Bembridge Sailing Club mid-July Daily Keelboat Racing
by Bembridge SC 26 Jul 07:00 UTC
18-24 July 2025
Friday 18 July - Rob Mathieson
Sadly only two Redwings and two One-Designs wanted to race on Friday evening. The former started with a beat to Garland and back to Janson twice, after which they rounded Fitzwilliam and finished at Under Tyne. Toucan (helmed by Colin Samuelson) established a lead on the first beat which Avocet (helmed by Mike Macinnes) was unable to do much about. The two One-Designs meanwhile were set a similar course but with just one beat. John Suffield, sailing single-handed in No 4 led at the windward mark and finished comfortably ahead of Mark Hodgkinson who was in No 3.
Saturday 19 July - Robin Joy
The calm after early morning cloudbursts was not too promising, but ten Redwings and two One-Designs turned out on Saturday morning. Out at sea a light westerly sprang up, allowing a line to be laid between Garland to windward, with Fitz as a leeward mark.
The first Redwing race saw Colin Samuelson in Toucan overcook it slightly, but he soon dipped and then headed inshore on starboard, followed closely by Olav Cole in Redwing.
Start of Race 1 on Saturday
The majority of the fleet however chose the right hand side of the beat, which was a costly mistake, as the faltering breeze faded to nothing, leaving them stranded between the Fort and Garland. Colin and Olav managed to inch round the mark, and a little later a few knots of breeze came in from the SE, reaching Colin first, giving them a slow starboard fetch to what had been the leeward mark. By the time this new air got to the fleet Colin had escaped, not to be caught. He finished 5 minutes ahead of Olav, with James Wilson in Quail another 5 minutes behind in third. Then came Rupert Macinnes in Avocet, Mike Toogood in Tara, Serena Gosling in Gosling, Oliver Morgan in Prawn, Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet, Richard Jessel in Blue Jay, and Dominic Samuelson in Tarpon, some 22 minutes (in a 53 minute race) after the winner.
After another brief flat calm, a little wind filled in from the south, so the start line was adjusted to attempt a quick second race up to Under Tyne, downwind to Janson, with a second beat back to finish at UT. After a cautious start it was again those on the right hand side of the course who found a hole in the wind, and they could only spectate as Colin narrowly led Joe at Under Tyne, with Rupert and James in hot pursuit. The wind then backed somewhat, turning the run into a reach, and the final beat into something of a fetch. Joe had worked through Colin on the run, and held on to win by 15 seconds. Third was Dominic, a minute later, followed by Olav, James, Rupert, Mike, Crispin Kenyon (now helming Blue Jay), Oliver, and Serena. It's not often that Serena is at the rear of the field, but she was 10 minutes behind in a 30 minute race, which shows how fickle the wind was!
The two One-Designs raced over the same courses as the Redwings, but found things pretty tough in the light airs, with Mark Hodgkinson in No 3 becalmed by the Fort, and not even making the windward mark. John Deacon in No 6 sailed the course to win.
The drifty second start saw Mark starting a minute late, but he was still 2 minutes ahead of John! Mark however then sailed straight into the inshore hole. John saw what was happening to him and rounded the windward mark well ahead, and also ahead of several Redwings that had started 5 minutes before him. There was little Mark could do, and John won by several minutes.
Sunday 20 July - Mike Samuelson
Heavy rain and strongish Southerly overnight breezes did not bode well for Sunday morning's races. However, along with Sea Breeze, the crews for six Redwings and two One-Designs optimistically left the shelter of the Club in the launches at just after 09:30 to see what was going to be the art of the possible. Conditions at Under Tyne were certainly not for the faint-hearted and both One-Design crews decided to remain on the launches and return to the harbour. However the Redwingers, joined by Tim Montagu in Musicus who sailed out from the harbour, decided to 'test the water' and head out to the start area. In the event Plover, Avocet, Tarpon and Musicus decided to play safe and returned t the moorings. This left Redwing, Olav Cole, Red Gauntlet II, Joe Robertson and James Wilson in Quail as the only starters. And one of those (Quail) only made it just across the line before retiring with a broken runner. In fact the runner broke with about 10 seconds to the start which accounted for them being OCS as James tried to take the pressure off the mast.
Start of Sunday's Redwing Race
Redwing and Red Gauntlett II had a very close race that saw then rounding Tara twice, Britten three times before finishing at Under Tyne. Olav led the way for most of the race, although Joe rounded Britten for the final time just ahead. However on the final beat to the finish, Olav who kept out (while Joe came in) regained the lead and finished about 10 seconds ahead.
With a first and a second on Saturday and a DNS on Sunday, Toucan won the weekend Redwing Trophy, the Mackinnon Trophy.
Monday 21 July - by Mike Samuelson
Only one Redwing crew were waiting at the Club for the start of 'daily' racing which was obviously a pity as conditions were a lot less extreme than the previous day. Although offered a start with the five One-Designs, Olav in Redwing opted to go for a practice sail instead. Starting off Under Tyne Russ Fowler sailing No 1 single handed risked all with a port tack start which he just got away with.
Never far away were John Suffield sailing single-handed in No 4 and Charles Abel Smith also single handed in No 7. Behind them were the two double handed boats, No 3 helmed by Simon Allocca and No 6 helmed by Ashleigh McLucas. The beat to Britten was quite tricky as the 10 knot breeze came and went and it was not very long before it was clear that the single-handers were going to get there first. Russ was first round with Charles and John very close behind; there was then a five minute gap to No 3 and No 6. On the long run initially to Tara but then changed to a finish at Under Tyne as the breeze went light, Russ just held off Charles and John to win. No 6 flew her spinnaker on the run however quite surprisingly it did not appear to make much difference even though it was full most of the time. Offered a second race, they all opted to head back to their moorings!
Tuesday 22 July - Nicko Robertson
Tuesday morning was overcast with a consistent F4 Westerly. This felt stronger at the club and lifejackets were required. Sadly no Redwing sailors appeared but 4 One-Designs were tempted out.
Starting at JJ 30 minutes after High Tide all 4 got away to an excellent and very even start. Three boats chose to take the inshore line with one, No 6, taking a port tack flyer off towards Seaview. The inshore gamble paid off with three boats, No 4 (helmed by John Suffield), No 10 (helmed by Mark Grzegorczyk) and No 1 (helmed by Simon Allocca) rounding Nainby first, with No 6 (Ashleigh McLucas) some three minutes later. A long run down to Ruthven followed and was enlivened by No 6 displaying their yellow spinnaker.
At the half way mark, 42 minutes in and beating past the Committee boat on the way back up to Nainby, the order was No 4, No 10 and No 1, all close together with No 6 maintaining their port tack strategy towards Portsmouth and passing the Committee boat somewhat later at a considerable distance to windward. At 11:25 the first boat rounded Nainby for the second time and Ruthven at 11:40. On the last beat back to JJ, No 4 retained their lead to win the race at 11:48 but a close match between No 1 and No 10 resulted in a second for No 1, with No 10 third, 30 seconds behind. No 6 having again used the yellow spinnaker on the second run, finished a few minutes later.
Wednesday 23 July - by Mike Samuelson
The forecast looked quite promising for the sole Redwing (Musicus) and four single handed One-Designs wanting to race on Wednesday morning. And initially they all made reasonable progress from the moorings to the start line at Under Tyne. However that was as far as they got as the breeze tailed off to a couple of knots. With no obvious sign of it returning it was agreed to abandon racing for the day and get a tow back to the moorings. Typically, half a hour later a F3 NW came down from Seaview, however it was too late to set the race back up.
Thursday 24 July - Mike Samuelson
Pretty similar conditions to the previous day, and although racing finished somewhat prematurely, when again the breeze died off, at least the three Redwings and five One-Designs did get a race. A pleasant F3 Northerly made Under Tyne the obvious start line with Janson as the windward mark and Tara as the leeward mark for both classes. Disappointingly with about 10 minutes to the start the breeze started to tail off and although the Redwings managed to cross the line without too much difficulty, the majority of the One-Designs went for a port tack start. Both fleets soon split tacks as they sought to find the elusive breeze.
One-Design Start
It was not long before Quail, helmed single handed by James Wilson was shown to be 'expert' in going the right way; indeed he was a country mile ahead of Goose, helmed by Jaffa Orange and Blue Jay helmed by Richard Jessel by the time he rounded Janson. Indeed, by the time he finished the shortened course on the second rounding of Tara, he was 20 minutes ahead.
Having bravely stayed on starboard tack after the start, John Suffield sailing single handed in No 4 One-Design rounded Janson well ahead of Susie Beart in No 5, Mark Grzegorczyk (single handed) in No 9, Russ Fowler in No 1 and Mark Hodgkinson (single handed) in No 6. With the breeze coming and going and then going completely as they ran to Tara, it was decided to halt proceedings at Tara. Although they did not appear to make much difference, it was good to see No 9 and No 1 attempting to keep their spinnakers flying!