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Weymouth Regatta 13-15 August 1999

Following almost directly on from the Unicorn Nationals, I was ready and tuned up for this regatta.  It featured two racing series, one for keelboats and one for dinghies, the latter being split into 6 classes (3 pairs of starts):

• Multi-hulls and asymmetric dinghies
• Trapeze dinghies below a PY of 1079
• Laser
• Fast dinghies with a PY below 1089
• Wayfarer
• Slow dinghies with a PY 1090 to 1229
• Racing was in Weymouth Bay Friday (2 races) and Saturday (3 races) and Portland Harbour on Sunday (2 races). Five races to count with all races being run back to back.

The Cat entry was very disappointing:

• Fri/Sat/Sun: me + Hurricane 5.9 No 150
• Sat/Sun: Tony Barstall Unicorn +  Hurricane 5.9
• Sun: Hurricane 5.9 No 306

There were five courses, selected by the OD just prior to the race:

• · One: Sausages
• · Two: Squares
• · Three: Square/sausage
• · Four: Triangle/sausage
• · Five: Sausage/square

Friday (the 13^th) dawned with a reasonable F2~3 SW. It was a 45 minute sail to the start area and race one was sausages.  I got an excellent starboard start, the 5.9 running on port and getting caught up in the dinghies.  A great beat saw me about 300m ahead of the 5.9 at the top mark when there was a loud 'bang'.  The Friday 13^th gremlins had struck, the centre alloy beam having fractured through where it slots into the rear beam (its all the extra 'wellie' I can get now I have modified the boom pulleys to short 4 inch wire strops).  Unfortunately, the trampoline is laced over the top of the beam so it promptly dropped, jamming the traveller. Hence retirement and a jury rig to sail the 5 miles back to base and make proper repairs. The 5.9 won both races on the water but ended 5^th of 6 and 7^th of 7 based on handicap. The helm also was struck by gremlins, straining his neck and having to withdraw from the rest of the week.  This was a pity as he is one of the best local helms.

Saturday had a rather worrying forecast F4 to5, gusts to 6, but in practice it was thick, heavy cloud and barely a F2 in the morning.  Nevertheless, I put the mast back one notch in preparation for the blow later in the day. It took 55 minutes to sail to the start that had fortunately been delayed for us. Course One was set and I got a moderate start behind a lot of the dinghies. However, I found I was pointing higher than any other boat in the regatta (is this a lesson for me, pinching too much?) and was able to sail over the top of any other boat (turned out I was 10 to 15deg higher than the 5.9's, about 5 deg more than the dinghies). I made the top mark first (what a wonderful feeling!!), followed closely by the 5.9 and an International 14. The latter then put up its 25 sqm kite and belted off at 30deg off downwind, the 5.9 and I sailed the same course 50deg off downwind and the 5.9 sailed past me as I had expected.  This was repeated for each lap with me overtaking on the beat and being overtaken downwind with the final result of the 5.9 finishing in 43m48s, the I14 in 44m44s and me in 44m56s. Tony had a case of delayed Friday the 13^th and spent the race trying to leap across a 6 foot split in the trampoline.  Sadly another Cat retirement for the day.

After an hours wait we got into race 2 (glad I had stocked the hulls with flasks of coffee, sandwiches, cake, Mars bars and Pepsi!!!!!) The wind reduced even more F1~2 with leaden skies. The OD set course Two (squares). I got an appalling start, at least a minute late (it seemed to drop to F1 at the critical point). It turned out to be a similar story to race one except the I14 really went off with superb downwind speed finishing in 42m31s ahead of me in 44m55s and the 5.9 45m09s. At least I beat the 5.9 on the water, they really suffer in light airs.

Race 3 looked a lot brighter, the sun came out and with it the wind picked up, F3 at the start and F4 by the end, yippee……I had forgotten the sailing instructions and couldn't remember what course 5 was, so I sailed round all the buoys on each lap just in case (and it was fun doing the beam reach!!!!). The 5.9 really started to move and finished well ahead in 52m25s, with me behind in 55m30s and the I14 in 57m06s.

I had a brilliant sail back, on the trapeze, flying a hull most of the 5 miles with the wind increasing to F5.  I just couldn't resist several beam reach blasts back and forth once in the sheltered water of Portland harbour (4 minutes to cross a stretch of about 1.2nm). Boy, was I knackered, on the water at 0945 and back at 1530h.

