Please select your home edition
Edition
RYA Membership
Product Feature
Mantus M1 2.5lbs (1.13kg) Stainless Steel Dinghy Anchor Kit
Mantus M1 2.5lbs (1.13kg) Stainless Steel Dinghy Anchor Kit

Salcombe Yacht Club 2021 Commissioning Race

by David Greening 6 Apr 2021 11:01 BST 3 April 2021
Salcombe Yacht Club 2021 Commissioning Race © Lucy Burn

The dinghy racers of Salcombe Yacht Club reconvened for a postponed Commissioning Race on a bracing Saturday 3rd April. Race Officer Ian Stewart and his able assistant Wendy set a course to Gerston, Blackstone followed by two loops of the harbour, which gave the sailors ample opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the vagaries of the Bag before flat out close reaches across Widegates to Gerston and back.

With a variable Force 3 to 4 East North Easterly on an ebb tide, consideration had to be given to resolve the paradox of whether to sail a potentially shorter route from the East Portlemouth shore but run the risk of less wind under the hill, or to short tack up the Salcombe shore. The twenty-nine boat fleet was equally divided on this at the start.

The four Merlins had an upwind speed edge on the rest of the fleet and pulled out ahead, with Mark Waterhouse and Fran Gifford leading up the Salcombe shore and Will and Mary Henderson leading off Portlemouth and who fed in with a healthy lead when they finally drove across the tide to the Salcombe side.

The Solos of Tim Law and David Greening and the Salcombe Yawl of septuagenarians Geoff Gilson and Chris Spencer Chapman and the non-septuagenarians Andrew Wood and Tim Petitt led the chase through the trots to Snapes Point.

On turning Snapes the fleet fetched through the Bag, where Paul Ellis planed through to leeward of the Yawls to catch the onto the heels of Law at the Gerston gybe mark, as the four Merlins planed into the distance.

Those caught behind the returning Yawls felt much as it must have been like to be stuck behind a six wheel Tyrell at Monaco, which allowed the Solo of Chris Cleaves to overtake Greening and Simon Dobson, when he took the rarely successful route through Crab Pots.

So, with the four Merlins sailing in formation toward the line, the Race Officer shortened the course, allowing Will and Mary to take line honours from Mark and Fran, however it was the Solo of Paul Ellis that emerged victorious from Tim Law on corrected time.

All the sailors came off the water with smiles on their faces, grateful to be out on the water again.

Overall Results: (top six)

1st Solo 5574, Paul Ellis
2nd Solo 5743, Tim Law
3rd Merlin Rocket 3726, Will and Mary Henderson
4th Solo 5879, Chris Cleaves
5th Solo 5792, David Greening
6th Salcombe Yawl, Andrew Wood and Tim Petitt

Related Articles

Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week overall
Tom Gillard and Rachel Gray take the trophy The final day of Helly Hansen Salcombe Merlin Week dawned to another day of blue skies with a light Southwester forming in the harbour and forecast to increase. The overall result was still up for grabs with both leading protagonists in the morning race. Posted on 4 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 5
Wall to wall sunshine for the 102 teams The fifth morning dawned with wall to wall sunshine and a 5 knot SW sea breeze popped in at the surprisingly early time of 8.30, promising a good day's racing for the 102 teams. Posted on 3 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 4
Random gusts from every direction, including vertical Past the halfway stage and the weather served up another wind direction for the fourth day of Helly Hansen Salcombe Merlin Week. Posted on 2 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 3
South-Westerly establishes itself after a windless dawn The third day dawned with light cloud and absolutely no wind in the harbour. As often happens at Salcombe, by the time the fleet started to launch a South-Westerly had started to establish itself and by the 10.30 start time there was 4-5 knots. Posted on 1 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 2
First start gets away on the top of the tide With the rest of the UK cooking in 30+ degrees, Salcombe has been veiled in sea mist for the last few days. Monday was the day when this was meant to clear but competitors woke to find the race track still shrouded in mist. Posted on 30 Jun
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 1
Over 200 of the UK's top dinghy racers are in the picturesque South Devon Ria The ever popular Salcombe Merlin Week, sponsored by Helly Hansen, Craftinsure and Creation Covers, has again attracted over 200 of the UK's top dinghy racers to the picturesque South Devon Ria. Posted on 29 Jun
Delivery to Salcombe Week - Final Call!
Devon's calling, and P&B are answering This weekend finds members of our Sail Loft team at Salcombe Yacht Club, for Merlin Salcombe Week. We'll be making the most of the conditions, the surroundings and the chance to catch up with other sailors who share our passion for competitive sailing. Posted on 26 Jun
Salcombe Yacht Club Summer Series Race 1
More classic Salcombe conditions on Saturday kicked off the series in style More classic Salcombe conditions on Saturday kicked off the Summer Series in style. Plenty of sunshine and a 15-knot south-westerly saw Race Officer Simon Dobson set the course: 1-7-1-3-2-3. Posted on 16 Jun
Merlin Rocket Week runners and riders
Who's in your flight? Who's sailing when? With Helly Hansen Merlin Rocket Salcombe Week just around the corner and the sacred PDF of doom (AKA the flights list) finally released, the WhatsApp groups are already ablaze. Sails are being tweaked, excuses rehearsed... Posted on 16 Jun
Salcombe YC Sailing Club Series final race
Despite the drenching, it was a fantastic afternoon on the water With winds forecast in excess of 30mph all week, ten hardy Solo sailors made it to the starting area, and despite the conditions seeming sailable most chose to wait until the preparatory signal by using the comparative protection of Smalls Cove. Posted on 9 Jun