“The forecast for Saturday morning said that there would be a F3 SW’erly breeze with some sunshine.  It was therefore very disappointing when, at the normal meeting time an hour before the scheduled start that there was hardly a breath.  However, patience prevailed and in the knowledge that Bramblemet was starting to show the breeze on its way, five Redwings and two One-Designs decided to give it a go.  Just as well as by the time they reached the starting area off Footprint, there was a nice F3 SW’erly!

A lightly hesitant start for the five Redwings; Robin Ebsworth in Quintessence with Anna Row crewing was initially the windward boat, however it was not long before Mike Toogood with Bruce Huber in Tara and Andrew Eddy in Plover with Willie Clegg & Jerry Summers looked to be in the lead as they beat to Pepe.  Although there was not much in it, Tara rounded first with Plover & Quintessence close behind.  The  run to Ruthven was by no means a procession as the fleet spread both sides of the track.  Going left paid off for Plover who rounded Ruthven just ahead of Tara with Mary & Roger Luxmoore-Styles in Capercaille in third.

The beat back to Pepe was spot on and the front two matched tack for tack all the way.  Despite pointing higher on occasions, Tara had to be content with Plover rounding Pepe still just ahead, however on the run to Janson, Mike managed to keep Andrew well to the left of the track and then gybing back towards the buoy at just the right moment, got into the lead which was extended to thirty seconds on the final beat back to the finish at Pepe.  Capercaille was third thirty five seconds later.

Meanwhile the two One-Designs were have an equally close race.  John Suffield, sailing single handed in No 4 marginally had the best start and after matching Jos Coad (also single handed) in No 8 tack for tack, rounded Pepe just ahead.  There was no change on the run to Janson, however on the beat back to Pepe, Jos decided to risk all and tacked onto starboard and headed in to the Bembridge shore while John remained on port until opposite St Helens Fort.  Although there was not much in it, Jos’s gamble paid off and he rounded Pepe ahead and despite John’s best efforts he extended his lead to just under a minute on the run to Janson and the final beat back to Pepe.

Just a pity that there were not more boats racing!

Except that the SW’erly F3/F4 breeze was already established, conditions on Sunday morning were very similar to the previous day.  Indeed, they were so similar that the course was kept the same and it received similar plaudits at the end.

The five Redwings got away on time and made a good start.  Although Mary Luxmoore-Styles in Capercaille was the last to cross the line and was a few boat lengths to leeward, she made up quite a lot of ground on the beat to the windward mark (Pepe).  As expected, first round was Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II particularly as he had Bruce Huber as one of his crew!

Hugh Tidbury in Enigma, Mike Toogood in Tara and Andrew Eddy in Plover were not far behind as they started the long run to Ruthven.  Plover and Capercaille took the right side of the track and although they did not catch Red Gauntlett II, the latter moved into second place round Ruthven.

The beat back to Pepe was again spot on and it was not long before they split tacks.  Not unexpectedly first to round Pepe for second time was Joe in Red Gauntlet II and although they were not seriously challenged on the run to Janson and beat back to Pepe, it was certainly not a procession and they had to keep concentrating to remain in front and win by just over a minute.

Second and third was always looking close and the outcome only resolved itself 50m from the line when Enigma timed her tack onto starboard perfectly and crossed the line just over a boat length ahead of Plover.  Capercaille was fourth and Tara fifth.

Having raced the previous day, John Suffield in No 4 One-Design possibly had a slight advantage over the other two boats (Susie & Syd Beart in No 5 and James Row in No 8).

After a good start it looked as if James was going to be the first to make Pepe having headed well in towards the Bembridge shore while John took the middle track and Susie kept to the right hand side.  However it was not to be and No 4 was the first to round with No 8 and No 5 a few boat lengths behind.  Despite best efforts by James and Susie to remain in touch, John managed to extend his lead on each of the runs to Janson and beats back to Pepe so that by the end of the race he was two and a half minutes ahead of Susie who had successfully consolidated her second place ahead of James.

Although not large numbers racing on either day, those that did had some excellent racing.  Next weekend the Redwings and One-Designs will be racing in parallel with the MOCRA multihulls; hopefully we will see a good turnout for the joint Barts Bash race on Saturday afternoon.”