Each year, three Clubs (Banbury, Hollowell and Cransley) take part in
the Tiller and Spar competition, fielding up to 6 boats in three teams,
Fast (PY<1125 — faster than a GP14) Slow (PY>1125 —
GP14 and slower) and Junior (any type of boat helmed and crewed by under
an 18).
Last year, the first time we had competed, we won all three trophies:
the Broken Spar for the fast handicap; the Tiller for the slow handicap;
and the Broken Daggerboard for the juniors.
Could we repeat this feat? Sadly no. At the end of the day, Hollowell
returned home with all three bits of flotsam and jetsam. Or rather, they
will. Due to some finger fumbling the initial results indicated that Banbury
had succeeded in retaining two out of the three prizes. after a bit of
thought and in the colder light of the following days it turned out that
some of the number crunching was not quite up to par.
To be fair, the scoring system is not at all transparent and there was
extra room for confusion with some Banbury sailors competing on behalf
of Cransley.
But never mind the results, what about the sailing? In the first race
the wind was a little patchy. Unfortunately the first start of the fast
fleet had to be restarted due to a drifting Solo. Especially sad since
Graeme Castle and Tosh had a great start. As far as the fast fleet was
concerned, Hollowell's Mike & Helen Playle in a Wayfarer were the
worthy winner. It was a pleasure to watch them. In the slow fleet Dave
Cornish had managed to get his wayward Solo under control and came in
first. I hung about the start line for the Junior start: how well behaved.
Won by by our own James Briggs & Oli Taylor in an RS200 (rather dashing
my assertion that our courses never favour asymmetrics!).
During lunch the wind picked up quite nicely, and was a little more consistent
for the next two races. This time Graeme & Sarah pulled away from
the Wayfarer to come in first, and both Merlins (Tim Bury & Pat Kuenzler;
Ian & Eliza Levin) finishing well. In the Slow fleet Dave Cornish
was consistent, first again, comfortably ahead of Hollowell's Roy Richardson.
By this time, Hugh Brayshaw had worked out how he won the Topper Traveller
a couple of weeks ago, although less than a minute covered the first four
Toppers.
By now the wind had backed and a new start line was needed. Up to then,
all the starts were between the Race Control Box and the outer limit mark
(shifting the mark as needed), making the timing of races straightforward.
Stuart Allen, making a welcome reappearance at the club as PDO for the
day went for a committee boat start (and an RCB to outer limit finish).
After the anticipated initial confusion the last race started smoothly,
with the usual pattern of Lark and Wayfarer. Sadly, our Merlins faded.
In the Slow fleet Dave Cornish did it again, chased by another Solo. In
fact the only competition for the Solos was a Byte CII. In the Junior
fleet Luke Berry came on form to win. If we ignore him, the next eight
boats (including two asymmetrics) came in within two minutes on corrected
time.
Working out who came first was a long drawn out process. On the provisional
results, it appeared that we had hung on to two of the three prizes. Less
pressured analysis gave all three crowns to Hollowell. To them our belated
congratulations.
This was a high pressure event for those in the RCB, with up to 48 boats
out on the water at one time, at least as many as I have seen on our water.
At an Open you count them in and count them back, but here every boat
had to be timed – no mean feat in itself. And even once the results
for a race are calculated the best four from each fleet are taken forward
for the overall result. Plenty of scope for error.
There are lots of people to thank: the sailors themselves; whover managed
the logistics from Cransley and Hollowell (it was hard enough getting
our teams together without the hassle of transporting them); the galley
team, especially Dorothy Brown; the RCB team of Stuart & Julia Allen
and Liz Hood; and Bill Dearns behind the bar. It was all well worth while.
If I were to pick out a couple of Banbury sailors for special mention
it would be the Kelsall family (Neil and Rich in Lasers, Beccy in a 405)
and David Bolton King sailing a Solo and getting better at it through
the day. But really, everybody deserves a special mention!
Banbury Sailing Club
