Regatta, July 6th 2008

This year's club Regatta had a changed format. Partly inspired by the apparent success of the Lark's short-course championship, instead of three races of about an hour long, there were six shorter races. In order to squeeze them all in, they were divided into pairs, each pair sailed back to back. And since it was a handicap event, scored on average lap times, the course had to be much shorter, omitting the north end of the reservoir and marks 3 and 4. Over the day the wind stayed within the south to south west sector which more or less dictated that the first mark would be 8, and the rest of the course fell out from there.

The course remained the same for the whole time. In a way I was a bit disappointed by this, since more variety could have been more challenging to the participants, but equally I was relieved that there were no course changes between the back to back races. Getting the change of course information across to all competitors would have been a challenge. During the racing the committee boat was moored to the 'outer limit mark', providing a rather more noticeable finishing mark. In theory everyone passed between the committee boat and the start/finish marker buoy on each lap (how else to do average times), and mostly this was observed.

The first race was a bit of an experiment. Would it all come together? In order to try to make the race length about 25 minutes we shortened the course when a boat rounded its last mark. This didn't have to be the lead boat. We were trying to cover the situation where (say) an RS Feva completing a lap could have been the trigger for the shorten course. It's fair to say this isn't well understood, but more importantly, it's really difficult for the Duty Team and has the potential for major confusion. After the first race, course shortening lapsed back to its traditional form - triggered by the lead boat. And from the 3rd race all races were a maximum of two laps. A format which seemed to work remarkably well, assisted by the wind which was allowing laps to finished in just over 10 minutes.

One of the downsides of handicap racing is calculating the results. Until all the handicaps have been applied it's impossible to know just how well you are doing. To do it successfully requires more people up in the duty box, dedicated to calculating results. With only one (everyone else was on the water) it proved impossible to publish the results as we went along. If we retain this format, this is something which will have to be improved.

Even without the advantage of the calculated results it was obvious that Graeme and Sarah Castle (Lark) were in a commanding position, and that Neil Kelsall (Laser) was giving them a good run for their money. But it obscures the fact that Sam Thomas and Rich Kelsall in their Laser 4.7s were also well up the leader board, and equally that Dave 'Norfolk' Cornish in his Solo was notching up very consistent 2nd and 3rd places. And the Firefly of John Gallimore & John Hough was also very competitive. Once the Johns got in their stride after a capsize in the first race they basically got better and better.

Ian and Eliza Levin (Merlin) looked very good in the first race, but somehow Ian lost his rudder in a broach in the second and had to retire. It's a good job Merlin rudders float.

Conventional wisdom might suggest that spinnaker boats are at a slight disadvantage on short courses, but then you have to explain away the Castles.

With up to 23 boats out, a maximum of 19 in any one race, it was good to see so many GP14s, with good use of the Club boats, and a welcome return of Xavier and Kate Goujon. A special mention must go to Harry Rose and Alex Savage whose capsizes of their GP14 were an almost constant source of interest. Had they still been in the clubhouse when the awards came they would have been obvious contenders for the Duckhams.

One of the surprises was just how many sailed all six races. I had assumed the old and infirm would just sail the minimum necessary, but this didn't seem to be the case, and this despite the showers which normally dampen enthusiasm. Much depends on the starts, and mostly they were pretty orderly. A bit of a ruck on the third start led to the Castles slipping down the fleet and having to work hard.

Results

One of the main functions of the Regatta is to hand out lots of prizes. But note that in order to be awarded your prize you have to be at the award 'ceremony'!

Graeme and Sarah were the clear winners overall, but Neil and David were only a single point apart.

The Godber Trophy was the source of a little confusion. Since Rich and Neil sail Lasers with the same sail number, the wrong handicap was applied initially. Once this was realised and recalculated, Rich emerged as winner. Sam Thomas was never far behind, and in fact beat Rich in two of the six races. Their second and third in the first race (beating Neil: I doubt Rich will let him forget) was very impressive.

Scoring over all six races gave an advantage to completing all six, moving Tim Foden and Howard Collerson into a well-deserved third position for the Endeavor (or tenacity) award.

Best female helm was Alice Gallimore (assisted by Robert), though had Helen Banning arrived earlier, not gone the wrong way in her first race, and not capsized dramatically in the 5th (lots of conditions there!) she might have seized this title. On the other hand, this litany of minor disasters did give Helen the 'average' award, finishing mid-fleet, as well as the coveted Duckhams underachievement award.

Although it might appear a consolation prize, the Johns (Gallimore and Hough) won the Old Codgers Prize (adding together the ages of helm crew and boat), actually finishing 4th overall. Of course, it was the age of the boat which assured them of victory here. John Gymer & Ian Davies' respectable set of results gained them the “haven't they done well” award.

Best Overall (best 4 of the 6 races)

1. Graeme Castle and Sarah Castle
2. Neil Kelsall
3. Dave Cornish

Godber Trophy for junior helm

• Richard Kelsall

Best adult single hander (Billy No Mates)

• Neil Kelsall

Endeavor (scored over all six races)

1. Graeme and Sarah Castle
2. Neil Kelsall
3. Tim Foden and Howard Collerson

Best female helm

• Alice Gallimore

Gross underachievement/Duckhams

• Helen Banning

Best junior helm (Godber trophy winner excluded)

• Sam Thomas

Average (12th out of 23)

• Helen Banning

Old codgers

• John Gallimore & John Hough

“haven't they done well”

• John Gymer and Ian Davies

maximum style points

• not awarded

Photographs from the Regatta are in the Members area of the website, under Image Gallery. Thanks to Liz Hood and James Thomas who supplied photos.

mind that mast, it's carbon!

East family outing

this is fun, honest

Rich & Sam confer

Terry & Joan

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This page was updated on 10.07.08