Brightwater & Wynburg Race Reports and news 2004

14^th August 2004:-  14 Turn out as Moonbeam aces the series!

 A beautiful day set between days of rain graced the last race of the 2004 series and left a deserved winner just ahead of a fierce battle for 2^nd place between 3 boats, all finishing with the same points, 3 behind the winner.  On the day, Moonbeam was the only one of the three series leaders to lower their total, discarding a 5^th in favour of their 4^th place. Cleo, with a fine 2^nd place bettered their total by 9 points (!) and also snatched 2^nd place in the series from Pattie B III and Melody who had been tied on second before the start of the day.

Winner on the day though was Humble Pie, (wasn’t I just saying they had promise), who beat Cleo into 2^nd place by 6 seconds on corrected time! There were other close matches, Harmony beating Moonbeam by just 4.2 seconds, which in turn was 15 seconds in front of Catspaw, but Moonbeam had done enough!

Tarka was best of the 4 big boys on corrected time with 9^th place, 10 seconds in front of Moonbeam. A dropping wind didn’t give the big boats the help they needed to get among the places.

Dave in Sacagewea had too little weight when the wind was blowing but not enough power when it dropped but he did well to keep it all together and keep Melody behind him at the end, 2 minutes behind Pattie B III.

On the water Shearwater closed and dropped back from Cleo throughout the race but could never quite get to grips although they held off Polaris where Sam had his hands full trying to fill the pants shoes of Eric, Barbara and Mary.

Harmony had another good race to finish 3^rd in spite of the handicap cut following their win of the week before.

This is the first year when no races have been cancelled due to weather, which is all the more remarkable when you consider how bad the weather has been!

If there had been no handicap adjustments at all, Moonbeam would have still won from Pattie B III, with Melody and Cleo tied for 3^rd, quite well back, Pattie B II in 5^th. The idea of the handicap adjustments is to get more people winning races and involved at the sharp end. We therefore had seven different winners in the 8 races instead of 3.

 Photos from the 14^th on the web page were taken by Jacquie Price. Race Photos 14th August 04

8^th August 2004:-  Record Turnout, Shifty Wind

 No rain this Sunday but a Northerly wind that was forecast to turn to the West South West, which it did but not before the race started which left some of our brave sailors searching for the Sheep Island Buoy on the first lap. It was a good day for the late starters, on the whole, with Sage and Melody quickly getting to grips with things. Others got to grips as well with one collision that left young Emma in Moonbeam in the water at the end of a rope. Celia quickly came about and the departed lass was hauled back to safety. Declining a return to shore Emma was kept warm by hard work as the wind strengthened and every man person on every boat was required to keep control! Real credit to Scot and Lori Kidger and Steve and Chris Soderling. With only two in each boat, to finish 2^nd and 3^rd on the water in winds that were gusting to 25 knots on the second lap, took some work and left a few aching muscles!

Melody was the fastest boat on the water with an elapsed time of 66 minutes, passing all but the first three boats from the earlier start. Apologies to Sage who finished not 1st but 4^th, an earlier handicap change, after their 2^nd place on July 25^th, having been missed when calculating results. This moved Harmony up to 1^st place but more critically, Moonbeam to 2^nd and Melody to 3^rd giving them 1^st and 2^nd places respectively in the years results with just 1 race to go. Sage has a 13^th place to discard however and a good result next Saturday would profit them greatly. Moonbeam did particularly well to recover from being bumped by Catspaw this week though technically she was the overtaking boat and should have kept clear. Rink was obviously blinded by his new jib at the time!

Lightning had a near miss as they jibed at the HoJo mark on the second lap and though Craig insisted everything was under control it sure didn’t look like it from 150 yards away!

What can I say about Moose?  A litany of disasters conspired, yet again, to rob him of his rightful place at the front of the fleet. Is this man the unluckiest sailor on the river? He now knows exactly how to set up his boat and sail it but found he couldn’t do it without using the centreboard. Keeping out of the current, he tried to sail in a spot where there was no wind and never recovered. I’ve said it before but this young man is going to amount to something one day! His second lap time was the fastest on the day, just ahead of Melody, Flying Scot and Pattie B II, (in that order), 46 seconds separating the 4 boats on that lap.

