Coronation Weekend at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Mike Samuelson 8 May 2023 22:58 PDT
6-8 May 2023
Being Coronation weekend, it was always going to be a bit hit and miss on numbers of keelboats (and dinghies on Monday) wanting to race. Mind you the gloomy forecast for Saturday afternoon and Monday afternoon probably did not help!
Additionally, with Sunday's race rescheduled to a 09:30 start to allow sailors the opportunity to both race and party at lunchtime requiring boats to be moored overnight Saturday at Under Tyne, interest in racing on Sunday was undoubtedly restricted.
There were three One-Designs out on Saturday afternoon, and unusually they were started ahead of the Redwings so as to give a late Redwing the opportunity to reach the start area. No 10, helmed by Robin Joy was the first to round Tara ahead of Simon Allocca in No 1 and Roy Burrows in No 2. After that it became a bit of a procession and with not very pleasant conditions (it was raining and the F3/F4 SSE breeze produced a tricky swell), the race was finished at the end of the third leg at Tara. Meanwhile the four Redwings made slightly better progress through the easterly slop. Mike Toogood in Tara was first round Tara, followed by Rory Morrison in Paroquet, Andrew Eddy in Plover and Chris Andreae in Sophie. By the time they been to Ruthven and got back to Tara, Rory had moved into the lead with Andrew in second, however after a course change and Rory heading off to the wrong buoy, Mike found himself back in the lead having claimed water as they rounded Janson. The finishing order at Under Tyne was Tara, Paroquet, Plover and Sophie.
Sunday morning saw only two Redwings and a single One-Design rig up and head to the start line off Under Tyne (E). Although the One-Design race was programmed as the Burrows Single handed race, which normally starts with boats on their moorings and sails rigged but not up, it was agreed that Alexander Ross in No 10 would race with the Redwings. After a good start, Colin Samuelson in Toucan was soon in the lead as they beat to Footprint. Although he never looked to be in a position to challenge, Chris in Sophie kept him in his sights, as did Alexander who was only 3 minutes behind Colin at the finish.
Start of Race 1 on Sunday
The start of the second race was another close one with Toucan (helmed by Peter Harvey) soon moving ahead of Sophie and No 10 One-Design.
Start of Race 2 on Sunday
By the time they reached Footprint, Toucan had established a safe lead which was extended on the beat from Tara to Britten and at the finish at Under Tyne had stretched out to 4 minutes. Alexander in No 10 One-Design retired half way up the beat to Britten.
The plan for Monday afternoon's 'All Classes Coronation Race' was for a joint start using a double line laid to the east of Pepe, with the keelboats using the offshore line and the dinghies using the inshore line. Although the original plan had been for a fixed course for all classes, in the event although they all started off reaching to Under Tyne, the keelboats (5 Redwings and 5 One-Designs) then went to Janson, Derrick, Pepe, Line, Garland, Derrick, Pepe and the finish line; and the dinghies (3 Scows and 3 Lasers) went to Nainby, Pepe, Line, Garland, Nainby, Pepe and the finishing line.
Joint Start on Monday
With a two minute penalty for being OCS added to their finish times, everyone played it safe and set off on a reach to Under Tyne. Although the Scows were obviously at the back of the fleet, the keelboats and Lasers were well mixed as the former then headed to Janson and the latter made their way to Nainby. On the long reach to Derrick via Janson, Colin Samuelson in Toucan somehow developed a huge lead which he kept to the finish; after an excellent beat into Pepe, Will Toogood helming Tara rounded in second ahead of the amazing Robin Ebsworth sailing single handed in Quintessence; no mean feat at 82! Chris Andreae in Sophie was fourth and Jim Coneybeare-Cross helming Gannet was fifth. With the second round shortened to Garland, Derrick, Pepe, line, the only change in order was Jim moving into fourth on the beat in from Derrick.
The One-Designs meanwhile were much closer and the lead changed a number of times; indeed after an hour and a half racing, the winner could have been any of the five boats. As it was, Alexander in No 8 having been fourth or fifth at Derrick even surprised himself when he rounded Pepe in the lead ahead of Susie Beart in No 5, Simon Allocca in No 1, Charles Evans (sailing single handed) in No 10 and Charles Abel Smith in No 7.
It had been hoped that the new RYA/RORC YTC rating scheme would have come up with a rating for a Redwing and a One-Design, this had not materialised. So it was back to the Mike Sam scheme used for the Zanen Trophy. Toucan was clearly the winner, but No 10 One-Design was third behind Tara.
The three Lasers (two radials and a full) had a good race on the inshore dinghy course. Henry Landon lead from the start and having worked hard to sail as fast as he could finished two minutes ahead of his brother Jeremy. Although Alex Toogood using a full sail was second across the finish line, she ended up third on corrected time.
The three Scows had a great race with the lead changing regularly between Penny Stanley and Serena Gosling. And then on the final beat from Nainby to Pepe, Tim Cottrel suddenly found himself benefiting from a subtle change in the wind direction put him in front to finish 40 seconds ahead of Serena.
So all in all, a challenging weekend with rather disappointing numbers, however to be fair, there was obviously a lot of other things going on!
No racing next weekend - tides not helpful!
Additional photos at flic.kr/s/aHBqjACVnE