Wanderer Class Owners' Association (WCOA) Open at Whitstable Yacht Club
by Richard Maltby 4 Jul 19:54 BST
29-30 June 2024
Nine Wanderers gathered at Whitstable for the annual event to compete for the Gavin Barr trophy. This miniature replica of the legendary Wanderer championship winning boat, W 1282 "Thistle", was presented to Gavin in 2018. The real "Thistle", now owned and helmed by Gavin's sailing partner Mark Skipper, again took pride of place among the visitor boats.
Other dinghy classes may share the WCOA's priority of encouraging more entries for racing. A 24-point formula by the 2023 Wanderer Race Series champions, Dave Bardwell and Ian Simpson (W 1004, "Teazle"), puts the focus on inclusivity and making racing fun. Their ideas found a ready-made audience and practical application at Whitstable and were echoed by Richard Elliott (W 718 "Wizard"), "Normally I prefer to cruise, but I said to myself, be adventurous and let's give racing a go!"
The first thing was to find a better mainsail for "Wizard". A padded, flotation-filled mainsail may well be best for solo cruising, but not ideal for racing. Up stepped Dave and Ian with the offer of their reserve mainsail for "Teazle" W 1004. Applied with blue spinnaker tape, 1004 was quickly converted to 4004, W 718 thereby became 4004 for the two days and (results spoiler) went on to do better and better in the racing.
The late June sunshine and a gentle easterly breeze on Saturday matched the warmth of the club's welcome and support. This was enhanced by race officer Stephen Nation and the support boat team led by Sam Turner. The Wanderers were given the first start before the usual 3-2-1 start sequence for the club racing. Given clear room for the 3-minute head start this meant the Wanderers could also get around the triangular course before all of the club boats had caught up. Tide and time allowed just three races over the two days with no discards.
Saturday's races were held in a gentle force two to three from the East, with the two starts into the flood tide. Both races produced a duel at the front. There was just one challenger to W 1004 helmed by I Simpson and crewed by D Bardwell and that was W 1280, helmed by Mark Skipper and crewed by Amanda Tickner. The two boats at the front were impressive in upwind and downwind legs, demonstrating consummate skills and slick spinnaker handling.
W 1561 "Giggle", helmed by Richard Maltby and crewed by David Connor, won the starts at the committee boat end, but as 1004 and 1282 pulled away 1561 became preoccupied in another match race with W1099, helmed by Paul Cross and crewed by Jeff Leyshon. The mid fleet enjoyed the contest for a close finish to race one. Again, in race 2 1004 and 1282 raced away. The mid fleet became quite congested when W 1561 stopped to gather a trailing spinnaker from catching Whitstable crabs. Overtaken (gleefully) by non-spinnaker boats 890 and 4004, "Giggle" showed that not all Wanderers were lost regaining speed and position with the spinnaker on a reach. W 116 the vintage entry, sailed gracefully, until the boom disconnected from the mast, forcing an honourable retirement. The Cadet boat sailed well to complete the course, but the WCOA may have a challenge in convincing young sailors that the Wanderer is a cool boat to sail.
In the evening sailors and friends were rewarded with a feast of fish and chips from Whitstable's famous Ozzie's Fish Bar, followed by Elizabeth's Nautical Quiz where table teams took on names such as "Ready About!", "Gybe Ho", "Land Ho" and other "Ho" calls if they knew an answer, the Quiz mistress assisted by two able sailors Ian Hay and David Connor to adjudicate which table got their shout in first.
The final question (who said "Left hand down?") resulted in a successful shout by the Commodore's team "Heave Ho" to much jubilation. Superbly orchestrated by Richard Elliott, who had brought his guitar and song sheets with his boat, a variety of sea shanties and a unison rendition of "What shall we do with the drunken sailor?" completed the entertainment.
Sitting out on the club veranda on a warm summer's evening as the sun set on a great day.
The Sunday forecast was for a light northerly wind for the 11 am start to Race 3 on an ebb tide, but the pleasant force three from the North West freshened in gusts creating some tricky moments. Could W 1282, second on day one, somehow regain the Gavin Barr trophy for the name of Skipper to be on the plate? Would W 1004 slip up and lose their two-point lead? How would everyone cope with the gusts? Race officer Harry Newton set a similar triangular course as for the previous day.
The lead boats were at the front again, but in the second lap W 1282 capsized on tacking at the windward mark. In her first experience of Wanderer Class Open Racing, Amanda Tickner, crewing W 1282, described what happened:
Again, the level of concentration was such it was a bit of a blur of sails, spray, commands and adrenaline pumping. It was also even more exhilarating than the day before as the winds were stronger so required me to position myself horizontally on the side of the boat to assist balance. At the same time, I felt more nervous due to the strengthening winds, larger waves and challenging currents. We completed the first lap and were gaining on the leading boat 1004, but then as we initiated a tack on the second lap we fell foul to a freak gust and before I knew it, we had the inevitable "don't mention the C word moment" and capsized... twice.
With no other boat in sight victory was assured for W 1004. For 1282 retirement meant a harsh drop to 4th. W 1561 took over and held 2nd position while 1099 came 3rd. The mid fleet boats won their own victories. Richard Elliott and Dave Marsh (W 718 aka 4004) were the big improvers of the regatta, moving up a position in each successive race. Jo Wyles and Dave Lennon (1047) also finished strongly with a creditable 4th in the final race. Fef Griffin and Sam Dock (890) at 5th overall and the mid-fleet leaders, were worthy winners of the all-ladies award. And we could not have done without the retired boats. Everyone was needed to pull seven Wanderers up the beach!
The prizes, awarded by WYC Commodore, David Figgis, had a distinctly Wanderer theme with Wanderer mugs, "Wanderlust" beer, WCOA/WYC engraved glasses and the "Start as You Mean to Go On" miniature cannon.
The excellence of the winning sailors, Ian and Dave, was rewarded by the award of the inspirational Gavin Barr trophy.
In the words of Elizabeth (W 116) at this, her first Wanderer Open Race, "we had the unparalleled charm and excitement of both vintage and more recent Wanderer boats, creating an atmosphere brimming with camaraderie, excitement, and boundless sailing fun." Or as Amanda Tickner (crew W 1282) put it, "Challenge yourself, do something out of your comfort zone... life is an adventure... get Wandering!"
But, oh dear, Sorry Gavin - the names Barr and Skipper are not on the plate for 2024. They will be back!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 1004 | Ian Simpson | David Bardwell | Tudor Sailing Club | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 1561 | Richard Maltby | David Connor | Whitstable Yacht Club | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 3 | 1099 | Paul Cross | Jeff Leyshon | Whitstable Yacht Club | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 | 1282 | Mark Skipper | Amanda Tickner | Chipstead Sailing Club | 2 | 2 | RET | 14 |
| 5 | 890 | Fef Griffin | Sam Dock | Whitstable Yacht Club | 4 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 6 | 1047 | Jo Wyles | Dave Lennon | Whitstable Yacht Club | 6 | 7 | 4 | 17 |
| 7 | 4004 | Richard Elliott | Dave Marsh | Arun Yacht Club | 7 | 6 | 5 | 18 |
| 8 | 502 | Andy King | Seth King | Whitstable Yacht Club | 8 | DNS | DNC | 28 |
| 9 | 116 | Ian Hay | Elizabeth Doggart | Whitstable Yacht Club | RET | DNS | DNC | 30 |