Cleo, along with Humble Pie & others, lost her way on the first lap in the very tricky conditions. There was another potential incident which didn’t arise but needs some addressing. We had Melody overhauling the Sunfish on the way back from Rich Mans. They knew he was there but from our perspective ahead of both, a serious accident could have occurred had either boat been forced to veer by a gust of wind or loss of control for some other reason. Sunday was unusual in that the large boats were amongst the fleet early because of the wind shift but I feel the onus is on the larger boats to keep WELL CLEAR of the little fellows regardless of right of way. The difference between the Tartan and an Optimist is huge, we have had collisions between other boats on numerous occasions and a bad incident would be tragic. We’re having fun, not competing for the America’s Cup!

Polaris was quiet this week, Sam & Eric struggling to stay in touch with too little dead weight to hold the boat down! Water ballast might have helped.

 Eleanor & Rollie will be away for the last race of the season but our thanks go out to them again for a job well done! 15 boats turned out many crossing the line within seconds of each other. Bruce and Kathy will be in sole charge next week and we expect no drop in standards!

 Photos from the 8^th on the web page were taken by Kathy Schwabe. www.brightwaterclub.org

To explain:- The lowest total of boats that have completed 4 races is the leader.  Figures in red are not being counted in the totals. There are prizes for 1st and 2nd this year.
1^st August 2004:-  The Wind of Change. She Blew!

 A rainy morning gradually improved until crews set out into the forecast 12 knot Southerly with just a hint of stronger things to come. Ten boats were circling at the start but Chris Kidger rightly decided he didn’t have the weight to hold down the Wynwater and retired early. Others at times wished they might have done the same!

A poor start by the experienced crew in Pattie B II saw them with work to do on the beat to Sheep Island. They nevertheless rounded first but had a slower time on the first leg than Melody who started at the later start time. Tarka was also just ahead of the Lightning, on time, at this point. On the reach though, the smaller boat was flying, 90 seconds faster than either of the other two.

Down the field Lady Ship and the Flying Scot were locked in battle with Pattie B III trying to hang on but unable to stay within striking distance. Polaris and Cleo also had a thing going but as the wind increased the Typhoon had an edge that couldn’t be matched by the little Bulls Eye.

As the wind kept growing some boats were obviously overpowered but no one reefed and lap times dropped in every case for the second round, none more than Tarka who was 4 minutes quicker and closed to within 7 seconds on Melody as they came to the line.

Pattie B II was moving faster though and set a new elapsed time record of 63.20, 19 seconds faster than the previous record by the same boat 2 years previously.

The Sunfish was quietly going about it’s business with Luke & Ky aboard and when the count back came they had aced the fleet on handicap!  Now read on......

 In an effort to bring some consistency to the results I have recalculated all this summers races using the official handicap of each boat, where known, as a starting point, deducting 6 points from the winner of each race and 4 points from  the second place boat. Last place in each race has 4 points added to their handicap. This hasn’t changed the overall results to date but it removes my personal input and should make the results fairer. The results from Sunday now look like the table below. This is the result of every race being changed!

I have left the report based on the results announced but last Sundays results have changed quite a bit. With the new system Moonbeam won the first two races, Sage the 3^rd, Pattie B III the 4^th, Lady Ship the 5^th and Melody the 6^th. There are 7 boats within 10 points and two of those, Humble Pie and Pattie B II have only sailed three races so have no points to drop. Two races to go.

 The Dock supporters were many and various with the float only just staying above water! Eleanor, Rollie, Gary Bruce and Kathy were timekeepers again. We owe them our thanks for a fine job in difficult conditions. Photos on the web page were taken by Wendy. www.brightwaterclub.org

25^th July 2004 I’ll  Say That Again!

 A shifty North wind on a fine day was the menu for the 5^th race of the series, which ends on (NB!!!) Saturday 14^th August with presentations at the excuses tea party, the next day yours truly will be on his way back to England.

A running start saw a few problems getting to the line and lack of space but all 14 boats eventually got away including a welcome visitor, Rosamund, from Brighams Cove who was to be involved in a race long duel with Pattie B III.

Humble Pie was fast out of the blocks, closely followed by Pattie B II and the Flying Scot. Polaris and Moonbeam were next round Sheep Island buoy but  PB III & Rosamund were closing on them inexorably, Polaris being pipped being before they rounded the HoJo mark and Moonbeam soon after.  

