Bembridge SC (13th & 14th August) & Sea View YC (15th & 16th August) Regattas 2021

There are always mixed fortunes when it comes to the Club Regattas, and this year was no exception with Mark Downer in Enigma falling foul of the EWCC Rule 8.6 in Friday’s Redwing race and being disqualified after coming in first. And on Saturday James Wilson in Quail suffered gear failure and Rosie Gosling in Gosling retired after an incident with a Seaview Mermaid just before Saturday’s Redwing race.

Friday was certainly testing conditions for the dinghies in the SSW’erly F4 breeze and there were quite a few retirements. All bar the fast handicap had the same course (Special Course 1 with Pepe, the new mark, Spence Willard and Garland as the rounding marks). There were four Oppies from Seaview and two from BSC; sadly the lead two from SVYC failed to sail the right course so were scored NSC and the two from Bembridge found the conditions too windy so retired, leaving Felix Ives from SVYC the sole finisher. Nine Scows had an excellent race with Oliver Morgan managing to stay ahead of Jodi Spence; Francesca Morgan was third. In the slow handicap race, the only competitors were two Swans. No 17 crewed by Clive & Hanah Spash were the only finishers. The Laser 4.7s had a challenging race with Jeremy Landon beating his younger brother Henry, with Ellen Weir coming third. Disappointingly only one Feva that subsequently retired. Finally, Tony Burton had a fun, if lonely race in his Contender and was the only finisher.

In view of the blustery conditions, racing for the keelboats on Friday was kept pretty local which resulted in rather shorter races than traditional, but at least everyone got back safely. Mark Downer in Enigma was the first to finish in the Redwing race but was subsequently disqualified for breaching SI8.6 (only going through the start line whilst established at the start). This lifted Joe Roberston in Red Gauntlet II into first, Colin Samuelson in Toucan into second and Alastair Speare-Cole in Avocet into third. There were only four Seaview Mermaids; Richard Hill No 2 was first two and a half minutes ahead of Richard Taylor in No 5. Jeremy Spencer-Cooper in No 8 was third. There were five One-Designs with Charles Abel Smith helming No 11 coming in first about half a minute ahead of John Suffield in No 4; Susie Beart was third about a minute later. Finally, the sole Flying Fifteen helmed by Richard Coleman sailed the course so was awarded first place!

The breeze had dropped considerably for Saturday’s races and it was a pity that there were not more competitors out taking advantage of the excellent conditions. Offshore, there were eleven Redwings pre-start, however James Wilson in Quail pulled out before the start when the shackle on his main halyard broke, and Rosie Gosling in Gosling retired damaged having been hit amidships by a Seaview Mermaid. Two trips out to St Helens provided excellent runs & beats with Colin Samuelson in Toucan and Mark Downer in Enigma leading the way. After just under two hours, Toucan crossed the finishing line twenty seconds ahead of Enigma with Alastair Speare-Cole in Avocet taking third again. Six Mermaids had a slightly shorter course which saw Oli Walton in No 8 beat Charles Glanville in No 12 by fifteen seconds. Richard Hill was third, nine seconds later. Only four One-Designs with the Coronation Cup being won by the Class Captain, Susie Beart in No 5, who finished a long way ahead of Alexander Ross in No 11; John Suffield was third. Finally, it was good to see four Flying Fifteens enjoying the longer courses. Martyn Davies, helming 3674, came home first, four minutes ahead of Chris Wilkinson in 3350 with Colin Simmonds third in 3750.

The dinghy classes meanwhile were set similar courses to the previous day, but with Pepe, Garland & Nainby as the rounding marks for the slower classes, Britten for the Laser 4.7s and Derrick for the fast handicap. Sadly there were only two Oppies with George Cecil from SVYC coming in first a long way ahead of Gemma Orange from BSC. There were fourteen Scows and although Paul Gould from BHYC led after the first triangle, Oliver Morgan overtook him on the second beat and remained out in front for the rest of the race. Francesca Morgan was again third.

Scow Start – https://youtu.be/LFb3IHSlmBQ

There were only two Swans in the slow handicap which saw the previous day’s winners Clive & Hannah Spash come in ahead of John Carter & Geraldine Summers, albeit by only a minute. Seven Laser 4.7s had some close racing with the order slightly different from the previous day in that Henry Landon beat his elder brother Jeremy! Ellen Weir was again third. No Fevas and only three fast handicap. Not surprisingly Tony Burton in his Contender led the way and after Stuart Gummer in his d-Zero the result was never in doubt. However full marks to Tom Parsons from BHYC who was sailing a Laser Radial and completed the shortened course even though he stood little or no chance of beating Tony on handicap.

Sunday was the SVYC Club Regatta and although no takers in the One-Designs, eight Redwings made their way over in time for their race. Starting off the Seaview line is always interesting and with conditions offshore quite bumpy, they certainly had a challenging race. The initial leader was Olav Cole in Redwing but the real battle was between Mark Downer in Enigma and Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II. At one stage it looked as if Joe was going to come out better as he was sailing four up against the Downer’s two, but it was not to be and Mark finished a good thirty seconds ahead. Olav was third and Mike Toogood in Tara was fourth.

The wind direction had veered to the NW and Chimet was showing F5 plus it was a work day for a number of One-Design members which is probably why sadly there were no One-Designs racing at Seaview on Monday either. However, six Redwings made the trip and had an interesting race that certainly tested their knowledge of Seaview buoys! After an excellent start and a short beat, they had a long run (albeit with the tide) to Derrick which Colin Samuelson in Toucan rounded just ahead of Mark Downer in Enigma and Joe Roberston in Red Gauntlet II.

Redwing Start – https://youtu.be/XZfOlJNPskU

The challenge was to then find Brookie! The front three went too far north and found themselves having to double back. Initially it looked as though Andrew Eddy was going to move up from last to first after everyone realised their error, but in fact Mark rounded just ahead. Enigma stretched out their lead on the next two legs, but Plover and Toucan did not give up and took advantage of another another misunderstanding onboard Enigma as to which buoy to round. On the final leg from Jennie Hunter to the line, it was nip & tuck with Andrew covering Colin until the last couple of tacks, however he kept his nerve and in fact it was Olav Cole in Redwing who took second by a couple of seconds – close stuff! Enigma crossed the line fourth but was scored NSC after crossing the line inshore of No 10. Clearly not their day!

Daily racing for the rest of the week and next weekend we have the J70 Regatta.

Additional photos – mostly by Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore – https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWpZ3Lm