Craftinsure Wayfarer Southerns National Circuit Event at Arun Yacht Club

The Wayfarer Craftinsure National Circuit has been a thrilling series of sailing events so far this year, with stunning venues such as Datchet Water, Banbury, Shoreham and Paignton and a great range of challenging conditions which have given an opportunity for skill to be demonstrated on both the sea and inland.

The fleet was ready for more action after the recent breezy national championships and headed to the Southern Area championships held over the weekend of the 27th-28th July at the friendly Arun Yacht Club, the host of the tremendously successful 2022 European and National Championship.

Wayfarer Southerns at Arun - photo © Arun Yacht Club

Six boats took part in the event, with four visitors from across the country, including the recently crowned Inlands winner Andrew Wilson, who sailed with brother Martin and a previous National Champion, Guy Marks, Colin and Lexie Goodman, sailing in the Classic Woodie 998 and who have demonstrated a turn of speed in their events to date over the past 18 months. Other teams who were hoping for a strong showing included Tim and Jacqueline Townsend, recently crowned leading husband and wife team at the nationals and locals Paul Hughes and Mark Nicholls and their respective crews.

The forecast during the week was for beautiful seaside sunshine and for a windier Saturday and a lighter Sunday and so this proved, although the wind was slightly stronger than forecast on both days. The eventual transpiring of the weather confirmed that even with modern forecasts the weather is still somewhat unpredictable and its worth chancing the weather on occasion!

Wayfarer Southerns at Arun - photo © Arun Yacht Club

Saturday saw the competition start on time with three races scheduled back-to-back and the threat of a fourth depending on competitor appetite and the extent that the sea-state increased its "fruitiness". The small but competitive fleet was disciplined at the start of the first race and broke quickly into a right-hand side tacked boats and left-hand side tacked boats. Boat-speed in the choppy waves was going to be critical in determining windward mark positioning, governed mainly by technique in navigating the Arun swell. Ultimately it was the left that prevailed on this first occasion and Andrew and Martin Wilson led at the first mark, chased by "Bough Beech team-up for the event" Guy Marks and Sam Pygall. These two teams pulled away over the triangle sausage course, keeping each other under pressure particularly downwind, although the tight last leg of the triangle proved to be a differentiator based on boldness to fly the spinnaker on the tight reach. Tim and Jacqueline sailed the percentages and came home in third place.

The second race of the day saw a bigger course, bigger waves and three laps in a triangle-sausage-triangle configuration. Again, the Wilsons and Marks/Pygall led at the front and led the fleet around some sparkling upwind and downwind sailing in growing chop and great surfing and finished in that order at the front. Colin and Lexie showed some bold moves downwind but a consistent display from Tim and Jacqueline again saw them take 3rd. A pattern was developing!

Wayfarer Southerns at Arun - photo © Arun Yacht Club

This was repeated in the last race which was sailed in the strongest winds of the day, probably touched 20 MPH according to some locals. With the teams collectively tiring somewhat, some more conservation sailing was adopted but the results were unchanged at the front; the Wilsons capping a great first day and demonstration of high wind and wave sailing to take a firm grip on the event. The Bough Beech pond sailors of Marks and Pygall had adapted well to the swell to take a convincing second for the day and the Townsends showed superior seamanship to lie 3rd. Arun laid on a great evening meal for the competitors as we took to the digital weather forecasts to hope for a let -up in the wind for the second day.

As forecast, day two started with less wind and shift in direction which presented another classic sea sailing challenge; adapting to a competing land and sea breeze and making decisions on set-ups in flat but increasingly wavey conditions. Showing some super form in conditions more favourable for them, Colin and Lexie Goodman got away at the start, muscled in at the windward mark and led from start to finish in the first race of the way, closely followed by the Wilsons who kept the pressure on for the whole race. Marks and Pygall finished third showing some level of consistency in the contrasting winds from the previous day.

Wayfarer Southerns at Arun - photo © Arun Yacht Club

This order of proceedings was somewhat repeated in the second race of the day and fifth overall except the Goodmans sailed away on all legs to take a commanding win, with the Wilsons taking second again and despite some occasional challenge from Marks and Pygall they took a third again.

This finishing order sealed the event overall for the Wilsons but it was now close between the Goodmans and Marks/Pygall in terms of the running order on the final podium. The two teams challenged each other on the first triangle but Goodmans sneaked ahead and then covered on the next few beats to take a second in the final race and a second place overall on count-back. A great display of consistent sailing on both days meant that Team Wilson took home the Southern Area Trophy to go alongside the Inland championship from earlier in the season.

Overall Results:

Paul Hughes and Nick Claire with the great support of the Arun Yacht Club team deserve a special mention for her tireless organisation of the event across all aspects including registration, camping, results and catering. Also, a big thanks to Dan Fox and his race team for skilling laying on six races across a weekend which was blessed with weather that provided a real test of sea sailing skill. Andrew Wilson took the opportunity to thank Arun Yacht Club for hosting a great event as usual and promised to try and come back soon for another event.

The Craftinsure National Circuit concludes for 2024 with events to close the season at Aldeburgh (3rd-4th August), Leigh and Lowton (31st August-1st September), Blackwater (5-6th October) and Bough Beech (9-10th November). The racing this season has been very enjoyable and competitive across the fleet so hopefully we will see more competitors at these events.