Bembridge Sailing Club Late August 2026 Keelboat Racing
by Mike Samuelson 1 Sep 21:08 BST
20-31 August 2026
Bembridge SC Keelboat Racing on 23rd August 2026 © Mike Samuelson
Thursday 20 August
No racing due to strong winds and heavy rain showers.
Friday 21 August
After the previous day's strong winds and rain, things looked more settled for initially the 6 One-Designs moored at Under Tyne; they were joined by No 3 (Stephan Ludwig single handed) who sailed down from Seaview. As there was only one Redwing (Vera helmed by Ben Stoddart-Stones), it was agreed that they would start with the One-Designs and sail the same course.
After a not very impressive start (therefore no video!) following something of a log jam at the Committee Boat (Zeta in lieu of Sea Breeze which would not start due to flat batteries) end of the line. No 3 (Stephan) and No 7 (Sarah Marshall) were first across the line and lead the rest of the fleet offshore on the port tack enroute for the windward mark, Britten. Progress was quite slow as the NW'erly F3 dropped to F2. This was followed by a broad reach to Footprint and a run back to Under Tyne. The original intent had been for two rounds, however the ROs (Mike Samuelson & Oliver Morgan) sensibly changed the course to Footprint and back to Under Tyne.
The order as they completed the first round was No 5 (Susie Beart), closely followed by No 7. There was then a gap to No 3 and then it was No 8 Tad Ross (single handed), No 2 (Roy Burrows), another gap to No 9 (Mark Grzegorczyk) and finally No 4 (Richard Hall). The beat to Footprint was painfully slow but very rewarding for Tad who took the inshore route and rounded ahead of Susie. Roy was third, Sarah dropped to fourth, Stephan was fifth and Richard was sixth. Mark retired having run out of patience!
Ben in Vera sailed the complete course and finished 18 minutes ahead of Tad. Soon after everyone was back safely on their moorings a squall came through with gusts of 20 knots and heavy rain only to drop back to a F2 soon afterwards.
Saturday 22 August
Saturday's forecast was for lots of sunshine but a dying breeze mid-morning. Frustrating for eight Redwing crews, eight One-Design crews and the Race Officers it was not far off the mark. With all the Redwings ready 10 minutes before the advertised 10:30 start time and with a tantalising 8 knot NEasterly breeze, after a clean start, they headed off from Under Tyne to Ruthven; it was not long before they split tacks as they sought the best way to the windward mark.
Those that tacked onto port and headed off towards Chichester made the best progress with those boats who decided to stay on starboard and head towards Seaview were definitely disadvantaged. Tara (Mike Toogood) and Goose (Hugo Cuddigan) were first to round and head back to Under Tyne; there was then a gap to Blue Jay (Crispin Kenyon). Toucan (Colin Samuelson) was the first to retire followed swiftly by Quintessence (Robin Ebsworth). Quail (Jockey Wilson) & Sophie (Chris Andreae) did eventually manage to round Ruthven but then accepted fourth and fifth places (and a tow!). Plover (Andrew Eddy) agreed to take sixth plus a tow! On the run to Under Tyne where the race was terminated, Goose overtook Tara.
In the meantime after a hesitant start, the eight One-Designs made slow progress to their windward mark - Fitzwilliam. Those who tacked early and headed offshore made better progress and after a frustrating three quarters of an hour, No 6 (Mark Gregorczwyk) was first to finish back at Under Tyne; No 3 (Charles Perry) was second, 8 minutes later. No 4 (John Suffield) was third 5 minutes later. No 2 (Martin Bonham), No 5 (Susie Beart), No 7 (Penny Stanley), No 8 (Tad Ross) and No 10 (Richard Hall) all retired.
Sunday 23 August
With the forecast for Monday looking very windy, the plan was to start half an hour earlier than programmed and to then sail back into the harbour rather than leaving boats exposed on the Under Tyne moorings. Seven Redwings actually started 15 minutes ahead of the re-scheduled start time which was useful. Given that it was a F2 (due to increase to F3) Easterly, the course was very simple. From Under Tyne to Tara, to Garland, then back to Under Tyne and finishing at Garland. After a good start, all eventually headed towards the shore so as to counter the tide.
