Apologies for the lateness of this Race Report which I’m writing on the Wednesday following the Race because I left Sevenoaks immediately after the WS  session last Thursday to drive to the famous Spa-Francorchamps car racing circuit in Belgium for their annual Classic Car Racing weekend. I was the co-pilot and navigator in a drophead 1968 3.8 litre straight-six E-Type Jaguar and we traveled in company with a similarly specified fixed head 1967 E-Type. Two beautiful and very valuable cars which behaved impeccably throughout the 500 mile trip which was driven as much as possible along A and B roads. 

Being away at the weekend meant that I was going to miss out on the excitement of the final races in the 2017 America’s Cup. However, I did hear that, although the USA had made some effective improvements in their boat’s speed during the 5 day rest period since the initial 4 races, NZ’s amazingly talented 26 year old skipper Peter Burling was turning the screw with some good starts and more wins! I watched the final race upon my return to celebrate with the NZ team. Everything they did over the last 3 years was superlative and they deserved their victory!! The USA’s failure tells us that money alone is NOT enough and maybe it is more difficult to question yourself if you are used to winning. They spent 3 years believing in and perfecting the use of their chosen foil design and sail handling philosophies, then had 5 days to jettison those beliefs and implement the NZ approach – bar the cycle-powered pressurising of the hydraulic system. Of course that proved to be an impossible ask – even for the hugely experienced campaigner – 40 year old Aussie – Jimmy Spithill.

However, back to reporting on Race 10 which was sailed in some unexpectedly brisk wind conditions, following 30 minutes of torrential rain accompanied by lots of loud thunder and bright lightning. This severe thunderstorm  was forecast and led the Session Safety Manager, John King, to delay the start of sailing by those who had turned up at 10 am. It was not until just before 11 am that conditions were deemed safe enough to allow sailing to begin and most of the eleven WS Racers were quick to get on the water.

The course had been set and in view of there being a Westerly wind, the Start Line was set between the Race Hut flag pole and a flag on the water, with the first leg being a Beat into the wind up to the windward Mark A, and after tacking round that Mark to starboard, starting the first of two Downwind legs with a Gybe around Mark C before continuing downwind to the leeward Mark D which had to be rounded to starboard before Tacking and staring the short beat up-wind to go through a Gate set up on between Mark K and the Start/Finish flag on the water.

The bad weather had a knock-on effect on getting everybody into their boats and so there was a 5 minute delay to starting the Race. However, when the Start Gong sounded there were six boats very well positioned to start racing. Most of them were aiming to start on Starboard-tack at the mid-lake end of the Start Line , which should enable them to have a useful initial Tack across the lake. But, as the result of some helms sailing closer to the wind, the windward boats were (quite correctly – within the rules of sailing) forced to tack away onto Port tacks. However, this leading group of the fleet moved up the lake smoothly, despite an increase in the wind strength and gustiness. Mark A  was rounded first by Peter Gregory’s 2.4m and Mike Blatchford’s Martin,  The boats in the next part of the fleet all crossed the Start Line reasonably soon after the Gong and then began to get strung out on the first leg, possibly due to difficulty in handling the extra wind strength and shifts in wind direction.

No sooner than a fixed order of boats seemed to be emerging, using our bird’s eye-view view from the race hut, a helm would find themself in some extra wind or spot a wind shift and hence improve their VMG (…we might as well learn from the America’s Cup commentators!) Bravo, that’s the standard we’re aiming for at WS!!  Ed. and make ground on the boats around them. Of course the normal challenges of boat-handling and knowing the sailing rules also played their part in gaining or losing water to other WS Racers.  An example of the later played itself out as, from the race hut, we saw a Martin and a 2.4m running down, at the front of a group of boats, towards Mark D. For no apparent reason, the Martin over shot the lay line for the Mark and ended up having to Tack and subsequently lost four places and a lot of time. After the race, I asked Mike Blatchford what had happened and he said that “I had to get out of the way of the 2.4m which was coming up behind and alongside me.” Here is a Key Learning Point: The sailing rules are very clear that on a run downwind, OVERTAKING BOATS must KEEP CLEAR of boats in front if they catch them up and wish to pass. Remember also the boats behind you on a run are  WINDWARD boats and hence must KEEP CLEAR. So the Martin should have held its course and ensured that it sailed above the lay line so that it could ensure it had the inside line to tack around Mark D in first place!!  Know the Sailing Rules to win. Ed.

