Bembridge Sailing Club Dinghy Regatta 2024
by Mike Samuelson 14 Aug 16:50 NZST
9-10 August 2024
Bembridge Sailing Club Dinghy Regatta 2024 © Mike Samuelson
Initially conditions on Friday afternoon were looking very promising for the Inshore Dinghy Regatta, however the breeze increased to such an extent that prior to the first start, the AP was displayed and the Committee Boat (Sir Pellinore kindly on loan from BHYC) moved to the area of Drum to find some protection off St Helens shore.
With a laid inshore inflatable as the windward mark and Drum as the leeward mark for the first two classes, racing got under way with a slightly depleted number of boats. No Oppies but there were two Teras who were set three rounds of the relatively short windward/leeward course. A convincing win for Olly Glasgow from SVYC. The nine Scows had the same course but four times round. Pete Giles from (BHYC) was always just in front but Catherine Williams (née Summerhayes) and Jodie Spence were never very far behind.
Although dubbed the Slow Handicap, there were in fact only two SVODs and a Fusion and rather than them staying with the short course, it was decided to give them more of a challenge and send them out to Derrick as the leeward mark. Initially all three had difficulty location Derrick but in the end did round it safely. The beat back was certainly a test and the Fusion decided to head back to the harbour. This just left Charles Glanville and Charlie Proddow to complete the one round and finish at the windward mark.
Next off were the ILCA 4s (Laser 4.7) who had the same course. Although the less experienced struggled offshore, Henry Landon lapped up the challenge and finished well ahead of the only other two boats who completed the course. Three Feva's gallantly set off but found the conditions too difficult and only Aaron & Basti Crutchfield managed to stay upright and finish. Finally there were four entries in the Fast Handicap.
As to be expected, Tony Burton in his Laser 4000 lead the way having rounded the windward inflatable, but the 4000 does not have a very friendly PY number, whereas the Laser 2000 is the opposite, so despite coming in well ahead, on corrected time he was second behind Matt & Sammy Glasgow. Although the WASPZ did cross the start line, Al Luxford retired soon after - gusty conditions really don't make life easy when racing a foiling dinghy!
Conditions on Saturday afternoon initially looked promising and the forecast was for a reduction in the wind speed, however it was still at the top end of F4 and as it was a SW'erly the breeze between Pepe and Garland was just too strong to safely run mixed ability racing, so the Committee Boat moved to the same area as the previous day off Drum. However, armed with an additional inflatable that was laid about half way to Derrick for the faster boats things were considerably more contained.
The downside of laying a windward mark in towards the beach is that it becomes very fluky, but then it is the same for all! Three Oppies and three Teras sailed from Seaview and had a joint start with the Oppies who were set three times round and the Teras four times round. Leonardo Jones won the Tera race and Barnaby Edwards the Oppy race. Eleven Scows started and had the same course as the Teras. As always, there was some close racing with a number of place changes as boats found and lost the breeze. Martyn Davies in No 619 lead home Oliver Morgan in No 638 and Pete Giles in No 3.
There were no slow handicap and only three ILCA 4s and one RS Feva. Along with the Fast Handicap their leeward mark was the more distant inflatable which worked well. As he did the previous day, Henry Landon lead the other ILCA 4s from the start line and never looked under any real threat. Tom Tamtam was second and his brother James was third. Aaron and his son Basti were the only Feva wanting to race which was a bit disappointing, however they did complete two rounds so that they could justify winning a first prize!
There were six in the Fast Handicap including Stuart Gummer in his RS100, Matt Glasgow with his son Sammy in his Laser 2000, Tony Burton helming his Laser 4000, Kristian Schafer sailing his ILCA 5 (Radial) and Chris Sproat helming a 29er (subsequently retired). Although the Laser 4000 took line honours, again their handicap did not favour them and the winners on corrected time were Kristian, followed by Matt with Stuart third."