Hassall Law Yawl Open Red Fleet Report

Published 21:42 on 27 Sep 2023

A bumper turnout for the September Open Meeting saw 19 red fleet Yawls take to the water. What makes this even more impressive is that there were a few notable absent teams who, for their own reasons, were unable to attend.

The honour of PRO was bestowed upon our vice commodore, Tim Fells, who had the unfavourable task of 10 starts to deal with on Saturday alone.

Race 1

Course 1-7-2-X

Under normal circumstances, I would be telling you about how Will and Mandy Henderson in Y168 did their usual and led the fleet around the course from start to finish. Well, not this time. Mike Webster and Peter Brewer in Y163 did some of the leading, but thats not the real story here!

The top three teams would be the first to fall victim to, as I like to call it trial by tracking. The new tracking software that the fleet was trialling showed very clearly upon review that the front three had rounded X to port as opposed to Starboard. Although no protests were lodged, Y168, Y163, and Y174 all took the honourable and correct decision to retire themselves, promoting Paul and Julie Rayson in Y178 to first position. Alister Morley and Charles Thompson in Y189 elevated to second, with Simon Gibbens and Andrew Reed in Y167 now third.

Race 2

Course 1-7-2-X

The breeze had built nicely from the south, and with the tide ebbing, conditions in front of the club were getting close to perfect.

John Burn and Tristan Stone made light work of the first beat and rounded Blackstone clear ahead. As they made their way off to Mark 7, they were reeled in by the fleet, and the race restarted at Snapes.

Normal service was resumed, and the Hendersons in Y168, rounding the marks in the correct fashion this time, claimed their first win of the weekend. Ossie Stewart and Tim Law in Y174 finished second, with Paul and Julie Rayson in third.

Day 2 had many Yawl sailors lazing about watching their phones, waiting for what they thought was a guaranteed WhatsApp message from the PRO cancelling proceedings due to the wind strength. That message, however, never came; after all, it was Tim 'big day' Fells in charge, so instead we got confirmation that racing was indeed on.

Race 3

Course 2-5-3-5

19 now became 5, as most teams took the decision to spectate rather than take part. Will Henderson drafted in Paul Rayson as crew in the hope of adding some much-needed ballast, which would certainly be required if they were to compete with the other heavyweight pairings on the water.

Alas, it wasn't Will's weekend; with 30 seconds to go and not too keen on their positioning, Will and Paul attempted to re-locate. As they bore off the mast said 'not today' and buckled under the pressure in a quite spectacular fashion.

The remaining four got away cleanly, worked their way up the beat to Millbay without any drama, and vanished into the bag. In the bag, conditions were indeed very pleasant, and the four Yalws enjoyed very close racing as David Geening and Ben Jones, after starting late, managed to catch up.

Simon Gibbens and Andrew Reed sailed a very interesting and unusual line from 5 to 3, and on both occasions, they managed to edge ahead a little, which ultimately earned them victory in race 3.

Alister Morley and Charles Thompson were second, with John Burn and Tristan Stone coming home third, leaving David and Ben a close fourth.

Race 4

Course

Course 2-5-3-5

This time David and Ben were on time, and the four teams once again headed off to Millbay before making their way off into The Bag. It was extremely tight between the four, with no one team able to break away. It was that close that on the leg back from Saltsone to the finish line, the lead would cycle between each boat on almost every tack, with each team having a turn at the front. Close racing like this is a wonderful thing; they all agreed after that it was one of the best races the fleet had seen in a long time, regardless of where you finished up.

In fact, it took Snapes Point to split them; Simon and Andrew navigated the point well and pulled away from Alister and Charles. The wind had swung round to more of a SSE direction, so John and Tristan, along with David and Ben, took a slightly higher line, which resulted in John and Tristan coming home second as they managed to pass Alister and Charles, who settled for third, with David and Ben once again a close fourth.