SAILING
BEMBRIDGE SC
AFTER a day without racing on Saturday, some of the closest racing all season was enjoyed for the Redwing Jeannie Cochrane and Chetwood Cup races.
The former is a race between the top three helms, the latter for helms under 30.
Colin Samuelson was this year’s winner of the Jeannie Cochrane crossing the finish line about a second ahead of Tom Scott, with Cowes Week winner Matt Alexander third.
Similarly the first four of the six-boat Chetwood Cup finished within seconds of each other, but winning was Rosie Gosling who sneaked through to pip James Bunbury and Joe Robertson on the line.
The afternoon races were for the BHYC Regatta trophies, with six Redwings and 11 One-Designs battling it out. Xander Shaw was the clear Redwing winner, ahead of Joe Robertson and Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore. In the One-Designs, victory went to Robin Joy in front of Jos Coad and Helen Mathieson.
On Monday, action started with the first of the three race Jubilee Trophy races for top four One-Design helms that had to be abandoned on Friday afternoon. Next off were six Redwings followed by a fleet race of six One-Designs competing for the second day BHYC Regatta trophies.
Some close racing in all three fleets with the Jubilee Trophy going to the wire and only being decided after equal first place John Harbord-Hamond retired from the second race, to leave Pete Summerhayes as the trophy winner. In the Redwings, Myles Powell was the clear winner from Xander Shaw and Joe Robertson. Having missed the previous day’s racing as they were returning from Sweden, D. and Brian Orange led the way ahead of Mark Grzegorczyk and Norman Marshall.
The club congratulated Barry Dyer (BHYC) who won the ten-race Scow Lifeboat Pennant ahead of Graham Sutton (BHYC) and Oliver Morgan (BSC) in varied and challenging conditions.
GURNARD SC
Around 40 boats came to the line on Sunday for the fifth and sixth races of the August Mini Series, held in near perfect wind.
In the cats, Laurie Gustar had the best start and held the lead for the first of the two-lap course but was forced to surrender top place to Robin Leather following an altercation with a power boat.
In the fast handicap, the course favoured the RS700s, with Ben Willows getting everything right to hold off Paul Bowen’s RS400 on handicap. Race 6 saw the win go to Phil Bunn from Martin Scott.
The medium handicap class was contested by mainly RS100s and 500s. Race 5 saw Chris Gillies take the win. However, in Race 6 the course favoured the non-spinnaker boats, Paul Blowers’s Finn winning comfortably from Pete Bowen’s Laser.
In the slow handicap, Kate Gibbs showed that she not only had the boat speed to take the win in Race 5 but also the know-how in Race 6, after the majority of the fleet wrongly started on the five-minute gun.
Monday’s conditions were very different with offshore gusty winds making life difficult for those who turned out for races 7 and 8 of the Founders Cup.
Martin Scott’s Sprint got the better of Brett Aarons’s RS400 in the fast group, while Mike Martin took the points in the catamaran class.
The medium class was a tussle between the RS100s of Mark Harrison and James French, the latter succeeding in the first of the two races while Harrison’s better downwind speed allowed him to get past to take the gun in the second race.
Ted Blowers was the most consistent sailor in the slow class, taking second place in both races to Sophie and Will Heritage in the first and Adam Coventry in the second race.
This weekend, the club welcomes visiting RS100s for an open weekend.
YARMOUTH SC
Paddy Lord defeated 18 other competitors in the final race in the Oppie Only series which was sailed late on Sunday afternoon.
Max Bradley was second and Oliver Newton third.
A fickle wind greeted the early evening Top of the River races. In the handicap, Alex Gallimore set the pace at the start but he was overhauled by Joy Mowle, who was first home, but Oliver Stanley’s Oppie took first place on corrected time with Joy second and Alex third.
In the Scows, the fleet was fairly well matched to start but the wind and tide had a decisive impact on the final results.
Melinda Measor, Peter Giles, Roger P-E and Mary Lord were the leading boats with Peter coming out on top to take first place, Roger was second and Melinda third.
On Monday, Alex Gallimore and Dan Lee’s Pico led the boats around the course for the all-comers Sailability Cup but were unable to save their time on the Scows. Melinda Measor was the leading Scow but lost ground coming out of Mill Creek. Although she made a good recovery, she couldn’t catch Peter Giles, who was second over the line but first on handicap. Melinda was second and John Bennet third.
ROYAL SOLENT YC
The annual Delphie Lakeman Dinghy Week was held last week, with more than 30 boats taking part.
Among the classes battling it out were Pico novice, Pico race, Laser 4.7s, radial and standard rig as well as three Laser vagos.
Competitors enjoyed moderate south westerly breezes throughout the week, as well as social activities on the water and on shore, in particular in the new Hudlestone Bar.
Organisers thanked the race officers, RIB providers and parents who drove/crewed and everyone on the beach assisting with launch and recovery.
The support of the Delphie Lakeman Trust, a Yarmouth-based charity, is as always very much appreciated and it allows the RSYC to run the event, and this year, for the first time, the young sailors were able to use the club’s new Lasers.
The final results were as follows: Pico Novice: 1 Anthony Stanley and Charlie Sellers, 2 Sophie Whitehead and Izzie Peplow, 3 Agatha Davies and Sophie Moorhouse. Pico Race: 1 George Suckling, 2 Abi Lister, 3 Charlie Connaughton. Laser 4.7: 1 Adam Coventry, 2 Georgia Kearns, 3 Dominic Suckling. Laser Radial: 1 Harry Hall. Laser Full Rig: 1 Jack Davies, 2 Elliott Mitchell, 3 Alex Leonard. Laser Vago: 1 Helen and Ann Sceales.
ROYAL VICTORIA YC
Normal racing returned to the club with the first of the Harrison Black sponsored series, attracting a superb turnout of 11 Squibs.
The Downers’ Panther III led from start to finish, while the Porteobrooks in Firecracker Too tracked them closely and for a long time and David Longford and Angie White held third in Kestrel.
However, Kev and Ben Gibson in Satu, took the final podium place from them.
The fast dinghies saw the usual battle between the Laser fleet and the Solos, and in the steady F 4 it was the Radials of George Downer, Chris Gibson and Bradley McLaughlin who prevailed. The Optimists welcomed their newest member, Matthew Bamber, to the start line but the White boys, Tom, Harry and Charlie took the top three places.
The finale of the competitive bank holiday series ended with all three classes up for grabs.
The Squibs were first away, and the Primestocks in Lizzwhizz thought the same port start would work again. But this time it was the Evans’s in Outlaw who won. Firecracker was second for a long time, but an inspired second run in stronger winds further offshore took Satu from nowhere to second, and giving them the well-deserved series win.
The fast dinghies contained a mixture of RS 400s, Lasers and Solos, experience favoured Derek Stroud over Brad McLaughlin and Dominic Mortimer. Mortimer’s consistency and dedication gave him a thoroughly deserved win in a series.
The same dedication has been demonstrated all year by the Optimists and all are to be congratulated for taking part so regularly.
In the end, it was an impressive start-to-finish lead from Charlie White, to give him the series win. Isaac Leal came a strong second on the water, his best result of the year and something to build on into the autumn, followed by Harry White.