Generally there was a lot of changing of positions on the water during the race but it was in the last 300 yards of the race that there was one exceptional piece of quick thinking which enabled Peter Wagner to gain a place by overtaking David Mason (who had rounded Mark D well clear of Peter) and succeed in finishing 12 seconds ahead of David. Peter, who had followed David around Mark D, quickly assessed that the wind direction was taking David away from the Finish Line, so Peter decided to tack immediately onto a starboard Tack and head straight for the Finish Line. David had also decided to tack but just too late. Peter managed to get clear air and  enough room to make a further tack, he was home in front of the boat that he had trailed for most of the race.  It was very exciting to watch from the race hut as this dramatic finish unfolded on the water. Great effort by both  helms.

The final results are shown below and if any helms are in any doubt as to where the “magic formula” has placed them, please do ask to see how the final placings are calculated and how close you are to boats in front of you. For example, there was just 1 second per lap between Steve Farmer and Fay Watson and 2 seconds per lap between Fay and Peter Wagner!!

Well done to all the helms for completing Race 10 and a big thank you to the volunteer crews and Alan Cayzer who assisted me in the Race Hut. Until tomorrow….

Final Result

1. Kim Sparkes 303; 2. Ann Frewer 2.3; 3. Steve Farmer 303; 4. Fay Watson and James Thomas 303; 5. Peter Wagner 2.4m; 6. David Mason 2.4; 7. Bob Fisher 303; 8. Peter Gregory 2.4m; 9. Mike Blatchford Martin; 10. Brian Mac Liberty; 11. Mark Cayzer and Daniel.

Watching the Olympic sailing etc meant that I hadn’t started writing a word about yesterday’s Race and this morning I received news that my daughter had given birth to a baby girl during the night. So  my wife and I are now in Brighton ready to meet our new grand-daughter when summoned! So it was fortuitous that I received this Race Report from our special roving reporter, Bob Fisher:

“What a fantastic day for a race. Several of the big players had been bribed/sabotaged etc. and there was a air of expectancy amongst us regular back markers. Unfortunately the Mars Bar bribing scandal, which at least used to be discreet has now become very public. Several volunteers at  Wealden Sailability made no attempt to hide the open trading of Mars Bars – photographic evidence has been obtained (see pics).

The whole process was disrupted when Peter Gregory entered – stage left – but fortunately it soon became obvious that the Red Torpedo wasn’t available (phew!). Sources later confirmed that the twin underwater turbo’s were miss-firing and the Torpedo was being serviced. Race officials had previously informed the Racers that Peter G would be unavailable for a month or so and, whilst we were all pleased to see the all-conquering hero, the mafioso bookmakers weren’t so happy. But Peter  G had decided to skipper one of the un-fettered 2.4’s and no one knew how he would perform minus his five litre Diesel engine.

There was a lot of confusion on the dock when Steve Farmer openly tried to bribe Bob Marsh to allocate him a challenger boat! The bribe (wait for it) was just one Mars Bar . You can see, in the photo of Steve’s dodgy behaviour, Bob trying to hide his shock horror / amusement, as Steve was put in one of the very obvious  303 ‘lemons’. That should teach him to try and curry favour with the race officials, I thought! But, having paid the going rate, I was allocated my regular Red Rocket and I was ever hopeful that repairs from last week’s various accidents had been professionally carried out and the Rocket was primed for victory.

I have to say that by now I was feeling very confident, when suddenly Captain Bligh appeared and began hurling abuse at me, because of my comments on last week’s race report. She has decided I am to be re-christened Napoleon. Now I have spent considerable time with Ann over the past few years and she has always told me that she doesn’t use the Internet. But obviously that is not the case….for those that don’t know, Ann had a book published using her own animations. There’s more to Captain Bligh than meets the eye.

And so to the Race. A number of regulars were missing. Peter W still traumatised from the splashing broadside he received two weeks back and was making excuses about being on holiday in Cornwall. Kim having served her one race suspension/ban, sadly didn’t appear (hope all is well Kim). Andy had point blank refused to take a bribe and with Mike Blatchford being promoted to the 2.4 squad, there wasn’t a Martin helm prepared to embark on a kamikaze mission on the 2.4’s. Shame! The off-course bookies had noticed however that Mike Blatchford was carrying some form of injury to his arm. In fact he had been savaged by his very small puppy and although he was claiming 65 stitches and near amputation, a later inspection revealed a small Elastoplast.

As far as I could tell there were no collisions prior to the race and Captain Bligh set off on her own, in a Hansa 2.3 (aka the Bathtub) with a few reefs in her sail since there was a decent WSW wind blowing at 10 plus knots, with gusts up to 20 knots forecast. Everyone seemed to set off well from the Start Line ,between Mark K and the pontoon, Beating up to Mark A, Running downwind to Mark C and Reaching back to Mark K. The double handed 303’s were off next and we noted that James was absent, exhausted no doubt from his victory with Mark the previous week. However, Fay had Tony alongside her and he has proved to be a competitive crew member in the past. On this occasion he managed to be 10 yards over the Start Line when the whistle blew without being sanctioned. It made me wonder, “How many Mars Bars had that cost?”

