Penultimate weekend of 2020 Bembridge Redwing & One-Design Racing
by Mike Samuelson 21 Sep 2020 05:52 UTC
19-20 September 2020
The forecast for the penultimate weekend of Redwing and One-Design racing this season was for moderate to fresh easterly/north easterly winds with sunny periods.
On Saturday the direction was certainly right although the strength was a bit lighter. That said, it was still sufficient to kick up a classic easterly lop which made for some challenging racing and not very pleasant for the race officers!
Five Redwings made a clean start off a line set using an inflatable about 100m to the east of Pepe with Janson as the windward mark and Pepe as the leeward mark.
Start of the first Redwing race:
Mike Toogood in Tara was first round Janson with Skua, helmed by Rory Morrison close behind. There was then a gap to Harlequin helmed by John Raymond, Snowgoose, helmed by Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore and Blue Jay, helmed by Richard Jessel. The order stayed the same as they rounded Pepe, however Skua moved into the lead on the beat to Footprint and remained in front back to Pepe and crossed the line twenty seconds ahead. Harlequin was third, twenty seconds behind Tara. The start of the second race was more vocal than than the first one with Harlequin forcing Will Toogood helming Tara over the line at the start. Having also been OCS, Harlequin did not take long to establish a good lead by the time they reached Janson. Skua and Tara were close on the run to Pepe but the former managed to point better on the second beat to Footprint and finished forty seconds ahead. Snowgoose was fourth, two minutes ahead of Blue Jay.
Although there were only two One-Designs, they had a couple of excellent races with Robin Joy in No 10 always just ahead of Susie Beart in No 5 in the first finishing less than a second ahead. In the second, it was neck and neck for the first round but Susie then got her own back on the second beat to Footprint and finished back at Pepe just under a minute ahead.
Whilst certainly not a flat calm, the sea state on Sunday afternoon was considerably more comfortable, particularly for Race Officers! It was also reasonably sunny! The F3 gusting F4 NNEasterly and rising tide meant that the start could be at Pepe and there were three well placed windward marks to play with. Both classes (five Redwings and four One-Designs) began with a shortish beat to Nainby and back; the Redwings then went to Derrick, back to Pepe and then completed a final round to Britten and back. The One-Designs meanwhile had Britten and Nainby as their two additional windward marks.
The Redwings got away to a clean start, although the Race Officers were a bit generous to Blue Jay and gave them the benefit of the doubt as to whether they had been 'pushed' the wrong side of the line by Snowgoose. Mike Toogood in Tara led round the first two marks but Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II took over the lead on the beat to Derrick and John Raymond in Harlequin moved up into second. Harlequin continued to make gains and was first round the final windward mark (Britten) however, Red Gauntlet II got the lead back again on the final run back to the finish at Pepe having taken the straight line route inside the Fort and finished three seconds ahead. Tara was third, Blue Jay fourth and Snowgoose fifth some way back.
After an interesting start with Charles Abel Smith in No 1 timing his return to the correct side of the line with less than a second to go, the One-Designs initially had some close racing with Susie Beart in No 5 the early leader. However Charles Perry helming upwind with his wife Lavinia sailing downwind in No 8 tacked off towards Priory Bay after rounding Pepe first time and found themselves with a significant lead at Britten. Sticking with the same tactics for the final beat to Nainby, put them at least two minutes ahead at the finish. Susie in No 5 was second three seconds ahead of Charles in No 1. Sarah Marshall in No 7 was fourth a long way behind (well she actually retired after two rounds!).
Very early starts next weekend and with the long range forecast not looking very encouraging, numbers joining in for the last two days programmed racing before the Illusion winter season begins could be limited!