Access Class National Championships 2010 At Swarkestone Sailing Club
Golden autumnal sunshine greeted us all at Swarkestone on Friday 3rd September as competitors and crew rigged their boats for the training day.
True to our usual form, Mark and I chose not to practise but we were there to catch up with old friends and to extend the traditional welcome to all competitors, some having hauled their craft from as far away as Holland. While my rigger and crew frantically sorted through the club’s container for a decent set of sails and a straight mast, I had a good chat with my mates. Ah…. the labours of sailing.
Later that evening, a few of us met up at a hostelry of good character, with fine beer and excellent company, but conscious of tomorrow’s event, we parted early and laid a course for bed.
Saturday morning, with the smell of bacon and sausages wafting through the club house we listened to the Race Officer’s briefing. Thanks go to Claire for that marvellous aroma.
Thanks also for the magnificent effort of organisation on the part of the shore crew, helpers and volunteers in getting all the competitors on the water in time for the scheduled first start at 10:45am. This I’m sure, must be a first in the history of this event.
Race 1
With the wind blowing a light to moderate easterly, veering south-east at times, we lined up for our start with no. 9 buoy as our first mark.
A good start; and by tacking onto port where we were headed, we rounded the mark right up with the 303 singles and well ahead of the doubles fleet. For four laps we held our place, enjoying the racing and trimming the rig to keep up with the singles.
Meanwhile, all was not well on the committee boat. Having contrived to lose their anchor; in the subsequent struggle to find a secure mooring, all eyes were elsewhere as boats crossed the finish line.
Oblivious to all this, we congratulated ourselves on the first win.
Race 2 proceeded much the same as the first, once again the key being to point high and “tack when it flapped” tacking back when the wind veered south-east.
Careful sail trimming on the reach and run, making extensive use of the adjustable outhaul to hold or even improve our lead gained us another first place. Thanks to John Hainsworth for this newly-rigged modification, available on all Swarkestone boats. The smooth and easy operation sets the standard for this control.
Lunch break and the confusion aboard the committee boat became apparent as the results were posted. Last being first, first not even being present and one boat sailing an extra lap to get a finish signal.
However, things were pretty much put-to-rights by the time we lined up for Race 3, the computer having assured we were competing and all eyes in the committee boat hawkishly upon the racing craft, we once again ran up two more wins.
Saturday night saw revelry and a disco at Swarkestone but being so close to home and a little tired I did not attend. Just as well, for Sunday morning bought with it a freshening breeze; again from just south of east, but with more gusts and larger shifts than the day before.
To complete the racing as early as possible and to give the visiting competitors time to stow and get home, three races were run back-to-back.
After some problems with the foot-steering (a device newly invented and installed aboard our boat just that week, therefore untested) we managed to secure another first, but only because Patrick and Ian, in their excitement at being in first place, missed a buoy and disqualified themselves.
A quick pit-stop to re-adjust the steering and improvise a head support cushion to save my neck and into Race 6, this was our last race for as we turned around the leeward mark the boat in front tacked across us, forcing us to perform an emergency turn to port to avoid a collision; shortly after this the foot-steering mechanism decided to part with the turning block and I had no steering at all!
After the crew had finished his mutinous shouting of, “Where the xxxx are we going?” I managed to tell him I had no steering as we headed for another Swarkestone 303 double, to which he said, “Keep b***** going” and steered with one hand behind him on the tiller and the other hand on the sheets, to finish the race still in first place.
This meant we could discard our DNC for race 7, giving us an unbeatable 6 points out of 7 races and retained the 303 double championships for another year.
This will be the last time for me in that class however, as I expect to be competing next year in my new Liberty class boat “Dreamcatcher”.
In all it was an excellent weekend of competition, superb sailing weather and Swarkestone hospitality.
A special mention must be made of the “Flying Dutchwomen” in the Liberty class.
I look forward to racing Wilma and Vera next year.
True to our usual form, Mark and I chose not to practise but we were there to catch up with old friends and to extend the traditional welcome to all competitors, some having hauled their craft from as far away as Holland. While my rigger and crew frantically sorted through the club’s container for a decent set of sails and a straight mast, I had a good chat with my mates. Ah…. the labours of sailing.
Later that evening, a few of us met up at a hostelry of good character, with fine beer and excellent company, but conscious of tomorrow’s event, we parted early and laid a course for bed.
Saturday morning, with the smell of bacon and sausages wafting through the club house we listened to the Race Officer’s briefing. Thanks go to Claire for that marvellous aroma.
Thanks also for the magnificent effort of organisation on the part of the shore crew, helpers and volunteers in getting all the competitors on the water in time for the scheduled first start at 10:45am. This I’m sure, must be a first in the history of this event.
Race 1
With the wind blowing a light to moderate easterly, veering south-east at times, we lined up for our start with no. 9 buoy as our first mark.
A good start; and by tacking onto port where we were headed, we rounded the mark right up with the 303 singles and well ahead of the doubles fleet. For four laps we held our place, enjoying the racing and trimming the rig to keep up with the singles.
Meanwhile, all was not well on the committee boat. Having contrived to lose their anchor; in the subsequent struggle to find a secure mooring, all eyes were elsewhere as boats crossed the finish line.
Oblivious to all this, we congratulated ourselves on the first win.
Race 2 proceeded much the same as the first, once again the key being to point high and “tack when it flapped” tacking back when the wind veered south-east.
Careful sail trimming on the reach and run, making extensive use of the adjustable outhaul to hold or even improve our lead gained us another first place. Thanks to John Hainsworth for this newly-rigged modification, available on all Swarkestone boats. The smooth and easy operation sets the standard for this control.
Lunch break and the confusion aboard the committee boat became apparent as the results were posted. Last being first, first not even being present and one boat sailing an extra lap to get a finish signal.
However, things were pretty much put-to-rights by the time we lined up for Race 3, the computer having assured we were competing and all eyes in the committee boat hawkishly upon the racing craft, we once again ran up two more wins.
Saturday night saw revelry and a disco at Swarkestone but being so close to home and a little tired I did not attend. Just as well, for Sunday morning bought with it a freshening breeze; again from just south of east, but with more gusts and larger shifts than the day before.
To complete the racing as early as possible and to give the visiting competitors time to stow and get home, three races were run back-to-back.
After some problems with the foot-steering (a device newly invented and installed aboard our boat just that week, therefore untested) we managed to secure another first, but only because Patrick and Ian, in their excitement at being in first place, missed a buoy and disqualified themselves.
A quick pit-stop to re-adjust the steering and improvise a head support cushion to save my neck and into Race 6, this was our last race for as we turned around the leeward mark the boat in front tacked across us, forcing us to perform an emergency turn to port to avoid a collision; shortly after this the foot-steering mechanism decided to part with the turning block and I had no steering at all!
After the crew had finished his mutinous shouting of, “Where the xxxx are we going?” I managed to tell him I had no steering as we headed for another Swarkestone 303 double, to which he said, “Keep b***** going” and steered with one hand behind him on the tiller and the other hand on the sheets, to finish the race still in first place.
This meant we could discard our DNC for race 7, giving us an unbeatable 6 points out of 7 races and retained the 303 double championships for another year.
This will be the last time for me in that class however, as I expect to be competing next year in my new Liberty class boat “Dreamcatcher”.
In all it was an excellent weekend of competition, superb sailing weather and Swarkestone hospitality.
A special mention must be made of the “Flying Dutchwomen” in the Liberty class.
I look forward to racing Wilma and Vera next year.