Bembridge Keelboats Daily Summer Racing and Cowes Week
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by Mike Samuelson 7 Aug 11:11 BST

Monday 29 July (by Mike Samuelson)

Despite the lumpy F4 Easterly, four One-Designs decided it was definitely worth having a couple of races. After a good start with Undertyne as the pin, it did not take them long to reach Tara. Although No 4 One-Design's (helmed by John Suffield) port end 'flyer' did not work as planned, it did not put him that far behind. No 5 (helmed by Susie Beart) was first to round Tara and then extended her lead on the broad reach to Fitzwilliam and rum down to Garland. On the beat back to the line, No 4 went inshore and very nearly caught No 5 who kept more offshore; No 1 (helmed by Russ Fowler) and No 7 helmed by Charles Abel Smith finished not far behind.

Although offered a variation of course, all four opted for a repeat of the same course. After another good start with No 5 inches from being OCS, the fleet kept together until they had rounded Garland. Having seen that staying inshore had been so profitable for him in the first race, John, with Susie close behind headed inshore and although he got away with it and finished twenty seconds ahead of No 1 now helming by Simon Allocca), and No 7, being helmed by James Petit. Susie had not been quite so lucky and found a 'rogue rock' and ground to a halt and went from probably second, to last!

Redwings at Cowes - 1st Enigma; 2nd Paroquet; 3rd Lady Laetitia; 4th Quail

Tuesday 30 July (by David Swinstead)

A very frustrating morning for the three One-Designs (and the Race Officers). Programmed for a 10:00 start and with a forecasted F3 Northerly, things looked promising. However, it was not to be. Initially Force 2, sometimes reaching Force 3 a course was planned based on starting at JJ with E as the windward mark. But as we were looking the wind began backing and before long it was effectively in the North West. We therefore decided to move from E and to create the start line at Tara with a beat to Footprint with Garland as the wing mark. The wind seemed to settle but, as the boats began to come down to the start, the wind dropped a bit and so we finally decided on a course of Y, G, E all to port, twice round but expecting to shorten course. Sadly as the boats were coming to the start (No.1 Russ Fowler with Simon Alloca as crew; No.7, Charles Abel Smith on his own and D Orange in No. 9 with Rob Scriven as crew) the wind died completely and racing had to be abandoned. The sea was now glassy and there was no wind, so the three One-Designs were towed back to their moorings by the launches.

Redwings at Cowes - no race (insufficient wind)

Wednesday 31 July (by Mike Samuelson)

Another frustrating morning for the three One-Designs wanting to race (No 1 Simon Allocca, No 7 Charles Abel Smith and No 10 D Orange). Windfinder was saying there would be a 10 knot NE breeze and Chimet was showing 10-12 knots from the ENE, however at Undertyne it was never more that 4 knots with an unpleasant NE'erly swell and ebbing tide that held boats side ways on. Rather than sitting uncomfortably on their moorings waiting for the possibility of a race, it was therefore decided at 10:10 to abandon and de-rig.

Redwings at Cowes - 1st Harlequin; 2nd Quail; 3rd Capella II; 4th Enigma

Thursday 1 August

Another morning of no (or very little) wind, so with no enthusiasm to leave the pontoon, it was N over A. Food for thought that future years, racing is programmed for the afternoons as by midday, a very sailable breeze had arrived.

Redwings at Cowes - 1st Paroquet; 2nd Quail; 3rd Harlequin; 4th Enigma

Friday 2 August (by Mike Samuelson)

Something of a topsy turvy morning that started promisingly with a NW'erly F3 that was forecast to back to SW and possibly increasing. Certainly enough to interest four On-Designs (No 2 helmed by Roy Burrows, No 7 helmed by Charles Abel Smith, No 8 helmed by Charles Perry and No 9 helmed by D Orange). Starting at Undertyne (E), the first beat was to Britten, then a broad reach to Footprint, a run to a leeward mark (one of the speed limit buoys) and a final beat back to the line. After a good start with Roy getting through on port tack, Nos 8 and 9 remained on starboard tack which paid off with Charles P rounding Britten ahead of D and Charles AS with Roy someway behind. No 9 flew her spinnaker on the run past the moorings en-route to the leeward mark and rounded in front; what should have been a beat turned into a run as they picked up a light SE'erly breeze, only for it to disappear with about 50 metres to the line. With all four boats by now compressed, victory could have gone to any of them. In the event, D wafted across the mere inches ahead of Charles P; Charles AS was a boat length behind with Roy a similar distance behind.

After a discussion with the fleet, it was decided that it was going to take too long for a steady SW'erly to kick in, so the planned second race was cancelled.

Redwings at Cowes: 1st Enigma; 2nd Quail; 3rd Harlequin; 4th Lady Laetitia

Overall Redwings: 1st Harlequin (9); 2nd Enigma (11); 3rd Quail (13); 4th Paroquet (15)

Saturday 3 August (by Mike Samuelson)

No sun, indeed some occasional light drizzle, but at least the SW'erly F4 breeze augured well for some good racing for the six One-Designs competing for the weekend's trophy, the Brinton Cup. No racing was programmed for the Redwing's who have all now returned from Cowes.

With the Bembridge Village Dinghy Regatta starting at 11:00 not far from the harbour entrance, the One-Design courses (two races having been agreed prior to crews being taken out to their boats), kept further off-shore to avoid conflict. The first race started off Fitzwilliam with a beat to E (Undertyne), a run to Ruthven and a final beat to the finish at Janson. The actual start was close, indeed for No 8 helmed by Charles Perry, too close and he was signalled as OCS. Taking a bit of time to return meant that he was always in catch up mode. Charles Abel Smith in No 7 was first round Undertyne closely pursued by No 9 helmed by D Orange, No 1 helmed by Russ Fowler and No 4 helmed by John Suffield. Then a gap to No 2 helmed by Ed Burrows and Charles P in No 8. The run to Ruthven saw No 9 flying her spinnaker, however interestingly it seemed to make little difference and No 7 was still just ahead as they started to final beat to the finish. Split tacks so it was going to be close especially between No 7 and No 4, indeed it ended up so close that they could not be split as they crossed the line and so tied first equal. No 1 was third and No 9 was fourth.

