The Scott Bader Highcliff Sailing Club Radial Grand Prix

Another amazing turnout for the radial fleet saw 96 boats battle against each other and the elements.

As the fleet rigged up in the car park persistent rain and a cold breeze greeted them, this continued until it came time to launch when the rain promptly stopped and the wind disappeared. Sunday’s weather was not much better but at least it stopped raining until it was time to pack up and go home. Despite the weather the regatta turned out to be a weekend of interesting high points scoring, personal achievement and some comedy sailing thrown in for good measure.

DAY ONE : RACE ONE

The tide was flowing across the course from left to right, as a result many competitors found themselves stacking up on the committee boat. This caused the fleet to incur three general recalls and 11 boats were thrown out. On the fourth attempt the fleet got away. The first bit of comedy sailing occurred as around 10 boats found themselves down tide and down wind of the committee boat and spent the first couple of minutes of the race trying to out beat the committee boat in dirty air and a stubborn tide. Those of the fleet that were on the line found themselves with a good lift on port.

The fleet split in two and it didn’t take long to realise that the boats out on the right of the beat were gaining favour with the tide. Tim Boydell, Joe Henry and Ed Green fronted the leading pack. As the fleet started to round the first mark the leading pack kept on the rhumb line and the rest of the fleet started spilling over to windward. Cockerill who rounded the first mark in the teens dived low and manage to make it work and emerged inside the top ten at the wing mark. Then just as the trailing pack started to get bored with the conditions Cockerill entertained us with some excellent comedy sailing which was manufactured by an A.W.O.L. knot in his main sheet. In an attempt to stop his main sheet from unthreading he ended up going for a quick swim in front of around 10 frustrated competitors trying to round the wing mark in a strong tide.

As Boydell approached the leeward mark the race officer, to the relief of the fleet, shortend course. Boydell took the bullet with Green 2nd and Henry 3rd.

After about an hour of drifting around waiting for the wind the fleet was sent in.

DAY TWO :RACE TWO

The forecast was for 10 to 15 knots, what we got was more of the same.

The race officer set a very good line. With the tide pushing the fleet towards the pin end there was an obvious leebow to take advantage of on port tack. Seconds before the start the wind direction headed on port and for a while it looked as if the committee boat end was going to pay. Steve Cockerill and James Stevenson bottled it and headed off towards the committee boat followed by a couple of others. This left the port end fairly empty and as the gun went for the start the wind direction started to move back.

Now time for a little bit of personal achievement. Think back to what you were doing 4 years ago. For most of us we were, and had been, sailing Lasers or Laser Radials or something else for a good couple of years, in some cases perhaps even a decade. For one chap in the Laser Radial fleet he was just getting in a boat for the first time ever. I’m talking about Edmund Hill, for those of you who have know idea who Edmund Hill is, He’s the chap that started right on the pin sailed a little bit left and then crossed the fleet on port. By the first mark he had the race in the bag. The very trailing and fairly large pack consisted of Steve Broom, Paul Smalley and Suzanne Hamilton to name but a few, rounded some 20 boat lengths behind. The run was fairly uneventful and as Ed Hill rounded the leeward mark he started to overtake the trailing full rig sailors. Completely unfazed by the traffic ahead Hill found himself some fresh air and got settled into the beat. A good minute or so later the chasing pack rounded the leeward mark. A number of the sailors seemed content to sit in dirty air in an effort to get left of the beat, a couple of sailors including Paul Smalley, Stephen Broom and Guy Tipton went more up the middle keeping in clear air. As a result at the windward mark Guy Tipton rounded 2nd followed by Smalley and Broom. Ed Hill by this time could have been mistaken for sailing in the full rig fleet. The results were Ed Hill 1st, Guy Tipton 2nd, Paul Smalley 3rd with Stephen Broom close behind.

DAY TWO RACE THREE

Race three had starting problems too. After a few restarts and another 10 boats thrown out, some for the second time this weekend, the fleet got away. The fleet seemed in two minds big pushes at the port and starboard ends. By the end of the first beat all the pushing and shoving appeared to be for nothing as the first two boats rounding the windward mark both started at opposite ends of the line. Andrea Brewster rounded first followed Joe Henry and James Gray. By the leeward mark it was all change. Andrea decided to produce the third piece of comedy sailing as eyewitnesses tell she was seen swimming after her boat somewhere around the wing mark. Nick Thompson pulled up a few places and so did James Stevenson and putting together a fairly consistent series Steve Cockerill appeared at the leeward mark to round inside the top ten. The Second beat saw the fleet mixing it up trying to trade off changes in wind direction, against the building tide. At the start of the run Joe Henry had taken the lead and was looking comfortable. Nick Thompson was in second and James Stevenson was working his boat well holding onto third with the likes of Dominic Hutton, Suzanne Hamilton and Steve Cockerill trying to pressure. It was to no avail as the top three positions stayed the same to the finish.

The results at this stage were all over the place and all though Dominic Hutton and Ed Green hadn’t seemed to have featured much in the regatta both of them had a comparatively low series points and Green lead on 9 points with Hutton one point behind with 10. Cockerill had 11. It was going to be between these three for the regatta. The position for fourth and fifth was wide open with Joe Henry, Guy Tipton, Tim Boydell and Suzanne Hamilton each in with a chance of fourth place. At this stage Andrea Brewster looked as if she was out of the running for first lady.

DAY TWO: RACE FOUR.

At last the wind filled in, those of us with a few extra pounds hanging off our otherwise fit and muscular bodies (like who am I kidding) found ourselves stretching our legs and doing a fair bit of hiking. Yet another couple of general recalls added to the frustration of the race officer, who promptly sent home 22 boats. This made the start line nice and roomy and on the third time of asking the fleet got away. Off the start line James Gray cruised into the lead. Cockerill tacked off onto port and slowly the rest of the fleet started to follow. Hutton and Tipton held their nerve and carried on out to the port side of the course. Hutton tacked off with about a third of the beat to go and crossed Cockerill. James Gray dropped his tiller to the delight of Tipton who promptly took the lead. At the windward mark Tipton led with Hutton about 5 boat lengths behind. Tipton and Hutton then decided to sail their own race and started sailing towards the leeward mark. Cockerill smiled and sailed over the top of them both and took the lead. Hutton got away and Tipton was sucked back into the trailing fleet.

Meanwhile Suzanne Hamilton who needed to finish in the top 38 to get first lady was having an unusually bad race, which was in danger of relegating her to second place. Brewster was already sailing in, due to a black flag.

At the leeward mark Hutton and Cockerill were fighting for the regatta. Hutton with amazing down wind speed was pushing Cockerill all the way. Tipton rounded the leeward mark in third with Gray and Bickerton (who’s a master by the way) all over him.

Cockerill started the run in first with Hutton close in second. Some way back Tipton and Gray were pulling away from Bickerton and rounded third and fourth. Natalie Lloyd had a cracking second beat and closed in on Bickerton. The last run saw Gray cruse past Tipton with phenomenal boat speed to take third. But Cockerill, who narrowly beat Hutton, won the fight for the regatta.

Suzanne Hamilton couldn’t save her race and ended up with a mid fleet position for race four. She did however win first youth lady by a staggering 44 points.

A final word should be said for Nolan Dawson who had a superb last race finishing 7th. This is his best ever-single result. Well done.

Many thanks to Highcliffe sailing club for having us.

Overall Results: