Author: Jeff

HRSC 67th Dinghy Regatta 2015 Saturday 11th July Wind WSW 4-6

67th Helford Regatta

Helford’s Senior racers were as delighted with the performance of their Junior section, as the Juniors themselves.  In the combined Youth & Senior fleets, Youth Laser 4.7 sailors Olly Chamberlain and Beks Hosking relieved the seniors of their two largest pieces of silverware; Phil Philpot left content with a Bronze for his Blaze.

Race organiser Andy Biggs had been promised a breezy days sailing all week by Culdrose, and he wasn’t disappointed with an average of 12 knots and double again in the gusts.  Four racers and three generations of the Philpott family were out on the water, proving dinghy sailing is for all ages, taking prizes in youth, senior and overall categories.

There were thrills and multiple spills for most, yet peri octogenarian, Grandfather Dave Philpott kept his immaculate middle aged wooden Solo upright and raced all five races with panache – to the envy of everyone.  Phil Samuel had a promising morning with a modern Solo, and with 3 good races under his belt had rightly every expectation of a podium finish had not Aeolus tripped him up.  Getting the Solo out of an inversion & going again is an exhausting exercise, given a cockpit as large as a double bath.

With room to bath a rugby scrum, three conventional double handers out racing would try at all costs to avoid capsize.

Roger Philpott and his young crew Gabriel in a Graduate were holding nicely to middle orders; nevertheless it was too gusty for their large sail area and retired.  Team Kestin & McDonald on a second outing racing Beccy’s Wayfarer decided there was no profit to be had flying a big yellow kite on the short downwind course and shorter reaches; a wise choice as they stayed dryish and medalled.   Anton Chamberlain’s Comet Trio needed a crew and reef both, which he finally got after lunch, when a brave Jack Lawrence joined him after abandoning an exhausting wrestle with his over powered Laser in the morning.  Jack gave the Comet  just the edge needed in the battle royal that had being going on all day with Andrew Hosking’s Laser.  Just as Andrew was really showing superiority over Brooks and Anton in the stiffer winds of the afternoon, he threw it all away with a moment’s indiscretion on the penultimate gybe.

Chris Hosken boldly went where he had never been before,  into an RS Vareo, and probably wished he hadn’t on this particular day, but made sure he gave it a wash – in fact several – out of gratitude to Tom Smith, its owner.

Phil Philpott’s Blaze, a veritable aquatic version of his Ducati, roared ahead of the fleet, yet did on occasion, skid on gravel around the leeward bend; there being no ABS on the big red beautiful beast, still at least the landing was soft.

In the first race Phil’s nephew Sam was third in a 1, 2, 3 triumvirate of youth Laser 4.7’s.  For the first 3 races it was Olly Chamberlain […]

Summer Weekend Series Sunday 5th July : Pursuit, Wind SW 4-6

Hasty Pursuit

With no Lasers out Sunday the PY handicap fleet had the morning to themselves. With the Hooter Blown at 9.30 under large black clouds, a clap of thunder in the distance, and flat calm at the clubhouse was the usually reliable Met Office forecast for Culdrose going to deliver? 25 minutes later as a Wayfarer and National 12 crossed the startline, gone was the mill pond, to be replaced by streaks of foam as gusts +25knots propelling racers through the narrows and into the main racing area. Beccy Kestin helming and racing her new Wayfarer for the first time, enjoyed the shove in the back as her craft nosed ahead of Andy & Karen Biggs’ sea sawing N12 – but not for long as the Wayfarer needed its Lemon coloured spinnaker to stay ahead. Nothing like sorting a vessel out in the last race before Saturday 11th July Open Regatta at Helford.

As the sun broke out fully on the beat back up river to Trebah the force of the gusts soon became apparent as the double handers showed excessive hull and even a hint of centreboard – useful if checking for seaweed fouling the foils. Needing a winch to haul in the ropes Beccy gave the helm to her crew Roger McDonald as Trebah beach drew a little close for comfort. With a look of intense concentration on their faces Andy & Karen planed on the bareaway around Trebah mark; looking back to see the Wayfarer about ½, and Roger Philpott’s Halo hardly a minute away. By the time the N12 reached the mouth of the river, it was well and truly in the Halo’s gaze, and from this point on – apart from an unplanned dismount to free up the Cunningham of Toll it was Phil’s race to sail at the edge of the crafts stability.

Stretched over the bow Beccy managed to free the launch of her spinnaker and began to make inroads on the N12’s lead. Racing became a lot closer as a double gybe and pirouette around the leeward mark saw Karen bailing the N12 furiously. Staying together the two similarly handicapped boats close raced until the 90th minute with N12 just ahead for 2nd.

Results 1st R Philpott, 2nd A&K Biggs, 3rd R McDonald

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Safety & Photography: Stephen Brooks.

Andy & Karen Biggs in their N12 round the Leeward mark as Phil Philpott in the Halo prepares to overtake

Andy & Karen Biggs in their N12 overtaken by Phil Philpott in the Halo

Spring Evening Series Thursday 2nd July : Average LapW/L, Wind SSW 2-4

Dave & Phil Philpott found the best course for a sloppy southerly on Thursday. Rather than race, Beks Hosking preferred to revise for a Spanish final exam with Ben Johns in the rescue boat – guessing there wouldn’t be much call for their services until the tow home as the wind faded.

