished well ahead of the other four BODs; Rob Mathieson & Russ Fowler in No 1 were second and Hugh Doherty & Anna Row in No 10 were third after a slight navigational hick-up on the first windward leg! There were only three Squibs racing; Jo Downer in Panther III lead the way from the start and finished over five minutes ahead of Philip Russell in Icarus.
In the Inshore (Dinghy) Regatta, there were just under seventy starters in six classes. First off were the twenty one Scows for what was also the first of the two race Solent Scow Championships. Although initially pressed by Jodi Spence (619) Oliver Morgan (638) and Aussie 5.5 ringer Martin Cross racing a Scow (530) for the first time, Peter Hayward (577) built up an unassailable lead and finished well ahead of the chasing pack. The turnout for the Optimist race was a bit disappointing but the eight boats that made the start, certainly had a fun race; Xander Lacey-Smith finished some way ahead of Paloma Crutchfield with Alice Clegg in third. As there were no takers for the Slow Handicap, Chris Wilkinson in Swan No 24 filled in the space and as the only Swan, was the winner! Slightly surprisingly there were only eight 4.7 Lasers; their leeward mark was half way to Under Tyne, so three times round was quite challenging. The front three, Thomas Green from SVYC, Morgan McLucas (BSC) and Sam Steward from SVYC had an excellent race and although Thomas won, he certainly had to work for it. In the Fast Handicap, the big question was whether Alex Downer in a Laser with a full rig was going to be able to finish sufficiently ahead of Arthur Farley's Laser radial; after three and a half tough rounds with Under Tyne as the leeward mark, it was in fact Arthur who crossed the line ahead after Alec had capsized when he 'death rolled'. Martyn Davies in a Solo was third on corrected time. The last class (there were no SVODs) to start were the RS Fevas - seventeen of them! They had the same course as the Laser 4.7s and had a great race - lots of capsizes and the finishing margin was minimal, the extra weight of having three crew gave Robert Weir the edge over his older sister Ellen.
Although less sunshine, Saturday afternoon's breeze was very similar to the previous day - F4, gusting F5 from the SW. The four keelboat classes and six dinghy classes were therefore set similar courses albeit the twelve Redwings did not go out as far as St Helens. After an exciting start, James Wilson in Quail took over from where his brother-in-law Edmund had finished the day before and soon established a commanding lead. Johnny Raymond in Harlequin and Colin Samuelson were the closest but had to be content with second & third. Serena Gosling in Gosling and Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore in Snowgoose finished in sixth & seventh only seconds apart. There were only four Seaview Mermaids and the previous day's winner, Ben Few-Brown again lead from the start and finished two minutes ahead of Charles Glanville with Richard Bowtell in third. Alexander Ross with his wife Sophie crewing in No 11 One-Design was on a winning streak, albeit only finishing six seconds ahead of Charles Evans with Hugh Doherty crewing in No 10. Max Aylmer crewed by Thomas Alexander was a very creditable third in No 8 ahead of Mark Grzegorczyk & Helen Mathieson in No 9. The Squib race was similar to the previous day with Jo Downer in Panther III finishing well ahead of her brother Philip Russell in Icarus and Tim Farquhar in Mr Bumble third.
Because of the tides, the first dinghy start was not until 4.30pm and with six classes to get through, it was obviously important to stick to the programme and try and get everyone away first time. The Scows were again first away and although some of the less skillful had problems crossing the line on starboard, the top helms in the ten boat fleet had worked out how to avoid getting caught out. Not long after the start, Peter Hayward in 577, much as he did the previous day, dominated proceedings. Oliver Morgan in 638 led the chasing fleet and although he finished quite a long way behind Peter (who therefore not only won all the Regatta Scow trophies & prizes, but also the Scow Championships), he managed to just hold off Jodi Spence which meant that on count back, he came second overall and Jodi was third. Paul Gould in 55 was the first wooden boat overall.
Next to start were the five Optimists in what was some quite tricky conditions for the young helms. Henry and older brother Jeremy led from the start and despite best efforts, Jeremy had to put up with coming second. Paloma Crutchfield was third which was enough for her to take home the Wagner Trophy as the overall winner, as well as the Peel Cup for the first BSC cadet. The Swan, helmed by Chris Wilkinson raced with the Slow Handicap; there was also Jonathan & Emma Plumtree in their Hartley 12 and a Pico helmed by Jason Gatenby. Although the Swan beat the Hartley, it was not by much. There was some close racing at the front of the eight boat Laser 4.7 fleet. Despite best efforts by Archie Samuelson, he was unable to get ahead of the previous day's winner, Thomas Green from SVYC. Alex Andreae was third.
Stuart Gummer in his new Devoti D-Zero led the nine boat Fast Handicap fleet round the course, however his handicap put paid to any hope of him finishing as the overall winner. This fell to Arthur Farley in his Laser Radial for the second day running. Second was Giles Easton in his Europe and third was Tony Burton & James Hall in their Laser 2000. The final race of the afternoon was for the nine boat Feva fleet. After a slightly suspect start close to the Committee Boat by a number of boats, they soon sorted themselves out and the front half all got to the windward mark in a neat group. The run via the wing mark to the inflatable leeward mark saw fewer capsizes than the previous day which proved that practice pays dividends. After some close racing, 847, helmed by Kristian Schafer was the worthy winner, finishing ahead of 4755 helmed by Ellen Weir & crewed by Lily Harding and 5143 of Billy Bradford & Harry Pink. Finally, congratulations to Sarah Gabbani who sailed 3008 single handed for most of the race after her crew got cold. An impressive feat given the breezy conditions!
All in all an excellent two days of racing that was enjoyed by the crews of 54 keelboats and 117 dinghies.
Flickr BSC Inshore Regatta album at flic.kr/s/aHsmqpythq
The racing on Sunday traditionally moves to Seaview. Strong winds and adverse tides meant that there were no takers for the dinghy classes, but two Redwings and three One-Designs decided to give it a go. All made it safely there and back and had some fun racing, even if it turned out to be a bit short. Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore in Snowgoose rounded the leeward mark (Lollipop) just ahead of Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II, however on the beat back towards the shore rounded No 16 instead of No 11 and although not far apart and he quickly corrected, it effectively then became a bit of a procession. With Fitzwilliam (to starboard) as the penultimate mark and the finish at Under Tyne, Joe won by just under a minute. The three One-Designs had a close race and although Hugh Doherty with daughter Abby crewing in No 10 lead for most of the race, it was certainly not a done deal and one wrong move would have let either Alexander & Sophie Ross in No 11 or Ashleigh McLucas with his son Morgan in No 6 through. Indeed the finishing margin between No 10 & No 11 was only two seconds.