Sunday dawned overcast and with an identical forecast to Saturday. In practice, it eased from a F4+ to a F3+ during the day, perfect sailing conditions.  Tony had found a spare trampoline and we had another 5.9 out so the prospect of 4 Cats on the water. We did 5 laps of sausages for race one with a very similar pattern to the previous days, I was much better upwind than the 5.9's but lost out downwind. Tony's spare tramp proved to have the consistency of delayed action blotting paper and after a few laps of stick gave up the ghost so we were back down to 3 Cats. I managed to get ahead of both 5.9's for one lap but then got really tangled up getting out on the trapeze, got into the irons and let one of them through. I had a ding dong battle with the other, with downwind duels every lap, great fun. The lead 5.9 didn't realise the shorten course flag went up and missed the finish line, giving them a time of 1h8m42s (he was about a minute ahead).  I finished in 1h6m44s and the other 5.9 1h6m31s. With these winds, we didn't see any of the dinghies, except to blast past them!!!!

Race 2 was sausage/square and the pattern was as before. I was lucky not to go in on one of the beats as I had wound the main sheet round my left hand (cramp meant I couldn't hold it properly) and when hit by a gust, luffing up didn't work and in my attempt to let some sheet out I let go completely. I crashed into the water but was back, partly on board quite quickly. The only problem was the trapeze hook had engaged in the lower shroud. It's at times like these you wish you were Houdini. Anyway, having got half back in the water I managed to extricate myself……another lesson learnt!!!!! As in race one, we saw nothing of the dinghies and I finished  in 1h22m46s compared with the 5.9's in 1h22m21s and 1h24m38s.

The sail back to base was also eventful, out on the wire and the shackle to the mainsheet parted company (no Gary, it wasn't the open hook, it was a spring shackle). I was lucky to get away with no more than another dunking!!! Another lesson, only a closed hook or heavy screw shackle in future.

So, an excellent few days racing, what of the results? Well, there is good news and bad news.  The good news is that the Unicorn honours were upheld and I came out 'top of the Cats' once the handicaps were worked out. I was about 4 to 6 mins faster than the 5.9's on the Saturday and about 14 minutes faster on the Sunday.  The bad news is that I was trounced by the dinghies, finishing 6^th out of 22 boats (with a 7^th, 9^th, 6^th, 5^th & 7^th). A range of different boats (International 14, 505, Cherub, ISO) consistently finishing 7 to 10 (corrected) minutes ahead, even in the good winds.

As an example, for an hour on the water, the Unicorn needs 8.7mins on an International 14 (PY884), 11.7min on an ISO (PY 926), 21.3min on a Cherub (PY1050) and gets 6.5min on a Hurricane 5.9 (PY691). Has anyone else sailed in handicap, asymmetric dinghy fleets? 



John Wade,

Unicorn 1086,

C'est La Vie

 

Weymouth Regatta 2001

20^th-22^nd July

A close run thing !!!!!

It has taken me months to get over it !

I arrived early, the day before in fact, so I was well prepared and rested for the race. We camped on a nearby hill campsite with the family, overlooking both the coastline and the harbour, quite a view when it stopped raining!

The boat was ready and I was I think as Dan, bleary eyed after his early morning drive rushed to put his boat together, enter and throw down some breakfast before we all ran across the bay to the committee boat. The bay for those who haven’t had the pleasure, is a near perfect circular area only bordered by a sea wall to the east and Chesil beach to the west measuring some mile and a half in diameter. The Navy have long since moved out of Portland but is still used, much to my son’s amusement, for the coastguard helicopter.

Unfortunately this year saw two huge empty high sided cargo ships moored in the middle, however these didn’t really get in the way as the wind direction kept the ample course to windward of them both. Phew!

Anyway, back to the racing. I took full advantage of Dan’s fatigue, he let me in on a port/starboard when he was heading for the dinghy’s windward mark and I carried on to round our mark clear ahead. The wind was a good 4-5 and it wasn’t long before I was doing my normal routine of looking back waiting to be caught. Luckily this course was one of the rare triangle ones and as I surfed down on a lovely reach a quick gybe saw me settle down for a safe victory after a couple more laps with Gary taking over in second and Dan third

( or at least that was what we all thought, the race committee had decided to add in a cruising three up Dart in first place although it hadn’t done the all the laps we had!

