Please select your home edition
Edition
Ovington 2021 - ILCA 3 - LEADERBOARD

Bembridge Sailing Club Early July Keelboat Racing

by Mike Samuelson 5 Jul 2021 10:52 BST 2-4 July 2021

Difficult tides, albeit perfect of course for Saturday's Round the Island Race, offered a race on Friday evening to pre-position boats out at Under Tyne ready for the next two days of racing. Well that was the plan anyway! In the event, a number of Redwingers decided to simply tow their boats out rather than race, and only two One-Designs turned up to race for the Friday Evening Challenge Cup.

Starting at Nainby with a simple course to Garland, back to Drum and finish at Pepe, it was very much a matter of whoever found the better breeze (Southerly F2 - 7 knots) and less tide would win. Soon after the start, Russ Fowler in No 1, crewed by Penny Stanley, tacked and went inshore, while Jos Coad, sailing single-handed, in No 8 stayed on starboard and took the offshore route. Russ chose wisely and rounded Garland well ahead, however on the slow run to Drum, Jos caught up and at one stage it looked as if he might round first but it was not to be. Rather than follow Russ inshore, Jos tacked in the hopes of finding more breeze, but all to no avail and Russ crossed the line two minutes ahead.

Although disappointingly no One-Designs, there were six Redwings on Saturday morning. The challenge from a Race Officers point of view was to try to set courses that kept out of the way of the Round The Island fleet. In the event, the light SW'erly breeze limited the number of RTIR boats transiting from the Bembridge Ledge and NMLF so it was not a problem. Starting at Fitzwilliam, the windward mark was E, and the leeward mark was Ruthven. Having been pushed over at the start, David McCue in Musicus had to circle back but did not loose too much ground. Avocet, helmed by Jessica Speare-Cole was last to start but then chose the best route to the windward mark and rounded well ahead of Musicus and Blue Jay II helmed by Crispin Kenyon.

Start of Race 1 on Saturday

Sadly though, she dropped back to fifth place after misreading the course and rounding (rather than passing) Fitzwilliam en-route to Ruthven. On the beat back to E, it was Blue Jay II who found the best side of the course to go and became the race leader ahead of Olav Cole in Redwing and David in Musicus. The final leg to the finish just south of Janson was a bit of a procession but necessary in order to provide a start line well clear of the RTIR track for the second race.

The Race Officers were perhaps a bit generous at the start of the second race when they gave Olav in Redwing the benefit of doubt as he sailed along the line! However, the short course to E and back to Janson (three times round) with the finish at E provided lots of opportunities for Redwing's slender lead to be cancelled out. But, although Musicus was never far away, Olav managed to hold his nerve and finished seventeen seconds ahead after just over a three quarters of an hour race. Andrew Eddy in Plover enjoyed a close race with Avocet as did Mike in Tara who finished mere inches ahead of Blue Jay II helmed by Richard Jessel.

Overnight the breeze got up and there was some heavy rain, however by 09:00 it was looking much more promising with Chimet showing a steady F4 SSW breeze. Five of yesterday's six Redwings (Musicus remained on her mooring) therefore had another two excellent races for the Fortuna II 1950 medal. Starting from Janson, the first race used E as the windward mark and R as the leeward mark. After a good start, and despite quickly splitting tacks, they rounded E close together.

Start of Race 1 on Sunday

The run to R provided an opportunity to do a bit of experimenting to work out the best line to take. Andrew Eddy in Plover established a safe lead ahead of Mike in Tara and Olav in Redwing and always looked in control of the race. Indeed Plover finished about 30 seconds ahead of Tara after just under an hour of racing. Jessica helming Avocet was third 10 seconds later.

The second race of the day saw another clean start and again a split of tacks as they headed to E. Olav in Redwing was the first to start the slowish run to Derrick which turned out to be a challenging leg with two (Redwing and Plover) choosing the right hand side of the course while the others went down the left of the track. Olav was right and rounded K having extended his lead even further. Rather then heading back to Derrick for a second time after rounding E for the second time, the course was changed to Briton which still provided a perfect run and testing beat back to the finish at E. Redwing was untouchable and finished nearly 3 minutes ahead of Blue Jay II, helmed by Crispin Kenyon with Tara third. Although the back marker, congratulations to Harriet Jervis who helmed Plover for this race and was still smiling as she crossed the finish line.

There were no One-Designs.

Counting all 4 races, Olav in Redwing won the Fortuna II 1950 Medal.

Next weekend its the Curlew Cup for the Redwings with 12:00 starts on both days.

Related Articles

2025 Swallow Nationals at Bembridge
18 teams sail from Itchenor to take part in the event It was great to be able to welcome eighteen Swallows from Itchenor to Bembridge over the weekend for their 2025 National Championship. In fact there were a couple more entries but two boats remained at Itchenor because of the strong wind forecast. Posted on 8 Jul
Curlew Cup at Bembridge
Redwings and One-Designs enjoy the Solent After the arrival of 19 Swallows coming to Bembridge for their National Championships there were only three Redwings wanting to race on Friday evening; two One-Design helms came but felt there was too much wind. Posted on 7 Jul
Bembridge Sailing Club Late June Keelboat Racing
No shortage of wind on Saturday for the Redwings and One Designs Four Redwings and five One Designs (using their smaller mainsails) raced on Saturday. There was no shortage of wind at 15-20kts, but being from the SW the sea state was moderate. Posted on 30 Jun
Bembridge Sailing Club June Keelboat Weekend
An early high water time meant an early start An 08.00 HW meant an early start for the Keelboats on Saturday. Happily, a forecast 10kts from the SE filled in nicely for the four Redwings and two BODs who came out to race. Posted on 23 Jun
Bembridge Sailing Club Mid June Keelboat Weekend
A brisk breeze keeps the fleet ashore on Saturday, but Sunday proves more manageable Although nice and sunny on Saturday, the F5 SW'erly kept even the keenest ashore; fortunately it had dropped to a more manageable F4 for Sunday's early afternoon races. Posted on 16 Jun
Edwardian Bembridge Harbour Trophy for Redwings
This year's crews had failed to read the small print Saturday was of course the Round the Island Race which always makes course setting for the Bembridge keelboats quite challenging. Unusually Saturday's Redwing race was programmed for just one race for the 'Edwardian' Bembridge Harbour Trophy. Posted on 9 Jun
Bembridge Late May Bank Holiday Keelboat Racing
Redwings battle for Gunston Trophy The late May Bank Holiday normally draws pretty good fleets out onto the water, however the windy forecast and commitments by the One-Designs, eight of whom are racing next week in Cowes Classics, resulted in only seven Redwings and no One-Designs racing. Posted on 27 May
Redwing 25th Anniversary Medal at Bembridge
With Bembridge One-Design keelboat racing The forecast was mixed, but a warm 10kts from the south meant perfect sunny sailing for the six Redwings and two One-Designs who went afloat on Saturday. Posted on 19 May
Bembridge Sailing Club Mid-May Keelboat Racing
Glorious sunny sailing in about 15kts of breeze Several days of cool easterlies may have deterred a few crews, but the two Redwings and two One-Designs that raced enjoyed some glorious sunny sailing in about 15kts of breeze. Posted on 12 May
Bembridge Early May Bank Holiday Keelboat Racing
Redwings back out for the Quail Trophy while the One Designs race for the Woodroffe Bowl The first Redwing racing of 2025 (for the Quail Trophy) attracted three boats to the start line, Colin Samuelson in Toucan, Matt Alexander helming Harlequin, and Jockey Wilson in Quail. Posted on 6 May