156th Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club Annual Regatta - Days 1 & 2
by Adam Saltonstall 5 Aug 2013 22:06 BST
3-10 August 2013
Sunday
With Saturday's ladies' and cadet races postponed for bad weather, today saw the first day of racing for the 4 fleets. With a southerly breeze blowing everything from force 2 to 5, the PRO set a course from 4 in the east of the bay to U for the smaller boats and to 7 for the cruisers for the 1st race, and to temporary mark 'T' for the 2nd race as the wind swung slightly to the east.
Class B – The Cruiser Class
With boats ranging from a 33 to 21 foot on length, the cruiser class had a fairly spread out race with Starchick and Aquaholic setting the early pace from the startline, finding and rounding the windward mark 1st and 2nd respectively. The rest of the pack gave chase with Hippie Chick and Kir Royale scrapping together while Seabiscuit showed good pace against Spica. Over the line, Starchick led from Aquaholic by a good distance. On corrected time results stood with with Starchiick 2minutes 2seconds ahead of Aquaholic. In the 2nd race, Aquaholic showed excellent form on the line to take the pick of the starts over the fleet, whilst Hippie Chick lost a couple of minutes 'halyard chasing' as their spinnaker halyard took a flying lesson! With the breeze picking up again, Aquaholic led to the 1st windward mark with Starchick close behind, while Kir Royale stood firm behind them. With an interesting rounding of the pin end of the line required to complete each round, it looked like there could be complicated end to the race. However, the fleet had realised the problem and finished accordingly. On corrected time, Starchick won by 4minutes 15seconds from Aquaholic in 2nd place.
Class C – National Squib Class
With only 4 boats entering regatta this year, racing was bound to be a close contest. Ghost, Porkers and Kaizen showed good form on the start line, all hitting the line in good time. After a good first beat however Ghost came out on top, although only by a couple of boat lengths and sailing the resulting spinnaker leg without a pole-downhaul line. On the 2nd beat however, Porkers showed good pace and took advantage of a shifting, lightening wind and claimed the lead at the windward mark, a lead which they held through to the finish line, winning by around minute over Ghost in 2nd. With a freshening breeze for the 2nd race and a good start, all 4 boats crossed the line within a matter of boat-lengths from each other. By the 1st windward mark however, Ghost had built a healthy lead, with the others fighting closely for 2nd place. However an infringement by Porkers led to turns and, remarkably, still coming out in 2nd at the end of the 1st round. By the end of the race, Ghost covered the chasing pack fairly well to win the 2nd race.
Class D – Contessa 26 Class
A smaller-than-usual Contessa class took to the start line this year, with only 4 boats entered for today's racing. It came down to a battle between Daisy Dog and Contessa Juliet for the race lead, with the latter coming out 2nd best in both races. Daisy Dog led to the 1st windward mark in both races, but Juliet had only herself to blame in the 2nd race. The cabin boy is sure to find himself keel-hauled as spinnakers were launched, only for Daisy Dog's to fill and set...whilst Juliet's was launched upside down! Oh dear! Some quick thinking though saw the mistake corrected (luckily for them/ unfortunately for us – out of sight of the drying-out photographer!) Luckily for the fleet, it only took a little to get people's heads around the finishing procedure (possibly with a little support from the race-support RIB!)
Class E – The Yorkshire One Designs
In the days of modern technology, carbon fibre spars and fibre glass hulls, it is fantastic to see that these 116-year-old wooden keelboats are still one of the largest classes racing at the RYYC regatta. With 7 boats taking to the line for today's racing, it was close racing throughout the fleet, with positions through the middle of the fleet changing hands up and down wind. However Blackie showed a clean pair of heels (or should that be keel?) to take an early lead which the others could not close, with Mona coming out on top of the rest of the pack, claiming 2nd place from a hard-chasing Ditherumpop. The 2nd race belonged to Blackie too as they set an early pace, being chased down by Iolanthe. However some solid racing and tactical tacking meant that the latter was unable to close the gap completely, handing Blackie her 2nd race win, with Iolanthe 2nd and Mona 3rd
All-in-all, a good day's racing with some interesting weather and wind changes. 1530hours start time for first class away tomorrow, with windguru forecasting southerly 20-15 knots, gusting up to 25. Should be another good day on the water!
Monday
A very long day today after a fantastic morning of sailing and training for the cadets in the dinghies which saw 15 youngsters taking to the water in a Topper, Lazer Bahia, Topper Topaz, Dart 18 and 2 Picos. A huge thankyou to everyone who helped, including Faye for nagging and organising and the last-minute safety boat crew! As for today's racing, an inshore start-line from 2 gave a perfect windward leg to 7 for the first race. However, after a big wind shift, this became a little one-sided towards the end of the day.