It was quite obvious, from the shifty looks on their faces, that the crew of Polaris were up to no good, and so it proved when the entire crew showed themselves to be armed with stolen weapons that they turned on their victims without the slightest remorse!

It was not quite possible to lay Rich Man’s mark in one tack from HoJo. At times you thought you could make it then the wind would head you and everyone needed at least one tack..

Humble Pie held PB II off for the first lap but was passed on the way to Sheep and trailed by 33 seconds before the second leg over to RM’s dropping back a bit more to the finish.

Cleo was sandwiched between Moonbeam and Shearwater with the gaps slowly closing between both but there was not enough time for any place changes. Amongst the big boys, Melody had the right air with Lady Ship hanging on her coat tails for most of the race, these two showing Tarka and Sage the way home. With the light wind, these boats were never going to threaten the little guys and although Melody and Lady Ship got past a few tail enders they didn’t have the wind they needed to do well. Melody did well to finish 6^th and Lady Ship even better to finish 3^rd on handicap.

 Thanks to the Dock Crew, Eleanor, Rollie and Gary being supported again by Bruce and Kathy, two sets of times with the same results making it hard for the handicapper to fudge things. But I’m trying!

 The Time keepers have gone back in the records and found an elapsed time in 2002 of 63 minutes 39 seconds, by PB II, so Tarka and others still have a bit to make up. Starting on time is the first step!

 With 3 races to go just Polaris and Pattie B III have sailed in the maximum 4 required with 6 others having sailed 3. Everyone who has sailed at least 1 race could still win the cup so keep trying! Pattie B II has got off to a flying start winning her first two races outright but I have it on good authority that things will be harder from here on in! There will be a major shake up in the handicaps before next Saturday using the old maxim, the better you’ve sailed the worse you will do next time!

18^th July 2004 Switch Hitting Wind Routs Sailors!

Another good day dawned on the 18^th with a gentle Southerly wind wafting down the river an hour before the start. Those with more than 1 jib wondered whether to use the light air sail or something heavier, the wind usually filling in by race time. With 15 minutes to go everything seemed normal and the wind could be seen filling in from the sea. Another good start saw most boats on the line, so much so that some were blanketed and struggled to get round, Polaris put a move on Pattie B III just after they’d crossed the line forcing the latter to put in a short tack back towards shore. The helm of Polaris was a mystery as he chose to sail in a box but the crew said they could concentrate better without having to look at helms face!

Ten boats finally crossed within a couple of minutes, Tarka being the only large boat this week. Everything was pretty normal with an 8 knot sea breeze heading the boats as they tacked up to the Sheep Island buoy. Best wind was in the middle of the river with the outgoing tide and a few lost a bit of time exploring the banks but the Lightnings rounded in the first three places, closely followed by Sacagewa and Pattie B III. First hint of trouble in store was the wind dropping and those who had crossed the river East early were laughing as it filled in again from that side and they were able to lay the HoJo mark. Humble Pie and Pattie B III were the main beneficiaries, Humble Pie rounding first from Pattie B II, Sacagewea and Charlie’s Lightning who was a few minutes late starting having hooked up with a lobster pot just before the off! Once at the mark we were rewarded with a gentle run to Rich Man’s Buoy while the problems of getting back to HoJo against the wind were pondered. There was a bit of skull duggery between the two leaders, Harris getting a hand up round the mark. Some went up river and some went down but the real problems arose as the mark was neared with it being blanketed and the wind there was shifting as the shore was closed. Harris now had the lead from Humble Pie, Lightning and Sacagewea, 2 minutes separating the 4 boats and only 14 seconds between the 2^nd and 3^rd Lightnings. Tarka was flying through the fleet and Shearwater had passed Moonbeam.

Polaris were holding off Catspaw and Shearwater with enough time to soak the dock crew and then turn their attentions to Pattie B III as they passed on the beat to Sheep. PB III’s crew suddenly disappeared below decks until the danger had passed! Humble Pie narrowed the gap to PB II, Tarka was up to 5^th place on the water and Shearwater was edging ever closer to Catspaw with Moonbeam just 22 seconds behind them. With just the final run and beat back from Rich Man’s there was still everything to play for. Sacagewa got past Lightning by 10 seconds to take 3^rd behind Pattie B II and Humble Pie on the water. Tarka got past Pattie B III and Shearwater passed Catspaw. A good race in difficult conditions which gave problems to some.

 Thanks to the Dock Crew, Eleanor and Gary being supported again by Bruce and Kathy with English Pro Wendy keeping an eye on proceedings!

 On July 11^th, Tarka set the fastest elapsed time on record, just 20 seconds faster than the Flying Scot which set the previous record on July 13^th last year! Congratulations!! 

11^th July 2004 Honours to the New Girls

A fine day saw the wind fill in from the South just before the start and build to a Force 4 (11-16 knots) during the race for the 8 boats competing. Tarka, looking majestic, was racing for the first time in 2 years, with Charlie Whitehead aboard as guest helm, young Loney as tactician. Rink Dupont was back at the helm of Catspaw and looking none the worse for his long layoff.  In fact he was looking decidedly big headed but it was just the padded hat! Patrick was supplying the muscle and weight to try and keep the lee rail out of the water!

Cleo, competing in her second race with Macy and Harris at the helm, was the star though and belied her official handicap rating to beat both the Typhoons and Moonbeam on the water and win the race on handicap. Melody and Sage put in good performances but their good showing the previous week left them with handicaps they couldn’t overcome. If Tarka had started on time and not 3 minutes late, they would have won comfortably!

4 boats hit the line on time but after a few minutes it was obvious that Patty B and Moonbeam couldn’t get to windward as well as Cleo or Catspaw and it was a question of hanging on close enough to try and recoup on the reaches. This they did but never enough to get back on terms, Catspaw taking second on handicap and finishing 40 seconds ahead of Pattie B, Moonbeam just a further 30 seconds down.

Ky had an eventful day in Whizz Bopper, nearly getting run down by Tarka and impaling himself on the Sheep Island ledge just before rounding the buoy. There was a lot of activity on the river and slop from powerboats, which left at least one crew feeling queasy. Sorry honey!

Melody, with the second fastest elapsed time, behind Tarka, was 3 minutes quicker than the previous week but crucially, the other boats who had raced both times, reduced the time difference between them and her. Smallest gain in elapsed time for the other boats was 4.5 minutes and Cleo made up an astonishing 17 minutes. Even this was eclipsed by Ky who was 20 minutes quicker than the previous week, albeit on projected times.

 The Johnson dock crew, Eleanor, Rollie and Gary, reinforced by Bruce and Kathy Kirkham handled the timing with aplomb, reporting that Sage rounded a lobster buoy instead of the start mark on the first lap. They were not penalised and neither was Tarka for rounding a mark the wrong way! Marks to Port guys apart from the start line mark. 

 4^th July 2004 Celebrations

For some if not for all! On a beautiful afternoon, 12 boats came to the line for the second race of the year for the Brightwater & Wynburg Cup. Ranging in length from Ky in the Optimist, Whizz Bopper, to Melody, a Bristol 27 from Sheep Island and almost all sizes in between! With the two largest boats starting 10 minutes after the others, 10 boats hit the line within a couple of minutes of the Horn and some hit it before that. This time there were no disqualifications but in future, if you’re over the line you need to go back and re-cross the line if you want a finish time.

That’s the time the horn sounds, not when you think it should!

By the weather mark the faster boats had pulled away from the pack,. Humble Pie was flying and left Sacagewea standing on the reach to Rich Man’s House which made the Lightning think they were on a winner. The Flying Scot was trailing these two by a small margin looking to pick up the pieces if there were any slips. Just 3 minutes separated these three at the end of the first lap and only 4 at the end of the race, Humble Pie trailing Sacagewea by just 1 minute as they finished. Moose said he felt sorry for his Buddy Harris but his eyes were hurting. He’s not the first Lightning to have been beaten by the Indian.

Further down the field the fighting was tense with Polaris locked in battle with Moonbeam and Pattie B, while Shearwater was just a minute behind these three. Polaris was shipping plenty of water balloons on the run and their crew was almost out of control as Pattie B passed. A blanket move saw Polaris back ahead by the leeward mark. Moonbeam passed both on the reaches but lost out on the beat back to Sheep Island as their lightweight crew were overpowered at times. Celia hung on to the coat tails of Pattie B, which became very wide at times, particularly just before the finish! Several other boats also seemed to get in Moonbeams way during the racing!

Catspaw sadly departed after a lap with it’s crew of merry makers and it’s to be hoped theirs will be a more determined assault next week. A welcome debut was made by the pretty Cape Cod Bulls Eye, Cleo, sailed very creditably by Macy Whitehead first time out and taking 5^th place on handicap, not far behind the Typhoons on the water.

Deceptively, having started 10 minutes later, Melody & Sage picked their way through the fleet, finishing 1^st and 2^nd  on handicap, Melody with the shortest elapsed time of the day, 1 minute ahead of Sacagewea and just two ahead of Humble Pie who showed clear signs of a breakthrough if concentration can be maintained for 2 laps.

The Johnson dock crew handled a packed start with their usual aplomb but extra help could be used if anyone wants to lend a hand. We’re so good at starts now, everyone is crossing the line at the same time! Ring the Price cabin if you’d like to help. Usual handicap adjustments will take place before next weekend.

2004 Series Launch

27^th June 2004 was the kick off race of the 2004 series and there was a small but high class turn out with many skippers keeping a watching brief from the shore to see what they would be up against.

What they, who sailed, were up against was the wind which blew some, force 4 with gusts of 5 at times and the race was shortened to one lap although the wind eased for a bit as boats finished, picking up again later as it turned to the West.

First over the line at the start were Polaris, helmed by Eric, “British Red collaborator” crewed by mother and daughter team, Mary & Lori then Moonbeam, Celia at the helm with Maia crew initially though a large member of the public (Scott) was drafted in to help keep the boat flat!  With Patty B close behind, an unwilling smiling Wendy crewing Commodore Price. Further back were Whizz Bopper with Ky and Christopher battling the elements and Union Maid sailed by the Proutys, starting a full 18 minutes late, which was to cost them the race.

On the first beat over to Sheep Island Pattie B decided there was no future following the leaders and tacked early to the East side of the river where an extra short tack enabled them to lay the mark ahead of the two boats that had carried on across the river into some bad shifts.

Once round the weather mark it was all over, positions being held back to the gybe mark and although Moonbeam was able to pass Polaris on the reach and take time out of Patty B they couldn’t close the gap entirely on the water.  Union Maid got past Whizz Bopper but had started too late to feature in the results.

On handicap, using last years closing numbers, there was 1 minute 20 seconds between 1^st and 4^th on handicap, Moonbeam beating the Optimist Whizz Bopper by 20 seconds and they in turn were just 27 seconds in front of Polaris who pipped Patty B by a further 33 seconds!

Skippers about who didn’t have the cojones to sail are too numerous to mention and excuses were many and varied. They’ve all been heard before and we expect better next week on July 4^th   The British will be out to spoil your celebrations and show that we still have better tea than the Yankees!

PREVIEW

News has just come through that the first race of 2004 will be on Sunday 27th June at 14.00 hours. Everyone is excited to see what modifications have been carried out to boats in the off season and what new boats will be on the water. A cruise along the shore reveals little but lurking in the bushes are some new hulls and a striking new boat is moored in the Basin, reportedly under ownership of Geoffrey Leighton though it is not sure he wants to show his hand this early and may be sailing the well tested Shearwater until the new boat is fully tested.

Macy Whitehead, has a sleek new hull based on a Herreshoff design. While the Lightning sailed last year by Charlie Whitehead is now in the hands of his cousin Harris so it is to be hoped that there will again be three of these scratch boats out to show their stuff to the rest of the pack.

 Moose Schwabe, having spent hours on sail handling techniques to give him an edge over the other two had a minor setback when a vital part of his equipment was lost at sea but he remained buoyant even if his mooring wasn't! 

Sacagewea is on the water and rigged while Moonbeam is also afloat but sparless.

Catspaw has been seen on trials while Pattie B III, last years winning vessel is hoping to show the other Typhoons a clean pair of heels again. Polaris has been on several shakedown sorties and Diastole was out in a near gale last week, practising heavy weather technique.

Starting handicaps are as below, changes will be considered with a considerable cash donation to the Price Cabin sailing fund!

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