Larks at the Southport 24 Hour Race
by Steve Cumley 18 Sep 2003 09:30 BST
With some optimism Seven Lark teams made up from Universities, the Royal Navy and the LCOA entered the 2003 West Lancashire YC 24 hour event. In 2002 the LCOA team finished 10th after leading for 4 hours and Lancaster University finished 16th so expectations were high, especially with the forecasted 10 knot southerly for the duration of the event.
The event started proper on Friday night with teams arriving early to familiarise themselves with the surroundings. Unfortunately it was dark when most of the teams arrived, so familiarisation had to be focused on the marquee which happened to have a fully stocked bar and a disco!
Saturday morning brought a freshening South Easterly to blow away those hangovers so anticipation was high at the start. At midday the start gun went and the LCOA A team, seeded 8th spluttered into action off the downwind start line. With spinnakers up the B and C team headed off 1 minute later in the second flight, keen to chase down the first pack. The Larks were significantly faster in the gusts picking up onto the plane and storming through but unfortunately, even at the start, the gusts were not big enough to make a real impact. After 1 frustrating lap the LCOA A team were struggling with a broken rudder downhaul, the B team were swamped with weed and the C team were beached at the southern end of the lake. 2 hours in, the first changeovers started to take place. The A team were in 29th, the B team in the 30’s and the C team were still in the dinghy park being fixed. Things could only get better!
As the afternoon progressed the wind moved further round to the East and reduced in strength. At times the Larks were crucially unable to carry there spinnakers down either of the long legs giving the GP’s and Ents, which carry more sail upwind, the extra power advantage to punch through the weed. By 6pm the wind had shut down altogether giving Steve Bolland & Katharine Sampson (A team) and the David & Nick Marlow (B team) the unenviable task of drifting the boat under the ever watchful eyes of the judges keen to penalise anybody caught pumping.
Fortunately, and perhaps unexpectedly a 3-5 knot breeze kicked back in at about 8pm which remained for the rest of the race. The A team pushed hard with Simon Cox & Anna Hotchkiss sailing well to drag the team back up the order slightly and Michael-John Gifford & Ruth Johnson sailing very well over midnight. Such was the dominance though of the GP’s and Ent’s in these conditions that none of the Lark sailors could stop boats appearing out of the darkness like a train, sailing underneath you and then disappearing back into the gloom ahead.
Amongst the Larks though, a private battle was starting to form for the third placed Lark. The C team which had lost over 4 laps at the beginning because of breakages were now flying and keen to take the placing away from Lancaster Uni. It was nip and tuck right to the end and it was only in the final minutes that the C team managed to catch and pass Lancaster.
Smashie and Jennie Bennett brought the A team home in 22nd, Mark Ampleford and Caroline brought the B team home in 34th and the C team finished in 52nd.
After the event there were a few long faces amongst the Lark camp. We all felt that we had sailed quite well but recognised that the conditions just didn’t suit. Maybe next year if the wind is stronger (4-5 please) and from a different direction (south west please) and the water is higher (12-18inches usually) then a Lark will win. And if next year is not a sunny summer then don’t despair – the silver lining to the cloud is that there will be less weed at Southport!
Final Lark results:
22nd Lark Class Owners Association “A”
34th Lark Class Owners Association “B”
52nd Lark Class Owners Association “C”
53rd Lancaster University
59th Royal Navy Sailing Association “C”
65th U.M.I.S.T.
66th University of Edinburgh