Class B – The Cruiser Class
A windy forecast for the day left 3 cruisers in the harbour and only 4 taking to the start line. A strong first leg from Aquaholic saw them lead around the first windward mark, only to lose this to Starchick as the race progressed. Given time however Aquaholic reclaimed the lead with a superb spinnaker leg, with one on-looking sailor heard to comment "bloody hell, Aquaholic's going like a train!" A lead over the fleet over the line was extended on corrected time to 1 minute and 1 second. In the 2nd race however there was no such luck for Aquaholic as a slightly early approach to the start-line meant they had to squeeze and pinch to cross the line at the first attempt without picking up the committee boat's anchor gear! After this mistake, Starchick showed a good pace to lead the fleet around the course, finishing a clear first over the line from the visiting Hippy Chick in 2nd place. After corrected time, Starchick won from Aquaholic by just under 4 minutes.
Class C – National Squib Class
The weather claimed 1 of the squibs too today, with Threadbare not taking to the water. However, the remaining 3 squibs had a fantastic day's racing. In the 1st race, Ghost set an early pace off the line, while Kaizen gave with Porkers behind her. These positions held round the 1st windward mark, with Porkers stealing 2nd on the downwind leg. On the 2nd leg Porkers gave good chase but as the wind increased, Ghost came to life and extended their lead, only to give a chunk of that away after somehow twisting the jib and spinnaker halyard around each other!!! A quick thinking crewman managed to drop the jib and re-launch the jib and spinnaker without giving the helmsman too much of a heart-attack! Positions then stayed the same through to the finish. In the 2nd race, it was Porkers who took the pick of the starts, showing excellent pace off the line over the choppy seas, forcing Ghost to tack off inshore, against the tide. However, a huge slice of luck saw the wind shift across to the right, resulting in a swing in their favour and taking an unassailable lead. Some fantastic reaching with the crew on the toe straps down the surf ensued and Ghost eventually claimed their 2nd win of the day. As squib sailors say, "The Wetter, The Better!"
Class D – Contessa 26 Class
A great day of racing for the Contessa Class today again saw Contessa Juliet giving chase to Daisy Dog on the first windward leg. However a slow and twisted spinnaker hoist saw Daisy Dog throw away their lead and Juliet take what seemed to be a healthy lead. The lead, however was to change hands 2 more times before the end of the day, with Daisy Dog reclaiming the lead after the gybe mark at 5 and Juliet hit the front again on the 2nd beat. This time, they didn't let it slip, holding on (just) to win over the line by a matter of a couple of seconds! Daisy Dog refused to make the same mistake again in the 2nd leg and lead from the start around the course with Juliet chasing in vain to finish 2nd.
Class E – The Yorkshire One Designs
A busy day today in the gentlemen's class with one YOD being re-launched after an overnight scrubbing and a small coming together being the centre of the controversy (alright, maybe not, but we'll try to make it sound like it!) In the first race, Blackie and Mona seemed to have a good scrap, even given a nippy tack from Blackie underneath Iolanthe which resulted in the latter (windward boat) dropping down and making contact with Blackie. Luffing, waves and "didn't know he was there" have been mentioned as being to blame but turns were completed and smiles all round in the bar mean the protest committee can take it easy! Eventually Blackie took a good lead and led the fleet around the course from Mona. Ditherumpop gave a good initial chase until they were eventually overhauled by Iolanthe who claimed 3rd behind Mona. In the 2nd race however Blackie fought an uphill battle from the start as Mona benefitted from the same shift as Ghost in the Squib race. A very tight tussle to the 1st leeward mark saw Mona claim a lead at the rounding before establishing a solid lead after she sailed on from the mark in clear air while Blackie tacked tight round the mark. This left Blackie scrapping with Iolanthe for 2nd, eventually losing out on the final leg of the race after they decided to 'put a reef' in their spinnaker – also known to many as ripping out the bottom panel of the kite! This handed Iolanthe 2nd place while Blackie held on to 3rd.
Like the photos in this report and on the TV tonight? Amy Saltonstall (Musto Sailing photography award winner and published photographer in internationally-released 'On Course To Win'!) is taking orders for CDs of photos until Wednesday. She is very picky and only a small proportion of photos are actually kept to use – rumour has it she discarded 900 photos from Sunday's racing that she "wasn't happy with" and keeping only 200! (Photos are at a high resolution, suitable for printing, enlarging and using for a variety of purposes.) Please complete an order form soon to avoid disappointment, speak to Adam Saltonstall or Faye behind the bar for details!
www.ryyc.org.uk/ryyc_home.htm