3000s at the Medway Dinghy Regatta at Wilsonian Sailing Club

The Medway Dinghy Regatta treated the 3000s to ideal winds © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

The Medway Dinghy Regatta treated the 3000s to ideal winds © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

Once again the Medway Dinghy Regatta treated the 3000s to ideal winds, never dropping below a high Force 3 and, despite threats, never gusting above a Force 5. Add to that an incoming tide generally opposed to the wind giving a relatively long ride downwind and shortened beat home, and the stage was set for fun sailing, although boat speeds were such that such tidal effects were very much secondary.

Race 1 was a 6.4 mile affair in the top end of a F.3, and as the 3k's shared a start with four Vortices and followed the Fast Handicap five minutes later on the same course, there were plenty of hints on where to go for the visitors, added to the fun of picking off the Fast Fleet stragglers. After some place-changing in Gillingham Reach on a planing run, Tony & Suzanne got away by the leeward mark and emerged as winners having enjoyed a good scrap with the two Ospreys on the homeward leg, nearly catching the leading 29er. Behind them Joe & Murph shrugged off an early challenge by David & Alison, while Peter and his ringer crew were coming to terms with each other and Chris and Kathy happily coming to terms with their new North kite.

Race 2 was effectively a half-Marathon of 12 miles, in by now a F.4 shifted to make the runs more into reaches and with planing all over place. The Blakes were in action for the first time after Ben declared himself fit to sail, but their ageing rudder stock decided to not to play ball and was content to let the rudder blade point in different directions to the tiller, which made racing a bit difficult. Meanwhile Tony & Suzanne encountered a wayward RS800, which was intended to be hove to while the crew sorted out a "broken leg", but in fact was travelling at some rate of knots on a beam reach. In the ensuing collision T&H acquired a rack-induced hole in their topsides, while the 800 went swimming and thus apparently effected an instant cure for "broken leg".

The next day, after Joe and Murph had failed to drink the club dry the night before and the Blakes had returned with a replacement rudder, Race 3 was a mercifully short affair of 6.3 miles in a good F.4 gusting "v.windy" (no mainsail drawing on occasion). Tony & Suzanne went fishing with the kite at the off-wind start, then recovered only to foul the kite up again at the leeward mark, by which time Joe and Murph were long gone.

The last race, No.4, over 9.4 miles, looked like being kamikaze affair with the wind blowing strongly over the tide downriver, but in the event provided a cracking sail with the sun shining brightly and some hooning reaches - just the time you remember you left your GPS at home! Chatting afterwards, it emerged that both Joe & Tony had remarked to their respective crews on the same part of the course - a gusty, one-sided beat, remarkably - just what a wonderful boat the 3k is; easily managed even in such conditions but still great fun. Then easy to pull up the beach (Graham's excellent tape having stayed in place over the holes in Tony's boat this race, unlike Tony's 16 year-old stuff in the morning!).

Unfortunately, in the meantime, things had not gone so well for the Blakes, as their 12-year-old shroud snapped, leaving the lowers to ensure that the mast broke at the gooseneck, thus ending a frustrating weekend for them. Notwithstanding (because of?) the arduous conditions, the remaining 3000s left well-satisfied after a full weekend's blasting, and to round things off, a 3k member even won one of the Regatta sponsor Hyde's prize draws to take away with other-sponsor MTS's give-away polo shirts provided to all competitors!

3000 Class Results: