Squib East Coast Champs at Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club

There is the story of the chap who lived in a ground floor flat beneath a neighbour who had one serious fault. Now and again he went out on the toot and came home very much the worse for wear. He would remove his boots, slamming them one at a time on the floor, immediately falling on to his bed comatose. The chap down below was shocked into wakefulness by the slamming of the boots.

Determined to do something, he spoke to his neighbour who promised to mend his ways. The next time the neighbour went out tooting, he slammed one boot on the floor – but then remembered his promise. He placed the second noiselessly on to the carpet before passing out as normal. Down below our chappie was awake all night, waiting for the second boot to drop.

On the first day of the National Squib East Coast Championship, a similar event took place. The Coastguard issued a warning of force 8 to 9 imminent. The fleet thus stayed ashore awaiting the arrival of the storm which never arrived. While Felixstowe Ferry is one of the nicest clubs around and the environment is a boatie’s dream, getting in and out of the estuary can be tricky and the race officer, having surveyed the exit, eventually abandoned racing for the day. At least it made for a relaxed and very pleasant event dinner that evening at the club.

The next day the fleet went out come hell or high water – which proves something about the situational nature of decision making – and most boats completed three races in a force 4-6 gusting up to 30 knots, force 7, on occasion. Squibs are tough boats but the UK fleet is getting just a little tired of the weather gods delivering near gales every time a regatta is held.

The lightweights from Lowestoft - Tim Riley, with his mother crewing - won the first race but the strengthening winds got the better of them and they slipped down the rankings as the day went on. The second race went to locals David White and Pete Ballam and the third race went to acknowledged heavy weather experts, Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey from Burnham.

The visiting crews that evening enjoyed very generous hospitality in the homes of local fleet members but despite this Gerard Dyson from Bridlington, crewed by Mel Titmus from Burnham, won the final race in lighter winds.

With an excellent series of 2nd, 5th, 1st and 4th, Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey, sailing 819 Lady Penelope, took the Championship building on their second place in the Squib Gold Cup held a couple of weeks earlier. As the in-form team, they will bear watching for the National Championships in Dun Laoghaire, starting June 20th, if it blows. Second overall were Mike Probert and James Bryer from Royal Victoria YC on the Isle of Wight in the beautifully restored 128 Pani Munta while David White and Pete Ballam took third place in 83 Easy.

Overall Results: