Bembridge Redwing & One-Design Late August Racing
by Mike Samuelson and friends 27 Aug 12:13 PDT
13-26 August 2024
Tuesday 13 August (by Olav Cole)
At the meet time at the club, the wind had not arrived but the forecast was for the it to build during the morning from a South West direction. On arrival at Under Tyne the wind was starting to make an appearance around Bembridge Ledge from a SSE'erly direction, so the committee boat was set up at Fitzwilliam, and the course set for both classes initially was Tara to port with Fitzwilliam as a leeward mark twice round and finish at Under Tyne, in expectation the wind would veer further to the South West as per forecast. With a 15 minute postponement, racing was able to be started. By the time of the start, the wind had increased to a steady 10 knots.
The Redwings were competing for the Mercedes Trophy for lady helms and there were two entrants. Avocet was helmed by Jessica Speare-Cole and Banzai II was helmed by Miranda Holbrook. At the start, both boats crossed the line at the same time with Avocet as leeward boat. During the beat to Tara, Banzai gained a lead which they did not relinquish or extend. As the wind had not veered to the west as expected there was a change of course after the second beat to Tara to Janson as leeward mark and finish at Under Tyne to give the boats a better beat to the finish. Miranda in crossed the line 55 seconds a head of Jessica to win the race.
The One-Designs had the same course and with three boats competing enjoying a competitive start. Commodore Susie Beart in No 5 crossing the line towards Committee Boat end on the gun, with No 1 being helmed by Russ Fowler and No 6 helmed by Ashley McLucas choosing the pin end. After a tight beat up to Tara, No 5 rounded first followed closely by No 1 and No 6. Susie gained a larger lead on the run to Fitzwilliam and maintained that lead until the finish at Under Tyne. Note: It was decided to maintain Fitzwilliam as the leeward mark for the One-Designs and not change the course as their tacking angle is larger.
Susie in No 5 crossed the line at the same time as Banzai II with Russ in No 1 at the same time Avocet with No 6 following on a bit later.
Wednesday 14 August (Mike Samuelson)
Little or no wind (Windfinder saying max 5 knots all day) so sadly N over A.
Thursday 15 August (by Olav Cole)
There was a stiff breeze (19 knots and not dropping below 16 knots) from a SW direction at the start of Thursday morning's race. There were no One-Designs out to play and only two Redwings, No 113 Redwitch helmed by Henry Thorpe and No 5 Snowgoose helmed by Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore. With the Committee Boat positioned at Janson, the course was - Garland to Port, Ruthven to Port, Garland to Port, Fitzwilliam to Starboard and finishing at Under Tyne.
Both boats started the race on a Starboard tack up the port hand side of the course with No 5 covering No 113 all the way to G. At G, No 10 had an 8 sec lead which she maintained to R. After rounding Ruthven both boats utilised the starboard side of the course back to G. No 10 then managed to extend their lead during the beat. On the broad reach to Fitzwilliam both boats managed to fly their whisker poles, with no change of distance between boats. On the short beat back to finish at Undertyne the wind direction was more to the South which allowed the beat to be completed in 2 tacks, with Snowgoose crossing the line first and 1 minute separating the boats finish times after a 58 minute race.
Friday 16 August (by Mike Samuelson)
Extraordinary the difference in the weather on Friday morning to conditions the previous morning. Lots of sunshine but not a lot of breeze greeted three Redwings and five One-Designs. With the forecast suggesting what little NW'erly breeze there was going to drop off until later in the day, both classes started at Undertyne as soon as they were ready. The Redwings headed to Britten, while the One-Designs went to Footprint; the Redwings had Footprint as an intermediate mark before they both had the speed buoy off the old Lifeboat View Cafe as their leeward mark; then it was back to the line with the option of two rounds if the breeze held - which it didn't!
After the start, Colin Samuelson in Toucan and Rupert MacInnes in Avocet tacked much earlier then Andrew Eddy in Plover which brought them out in front, albeit by not very much. Toucan then lead them to Footprint and inshore of the moorings to get the best tide. Rounding the leeward mark ahead, Toucan covered Avocet as they beat back to the line where the race was finished. Subsequent attempts to start another race came to naught and plans for the second race were abandoned.
The five One-Designs meanwhile made slow progress but steady progress to Footprint which Martin Bonham in No 2 rounded just ahead of Simon Allocca in No 1; John Suffield in No 4 and Penny Stanley in No 9 followed closely behind with young Jemima Cottrell in No 11 a bit further back. Although initially it looked as if they would all stay on the rhumb run to the leeward mark, as they neared the Undertyne moorings they, like the Redwings, ended up going well inshore. John was first round just ahead of Martin, Simon, Penny and Jemima but then the breeze really started playing up and boats struggled to stem the ebbing tide. After going nowhere for twenty minutes and with the Redwings already paddling back to the moorings it was decided to abandon the race but use the rounding order at the leeward mark to give a result.
Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 August
See: www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/278438/Bembridge-Sailing-Club-J70-Regatta
Monday 19 August (by Colin Samuelson)
Five Bembridge One Designs arrived in the starting area at Janson in a fresh 15 - 17 knots blowing from the South. There were no Redwings. The crews had opted for 2 short races. For the first race a course was set for a beat from the start line at Janson to Undertyne, run back to Janson, twice round ending on a run at Janson.
On the first beat all elected to go left and were all together at Undertyne and when retuning to Janson. D Orange in No 8 was in front just ahead of Mark Grzegorczyk in No10. On the second beat the fleet divided, D going right and not covering Mark who went left. At the finish Mark was 18 seconds ahead of D followed by John Suffield on No 4 only 16 seconds behind D. Martin Bonham on No 2 and Russ Fowler on No 1 (in that order) were not far behind and finished within 8 seconds of each other.
The second race was over the same course but finishing on the upwind leg at Undertyne second time. By now a strong tide was flowing west to east - underneath the boats as they approached the start line on starboard. Both Penny Stanley (now helming No 8) and Mark underestimated the tidal flow, arrived at the pin end too early and had to "bail out" - narrowly missing each other in the process! Russ had a flying start and had a comfortable lead at Undertyne first time and arriving back at Janson. On the second beat the fleet divided left, right and down the middle. With significant windshifts approaching the finish line and boats approaching from all directions, it was far from clear to the race officers who was going to be victorious. Ultimately Mark crossed the finish line in 1st place followed by Russ, Martin and John (all within 45 seconds) followed by Penny a short way behind. Lovely sailing conditions and very competitive and exciting racing for all.
In addition to August Points, the race(s)were also meant to be for the Billy Fortescue cup - for all ladies crew only (no gents on board). There was only one boat that qualified - No 8 with D and Penny on board so they won it!
Tuesday 20 August (by Mike Samuelson)
Joe Robertson was the only Redwing helm ready to go racing, but with no competition he decided to do something else. This left two One-Designs, No 5 helmed by Susie Beart and No 8 helmed by Alexander Ross to compete for the Cartwright prize (a bottle of fizz) around an old Olympic style course. The F4 Westerly breeze provided a perfect race track between Undertyne, Garland and a laid inflatable wing mark in towards the Bembridge shore. After a close start with No 8 just to windward, both boats headed out towards St Helens Fort so as to come in on Garland on starboard. Alexander was first round but only just. On the leg from the inflatable wing to Undertyne No 5 closed the gap and was able to claim room as they rounded the leeward mark. Susie rounded Garland ahead and then managed to stay ahead for the rest of the race despite Alexander deciding to tack inshore on the final beat in the hopes of a significant windshift. A nice race in some quite challenging conditions at times.
Wednesday 21 August (by Alastair Speare-Cole)
Although a few keen sailors turned up to go sailing, it was decided that it was too windy so N over A !
Thursday 22 August (by Mike Samuelson)
Too windy (and wet) so early decision to N over A again.
Friday 23 August 2024 (by Mike Samuelson)
By delaying to the afternoon to allow the wind strength to drop a bit, the F4 SW'erly breeze provided almost perfect condition for the One-Design's Jubilee Trophy. With Jos Coad managing as normal the draw between the top four helms, the three race series got under way from Fitzwilliam. All three races had Garland as the windward mark, Undertyne as the wing and then the first two races used an inflatable leeward mark and back to the finish at Fitz; the final race had Fitz as the leeward mark and finished at Undertyne.
For the first race helms were in the own boats. With the line pin end biased Mark Grzegoriczyk in No 9 stole a march on the others with a port tack flyer. Once ahead, it was just a matter of protecting his lead which he achieved successfully. John Suffield was second and Rus Fowler was third just ahead if Alexander Ross.
Jubilee Trophy Race 1 start
The second race was slightly delayed while the 'change over RIB' kindly driven by Susie Beart chased down the spread out boats! Despite re-setting the Committee Boat, the start of the second race was still pin end biased which was spotted by Mark, Russ and Alexander. Russ in managed to round Garland with a slender lead which he held to the finish. Mark was second and Alexander was third.
After a further re-set of the line, the third and final race was really all about whether Russ could win as he was the only one in a position to beat Mark to the overall trophy.
Jubilee Trophy Race 3 start
However it was not to be and Mark finished well ahead; Alexander was second and John was third. Overall this meant that the final order was Mark 1st, Russ 2nd, and John & Alexander 3rd equal.
There were two Redwings who had an excellent race. Starting at Fitzwilliam, their first windward mark was Pepe, then Ruthven, Garland, Fitz (to starboard) and finishing at Undertyne. Mike Toogood in Tara was just ahead of Joe Robertson at Pepe but Joe moved ahead on the run to Ruthven and held it to the finish (that was brought forward to when they rounded Fitzwilliam.)
Saturday 24 August (by Mike Samuelson)
A busy afternoon as the scheduled morning racing (the Redwing's Jeannie Cochrane final and the One-Design's Margetson (family pairs) Trophy were postponed as there was no wind and heavy rain forecast. By 13:00 however there was a fairly steady (in strength but not direction) breeze and the rain had stopped. With the start line set up using Janson as the pin, the three Redwings (Paroquet, helmed by Rory Morrison, Harlequin helmed by Xander Shaw and Enigma helmed by Mark Downer) went off first. Their course was Garland, Janson & Ruthven (twice) finishing at Undertyne. The start was nothing to write home about and it was more about being best placed immediately after the start. Harlequin tacked early which did not pay as Enigma rounded Garland in the lead with Paroquet close behind. The run to Ruthven and beat back to Garland saw no change in the order. With the wind increasing and veering to the NNW, the course was changed to Tara, Nainby and back to Undertyne. With nothing to loose Paroquet headed inshore in the hopes of being on the right side of any subsequent wind shift, however it was to no avail. In the meantime, Harlequin and Enigma locked horns with the Harlequin coming out just on top to win the Jeannie Cochrane by five seconds.
In the interim, four One-Designs raced for the Margetson (family pairs) Trophy. Competing in No 1 were Simon & Felix Allocca; in No 2 there were Russ & Lottie Fowler, in No 7, Sarah & Eleanor Marshall and in in No 8 Alexander & Jasper Ross. The start of their first race (parent helming) was close and exciting; with Garland as their windward mark, the big question was whether to tack early or head inshore. Like to Redwings most did which seemed to pay off. Alexander in No 8 was first to round and establish a safe lead as they then keep to the starboard of Janson and rounded an inflatable laid mark set about 150 metres north of Sea Breeze to finish about 30 seconds ahead of Russ Fowler.
Start of Race 1 Margetson (family pairs) Trophy 2024
With the breeze increasing and becoming quite squally, the Marshalls decided to head back to the moorings and leave the other three boats (now helmed by the younger member of the family) to battle it out between themselves. With the course changed to Britten, Tara and finishing at Undertyne, the start was another good one in what was now quite challenging conditions. Jasper in No 8 was first to reach Britten and never then looked as if they were going to be overtaken; indeed finishing nearly two minutes ahead of Lottie in No 2 with Felix in No 1 a similar distance behind. The Ross family therefore won the Margetson Trophy.
With Undertyne as the pin, eleven Redwings and just one One-Design (none of the family pairs stayed on for a third race) had to be called back with a General Recall after most of the fleets were OCS. The second start under Flag U was much better and the fleet soon split tacks as they headed to Drum.
Redwing & One-Design joint start
Quail, helmed by James Wilson was well ahead rounding Drum; next was Mark Downer in Enigma with a further gap to gaggle of boats including Toucan (Colin Samuelson), Lady Laetitia (Billy Clegg), Redwing (Olav Cole), Musicus (David McCue) and Gosling (Serena Gosling). The run to Cochrane was slow and saw the fleet compress considerably. While the majority headed out after rounding Cochrane, Enigma and Tara (Mike Toogood) took a punt and took the inshore route which in the event was not successful. After a change of course to Tara rather than back to Cochrane, the breeze backed to the SW and the final beat to the finish at Undertyne turned into a close reach. Quail crossed the line a minute and a half ahead of Toucan with Lady Laetitia a minute later. Engima had to make do with seventh being pipped on the line by Tarpon (Dominic Samuelson). Susie Beart helming the only One-Design (No 5) had rather a solitary race and was finished at Tara after one round to win the Selwyn Cup.
Sunday 25 August (by Mike Samuelson)
Conditions on Sunday afternoon were distinctly brisk with Chimet showing a F6 SW'erly. However it seemed shame not to see whether a course based on Drum as the windward mark, Britten as the wing mark and Derrick as the leeward mark would provide more sheltered (and therefore enjoyable) racing. Well, the bottom line is that it did! Although obviously a shame that there were only two Redwings (Quail helmed by James Wilson; and Harlequin helmed by Xander Shaw) and four One-Designs (No 2, Martin Bonham, No 3,Stephan Ludwig, No 5, Susie Beart) and No 9 D Orange), they all had an exiting race in the challenging conditions.
As usual the Redwings went off first; Quail had marginally the best start from the laid line about 700 metres from Drum, and rounded the mark a few boat lengths ahead, enough to then allow James to sail his own race and not worry about covering Xander, who was unable to match James's control in the breezy conditions. At the finish at Garland Quail was about a minute in front.
The four One-Designs meanwhile had the same course but only twice (the Redwings did it three times). Stephan Ludwig helming No 3 tried a port tack flyer but did not come off and he was last round Drum; however he moved up to third on the second round and then took over the lead during the final beat to Drum. Holding his nerve on the reach to the line at Garland, No 3 crossed the line five seconds ahead of No 5 (Susie Beart) with D in third and Martin in fourth.
Undoubtedly challenging conditions but at least we did manage get some racing. Congratulations to James who with wins on both days won the Loch-Nell Trophy; to Susie who won the Selwyn Trophy on Saturday, and to Stephan who won the Hector Humphray Cup on Sunday.
Monday 26 August
The forecast (sunny periods, F4-5 SW'erly) for Bank Holiday Monday afternoon looked very encouraging and although not huge fleets, there were six Redwings and five One-Designs. With the line set off Janson, both fleets had a challenging beat to Garland; the Redwings then ran to Ruthven, via Janson, beat back to Garland (to starboard) before a final run to Derrick and a beat to the finish at Nainby. Having finished they then all sailed back into the harbour. The One-Designs had a slightly shorter course with Janson instead of Ruthven and Britten instead of Derrick.
Save for Avocet (helmed by Alastair Speare-Cole) who had a jib issue just before the start, the other five Redwings made an excellent start:
Start of Redwing race on Monday
Gosling (helmed by Serena) rounded Garland with Lady Laetitia (Billy Clegg) only inches astern. Redwing (Olav Cole), Tara (Mike Toogood) and Musicus (David McCue) were also close not far behind. After her late start, Avocet was some way back. After rounding Ruthven the fleet split tacks as the beat back to Garland which Lady Laetitia rounded with a safe lead; there was little to separate Musicus, Gosling and Redwing as they headed to Derrick and then to the finish at Nainby. Although the gap was closed to just over 20 seconds, there was no catching Lady Laetitia; Redwing was second, and Musicus was third ten seconds later.
In the One-Design race, D Orange helming No 9 had the best start however Stephan Ludwig in No 3 rounded Garland just ahead of D. John Suffield sailing single-handed in No 4 and Susie Beart in No 5 were not far behind. With split tacks again on the second beat from Janson to Garland, D gained a narrow lead over Stephan and Martin Bonham in No 2 closed the gap on No 5. On the final beat into the finish at Nainby it was clear that it was going to be close. In the event Stephan just managed to get the bow of No 3 over the line a second ahead of Susie in No 5; D was third, ten seconds later.
Two excellent races to finish off the 'summer' season of 2024. There is of course weekend racing until the end of September and then its time for the Illusions to take over the lime light!
Additional photos at flic.kr/s/aHBqjBEQ5b