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2008 Race ReportsRace 5 - St.Vaast RaceReport from Electron, Beneteau 31.7, Class 5 Racing for dinner & the lock rather than winning Followers of Electron's trials and tribulations will recall that
since the start of the 2008 season several things have gone wrong.
Whilst this author does not wish to remind Skip about the frustration
of broken equipment or, indeed, the pain felt in his wallet, this
author feels it necessary to set the scene: Yet again, Electron's theme for a race weekend was heralded by a telephone conversation between Skip and Vickie: "You really mean it" said Vickie: "yes" said Skip. To which Vickie had to say: "really? You really really mean it?" Skip replied in the affirmative that, in fact, everything, including the heating, seemed to be fixed and fully operational on Electron - a first for the season. Vickie was very happy - Skip was just relieved - his wallet had taken a serious beating but its funny how quickly you forget (unless it's two pints of beer for £7.20!!) In fact, Skip was so happy he celebrated by purchasing a new red ensign for Electron. He said the old one was too big and worn at the edges. So he bought a little diddy one which, when he proudly displayed it to Vickie made her laugh out loud with the exclamation: "that's a bit small isn't it?" - Skip looked hurt and embarrassed. . . . At the start it became apparent there would be only a light breeze and a strong tide. It was a kite start so Skip made Vickie prepare the foredeck. As she toiled at the bow more than one class 5 competitor quipped that it was "not right for the lady to be at the front" and Skip should "be a gentleman" and do bow. Skip winced and felt his knee. The idiot fell off the boat as they were leaving dock for the start and twisted it, making him even less agile than usual! So Vickie did bow. Skip, feeling guilty hobbled forward to help (the gybes from fellow competitors obviously tweaking his conscience). As the two of them sorted the headsail Vickie announced that she just heard the 10 minute gun. Skip did his usual "bugger it" and faffed with his watch. Vickie, in a flourish tweaked her watch and gleefully announced she had learnt how to set a 5 minute timer as well as 10 minute. (She still has not, however, worked out how to turn off the annoying hourly beep or that damn alarm at 0845). Skip actually managed a half decent start but Electron was slow to raise the kite which meant Imperator and Blustery Day were well ahead by Snowden. Skip and Jonathen on Xara had a little discussion about getting past Snowden "without a fight" and the two boats agreed a temporary truce (thank you Jonathen). Electron stayed pretty much on the rhumb line to the forts whilst Imperator, Blustery Day and Xara went over to the north side of the Solent. This tactic elicited the usual doubt from Skip as he agonised over whether he had made the correct decision or not. Then, watching Imperator get the first of several bad headers he gleefully announced: "See, look, it's an advantage to have a boat in front" and grinned. The breeze headed to the point that the lead boats changed to whites before the forts. Skip held on as long as possible with the "new for this season A1" which enabled some of the lost time at the start to be regained. Skip even decided he would pack the kite. Vickie was somewhat taken aback but decided not to comment until Skip returned on deck smiling and said: "That's a very nice kite back - it's well designed and really really good" - "good job you replaced the one you lost over the side then Skip" she replied. A slow beat past Bembridge had the Class 4 boats catch up and then for some time Electron sailed in company with Only Just and another unidentified boat. Only Just was pointing a little higher and slowly the two boats parted Company. With Peter the pilot full of balls and fully functioning Skip
suggested that Vickie turn in and he took the first watch. When
asked for the highlight of that watch he said there were in fact
several memorable moments and proceeded to list them: In the end Skip tacked, leaving at least four or five other boats continuing towards Le Havre - another reason to agonise!! Skips time off watch brought a couple of calls from Vickie. The First was to say Xara had shot past behind Electron going west at a very fast rate of knots. Skip scratched his head, looked at the progress of Electron and advised Vickie to stick to their plan (plan? We did not know there was a plan!!!!) The second was a trifle bizarre. A ship seemed to come in from behind Electron at reasonable speed. Circle around and then almost stop in front of the boat. The lights on the ship were both bright and confusing. Unusually, the lights seemed to be very low in the water for its size. Skip surfaced on deck and stared. And stared and also blinked. In fact, he looked at the ship for so long Electron sailed by (at a scrape) and so announced all was well. It was bizarre behaviour for a ship though and Vickie was right to call for a second opinion. As the morning progressed Skip was his usual cheerful self. He announced that Electron may not make the lock at St Vaast and looking at the light ahead, was probably not doing to well either. For once he was wrong on both counts. In fact, it seems, trimming the boat to get into the lock for a good dinner is by far more effective as an incentive than trimming to win the race! Every few minutes Skip would tweak a little there and then ease a little there. He even kept looking at the nav too! Electron just suffered a little from the start of the north going tide at the finish which again had Skip wondering about the lock. As Electron passsed the finish he announced to Vickie: "leave all the sails up" and gunned the engine. The main was literally dropped as the boat approached the lock - arriving with time to spare. A good race, if a bit wet in the night. Thank you to the race team for starting and finishing the race and thank you to Monsieur Gosselin for taking all of Skips Euros in exchange for some excellent foie gras!!!!! Report from J-Fever, J 120, Class 3 We assembled in the nick of time, no debutants this race, although Ronnie has only sailed with us once before. Tim made a big effort at the start, after one race over the line and the next late, we started this in the middle of the "select band" which was the class 3 entry, with Orlando