There had been no racing on the Saturday, so Lesley Kaye asked if I would crew for her in the Brent Regatta, which is the traditional holiday event, arranged across the clubs which come under the Welsh Harp Sailing Assiciation.
As far as I know, the format of the race is unique: for 2-handed boats such as the GP14, the first person helms the first race, with the second person helming the next one. That is the followed by the traditional tea and cakes. The third race involves the helm and crew swapping places half way during the race.
The day was hot and humid - some 5 knots of wind coming from northerly and easterly directions, shifting by 90% every now and then. So it would be a test of skill. Thunderstorms were also forecast. Before we set out, the OOD mentioned that he would reserve the right to cancel the race if the threatened lightening turned up. Comforting thought !
We sailed in 13853 - Lesley’s boat, with a nearly-new EXE mainsail, and Lesley’s Union Jack coloured spinnaker, which she had purchased for the Nationals last year.
For the first race, we were presented with a very port-biased line, so we beat up to the “pin” end in good time. The wind changed (welcome to the Welsh Harp!) , so maybe we were in completely the wrong place. Then the wind shifted back, so we just raced to the line and were through in good time and with good speed. We led the fleet to the windward mark. As we progressed round the first lap of the course, the gap got bigger, and our lead looked unassailable.
But things were not to be: Chris Lomax and Ed Coyne were on our tail. We headed to no “5” Mark, and the wind dropped. We could not get the necessary boat speed. They pounced. We had to fend off another threatening boat, as Chris & Ed overtook us.
Coming into the final leg of the last lap, we were inching away at his lead, but he led us to the committeee boat end of the finish line. At least we had a second place!
For the second race, I took over helming. We again started on the left hand side of the line. The bias was so tight that we called “starboard” on another boat, which had to tack off, and was unable to cross the start line. Only then did I realise that it was Ed and Chris again! Hope they forgive me!
We were able to put together another good lead (although not as spectacular as on the first race), and were looking over our shoulders far too many times for Ed and Chris to catch up with them. They did.
There must have been no more than 3 or 4 boat lengths between us in the final leg. Should we fly the spinnaker on the short reaching leg, or rely on two sails with extra control, we debated? In the end we said we would do the opposite of what they did. After the mark rounding, they were clearly going for the 'kite, so we pressed on. But the boat would not respond. Was it bad wind, or bad sailing, who knows? But the end result was that we were a couple of lengths behind them, as they headed for the finish line again. Another second place.
It looked like their regatta.
We had a great tea, with some wonderful sticky cakes, before we got back on the water.
This time, we were determined to win, for pride's sake !
Bearing in mind the switchover from one helm to another, we worked out a switching system, and then practiced it before the race started. We were ready.
The third start was not as spectacular as the others, so we had a couple of boats to catch up with. But we were confident, and motivated.
Before long, we had managed to gain the lead, with another boat behind us, and Chris & Ed in third place. We pressed on, and finally managed to finish the race in first place. Chris and Ed were third, and we exchanged congratulations across the water - us for the race win, and them for the two firsts which had won the regatta for them.
Then came the surprise.
They had five points (1 - 1 - 3), as did we ( 2 - 2 - 1), so we had naturally assumed that their two "bullets" would mean that they had won the regatta. Not so - the scoring system worked on a "count-back" in the case of a tie. Since we had won the third race, we had taken the regatta !
I think Lesley & I were still a bit stunned when we received the Brent Regatta Trophy, plus a bottle of wine for each of us.
Our commiserations to Chris and Ed, who we thought had deserved to win.
But we had got our first combined trophy.
I will be looking after (and polishing !) the Brent Regatta trophy for the first six months, and then Lesley can look after it until next year.
A massive confidence boost - I need to get back on the water with my own boat very soon !
FOOTNOTE: 13941 is still under repair, following a collision with the concrete floor last week, when it slipped out of its rope cradle when being weighted. But we should be back on the water in two weeks time...
No comments:
Post a Comment