Tara (Mike Toogood) rounded Tara well ahead of Goose (Hugo Cuddigan) with Snowgoose (Jonathan N-L) not far behind. Because three of the One-Designs took a long to get rigged and therefore their start was delayed, there was potential for some 'angry words' as the Redwings were running through/past the line as the One-Designs were starting! Pleasingly there were no incidents! Tara was still ahead of Goose rounding Garland and there was then a big gap to the chasing fleet. With the breeze still a F2 and a tight deadline to get the boats back into the harbour, the course was shortened to an inflatable leeward mark that had been dropped off by Sea Breeze on the way to Garland. Finishing a minute ahead after a 40 minute race, Tara was first; Goose was second and Snowgoose was third. Plover (Andrew Eddy) was fourth followed by Sophie (Chris Andreae), Blue Jay (Crispin Kenyon) and Quintessence (Robin Ebsworth).
There were also eight One-Designs which was great. The plan was for a short race and then for the boats to end up in the harbour rather than riding out on their moorings at Under Tyne the strong easterly conditions forecast. Unfortunately not everyone got the message so there was quite a delay getting started. With the light easterly breeze not increasing as forecast, the deadline to get boats into the harbour was on a knife edge and even by finishing with a virtual line as they ran from Tara to Garland, advice from the boatman was that boats should return to their Under Tyne moorings as there was insufficient water to get into the harbour. The finishing order on the virtual line was No 7 (Sarah Marshall) well ahead of No 1 (Charles Perry), No 2 (Roy Burrows), No 8 (Tad Ross), No 3 (Stephan Ludwig), No 6 (Richard Hall), No 4 (John Suffield) and No 9 (Mark Grz).
Monday 24 August
No racing F5/F6 easterly!
Tuesday 25 August
No racing - still blowing too hard!!
Wednesday 26 August
After two days of strong winds and lumpy seas, Wednesday morning was initially almost windless albeit the forecast suggested a 6-9 knot Easterly/SEasterly as the morning wore on. After considerable discussion, the three One-Design crews agreed to delay the go/no go decision until they were at Under Tyne. Meanwhile, three Redwings (No 5, Snowgoose; No 6, Blue Jay and No 22 Capercaille), decided that the light 4 knot breeze was sufficient to keep boats moving so closed in on Sea Breeze which was anchored off Under Tyne. The One-Designs meanwhile decided that there was not enough of a breeze to get them going so took the launch back to the Club.
After a five minute postponement, the three Redwings started their first beat to Tara; well May Luxmoore-Styles did but Richard Jessel in Blue Jay and Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore messed up their timings and started somewhat later! All quickly tacked onto port and headed inshore out of the tide. Mary rounded well ahead of the other two with Jonathan just ahead of Richard. Little changed until the final beat to Under Tyne from Garland when Blue Jay spotted that the breeze was veering to the South East and although at one stage it was looking as if they might even move into the lead, Mary held her concentration and finished nearly half a minute ahead of Richard with Jonathan fifty seconds later. The wait for a sailable breeze had definitely been worth it.
Thursday 27 August
Thursday's forecast (SE F4) looked very promising so although only two Redwings (Harlequin & Snowgoose) wanted to race there were seven One-Designs competing for the Cartright Prize and those with Lady helms the Billy Fortescue Cup. The Cartright Prize (two bottles of Champagne) is traditionally raced over an old Olympic course (triangle, sausage, triangle). After starting from a laid pin south of Janson, the windward mark for all bar the finish was Tara; the wing mark was Fitzwilliam and Janson was the leeward mark. The two Redwings were started first on the same course planned for the One-Designs and although they were close after the first beat, Xander (three up) pulled ahead and Jonathan (two up) who from them on was always following in his wake. However they had a very enjoyable race, especially when the breeze picked up to 16 knots.
After a close start, which was quite noisy around the Committee Boat, the seven One-Designs soon split tacks as they beat to Tara. No 1, helmed by Russ Fowler and three up rounded first and remained in front for the rest of the race; it was much closer for the following fleet with No 10 helmed by Hugh Doherty (single handed) just ahead of No 8 helmed by Tad Ross (single handed), No 9 helmed by D Orange and No 5 helmed by Susie Beart. No 6 helmed by Mark Hodgkinson (single handed) and No 4 helmed by Richard Hall were not far behind. There were no place changes as they ran to Jason via Fitz, however Richard made up quite a bit of ground on the second beat; Tad moved into second and Susie into fourth ahead of D.
