Fowey River Class Championship

Fowey River Class Championship © Jane Walker

Fowey River Class Championship © Jane Walker

Fowey River Class Championship © Jane Walker

The Fowey River class held their championships over the Whitsun bank holiday weekend completing eight races over a variety of courses. Nineteen boats took part in the event organised by POFROC and hosted by Royal Fowey Yacht Club and Fowey Gallants Sailing Club.

The Fowey River is a gunter rigged wooden clinker built one design class which was based on a design first published before WW2 in Yachting World. The first boat was built in Fowey over the winter of 1949/50 and was originally known as a YW 15ft knockabout. Boat number 70 was launched this year.

On Saturday morning the fleet set off in a light breeze for the first race from the yacht club line heading out of the river to sail a triangular course before finishing at a committee boat line in the bay. Terry Cole in Gabbiano made the best of the tricky conditions at the harbour entrance and was first to break from its grip. Followed closely by Andrew Dellow in Iota and Andy Matthews in Kingfisher thse three made a clean break for the windward Mark. The remainder of the fleet followed in a postcard display of colour. At the gybe mark Gabbiano was rather unlucky in hitting the mark and after taking a penalty turn found Iota ahead. The short run to the leeward mark and then up to the finish line was quite short and Iota held the lead to the finish. Gabbiano and Kingfisher held positions followed by Philip Henson (Zethar) and David Rundle (Kittiwake).

For the second race the breeze had built a little and was round a triangular course - all in the bay. At the end of the first beat Iota rounded marginally ahead of Zethar and Kittiwake with Kingfisher close by. Zethar and Iota headed neck and neck to the gybe mark with Iota just holding on to keep the overlap and lead to the leeward mark. However this was not to be a repeat of race one for Iota who dropped away to 10th by the next windward mark and Zethar took the lead which she held to the end with Kittiwake and Kingfisher following in. Bryn Baxter (Goldeneye) took fourth and Chris Spencer (L'Hirondelle) fifth.

Race three was a reverse of the first race starting out at sea and finishing at the yacht club line. The first lap was led by Kittiwake as the fleet headed back to the river. This is where the fortunes of many changed greatly. With the wind inshore dying and adverse tide it was boats that stayed out that benefited in the stronger wind. Kingfisher found themselves dropping from 3rd to 17th and conversely other boats picked up ten places. With the fleet bunching at the rocks off Polruan it really was anyone's race but Kittiwake worked the light gusts and shifts well and won followed by L'Hirondelle and Zethar. Gabbiano was next followed by Trevor Kennedy (Saffron). So after day one there were three winners from the three races. This was about to change!

Day two format was a repeat of day one other than the breeze was much stronger bringing to good use the previous nights championship dinner at Royal Fowey Yacht Club! Race one saw Kittiwake, Zethar, Iota, Kingfisher and Gabbiano leading out of the river. Two races developed - one between Kittiwake and Zethar and the other with the next three. At the finish the order stayed the same but set a pattern to be repeated over the day.

Race two was delayed to allow a capsized boat to be recovered and the crew taken ashore (all safe and sound if a little damp). With the breeze a little stronger crews were working hard to get upwind. Some familiar faces were at the windward mark with Kittiwake rounding ahead of Zethar. A battle between Goldeneye, Kingfisher and Iota followed behind with these three boats shadowing each other to the end of the race. At the end Kittiwake took first from Zethar with Goldeneye third, Iota fourth and Kingfisher fifth.

The final race of the day back to the yacht club line saw Kittiwake finish ahead of Zethar for the third time that day. Goldeneye, Kingfisher, Iota and Saffron came down the final run approaching the finish line-abreast at times and with only two boat lengths separating those four that was the finishing order. So day two finished with Kittiwake first and Zethar second in all three races. For the minor placing Kingfisher, Goldeneye and Iota took turns in third, fourth and fifth.

Fowey River Class Championship - photo © Jane Walker

The final day dawned bright with a gentle breeze. Two races were planned both to take place round a windward leeward course in the harbour. The overnight results left plenty to fight for. With Kittiwake already having four wins and a second under their belt she was going to take some overhauling. But Zethar with a win and string of seconds were poised to take advantage of any slip up and was still in with a chance to be champions again.

With first or second out of reach Iota held a marginal hold on third on count back from Kingfisher whilst Saffron, Goldeneye and Gabbiano were also able to take the last of the podium places if things went their way. In the event it was Kittiwake who was to win race 7 which also brought in the second discard. So with five firsts and a second she was now unassailable. This also put Zethar into firm second having come second in that race.

In the minor placings Kingfisher took a one point lead into the final race from Iota they both having come in third and fourth. For the last race the last podium place was still undecided and Kingfisher, Iota and Goldeneye still had an eye on it- that is until Kingfisher took off up the river to lead from start to finish and win the final race- giving the fleet its fourth winner of the event and her third place overall.

Prize giving was held at Fowey Gallants Sailing Club attended by the vast majority of the fleet who enjoyed a deserved beer or two and a barbecue.

Overall Results: