International 14 Easter Tray at Itchenor Sailing Club

The Easter Tray is traditionally the first event of the year for the International 14s at Itchenor SC. A chance to shake off the winter rust at a time of year when the spray can send a little shiver down the spine. But not this year - the shorts and t-shirts were out in the dinghy park and even on the water there was no need for the winter wetsuits. 17 boats enjoyed the champagne conditions over three days of the bank holiday weekend.

Day 1 started with a short delay to wait for the sea breeze to fill in. But the wait was absolutely worth it as a solid 10-15 knots pumped in from the south. The format (as it was to be for every day) was two races: one windward-leeward followed by a slightly more adventurous trip right the harbour to test everyone's navigational skills.

Race 1 in particular was extremely tight, with six or so boats vying for the lead throughout.

Race 2 saw some long reach legs which meant some interesting tactical decisions on whether and where to hoist the kite. Andy Shaw & Rob Struckett won the day with two bullets, with Glen Truswell & Ed Fitzgerald pushing them all the way with two seconds. George & Jack Yeoman sat in third overnight with a third and a fourth.

Day 2 and more of the same, in a little less breeze but still enough to be fully powered up most of the way round. Glen & Ed took Race 3, but Andy and Rob won a tight battle around the whole harbour with Martin Jones & Harry Kennedy to take Race 4.

The way home was made interesting with some confusion throughout the fleet around whether the fleet needed to round Park on the way home, triggered mainly by Andy & Rob in the lead going round it just to be safe because they had only bothered to read the beginning of the course...

The evening dinner was well attended - many thanks to the Club for putting on a delicious meal and keeping us "watered" until late. There were a few tired muscles by this point in the weekend, though, and the crews in particular were glad to have a nice lie-in before a leisurely 1:30pm first start the following day.

A lovely Easterly 8-12 knots greeted the sailors on the third and final day - an unusual direction and probably the one that least matches the geometry of the harbour. Again, though, the Race Committee did an excellent job of fitting in a perfect course (although it tested our lungs in places!).

Glen & Ed came from behind to take Race 5, but led Race 6 all the way round to clinch the overall victory on a tie-breaker, finishing level on points with Andy & Rob. Martin & Harry showed good speed with a new go-faster kicker system on show to take a deserved third place, holding off Douglas Pattison & Mark Tait in fourth and Andy Fitzgerald & Andy Tarburton in fifth.

Itchenor is the place to be if you're a 14 sailor at the moment as the class is thriving and this will be the venue for the National Championships (the Prince of Wales Cup) later in the year. If you haven't sailed a 14 (or if you have and are looking for a glorious comeback) there will be plenty of opportunities to get out on the water over the course of the coming year and you could maybe even snag a ride at the Nationals. Visit our website and get in touch!

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