Bembridge Sailing Club Mid June 2026 Keelboat Racing
by Alexander Ross & Mike Samuelson 22 Jun 20:38 BST
20-21 June 2026
Saturday afternoon was initially overcast and there had been a bit of drizzle earlier however the sun then came out and with a 10 knot SWesterly, things were looking good the four Redwings and seven One-Designs. Sunday afternoon saw lots of sun but a bit less of a breeze (SEasterly).
Saturday
With Sea Breeze moored at Janson, the Redwings' first race was Pepe, Ruthven and finish back at Janson. Toucan (Colin Samuelson was first round Pepe and kept his lead throughout. Redwing (Olav Cole) was second round Pepe but lost his place to Tara (Mike Toogood) on the final beat. Oliver was third round Pepe but lost his place to Olav on the final beat. The finishing order was 11, 20, 21 then 3.
The wind shifted to the west so the Redwings' second race was Nainby, Tara to starboard and finish at Under Tyne (E). Rounding Nainby it was 20, 11, 21 then 3, and by the time they were on the run to T they were all evenly and well spread out down the course. Mike T kept his lead on the beat to come in first, followed by 11, 21 and then 3.
The One-Designs' first race was Garland, Ruthven and finish at Janson. All started on the starboard tack except No 10 (Richard Coleman), who had a bad start and tacked off on port. No 9 (Mark Grzegorczyk single handed) was first round Garland, followed by No 8 (Charles Perry), No 1 (Hugh Doherty single handed), No 3 (Stephan Ludwig), No 7 (Sarah Marshall), No 2 (Mark Hodgkinson single handed) and then No 10.
Richard then hoisted his spinnaker for the run, and remarkably gained almost all places before Ruthven except for the lead boat helmed by Mark G. Mark held his lead on the beat to come in first, followed by No 8, No 1, No 3, No 7, No 2 and No 10), having lost all their previous gains.
The One-Designs' second race was to Footprint, Tara (to starboard) and finish at Under Tyne. The order in which they cleared Footprint was strangely almost opposite to the previous race. With Mark G and Lavinia Perry not getting great starts, Stephan rounded the inflatable first, followed by Mark H, Richard, Sarah, Hugh and Mark G.
He then opened up a magnificent lead on the run and held it to finish a good two minutes or more before the second boat (No 10), despite kites being flown by both No 10 and No9. Third was Hugh in No 1, almost immediately followed by a dead heat between No 2 (Mark H) and No 7 (Charles Abel Smith) for fourth place. 6th place No 9 and No 8 was 7th.
Sunday
Sunday's forecast was for lots of sunshine but a bit less breeze so it was with some trepidation that the crews for three Redwings and four One-Designs headed out to the Under Type moorings to rig up. Sea Breeze meanwhile set up a start line with E (Under Tyne) as the pin.
Initially the plan was to use Tara as the windward mark, however prior to the Redwings start, the breeze veered to the ESE which put Tara as a close reach, so thanks to Richard Jessel in his RIB, an inflatable was laid just short of the Lifeboat Boathouse which made for a much better first beat.
After the start predictably the three Redwings headed inshore in the hopes of benefiting from the flooding tide. Mike Toogood in Tara made the best start and did everything right in the light airs and by the time they reached the windward mark, was a country mile ahead of Redwing (Olav Cole) and Prawn (Oliver Morgan). Prawn caught up a little bit on the slow run to Nainby, but Tara was still a long way by the time they rounded Nainby.
There was little change on the longish beat back up to the inflatable windward mark. With the breeze looking as if it might drop, the course was changed to Under Tyne and back to the inflatable to finish. Tara crossed the line five minutes ahead of Redwing with Prawn some way behind.
The four One-Designs made a reasonable start with No 10 (Richard Coleman) and No 2 (Charles Abel Smith) stealing a march on No 8 (Charles Perry) and No 9 (Peter Harvey crewed by Mark Grzegorczyk). Following a similar course as the Redwings, it was No 8 who rounded the inflatable windward mark ahead of No 10, No 9 and No 2. However on the long run to Footprint, No 10 and No 9 flew their spinnakers to great effect and surged ahead of the other two boats.
There was just enough breeze to keep boats moving as they beat back to the windward mark mixing it en-route with the Redwings (who had started 5 minutes ahead of them but had Nainby as their leeward mark). Only a boat length separated Richard and Peter at the windward mark however by the time they got back from Under Tyne, No 10 was nearly two minutes ahead of No 9. No 8 was third a couple of minutes later with No 2 a similar distance behind.