Although Russ remained well ahead throughout the final triangle and beat to the finish at Under Tyne so won the Cartright prize, any of the chasing four boats could have finished second. In the event D just pipped Susie by one second to therefore win the Billy Fortescue Cup. Mark was fourth, Richard fifth, Hugh was sixth and Tad was seventh. All in all, an excellent morning's sailing and it was great to see Jos Coad out watching the One-Design race. Back on the moorings, Hugh Doherty lost his very special 'retirement' watch overboard as he was attaching his mooring. On returning to the Club, someone in the launch asked Hugh whether he had spotted a couple of guys out by the moorings with snorkles looking for scallops. He immediately returned to Under Tyne and got in contact with the snorklers. A few dives later they found his watch - phew!
Friday 28 August
The forecast for Friday was for a SW'erly F4 increasing to F5 as the morning wore on. This did not deter three Redwings (Snowgoose, Harlequin and Gosling) and the four Jubilee Trophy finalists (Tad Ross, Simon Allocca, Mark Hodgkinson & Richard Coleman). Mind you Snowgoose and Harlequin were three up and Gosling was four up. The One-Designs meanwhile were all two up and were using small mains. The course was the same for both classes (from a laid line between Garland and Janson, to Garland, Tara, Janson and back to the line - three times for the Redwings and once for the first two races for the One-Designs.
The Redwing start was close with Snowgoose (Jonathan N-L) and Gosling (Rosie Gosling) mid line and Harlequin (Xander Shaw) just to leeward. At Garland, Gosling & Snowgoose rounded close together with Harlequin with work to do. And it was not until the third round that Harlequin managed to get ahead of Snowgoose. Indeed Xander got to within striking distance of Rosie but a couple of advantageous wind shifts saw Rosie safely home in first. With the breeze gusting 24 knots the Redwings were on the top end of their envelope so it was with some relief that everyone returned to their moorings safely.
The Jubilee Trophy final normally sees the crews swap boats between the three races, however given the windy conditions it was agreed that crews would remain in the own boats throughout. After quite a good start by Nos 8 (Tad), 1 (Simon) & 6 (Mark H), the beat to Garland saw split tacks with No 8 initially in the lead. However at the finish No 6 crossed ahead of No 1 with No 8 third and No 10 fourth. The second race saw similar tactics but this time Simon was first, Mark was second, Richard was third and Tad was fourth.
With the wind still gusting 20+ knots, the course for the third race changed so as to keep it more inshore. Garland was kept as the initial windward mark, then Fitzwilliam (to starboard) with the finish at Under Tyne. Although ditching the third race looked a possibility as the breeze was by then on the cusp even for the sturdy One-Designs, with No 1 and No 6 on equal points, it was decided to continue. At this stage No 8, who stood no chance of winning the trophy headed back to the moorings. Again, despite splitting tacks the three remaining boats were all in contention right up to the finish, however victory went to Mark in No 6; Richard was second and Simon (with Charlie the Boatman crewing) was third. This meant that Mark won the Jubilee Trophy with Simon second, Richard was third and Tad was fourth. Although by the end it was gusting F6 and was at the top end of the One-Design envelope even with storm mains, everyone returned to their moorings safely. Not bad for 90 year old boats!
Saturday 29 August
No racing. Chimet recording F7 Southerly. Heavy rain showers!
Sunday 30 August
The forecast for Sunday lunchtime looked a lot more promising with a F4 South/SW’erly breeze and patchy showers. The plan therefore was to run two races for both classes as part of the BHYC Keelboat Regatta with a third one for the Redwing Jeannie Cochrane finalists. With Sea Breeze setting up a start/finish line to the south of Janson, but with the breeze was flicking 20+ degrees the selection of the windward mark quite difficult (Under Tyne or Garland). For the first race it was Under Tyne which turned out to be achievable in a couple of tacks if one got it right.
The course then took them to Tara, Fitzwilliam, Janson and back to the finish line. After some close racing round the cans, the top three (of seven) where Lady Laetitia (Billy Clegg), Gosling (Rosie G) and Quail (Jockey Wilson).
The start of their second race was a bit chaotic as the RO's cunning plan to start before the One-Designs finished just failed and although the latter crossed the line at the pin end of the line, a number of Redwings got confused with the whistles and hoots and left the RO's with no option other than a General Recall.