By the first Mark, Steve Farmer had discovered that his Lemon didn’t steer properly and the Rocket had left him in its wake (tee hee). The wind was very soft between A and C, but the Reach from C to K was scintillating with some very strong gusts as we approached the downwind Mark K. Fay and I were nip and tuck for a lap or two and as we approached K on the third lap I had a slight lead. Suddenly, a gust hit and I had both the main and the jib uncleated (phew) and I found myself hurtling towards K and totally out of control. I just managed to let my main out in time, whilst Fay and crew flew by at breakneck speed (great sailing guys)!

I should have pointed out that by this time the mortally injured Mike Blatchford and Peter Gregory, in their unsupercharged 2.4’s, had shot by and I knew would be fast approaching from behind again to take the lead. Also Brian was going really well in the Liberty (great to see you back on form Brian). Slowly but surely the fleet began to overhaul me, with another Liberty (sailed by a new cohort, Bill Garry, who hadn’t been offered any Mars Bar!) going by.

The Rocket was still performing well, but faster boats and better skippers were taking their toll. It was fairly quiet on the lake and, because I didn’t hear the torpedoe’s engines, I could almost hear the feint sound of summer birdsong. Well actually that was between shouts of “Starboard” and “Avast ye, you swabs” from Bligh and Steve’s complaints that Bob Marsh had “Done him up like a kipper”. I also think I heard him snoring, but that’s another story.

All too soon (or all too late, in my case) the second Race of the Summer Series was over and Peter G'(in a borrowed 2.4) had triumphed, just ahead of Brian in his Liberty (congratulations Brian) who was a way ahead of Mike B in the second 2.4 (his savaged-arm must have held him back)! It was great to see Brian sailing so well, but of course I hope that he realises, this means he is likely to be sabotaged in the future.

A great race which, I think, everyone – bar the bookies – enjoyed. As usual we were thoroughly well looked after, many thanks to Steve and all the WS Volunteers. However, I feel I must point out one thing has tarnished this recently. In the three years I have attended, safety has always been paramount. But I  thought that I noticed yesterday that the crew of the safety boat would not provide assistance unless Mars Bars were offered! Really…

At lunch, Peter G was re-awarded his trophy from his recent victory at the RYA Regatta on Rutland Water. Many of us sat there proud in the knowledge that WE had contributed to the honing of his sailing skills. Next stop the Paralmypics. Well we can only dream can’t we?”

Thank you Bob. Being in such a spin down here in Brighton, I haven’t had a chance to check the accuracy of Bob’s report (so all law suits to Bob please). Do enjoy the pictures of Brian in his Liberty and Captain Bligh in her heavily reefed 2.3 and the normal schematic.

Final Result:

1. Peter Gregory; 2. Brian Mac; 3. Mike Blatchford; 4. Fay Watson/Tony; 5. Bill Garry; 6. Bob Fisher; 7. Mark Cayzer/Mike; 8. Steve Farmer; 9. Malcolm Hill/Dan; 10. Andy Wallace; 11. Sam/Kevin 12. Ann Frewer

What a joyous occasion took place as over 50 WS Racers and their support crews and volunteers were welcomed by the Trustees to celebrate their achievements during the year. Special guests were Gina Marsh and Eileen McCormick who had kindly agreed to present the new trophies which the Trustees had decided to create in memory of Bob and Brian, two stalwarts who had been at the heart of Wealden Sailability, from its outset, and major contributors to everything the charity has become.

The Peter Hazlewood Trophy was presented to Mike Blatchford by WS President, Brian Stanley; the Bob Marsh Trophy was presented to Mike Blatchford by Gina Marsh; the Brian McCormick Trophy was presented to Mark Cayzer by Eileen McCormick; the Spring and Summer series’ Podium places were presented to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed WS Racers by Nigel Lamb, the WS Trustee responsible for Racing (Except David Mason – 2nd in the Spring Series – who was sorting out a leaking roof, nevertheless heartily applauded! Ed); and the WS Qualifers in both Series were presented with their Qualifier Certificate by Fleur Bryant who, together with Peter Ashwell, assist Nigel Lamb to organise WS Racing’s events throughout the year. The WS Racers support crews and many of the WS volunteers who help the WS Racers on race days, both on and off the water and in the clubhouse, were a very enthusiastic audience to the presentations

Here is a slide show of photographs taken by David Barker of the gathering and the presentations:

The Trustees and we hope that everyone associated with Wealden Sailabilty has a very comfortable and healthy winter and we look forward to seeing you all in April 2020…..only 142 days to go!! Nigel, Fleur and Peter