the marmalade kite already flying. A pleasant reach as we took the N. channel and kept the kite up to the fort. Spinnaker trimmer forgot to wave to the boyfriend as we passed, gifts from Maison Gosselin would be required. Thunder and Floating Voter were fast disappearing ahead. A bit of damp in the air but not in our spirits. Definitely looking better than the 4-6 knots some of us had seen on a forecast. We enjoyed Navigators stew, a welcome treat, and settled down for a nice beat worrying about the lock gate and whether the Skipper would let us take the ground in the outer harbour. We should try it so that we know we can. Came on deck and it was RAINING, but the wind had improved in strength, thoughts of Maison Gosselin cheered us on. A few tacks mid channel and an avoiding manoeuvre for a vessel which had might but not right on its side. The wind got up and the rain stopped in the early hours. Better and better. The wind went more southeasterly and we were able to free a bit, heading for the finish cheered by the thought of St. Vaast, lunch, sleep, and the party to come. The sun shone, we would make the gate, St Vaast beckoned, hurrah! Happily heading for the lock, we answered the plea from a competitor and turned to give them a tow in. In our years racing with JOG we have been towed once into both Deauville and St. Vaast, and this year have repayed the debt by towing unfortunates into both these ports. We feel quite practised! We enjoyed the party at the Marina, for which many thanks, and had a lovely meal ashore at our favourite restaurant before setting out laden for home. Thank you to the start and finish teams for turning out for us
determined few. Report from Only Just, J105, Class 4 Andy & his league of ladies lead Class 4 off the start line… Andy, Ruth & Fiona, aboard Only Just, sprung in sprightly
fashion off the RAF pontoon in Hamble at 5pm on Friday night,
in the face of a rapidly falling tide, and wishing that someone
would bung the next passing dredger £100 to do something
about the rising silt. Andy was in his element, alone with the
ladies, as Jeff was unfortunately indisposed. With whom or where,
remains undisclosed. Was it Emma who was also unavailable to crew
this week? Did his boss, Mr Stevens, know about this? We know
not. Moored off the start line in Cowes in good time, the team devoured a superior supper, with smoked salmon and freshly cracked black pepper amongst the delectations hot and cold, although it should be noted that this week supper was enjoyed in the dining room rather than the terrace as the weather was a tad inclement. This rendered the team platter un-necessary on this occasion, despite the risk of scalding from the hot dishes. Only Just got off to a great start, with the death star black spinnaker flying, leaving the rest of Class 4 behind all the way to the forts. Cowes TV will no doubt be featuring the JOG race starts as their RHIB was following us closely, camera poised and rolling. Check out their YouTube channel. Rounding Bembridge Ledge with a neat 1.5m to spare, Only Just was still leading the Class 4 fleet and rapidly catching Electron (Class 5) who rounded the mark just ahead of us. Only Just was sailing higher than Electron, and With Alacrity who later passed us, albeit seemingly on course for Fecamp despite the fact that this seems to be an omission from this years race calendar. Ciel! Ever in-touch with the times, the Only Just team are thinking of starting a Facebook petition group to get Fecamp re-instated next year. As darkness closed in Ruth and Fiona headed below deck for a quick power-nap (chivalrously offered by Andy, on account of the girls both having had heavy weeks at work), which they later realised was just a cunning ploy as they were soon awakened to hear Andy chatting up the {attractive, blonde, we suspect, but definitely} skipper of an overtaking Bendy toy, ooops typo, Beneteau. Suitably cheered and distracted despite the prevailing weather conditions, Mr Hill then took his turn in the arms of Morpheus leaving the girls in charge on deck, in the rain. Chivalry has its limits after all. Only Just has little to report for the rest of the race, bar
the crossing rather closely in front of our bow, of a VERY large
container ship, mid-channel, seemingly in hurry, and an interminable
5 hour beat towards the finish from the Longue Pierre passed us just short of the finish line, having already crossed the line, but also having missed the lock gates into St Vaast, and were kind enough to radio over an invitation to join them for dinner in Cherbourg, as we would be missing the JOG party sadly. A team vote had already decided that a RORC-style over-the line and head for home approach was in order, as if just under 24 hours almost non-stop (barring the pause for pre-race supper on Friday night) was not hard-core sailing enough to shock the non-racing members of the RAF club. Crossing the line (at last) was celebrated in usual Only Just style with a bottle of fizz (or two) and upmarket tapas (courtesy of the "D.Star restauration service" (highly recommended)) to fortify the crew ahead of the overnight journey back to Hamble. Report from Just So, J 109, Class 3 A cautious start with 3 knots of tide pushing us across the line and a pleasant spinnaker reach, followed by a white sail reach in light winds to the forts then on to a fetch to Bembridge Ledge and a beat across the Channel in 5-15 knots of wind. Once past the Cherbourg peninsular we found a back eddy, pushing us away from the finish. With the wind dropping, would we manage to cross the finish line without anchoring for hours? Fotunately we found some breeze and all was well as we reached the finish. A pleasant drinks reception and a good meal at the Fuchsias Restaurant
rounded off a good race. |
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Cap de Barfleur in the face of flukey winds and heavy tides. That
notwithstanding, there probably should be mention of the very
abrupt introduction to "Raquelle la Roche " just off
the Cap, who succeeded in stopping Only Just in her tracks at
3 knots, sending Fiona flying head first for the companion way
[ouch], and Andy once again feeling pain in his wallet. A few
moments of frenetic activity followed as Fiona and Ruth were despatched
promptly below deck to lift floor boards and check for water intake.
Fortifying Armagnac intake was subsequently required by the crew.