The beat, this time to Garland, worked much better - first round was Quail and once ahead Jockey was able to extend his lead on the subsequent legs of the course (Tara, Ruthven and back to the line. The beat in from Ruthven was quite challenging and split tacks resulted in some close finishes. The top three were Quail, Lady L and Gosling. With both races counting for the Loch Nell Campbell cup, the winner was Lady Laetitia helmed by the Class Captain - Billy Clegg.
As soon as the second One-Design had finished, the final of the Jeannie Cochrane Trophy got under way. To ring the changes, a new course was set. Garland remained the first windward mark; then after a run to Under Tyne, was a broad reach to Britten, a beat to Pepe, a run to Fitzwilliam and a final beat tp the finish at Under Tyne. After a close start, Jockey (3-up) powered into the lead and the race became a bit of a procession with Goose (Jaffa Orange - two up) and Ibis (Tom Scott - three up) unable to reign him back. At the finish, Jockey was just under three minutes ahead.
The seven One-Designs had the same courses as the Redwings; given they can't point as well as the Redwings, their first beat to Under Tyne actually worked fine! In the bar afterwards all agreed that using small mains definitely made for more relaxed sailing.
After a good start and some very close racing, the top three, any one of which could have won were No 5 (Susie Beart); No 7 (Sarah Marshall) and No 6 (Mark Hodgkinson) - mind you only seconds separated Susie and Sarah. The start of their second race was another close one and well done to guest helm Ros Gunston (crewed by Tad Ross) in No 8, who came in first 30 seconds ahead of Mark H in No 6 who just pipped No 10 (Robin Joy) by mere seconds.
Monday 31 August
By mid-morning, the over night storm had blown through as forecast, albeit there was still a brisk F5 Westerly which kept a few boats on their moorings. So well done to the five Redwings and four one-Designs who came out to race in pretty challenging conditions. Sea Breeze set a line with Under Tyne as the pin. The course for the Redwing's first race was twice round a very basic windward leeward so as to remain as close inshore as possible with Garland as the windward mark and Tara as the leeward mark After a keen start with the anemometer reading 19 knots, all five Redwing's went inshore through the moorings where the sea was a bit calmer.
Lady Laetitia (Billy Clegg) was first to round Garland with Gosling (Rosie Gosling) close behind. Goose (Jaffa Orange), Snowgoose (Jonathan N-L) and Plover (Andrew Eddy) had work to do! Unfortunately Gosling misinterpreted the meaning of the £ symbol that had been included in the course and it was not until all boats were 'reminded' that they needed to go through the line at the end of each round that they corrected themselves. This initially put them in fourth place but by the finish they had moved into third behind Goose and Lady Laetitia.
The course for the second race removed the £ sign and made Garland the finish after two and a half rounds. After another keen start, all headed for calmer waters inshore again. Lady L was first to round Garland with Goose and Gosling close behind. At Tara, Lady L was still in front but Gosling had moved into second. Back at Garland Gosling ad moved into the lead and finished half a minute ahead of Goose who managed to squeeze Lady L out at the Committee Boat as they came to finish. Snowgoose was fourth and Plover was fifth. On a count back and having won the last race, Gosling won the Redwing Cup
The four One-Designs had the same course as the Redwings for their first and as it turned out only race. After a conservative start, it was not long before two boats tacked and headed off-shore in the rougher water.
As is so often the case with the One-Designs, identifying from a distance sail numbers is not easy, however one of the break away boats was No 5 (Susie Beart) who round Garland ahead of the others. Coming through the line to complete the first round the order was Susie, No 6 (Roy Burrows), No 8 (Tad Ross) and No 10 (Richard Coleman). The second round saw no change in the order albeit only two minutes separated the fleet at the finish. Unbeknown to the Race Officers, towards the end of the race Tad Ross's crew Charlotte Loughnane unfortunately slipped and injured one of her ribs. She was taken ashore once they were back on the moorings and Tad took her into St Mary's for a check up. Susie had already decided to forgo a second race so Roy and Richard decided to also call it a day. A decision that was well received on Sea Breeze which had been extremely 'rock and rolly' at anchor off Under Tyne all morning!
No racing next weekend (5-6 Sep) as early/late tides.