Medway Yachting Association Regatta at Medway Yacht Club
by Roy Winnett 20 Jul 2008 00:34 BST
10-13 July 2008
There were over 50 entrants for this year’s MYA keelboat regatta held between 10th and 13th July under the burgee of the Medway Yacht Club.
Attracted by generous sponsorship from such local businesses as Wallis the Florist, Chatham Maritime Marina, Pirates Cave Chandlery and Gillingham Marina, as well as Hyde Sails and Craftinsure, competitors had travelled from as far away as Sunderland to take on the best that the Medway could offer.
Upnor Sailing Club provided the perfect start to this year’s event with their traditional evening fun race followed by a barbeque on Thursday the 10th. The race was held in an unusually gusty force 3 and took competitors down river as far as Buoy 22. The Impala “Goodbye Mr Chips” owned by the Medway Racing syndicate found the conditions to their liking and took overall first place from the Projection 762 “The Works” in second and the Dragon “Gandalf” of Edwin Hannant in third (Dragon Trophy). The NCSA Sonata trophy went to “Blue Tack” – crewed by family Boatman from Sunderland. The Division 2 “Medway Anchor” Trophy went to “White Spirit C”.
Friday, the start of the main series, provided competitors with their toughest test of the event with winds gusting to over 30 knots from the South West. Principal Race Officer Richard Kingsnorth, ably assisted by his race team aboard committee boat “Samovar”, set a course from a start line near Buoy 23, designed, after a short beat, to take competitors on the ebb past Stangate Creek to Blackstakes Buoy returning to Buoy 14 to finish. This allowed the second race to take place from a new start area near Buoy 15 which was to be a familiar starting spot for competitors for the remainder of the weekend. Unfortunately for some (including certain local boats that shall remain nameless) their apparent lack of familiarity with that area of the river kept Peter Aird and his support RIBs busy (who says keelboats don’t need rescue boats?)! The afternoon race was held in the strongest breeze and the final beat to the finish saw boats and crews take a pounding in the short chop caused by the wind over flood tide conditions back to Gillingham Reach.
Competitors enjoyed a champagne reception and fine dining at MYC in the evening followed by a disco.
The forecast for Saturday, the start of the Sail East Championship, was for similar winds to those experienced the day before, but in fact the wind eased to a lively force 5 reducing to force 4 in the afternoon and providing some perfect sailing conditions which included prolonged bouts of sunshine.
Nevertheless there were some early casualties, notably Stewart Coltart’s Dragon “Valkyrie” who, perhaps through the excesses of the day before, lost her forestay thus putting her out of contention for the remainder of the series. In her absence honours were shared by “Scimitar” and “Gandalf”.
Some of the now 13 strong Sonatas, emboldened by the increased number racing for the weekend and the slightly reduced wind strengths, showed interesting variations of how to fly their spinnakers, some of which resulted from the inevitable broaches caused by the close reach across the ebb from buoy 16 to buoy 13. Dave Boatman and his race tuned crew on “Blue Tack”, flushed with recent success in the Scottish series, showed no such fragility however, quickly stamping their authority on the class with two straight bullets, thereby giving them an unassailable lead and the overall series.
Similarly the Medway Race Team justified their credibility with two further wins in their Impala “Goodbye Mr Chips” to take the IRC series with a day to spare from the Projection 762 “The Works”.
In Division 2 the GK29 “First Knight” overtook the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40.3 “Rollercoaster” who slipped to 2nd by only managing a 3rd in the final race having been beaten by another Westerly – this time the local boat GK24 “Suntrek”.
In the Squib Class the Halliday-Sadler’s in “Avocet” contented themselves with a 1st in the morning before resting themselves and their boat in the afternoon, thus allowing Paul Woolley and Roger Bishop to consolidate their lead in “Master Bates”.
The Sail East crews saw “The Geek” take overall first place in race one followed by “Blue Beeste” and “Big Zipper”. Race two allowed local Gillingham Marina manager Clinton Lyon and “Big Zipper” to take 1st place followed by “Blue Beeste” and “Goodbye Mr Chips” 3rd.
Competitors danced the night away after a barbecue to live band “P’Zaz” at MYC where the Pirates theme of the regatta party added greatly to the entertainment.
The final race on Sunday was sailed in a balmy force 2 to 3 with the wind dying to a zephyr as certain classes approached the finishing line against the ebb.
