Bembridge Sailing Club Late July 2026 Keelboat Racing
by Robin Joy & Mike Samuelson 27 Jul 19:40 BST
25-27 July 2026
Bembridge SC Keelboat Racing on 25th July 2026 © Mike Samuelson
Saturday
Mid-morning tides, lots of sunshine and a forecasted NW F3 all had the makings of a excellent day's racing for the Redwings and One-Designs. In the event the breeze dropped off during the second race which brought some unexpected results.
Thirteen Redwings and sadly only two One-Designs took to the water and made their way to the start area for off Garland the first race. With a pretty square line, the Redwings were spread out along the line, however Harlequin (Xander Shaw) was OCS and took quite a long time to return which put him out of the running for a podium place.
With the breeze increasing slightly to 14 knots, conditions were almost perfect. Split tacks showed that the RO's had chosen well by having Drum as the first windward mark. First round was Enigma (Mark Downer), who lead the run to Under Tyne. Enigma was still out in front as they reached Under Tyne, there were a number of close calls as they rounded the mark and set off to Britten.
The order at that stage was Enigma, Gosling (Rosie Gosling), Snow Goose (Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore), Prawn (Oliver Morgan) Redwing (Nick Woolgar), Tara (Mike Toogood), Lady Laititia (Billy Clegg), Toucan (Colin Samuelson), Quintessence (Robin Ebsworth), Ibis (Tom Scott), Musicus (Tim Montagu) and Harlequin (Xander Shaw).
More split tacks as they beat to Britten; then it was a slowish run to Tara followed by a testing short beat to the finish at Under Tyne. By that time Enigma had stretched their lead to just under 2 minutes; Gosling was second, one second ahead of Toucan Redwing was fourth. There were a number of other close very finishes; indeed Ibis and Quintessence tied for eleventh place.
After a quick turn around, the second race started cleanly with no one OCS. Similar to the previous race, split tacks for the beat to the windward mark - Britten. Enigma rounded first ahead of Toucan, Redwing and Tara.
Not the most exciting run to Tara as the breeze began to weaken slightly, and the third leg back to Under Tyne was not much of a challenge. However the second round proved to be very testing as the breeze continued to weaken. As often the way, the lead boat, this case Enigma made it look easy and finished with a lead of eighteen minutes.
For the rest it was nail bighting stuff as the fleet compressed on the final leg with mere seconds separating Toucan, Redwing, Gosling, Lady Laetitea and Prawn. Indeed leaving aside Enigma and Snowgoose who retired, the ten remaining boats finished within three minutes.
There were only two One-Designs which was obviously disappointing. After a good start, and set the same course as the Redwings, they made steady progress albeit D Orange in No 9 rounded Under Tyne at the end of the second leg, comfortably ahead of No 1 helmed by Russ Fowler.
However on the beat to Britten, No 1 found themselves not only overtaking No 9 but finishing six minutes in front. According to D, it was a problem with the 'tactics'!
Another good start for the second race with No 9 to windward. Sadly initial progress around the same course as the Redwings, except only once round, was painfully slow as the breeze dropped; No 9 was ahead at Britten and built up an unassailable lead in the light conditions; indeed once offered second place as they struggled to finish the final leg to the finish at Under Tyne, No 1 gladly accepted a tow back to the moorings!
Sunday
A blustery 20kts from the west on Sunday and threats caused much debate prior to boarding the launches, but eventually plenty of Redwing (but no BODA) crews headed out to the moorings. A grey clag of drizzle and more wind then moved in over Bembridge, so most crews opted for just getting their boats back into the harbour. Eventually just three Redwings actually raced, from a laid start upwind to Nainby, a run to Fitz, twice round, with a third beat to finish at Garland, giving a short return to the harbour against the falling tide.
The grey skies had now cleared somewhat, and the wind eased a little, and at the start Mark Downer in Enigma and Olav Cole in Redwing were closely matched, with Jaffa Orange helming Goose not far behind. Mark covered Olav throughout the race, so kept a few boat lengths ahead, but Jaffa could tack away to the right-hand side of the beats, and this got him back on terms with Olav. In fact, at the finish Jaffa pipped Olav by no more than six feet after an hour's racing, to finish second.
Monday 27
Daily racing until the end of August started today (Monday); seven Redwings and three One-Designs enjoyed an excellent race in a predominantly NW'erly F3 breeze and bright sunshine. With Cadet Week 1 and Scow Week getting under way, it was decided to keep the keelboats more offshore so as to avoid any 'close encounters'. The line was set up with Under Tyne as the pin; the Redwings had Derrick as their windward mark and the One-Designs used Britten. Both had Tara as their leeward mark. And both were twice round.
After a good start (other that Musicus (Rosie Simm) who was well OCS after trying a port tack 'flyer'), the majority of the fleet stayed on starboard initially, however the split tacks. Toucan (Colin Samuelson) rounded Derrick well ahead of Plover (Andrew Eddy) and Blue Jay (Richard Jessel); there was then another gap to Redwing (Olav Cole), Vera (Ben Stoddart-Stones, Avocet (Jessica Speae-Cole) and Musicus.
After a slow but tactical run down to Tara and a long offshore tack, by the time they got back to Derrick, Redwing had closed the gap on Toucan with Plover and Blue Jay now some way behind. Avocet and Musicus were very close as they rounded Derrick, which left Vera as the last one to round. By the time they reached Tara for the second time, Redwing had moved into the lead for the final leg to the finish at Britten. Initially a beat but with the breeze backing to the SW, anyone of the front three could have won; as it turned out Redwing was so focused covering Toucan that Plover managed to pip them both and after an hour and a half, finish just under 15 seconds ahead of Toucan with Redwing finishing 10 seconds later. Blue Jay was fourth.
After an interesting start with all three of the One-Designs (No 1 Peter Summerhayes, No 9 (Mark Grzegorczyk) and No 10 (Mark Hodgkinson) starting on port at the pin end of the line. With Mark G appearing to be going considerably quicker as they tacked to Britten, it was no surprise that he rounded first, well ahead of Peter. Mark H meanwhile was well off the pace. However he persevered and by the finish had overtaken Peter and was only 30 seconds behind Mark G. A good race with a tricky finish.