Sailing Club Series, R8 - Fast Handicap

Published 18:04 on 8 Jun 2025

The Sailing Club Series wrapped up in classic Salcombe style on Saturday: windy, wet, and wildly good fun. The forecast in the days leading up had many sailors nervously eyeing their wind meters (and their sanity), with talk of racing being canned due to gale-force gusts. But lo and behold, Saturday morning arrived with a mere 15 knots of punchy WSW breeze and only occasional gusts into the mid-twenties—positively balmy by local standards.

What the forecast did get right, however, was the rain. And lots of it. The heavens opened just in time for sailors to launch, leaving competitors soaked before the race even began. Spare a soggy thought for the safety boat teams, who definitely didn't sign up for monsoon duty.

Race Officer Kevin Anderson, perhaps feeling inspired by the weather or just wanting to spice things up, laid a course of 1-7-2-3-2, finishing the fleet on a downwind leg—an unusual move, but one met with quiet gratitude (and slight relief) by every sailor at the finish line.

Despite the squally forecast and sideways rain, five determined teams made it to the start line, battling not just wind and water, but also a sly, flooding tide and a battlefield of capsized Lasers strewn along the Portlemouth shore.

Peter Colclough and Alister Morley in the 505 kicked things off with a stylish capsize before the race even got interesting. Undeterred, they righted themselves and promptly disappeared into the mist at warp speed, their monster spinnaker briefly making a guest appearance before being wisely tucked away for the rest of the race.

Andrew Squire, with son-in-law Simon Evans clinging on, also went for a dip—but thanks to some quick reflexes and heroic crewing, they avoided further swims and sailed their way to a well-earned second place.

In Yawl 175, John Meadowcroft was persuaded by crew, Simon Dawes to join the fray in his shiny new boat. A cautious start soon gave way to a confident climb, as they swept past Y171 on the first beat and got stuck into the fleet chase. They kept it tidy (and more importantly upright), finishing without any breakages, which—given the conditions—counts as a major win and landed them in third. 

Rumours had been swirling all week about a potential new dream team on the water. The only question: who would crew? All was revealed as Y170 headed to the start with none other than John Burn on the helm and Olly Turner up front. A new partnership was born—and it came out swinging.

From the gun, Y170 was never troubled. John and Olly stretched their lead with every leg, cruising home to take the top step on corrected time.

Calsberg dont do Yawl teams… but if they did, they'd probably look a lot like this.

Despite the drenching, it was a fantastic afternoon on the water, with wind, waves, and even a shy appearance from the sun—just enough to remind us why we do this in the first place.

Overall Series Results 

1st Merlin Rocket 3666 John & Zoe Meadowcroft

2nd Yawl 170 John & Frankie Burn/Olly Turner

3rd Albacore 8252 AJ & Sheila Squire/Simon Evans

By John Burn 

Photos Lucy Burn