Richard Kingsnorth showed great skill and anticipation in managing to finish boats from all classes after a nail biting light airs finishing beat, which frayed the nerves of skippers and crews alike as they coaxed their boats against the tide (and the wash of passing motor boats) in a waterborne game resembling snakes and ladders, in which an ill judged tack from shallower waters into the stronger tide in search of the elusive breeze could prove at first triumphant, and then disastrous!
In the IRC Series the quicker J109 “J’Ouvert” made the best of the early breeze to win from the ever consistent Projection 762 “The Works” with “Jabberwocky” taking 3rd thereby relegating the seemingly invincible “Goodbye Mr Chips” to 4th in this race.
Elsewhere in Division 2 “Rollercoaster” won the final race by under a minute on corrected time from her closest rival “First Knight”, thus stealing the overall class honours on countback.
Meanwhile Julian and Claire Sowry took line honours in their Dragon “Scimitar” thus taking the series from “Gandalf” and “Gadabout”.
The Sonatas were led from start to finish by Mike Harrison in “Musical Express”. After a number of place changes the pursuing pack finished “Spring Sonata”, “Exposition” and then “Pianissimo” in that order. By maintaining his lead Harrison took 2nd place overall, and first Medway boat, followed by Barry Westphal in “Pianissimo” and Mark Lee in “Exposition”. Overall winner was “Blue Tack” who had stayed ashore in readiness for their trip back to Sunderland and thence to the Nationals at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.
Duly rested from the previous afternoon, the crew of “Avocet” returned to take the gun in the Squib Class thus securing an overall victory from “Master Bates” in 2nd and “Thrifty” in 3rd.
Sail East Championship
Despite a 5th in this race “The Geek” took overall 1st in Class 1. However “Blue Beeste” took 1st place in the race and with it the overall series, as well as 1st place in Class 2. A new name in 2nd place “Harlequin” did not prevent 3rd placed “Big Zipper” from scooping 2nd overall and 1st in her Class 3. Although their worst result in 12th it was still enough to leave the Medway Race Team with 1st overall in Class 4 with their Impala “Goodbye Mr Chips”.
MYC Commodore Michael Wallis presented the prizes in the sunshine on the lawn in front of the Medway Yacht Club but not before thanking the sponsors, Catherine Gore (regatta committee Chairman) and Richard Kingsnorth (PRO) for yet another successful MYA and Sail East regatta on the River Medway.
Final Positions - MYA Regatta
Upnor Series
Sonata Class - NCSA Trophy - Blue Tack - D Boatman
Dragon Class - Dragon Trophy - Gandalf - E Hannant
Division 2 - Medway Anchor - White Spirit C - P Hawkins
IRC Classes - Slipper Trophy - Goodbye Mr Chips - Medway Racing Team
Squib Class
1st overall - Medway Candle - Avocet - G & C Halliday-Sadler
2nd - Master Bates - R Bishop/P Woolley
Sonata Class
1st - Cinder Trophy - Blue Tack - D Boatman
2nd - Musical Express - M Harrison/K Hook
3rd - Pianissimo - B Westphal
4th - Exposition - M Lee/T Townsend
5th - Spring Sonata - A Baker
Dragon Class
1st - Medway Dragon Trophy - Scimitar - J & C Sowry
2nd - Gandalf - E Hannant
3rd - Gadabout - G Prout
Division 2
1st - Gillingham Diamond Jubilee Trophy - Rollercoaster - R Scriven
2nd - First Knight - R Sutton
IRC Class 4
1st - Thalassa Cup - Goodbye Mr Chips - Medway Racing Team
IRC Class 3
1st - Iris Bowl - Valkyrie - R Stevens
IRC Class 2
1st - Alcatel Bowl - The Works - B Douglas
IRC Class 1
1st - Chatham Maritime Trophy - J’Ouvert - J Webb
IRC Overall
1st - Goodbye Mr Chips - Medway Race Team
2nd - The Works - B Douglas
3rd - Jabberwocky - T French
Final Positions - Sail East Championships
Class 4
1st - Goodbye Mr Chips - Medway Race Team
Class 3
1st - Big Zipper - C Lyon
Class 2
1st - Blue Beeste - M Jenkins/C Penfold
2nd - Habanero - C Clarke
3rd - Mornington Crescent - D Warner
Class 1
1st - The Geek - I Langston/D Kemp
Sail East Overall
1st - Thelma Cup - Blue Beeste - M Jenkins/C Penfold
2nd - Big Zipper - C Lyon
3rd - The Geek - I Langston/D Kemp
4th - Goodbye Mr Chips - Medway Race Team
5th - Xwaves - M Brand
6th - Zipper - R Smith
