The Welsh Harp, Brent Reservoir, is very COLD on a Saturday Morning in October.
And it certainly was on the morning of the Victor Trophy this year.
I had gone down early, as had many, to check that my GP14 was ready for this, one of the last regattas in the “Southern Travellers” series.
I was greeted at the club house by a buzz of activity, some of which revolved around signing-on, and ensuring that my dinghy (any myself and my crew) were all registered correctly. More significantly, there was a huge pile of newly-made cheese-and-ham bagels, just waiting to be devoured. And coffee, lots of coffee.
This year saw nearly 30% of the fleet consisting of visitors, from as far afield as Llandegfedd in Wales, and Brixham & Paignton in the West Country. Many of these were already on-site, preparing boats, checking rig tensions… and enjoying the bagels.
Race Officer John Shepherd explained that the wind was south-easterly, but that it would veer to the southerly during the day. The Harp itself, running roughly east-to-west, is a great place to sail when the winds are westerly or easterly. But maybe it would be a bit more tricky today. Nevertheless, if the wind speed continued at Ten to Fifteen knots, we should have a good time.
Sarah and I started confidently. These were wind conditions that we were comfortable with.
The first race presented us with a wide starting line, as we all sped off in an Eastward direction along the lake. An East-West course gave people a good chance to fly spinnakers, and the fleet soon spread out. The weather had got warmer and the wind was reasonably consistent - not that it is ever really consistent on the Welsh Harp - so what was there not to like?
We started from the middle of the fleet, and unfortunately our sailing was a bit ragged. Tacking had the tendency to slow down the boat. Nevertheless, we were reasonably happy with our progress, and had four boats behind us at the finish.
Not only that, but we also had a problem during one lap as we were dropping the spinnaker. The kite got caught around the forestay. Sarah gave it a good tug, and the spinnaker sheet came away in her hand… we were “two sails” for the rest of the race.
The first race was won by Jasper Barnham and Graham Sexton of Snettisham Beach and Fishers Green Sailing Club, respectively. They were chased by Maurice Cleal and Romek Kowalewsk from the local Welsh Harp Sailing Club.
For the second race, there was a “C - Charlie” flag flying, which meant a change of course. The feared change of wind direction had started, and we now had a beat in a southerly directly, across the breadth of the lake. This meant a much shorter beat, leading to a bit of congestion at the first windward mark. There was some shouting, but no damage was done!
Because of the wind direction, the course consisted of much shorter legs. The tactical decisions were important - should we launch the kite, or rely on two-sails, bearing in mind the increased shiftiness of the wind?
Although we had managed to make good the spinnaker problem in the interval between the races, we elected not to fly the kite in many cases. The legs were very short, and it seemed that the effort (and the effect of slowing the boat down) would outweigh the benefits. So the race was a continuous case of decision making - kite-or-no-kite? This flexibility paid off for us.
Jasper and Graham again won the race.
Because we were being “agile” in the way we approached the spinnaker flying, we were sometimes able to overtake another boat which (expecting to find a reach and flying a spinnaker) was suddenly presented with a beat. In fact, for one lap it seemed to me that every single leg resolved itself into a beat, so variable was the wind.
For the second race, we ended up 14th - our best result for the day.
After the second race, everyone went in for lunch. And what a treat - the team had put together a veritable feast for us; curry and rice, with additional options, including popadoms. At least one boat decided not to return to the water after such a delicious meal.
After lunch, the battles resumed.
The start line was set up for a beat southerly to buoy number “2”. The choices were straightforward - either start at the port-side “pin”, which was set to windward, or near the committee boat. The latter afforded a shorter leg to the windward mark, albeit the wind was weaker, due to the western dam wall. But the windward pin-end, tempting as it was, required competitors to tack onto port almost as soon as they had crossed the start line. And the short beat did not allow the fleet to spread out much - with the singular exceptions of the exceptional lead boats. Once again, the first two places were the same.
We ended up 19th.
The final race was set for the same course as the previous one. The previous race had given many of us some significant hints on how to sail each leg of the course. Following the beat, there were some wind “holes” near the centre of the course, and the observant were able to take advantage of this knowledge. The penultimate reach saw the middle-fleet alternating between “kite-or-no-kite” in an effort to extract the greatest drive out of the wind which was threatening to die at any moment.
Again, we tried to be responsive to the conditions, rather than just assuming that “the next leg must be a reach”. In the penultimate reaching leg to buoy no 1 (before the beat to no 2), we stayed with “two sails” for half of the leg. I had noticed in the previous race (and previous legs) that the first half was almost a beat, and having just two sails gave us flexibility. I was jut pondering about flying the spinnaker for the second part of the leg, when the boat ahead of us launched theirs. That decided us - we immediately did the same. The extra power took us over a couple of boats, and positioned us well for the final beat to no 2. We ended up in 16th place, which we were pleased with.
After the final race, there were more refreshments, as well as a few visits to the well-stocked WHSC bar.
Grateful thanks were offered to the many people who contributed to the success of the day; the Race Officer and his team, the shore team doing the scoring, and - most importantly - the excellent cooks who fed us so well at lunch time.
The fleet had been evenly segregated into bronze, silver and gold categories, so there were many prizes to be given out, with bottles of wine and commemorative mugs for those in first, second and third place.
We had a discard on the first race (20th). Unfortunately, although we had done well (for us) on the 2nd and 4th race, our combined score meant that we were, in fact, 20th in the regatta itself.
The Trophy for this event consists of specially mounted model of a Handley Page Victor bomber. This recognises the contribution of the Handley Page company to sailing in the Welsh Harp during the 1950s and beyond. The Victor was one of the “cold war” aircraft that is most associated with them. Unfortunately, this trophy is so unique that it is not allowed to be moved from it’s home.
Jasper Barnham and Graham Sexton were allowed the rare privilege of holding the Victor Trophy, before having to return it for safe keeping.
As the wind settled down in the Harp, and preparations were made for many people to tow their boats home, the overall feeling was that this had been one of the most successful GP14 Southern Traveller events at the Welsh Harp for a long time. The fleet had been a good size, and the competition fierce.
As Jasper said in his acceptance speech, all we need for next time is for the wind to be East-West. We look forward to the next event.
Sarah & I were happy with our contribution - onward and upward.
