Golden Jubilee Cup and Coxswains Cannon at Felpham Sailing Club
by James Gerwat 6 May 2019 20:26 BST
5-6 May 2019
With local hero Guy Mayger away in Holland sailing his Solo to second overall in the Solo Spring Cup, two of our own trophies were up for grabs. Sunday started with the Golden Jubilee Cup two races back to back.
Northerlies at FSC are always more challenging with the wind coming off the land but we had 26 boats up for the challenge!
The RO set a 'P' course & the helms that headed North got the greatest advantage. The RS600 of Tim Cutsforth sprinted away with the Lark of Martin & Connor Gillam not far behind, along with a few Blazes.
Richard Bentley (Aero 7) managed to split the Blazes but couldn't make any ground on the Lark. Meanwhile, Chris Bull (Laser) was always threatening & had a fantastic final beat. The first cadet was Alfie Lester (Laser Radial) who put in a storming performance to finish 6th in the first race.
When the second race got under way, the wind dropped but maintained its shifty behaviour which produced some interesting racing.
Once again the Lark was towards the front, but behind the RS600 & the Blaze of Richard Ganley. Not far behind these three was the Supernova (James Gerwat). The final lap was pivotal; the Blaze was chasing the RS600 but struggling to get enough of an advantage over the Lark which was being chased by the Supernova. Both the Blaze and the Lark went out to sea and the Supernova went north.
At the windward mark the Supernova was ahead of the Blaze and on the transom of the Lark. The RS600 was a long way ahead, but not enough once the handicaps were applied.
The Lark managed to pull away from the Supernova to win the race by 5 seconds on corrected time; 2 bullets & a trophy to the Lark.
First cadet was Josh James (Topper) followed by Alfie Lester (Laser Radial)
Golden Jubilee Cup Results:
1st Martin & Connor Gillam
2nd Richard Bentley
3rd James Gerwat
1st Cadet: Alfie Lester
1st Lady: Paula Bentley
In the afternoon, seven boats took part in the Wannop & Falconer pursuit race. A Topper, a Phantom, 2 Blazes, two Aeros & a Supernova.
60 minutes for the Topper was scheduled over a Trapezoid course. Josh James (Topper) kept the faster boats at bay for 2 laps but slowly they over-hauled him.
The Supernova (James Gerwat) was first passed the Topper & set off with the 2 Aero 7s (Richard Bentley & Jack Miller) on his tail. The shifts & gusts came in to play but with the light winds favouring the fully battened sail of the Supernova...it sped off in to the lead....and then the wind picked up.
All of a sudden the Blazes (Ross Fisher & Richard Ganley) were back in the mix, reeling the Aeros in and making headway on the Supernova.
With 10 minutes to go, the wind dropped again and the Supernova pulled away on to the final beat with a 1 minute advantage over the chasing Aero 7 (Richard Bentley). The minutes' advantage slipped away to 15 seconds as the Aero 7 mastered the shifts & panic set in aboard the Supernova...
The clock wound down & the Supernova just managed to stay ahead.
Wannop & Falconer Results:
1st James Gerwat
2nd Richard Bentley
3rd Richard Ganley
1st Cadet: Josh James
Coxswains Cannon
On Monday we were greeted with a light North Westerly & sunshine at Felpham Sailing Club this Bank Holiday Monday 6th May. Nineteen boats were rigged and ready to compete for the Coxswains Cannon Trophy.
The Race Officer set a 'P' course with the windward mark nestling in the corner of the bay, towards Butlins. It was at this mark that many gains & losses were had; the wind was coming off the land & shifting, dropping & gusting....I think every helm was relieved once they had navigated past the windward mark!
The Blaze of Mark Phillips was jostling with the Phantom (Paul Miller) closely followed by Chris Whitney (Aero 9). Not far behind was the DZero (Callum Aldous) and the first of the 3 Aero 7s (Catherine Hemsley).
The downwind leg & the reach out to sea were fun but uneventful all the changes were made on the beat. Catherine Hemsley, as the leading Aero 7, was looking to be in a great position for a strong result once the handicaps had been applied. A cruel twist of fate ensued with the wind shifting to favour the boats behind. Both Aero 7s (Richard Bentley & Roshan Verghese) rounded the windward mark just ahead of Catherine who now also had the Supernova (James Gerwat) in touching distance.
The faster boats ahead (Blaze, Dzero, Aero 9, Phantom) seemed to be a long way ahead on the water...but it wasn't enough once the handicaps were applied.
Race 1 Results:
1st Roshan Verghese
2nd James Gerwat
3rd Mark Phillips
Race 2 got off after a short delay the wind shifted to the SW & the course was adjusted only for the wind to shift back again!
Everyone got off the line cleanly & first round the windward mark were Mark Phillips (Blaze) & Chris Whitney (Aero 9). The Supernova (James Gerwat) was not far behind, mixing it with the Aero 7s of Richard Bentley & Roshan Verghese. Callum Aldous (Dzero) made up for a bad start & joined the faster boats at the front of the fleet.
Richard & Roshan were having a good battle of their own but still keeping the Blaze, Aero 9 & Dzero close. The Supernova was struggling to keep up with the Aeros in front & the other Aero was catching, but he noticed what appeared to be good breeze near the shore...which was confirmed by how well the Phantom was going down there.
So he headed down there only to miss the wind shift that favoured those out to sea: Catherine Hemsley (Aero 7) went past the Supernova at the windward mark... a huge gain. Tom Twist (Laser Standard) saw the shift also & popped his boat just behind the Supernova.
Just a downwind leg, a medium length reach & a short beat to finish. Roshan Verghese was master of the shifts today, winning the second race as well as the first.
Race 2 Results:
1st Roshan Verghese
2nd Richard Bentley
3rd James Gerwat
Coxswains Cannon Trophy Results:
1st Roshan Verghese
2nd James Gerwat
3rd Richard Bentley
1st Lady: Catherine Hemsley
1st Cadet: Tom Twist
North Mark Trophy
This was the third & final race of the day, only attracting seven competitors. There were some shenanigans on the start line with the Aero 7s of Catherine Hemsley & Richard Bentley actually crossing masts... it appeared to be a duel!
Tony Lord (Solution) had a funny moment as he tried to get away with the wind shifting. The D-Zero of Mark Aldous had a similar mishap which distracted the other D-Zero (Callum Aldous).
But it was Richard Bentley who rounded the windward mark with Catherine Hemsley closely followed by the Supernova (James Gerwat).
Tony capsized at the windward mark & by the time he was back in his boat all the other boats had disappeared.
Callum (D-Zero) went past the Supernova & caught the Aero 7s up who were slowing each other down by fighting for mark position. The Aero 7s rounded the leeward mark together with the D-Zero following. The Supernova had made some gains on the reach & made the gybe not far behind the others.
Just as we settled in for the beat, a large gust hit with a wind direction change at the same time. This caught Catherine Hemsley out, who toppled in. All the pressure that was on Richard disappeared & what was going to be an interesting battle between the two Aero 7s was lost.
All Richard had to do now was stay close to the faster D-Zero of Callum (the Supernova was dropping back)... and he did just that.
Full results are on the website, felphamsailingclub.co.uk/racing/results