The course for the second race was a bit more complicated - from Janson to Footprint, to Ruthven, back to Janson, then Fitzwilliam and finishing at Undertyne. After another close start (No 8 was within inches of being OCS), they again split tacks with those staying offshore seeming to do slightly better. At Footprint, the order was No 9, now helmed by Mark Grzegorczyk, just ahead of No 7 (now helmed by Sarah Marshall), No 1, No 4, No 8 and No 2. They were all close rounding Ruthven and back at Janson it was No 7, No 9, No 4, No 1, No 8 (who dropped a couple of places after a mistake as they tried to round the mark) and No 2. At the finish as Undertyne, Mark in No 9 had taken over the lead and just crossed the line ahead of John in No 4, Russ in No 1 and Sarah in No 7. Charles P in No 8 and Ed in No 2 finished a few minutes later.

Sunday 4 August (by Mike Samuelson)

Most forecasts were suggesting sunny periods and light airs for Sunday morning increasing as the morning wore on. So the big question was whether there was going to be enough for the two programmed races for both classes. After considerable discussion at the Club, it was agreed to get into the launches and head out to the moorings at Undertyne. The Redwings first race was for the Norman Phillips (under 19 helms) Trophy. There were five boats entered and after a very good start they split tacks as they headed to Britten; Lady Laetitia helmed by Molly Gilbey was first to round ahead of Paroquet helmed by Annie Clegg, Tarpon helmed by Hugo Samuelson, Enigma helmed by Alice Clegg and Ladybird, helmed by Matthew Chetwood. On the broad reach/run to Footprint and onwards to the laid inflatable leeward mark they compressed and as the SE'early battled with the WNW'erly the result of which it became impossible to predict who was going to find the most zephyrs to get back to the line. In the event it was Annie in Paroquet who finished ahead of Alice in Enigma, Matthew in Ladybird, Molly in Lady Laetitia and Hugo in Tarpon.

Although Tarpon headed to the moorings, the other four boats, now joined by Arabella Wilson in Quail and Ben Stoddart-Stones in Vera, reorganised themselves for their second race which was for the Chetwood Under 30 helm Trophy. With the breeze backing Easterly, Tara was the obvious windward mark; then a run to Garland and a final beat to the line at Undertyne. After not the best of starts by some, indeed Quail was at least a minute late (blamed on the crew!), most, including Quail tacked in towards the Lifeboat Station. Reaching Tara well ahead, Arabella looked set for a straight forward win, however the breeze proved to be very fickle and it was not long before the chasing fleet had narrowed down her lead. About 200m short of Garland they all hit a windless hole however patience paid off as the WSW'erly from the harbour took over and helped the fleet complete the final leg to the finish with Quail leading the way, ahead of Lady Laetitia, Enigma, Ladybird, Paroquet and Vera.

The five One-Designs meanwhile had similar experiences as they followed the same courses. In the first race, No7 helmed by Sarah Marshall and No 9 helmed by D Orange stayed inshore initially. No 8 helmed by Alexander Ross rounded Britten ahead of No 7, No 9, No 4 helmed single handed by John Suffield and No 5 helmed by Charles Perry. By the time the reached Footprint, the fleet had compressed and ran into the same windless holes as the Redwings had. In view of the slow progress to the leeward inflatable, and as the finish line was en-route, it was decided to shorten the course with them finishing down wind. As it turned out only four minutes separated all five boats - No 8 (Alexander), No 7 (Sarah), No 9 (D), No 5 (Charles) and No 4 (John).

Although John headed back to the moorings, the remainder decided to give a second race a go as the Easterly breeze had kicked in. Mixed fortunes at the start and all headed inshore as they beat to Tara. They were all close rounding Tara and although the inflatable had been laid as a possible alternative leeward mark, the Race officers decided to leave Garland as set as they were making reasonable progress. Bad move! Not long after making the decision the breeze died and left them 100 metres short of Garland. After10 minutes of going nowhere they were invited to 'self finish' at Garland. By the time they eventually made it, Lavinia, helming No 5 had puffed themselves into a commanding lead ahead of No 7 (James Petit), No 9 (Mark Grzegorczyk) with No 8 (Alexander) close behind. Congratulations to No 7 (Sarah & Charles AS) who won the Brinton Cup.

Monday 5 August (by Charles Evans)

A fine day, wind F3 to 4 settling down to due South just before the start so slight delay resetting the line. Three Redwings and five One-Designs then both had two short races using Janson (JJ) and to Undertyne (E).

The Redwing first race started with Quail (James Wilson) and Toucan (Colin Samuelson) OCS so Musicus (David McCue) had a successful race. As a reminder, the BSC sailing instructions state that for a downwind finish the course is direct from the last mark straight through the line (i.e no hook finish) regardless of the course displayed on the committee boat. Having decided to postpone the crew race to another date, the second Redwing race was the same course but finishing at E. This was won by Quail with Toucan 10 seconds later and Musicus a bit behind after suffering from holes in the wind.

The first One-Design race had the same course as the Redwings with Susie Beart (No 5) stealing a march with an excellent port flyer and then sailing away to win by a large margin. Their second race was as the Redwings with one less round; there was a tight finish where all boats were led home by No 5 this time helmed by Syd Beart. Only 1 minute separated the first and last boat.