International 14 Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Trophy at Itchenor Sailing Club
by Dan Holman 31 Jul 07:46 BST
17-18 July 2021
The weekend of 17th & 18th July saw the 2021 running of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club trophy for i14s, raced in Hayling bay (or more accurately, Bracklesham) according to a deed of gift, apparently.
After the previous day's racing for the Hopton's trophy several key competitors did not fancy another day of sniggling around 10km each way to the course area in light airs against adverse tides in 30C, and elected to keep their powder dry (and cool) ahead of POW Week in early August.
Those that were up for it found a similar situation to the previous day, with mostly single wire conditions and bright sunshine. In both races, Glen Truswell and Ed Fitzgerald started cleanly, protected the right and never put themselves under much pressure. In race 1, Alex Knight and Daniel Holman made a poor start but came back through the fleet overtaking Douglas Pattison and Mark Tait on the downwind to take second. Towards the end of race 1, the breeze seemed to have become more solid with most crews electing to perform a rig change between races. This was an error as the breeze dropped back for Race 2, so many were caught more underpowered. The results were the same for race 2, with Andy Shaw and Rob Struckett featuring for the first time in the weekend in fourth.
To summarise, plenty of bent knee single string practice, nobody can remember sailing in breeze in recent memory, plenty of time on the water and no chance of vitamin D deficiency. Sailing through the sights and smells of BBQing at East Head probably had most wondering who had made the best use of the weekend.
Many thanks to those on the committee boat and rescue boats for a big day out on the hottest day of the year. Roll on POW where it looks like a fascinating contest between reigning world champ Massey and previous world champ Truswell.
Overall Results:
| Pos | BoatName | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Scrumpet | 1553 | Glenn Truswell | Ed FitzGerald | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2nd | Helly the Pelly | 1556 | | Alex Knight | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3rd | | 1561 | Douglas Pattison | Mark Tait | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4th | Bubble | 1569 | Andy Shaw | Rob Struckett | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 5th | Katana | 1539 | Peter Bromley | Hugh Maclean | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 6th | Dragon | 1558 | Robin Pascal | Martin Pascal | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| 7th | Tartan Fraulein | 1523 | Kimball Morrison | | 7 | 7 | 14 |