I was feeling lucky with two more races on that Friday. The second race was even faster, Dan led with me and Gary in hot pursuit, I was able to fly downwind and led at the lee mark to then keep Dan covered to the finish some 30 minutes of racing and two laps later!

The third race for the day saw some close racing again, this time Dan led from the start and sailed as he usually does, seemingly faultlessly to the finish but I did notice him looking back at us a lot and he even gave up ‘wildthinging’ have I rattled him????

A good day’s racing, I must add that the Cherubs were out in force as it was their Nationals sporting 35 boats, we saw many of them sprinting passed us downwind but we always got to the next mark in front as we remained upright but what a speed they go before they trip up!

Well it was back to camp and as the rain and wind came in we zipped ourselves inside our trailer tent. Later I ventured outside as we were taking off! I tied the tent down to a near bye tree on one side and the car on the other and with my weight holding it all down inside we were still there in the morning!

Day 2, Saturday the rain had gone, there was a nice breeze and Tanya had the tea on !

The start line looked ominously biased and as I went to the lee end I tried to disguise my observations by a short visit but you can’t pull the wool over Dan’s eyes, he was there at a flash so the two of us loitered around out of sight whilst the other classes started from the committee boat end. We couldn’t believe our luck as nobody else had twigged it! Dan a bit braver than me as I was too busy congratulating myself at the decision I had made a perfect start on Port with a hull flying and no looking back. I was only a couple of lengths behind but still a good 10 metres and a tack ahead of the rest as I started. We sailed away Dan finishing 13 seconds in front as we crossed tacks at the finish with Gary a safe third.

Two more races and someone from the Cherubs had obviously said something to the committee the night before as we were sent on three identical courses of windward leeward courses away from their course. No problem but it did get a bit of a routine as there was only one way to go!

I managed two more firsts from Dan after a few changed places it was very close but a good days racing. I returned to camp with what I thought was 4 firsts and two seconds against Dan with two firsts three seconds and a third. With only two races on Sunday I only needed one race to count ( 7 from 8 ), so I felt assured of at least joint first if Dan won both and I finished no lower than third. As it turned out ( if you discard the error with the dart win ), I was poised for my first major win against Dan and to be honest I was happy to settle for equal first with this maestro.

We both watched the starts go by until it was our turn, with seemingly effortless ease, Dan started brilliantly with Gary also in my way as a quick tack onto a long port tack put Gary level with me as we watched Dan slipping away down the run. Dan led to win by one of the biggest margins of the weekend, some whole minute ahead with Gary a couple of minutes behind me in third. I had secured a vital result that meant I could not be bettered overall on points.

The second (8th) race was delayed and the wind dropped, as it was lunch time many competitors sloped off to the beach at Castle Cove where the dinghy park is and as I waited patiently I knew that all I had to do was come second behind Dan but stay in front of Gary to be the outright winner. Gary who was suffering physically during the weekend vowed only to do the one race on Sunday but after a pit stop on the beach, joined by Dan he was persuaded to do the last one. The start sequence changed and all of a sudden and a bit unprepared, I saw our class flag up and I was left only half way down the line with Dan and Gary blasting away. Horror upon Horror Gary got it all together and showed me round! Dan had another easy win as a very demoralised me drifted in third to tie me and Dan on points overall.

They say it’s not the winning that counts but the taking part, I did enjoy the battle and with such close racing I can at least claim a little victory even though those nice committee members did rub salt in the wound by scoring the Dart first on the first race. The Nationals followed and my boat speed was still good however I will never be successful if I keep sailing to the wrong marks. I will get my eyes tested for next season or is it just old age!

Weymouth is a splendid venue ( I would say that wouldn’t I ) with an almost deserted sailing centre with tons of room and things to do nearby, as well as the sailing of course, so I’ll see you all there next year.

PS. A get well for Chris and Gary who have been going through the wars this year and tried to race when they should have both taken a good rest, I know they will both be back at full speed next year.

Phil Chester.

Results

Boat	Name	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Total
Fredriksen	Chester	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	(3)	10
??	Jarman	(3)	2	1	1	2	2	1	1	10
??	Piper	2	(3)	3	3	3	3	3	2	19
C'est la vie	Wade	4	4	(6)	4	4	4	4	4	28