Conwy Fife One Design 'A' Series Race 12 at Royal Anglesey Yacht Club

Within any fleet, people sail for many different reasons, some have a desperate need to win, some like to just do well, others enjoy the cut and thrust of competition and for many it's the social aspects of racing which attract. However, sometimes we need to be reminded that there is life outside sailing (or for that matter, football)!, I know it's a difficult concept to grasp, but bear with me.

Saturday was a case in point, as we celebrated the 99th birthday of Mrs Dorothy Dickie with cake, singing and loud applause. Dorothy, who has been a member of the R.A.Y.C for 60 years, far more importantly, served as a Wren during the 2nd World War and was christened the 'Little Welsh Girl' by no lesser person than General Eisenhower himself! She was also an important and I am sure influential part of Dickie's of Bangor, the yard that built all the wonderful Fifes we are so lucky to sail and enjoy today. For many years she crewed for Archie Dickie (who called her 'pudding'), and had the weekly task of taking home the cotton sails to wash and dry in preparation for the next race. Its people like Dorothy who sometimes make us realise that there are more important things in life than racing !!! We are all looking forward to the 100th !!

Mind you, all that having been said, we did race.

On an overcast and humid day, which didn't look like it was going to be much fun, with light winds and rain forecast. 13 Fifes ventured forth to see what the day would bring. Sadly the light NE prevented the programmed trip to Puffin (will we ever get there this season!!) and so course 14 was set, this was rapidly changed to course 13, when Race Officer Doug realised that one of his nameless minions had managed to put the course board the wrong way round.

With a building Ebb tide, the first start led to a General Recall, as we struggled to stay behind the line in the strengthening ebb tide. The Fleet were better behaved on the subsequent restart, although 29, Trigger (the Billy Butlin of Beaumaris) and G, found themselves upwind of 15, Tak & Dave, and with nowhere to go were judged to be OCS and had to return behind the line, throw a double six and start again.

5, Andy & Pete, 15 and 38, Mike & Steve, got good starts in the tide and sailed into the lead, as they headed for B6, the first mark. However those starting towards the Distance marks, particularly 41, Family Yates, 35, Hugo & Bob and 7, Howard & Leo (without the calming influence of Georgie this week) were starting to catch the leaders. With 15 sailing low and fast, 5 high and fast and 38 somewhere in between, it was 15 who tacked first to avoid the rapidly approaching shore at Boulder Bay, 5 followed and 38 held on for a while before tacking and staying in the tide longer was able to cross 5 & 15 at the next cross. Meanwhile 7 and 35 had come through from behind to narrowly lead the fleet in the race to the windward mark.

Rounding B6 first, 7 led the pursuing 35, 38 and 5 against the tide towards the Anglesey shore, 15, 42, Tim & Gwen and 29 took the alternative route back to B10 by sailing over the banks. 41, 34, Tom, Helen & Paul, 39, Gavin, Dr Charles & a guest, 6, Alli and a nice lady I don't know and 14, a welcome return by the Boat Of Many Owners (BOMO) followed the Anglesey route. 28, Family Parker decided that the day wasn't for them and enjoyed a leisurely sail back to the mooring.

The run back to B10 took a long time and for a while it looked like the 'banks' route might pay, however the further we sailed the more it looked like once again the Anglesey shore was going to win it. The 4 leaders, 7, 35, 5 and 38 approached Beaumaris with a healthy lead over the chasing pack, led by 41 and 34. Cutting inside the perch, the leaders made slow progress towards the leeward mark. Eventually 7 rounded first, to the welcome sound of the cannons indicating shorten course, but unfortunately they managed to touch B10 in the process (come back Georgie, all is forgiven?). Now, I don't know when the rule relating to touching a mark of the course changed, but Howard was either unaware or had forgotten the change (time for a new rule book Howard?) and decided to re round the mark the good old fashioned way, which put him firmly back into 3rd place. 35 (never one to look a gift horse in the mouth) took the opportunity to sail on to take a second win in as many weeks with 5 in 2nd, a recovering 7 in 3rd and 38 4th. After that came, 41, 34, 39, 29, 42, 15 & 6. 14, BOMO did not finish, but had a really nice sail and took the chance to try and work out what all the various strings did.

So, with a fourth discard now in place, overall positions are as follows: (with the usual caveat that these are not 'official' results, just my calculations)

5 - Thelma III - 17pts
38 - Sard - 21pts
42 - Enigma - 31pts
41 - Fiona - 34pts
15 - Coila - 37pts
29 - Gitana - 43pts