Report by Andrew Frankish (Jolly Rogered), Winning Catamaran
Jolly Rogered (foreground) and Wind Dancer - photo N Wells
Saturday | Sunday |
Monday | Tuesday | WednesdayThursday | Friday | Saturday | Author's Note
- Saturday
- The regatta kicked off this year very well with a fantastic jazz
cruise where everyone was getting in to the swing of things. The aftermath from
the evening events reflected quite dramatically in the results the following
morning.
- Sunday
- Sunday was an interesting day with a steady force 2. We all lined our
boats on the beach in anticipation of some more wind to fill in throughout the
afternoon. It was a glorious day anyhow so let's just get on with the racing
and have some fun. The starting sequence on Sunday caught many people out as
the catamaran class start line was clustered beyond belief right up to about 30
seconds to the starting gun and still was not clear as we sailed through the
start. This was mentioned that evening in the clubhouse and the rest of the
week didn't have too many mistakes from the other classes. As we sailed through
the start it was very close between Jolly Rogered and Wind Dancer to the
windward mark and I was just pipped to the mark by Matt Exon. The two races
proved very close competition with Matt holding me off well, yet did not manage
to beat me over the finishing line. Unaware of how close Steve Waterall was
behind us he had snuck in and beat us both on handicap on the first race with
Mat finishing 3rd and myself finishing 2nd.
The second race was very
much the same with very close racing yet Matt just managed to sneak ahead of me
on the last sprint for the finish and with the decreasing wind he had the
better line and the advantage, and went for it which paid off in the end with
Matt gaining 1st position and myself gaining 2nd, with the rest of the fleet
retiring due to lack of wind and number of laps still to complete.
- Monday
- Monday woke up after a hard night sleeping in a tent to yet another
day of light winds. The sun was blazing down and was very hot early morning so
a good chance of an early sea breeze kicking in. Our prayers were slowly
answered as we reached the committee boat, a nice 2-3 breeze had filled in
which are perfect conditions for the Dart Hawk to excel. After another
excellent start I managed to slowly pull away from the fleet and as I rounded
the windward mark and hoisted the spinnaker I dramatically made substantial
lead on the fleet to ensure a 1st place with Matt gaining 2nd, Steve gaining
3rd and Graham Parris retiring.
- Tuesday
- Tuesday yet again woke to the 23°C heat and full sun and yet
again….no wind. Not a blade of grass was moving but not holding us back we
had soon rigged on the beach and began the long hard paddle to the starting
line. Romayne and Gordon arrived to save the day with the rib after about 20
minutes of paddling with the rib and a tow line. All four cats in convoy
steaming towards the start line. After an hour postponement the wind began to
fill in, a good 3-4 blew for about 15 minutes before the start giving the rest
of the classes a good show as all of the catamarans reached on one hull at a
good rate of knots trying to make the most of the new breeze. As racing began
moderate winds decided they had blown long enough and decreased to a 2 gusting
3. Managed to get a great start and lead the whole race and with the long runs
Matt had an even harder time of trying to catch me up. I managed to gain just
under a 3 minute lead on Matt as I finished with Matt coming 2nd and Graham
finishing for 3rd position.
- Wednesday
- Wednesday morning was not the best of sights to wake up to.
Visibility at 7am was less than 5 meters as dense fog had rolled in throughout
the early morning, a hard decision on what was to be done. We tallied round the
competitors at Blyth Park and contacted the main club for information on a
starting time or a cancellation of the days racing. But thankfully the race
officer continued with the race and we all proceeded to make our way to the
harbour. Due to the total lack of wind we needed a tow and Romayne came to the
rescue. Once situated by the committee boat we detached and waited, and
waited…..then all of a sudden a water bomb flew across my hulls and hit
Joka. This was to be the start of a massive water fight which took place for
over an hour until the postponement flag was dropped. Very eventful as most
boats got involved with buckets, water pistols or water bombs and unfortunately
Sarah of Joka got a bit too carried away and found herself swimming after
slipping off the hull of Joka. After the fog had lifted we all assembled on the
start line, as a nice breeze of about a force 3 filled in. All of the cats held
back as usual waiting for the final charge at full speed for the line. I had a
magnificent start; all set to hit the line bang on the gun, but it was not to
be. My start was hindered by a YOD Patience. Confusion from our velocity had
set in and with not knowing which way to turn forced me to stall my boat
allowing the rest of the fleet to pass me on the start line. This did not stop
us, we sailed very hard pulling out all the stops and still managed to reach
the windward mark as the leading boat. This great upwind leg followed by 3
spinnaker legs made a great difference increasing my lead all day. Graham
decided he had had enough after sailing 2 laps of the wrong course, and I flew
across the finish line still holding the spinnaker 6.5 minutes ahead of Matt on
Wind dancer.
- Thursday
- Thursday woke again to no wind, paddling to the start line the rest
of the weeks activities started to catch up with us with fatigue setting in and
feeling completely exhausted. After we had collected the course and were
waiting for the 10 minute gun, out of nowhere a force 5 gusting 6 blew up. With
only myself and my mum on board we were drastically underweight to deal with
these sudden change of conditions. Matt and Richard got a great start and
continued to pull away from us throughout the whole race.
As we reached
the windward mark I knew that as we jibed the run was going to be incredibly
fast. I told my mum to hook onto her harness in case she got knocked off as I
was not capable of keeping the boat upright single handed as a force 6 started
to fill in. We rounded the mark and as she grabbed the trapeze handle I
suddenly bore away as a gust hit us as she slipped over the side, barely
hanging on. I was trapezing at the time and all I could see was an arm and a
hand petruding out of the white spray. Mums legs had got trapped under the boat
with the suction created from the speed. I made a lunge for her and dropped my
mainsheet and tiller in an attempt to grab her and haul her onto the boat. This
was more difficult than it sounds, with no means to de-power the boat or turn I
balanced on one foot and held onto my mums life jacket and tried to turn the
boat by pushing my foot on the rudders to head up into wind. Eventually the
boat turned up after a good minute my mum could breathe again after been
trapped underwater. I decided to just luff up and have a breather as it was
quite a traumatic experience for us both. After a 10 minute breather mum
decided to continue the race and crawl round to gain a position which would
give me enough points overall to win the event, with no pressure on the
Friday's race. Yet after a second lap it was just getting too much so we
decided to forefit the race and retire, knowing that the final race on Friday
will be the deciding race for first and second place overall.
As we
passed the harbour on our way home we decided that the two mile run was going
to be too much so we dropped the main and headed home on the jib. On reaching
Blyth Park we came head to head with a 505. As we headed up onto a close reach
to head into the beach we were sailing the same angle as the 505 and began to
overtake him powered only by the jib, which was certainly a first for me. That
evening I was also nominated for the wonderful regatta jacket, for my events
during the day regarding the loss of my crew overboard. Yet I managed to escape
the embarrassment when someone reminded the rest of the club that Gordon who
was presenting the jacket had to climb his mast….twice.
- Friday
- Friday A glorious day to finish off the regatta with full sun and
steady force 3. Yet again me and Matt were fighting for position on the start
line and as we approached the last 5 metres Gordon who was driving the rib was
sat right on the start in my way, narrowly escaping a collision he sped off
allowing me to complete a flawless race. Yet again the spinnaker made the
difference with mum now gaining more experience and becoming much quicker on
crewing on the Hawk. So homeward stretch for the finish line with a 10minute
lead on the 5.9, as the gun sounded I had just won my first regatta.
Prize giving for the RYYC 146th annual regatta was a great night overall.
During the week I had gained 4 first positions and 2 seconds, and tonight it
was followed by the overall East Yorkshire Catamaran Trophy. I also had a big
surprise when the Commodore also announced that I had also been awarded the
Simon Nettleton memorial cup for the best performance by a cadet member for the
weeks sailing.
- Saturday
- The finale. Guy Shackles race on the Saturday was going to be the
one to aim for. With 28 boats on the start line it was murder searching for
clean air. As we all charged for the start line Stampede was pushed up over the
line and I saw a gap at the top end of the line and went for it with all of the
other cats stuck in the middle of the fleet in a massive wind shadow I began to
create a substantial lead with myself, (Jolly Rogered) Riot and Just Right all
way in the lead heading for the windward mark. After lapping the majority of
the fleet two or three times and completing an extra lap to everyone else as we
were just under the 90 minute as we crossed he line for the third time twin
trapezing holding the spinnaker all the way back home to Blyth Park, a perfect
end to a glorious week.
Now back in the clubhouse over 2 hrs later
there was still no sign of Matt and Richard on Wind Dancer, with everyone
becoming quite concerned as a mist started to roll in and the decreasing winds
created a problem. Unknown to the rest of the club Wind Dancer had decided to
sail up to Flamborough Head and after contacting the coastguard to locate them
we sent out the Blyth Park RIB to go in search and tow them back to shore. The
results for Guy Shackles Race I finished 14th Steve Waterall 21st and Matt Exon
25th. What must I have had to do to gain a better result? I have no idea, on
rough calculations I would have had to have lapped everyone a good 4 times to
come close to a top 5 position. An impossible act, could someone please explain
to me in detail how these results are worked out!!!
- Author's Note
- Any Comments on Guy Shackles race or any one interested in trying out
sailing a Hawk Catamaran please give me a call and I will be happy to help -
Andrew Frankish
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