The trick for the evening was to catch or rather anticipate where a fickle wind might be. Brooks caught a buoy just before the 1st race and came last behind Andrew Hosking. Hugo, our gallant Gallic guest for the week pipped Beccy Kestin by one fine second per lap but could not quite emulate the grace of Andy & Karen Biggs in their National 12, 2nd behind McD who had all his gyros spinning in the right direction

Sandwiched between an Aeronaut and Hugonaut at the Pin end at the start of the second race Brooks remembered that sticking his craft amidships onto the nose of Ginnie’s laser wouldn’t do the entente cordial much good either in France or Falmouth and aborted the manoeuvre.   Meeting at the Windward mark the Naut’s continued their congenial tour and went left while Andy & Karen N12’s slippery hull sent them gliding like a swan to victory. Andrew found wind & form moving to within 5 seconds of McD but after another great sail Beccy snuck in front of McD for 2nd

Results

Race 1    1st R McDonald, 2nd A Biggs, 3rd le Hugonaut

Race 2     1st A Biggs, 2nd R Kestin, 3rd R McDonald

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Safety Boat: Phil Samuel & Andrew Hosking, Chris Broad.

Spring Weekend Series Sunday 28th June 2015 : Pursuit SW, Wind S-W 4-6 

In Pursuit of Happiness

Andy Biggs had a huge grin on his face as he had been just been thrashed by the 4.7s, and taken part in one of Helford’s best pursuit races of the season. Deciding his relative – the garrulous Gallic Hugonaut – should have a good workout before Sunday lunch, race officer Roger McDonald set a course that ran and reached in the odd 25+knot shifty gusts down river; strained sinew and shrouds on the gallop upriver.

First off, Beccy Kestin and Beks Hosking popped out of the Narrows in their 4.7’s planeing downwind in the big gusts; by the time they both rounded Toll Beccy was clearly well ahead. It wasn’t until a gust caught Beccy between Committee & Toll turtling the 4.7 that young Beks Hosking finally pounced and stayed at the head of fleet with Beccy snapping at her ankles to the end of the race for their 1-2.

A little stumble at the first hurdle and our chatty Hugonaut chum slipped to the back of the Laser queue; where, despite huge efforts, his loaned Laser scooped up water as if a Canadair. This flightless canard however was for sinking – and came last; not by much as the entire fleet were within seconds of each other.

So it was for the remaining Lasers to wait for the slightest error or favourable gust to gain advantage. Phil Philpott’s slowish start on his third Laser outing soon turned into a display of confident seamanship; the throttle opened 110% when Biggsey cuffed Central and turned a 360 penalty into a pirouette.  

Team Hosking & Brooks were out on their first date. Despite loose head prop Brook’s fight with the wet spaghetti in the front of the Laser 2 there was enough ballast & brains in the rear to hold the craft flat on the long beats and upright on the reaches to tease a third within seconds of the finish.   

Results 1st R Hosking, 2nd R Kestin, 3rd A Hosking

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Safety Boat: R McDonald

Spring Evening Laser Plate Mini Series 1 of 3 Thursday 25th June : Olympic TSL, Wind SSW 3-4

Laser Plate Race 1

Veteran race officer Phil Samuel tasked his stewards with forming an old style Olympic Triangle course in a breeze that blew variously south to north, if not at all on Thursday

Hugo the Hugonaut – so called for his nautical adventures, took the opportunity at Helford’s 2015 Laser Plate miniseries to reprise his performance as a youthful Laser racer on the opposite side of the Channel some 17 years past. When it comes to beating his relation McD, on his own turf, it would not be a piece of cake; so it proved in a fluky evening’s breeze on Thursday.

Our garrulous Gallic guest took great care of Ginnie Sykes sleek Black craft, but of Hugo’s disarming chatter, it was wise to ignore as he scampered after McD; leaving all else behind. Biggsey was performing in fine style as he dinged his way about the Radials to finish fourth behind the Hugonaut.

Of the Juniors, Harry Broad eventually led the radials of his brother Matt Broad, Ben Johns, and Beks Hosking – with only1½ minutes separating them all after near an hour’s close racing. Despite his best efforts, Sam Philpott couldn’t go any faster than his 4.7 would let him. Sam’ s Uncle, Phil, had only got one sail, the right, one and gradually moved up to middle orders.

Beccy Kestin was the distant beacon to which the Radial racers aspired as she increased her lead to near 1½ minutes by the finish of this class. At the final accounting McD led by 22 seconds per lap over Beccy and 27 seconds over Hugo to win overall the first stage of 3.

Results

Overall 1st R McDonald, 2nd R Kestin, 3rd le Hugonaut

Juniors 1st H Broad, 2nd M Broad, 3rd B Johns

Laser Fleet 1st R McDonald, 2nd le Hugonaut, 3rd A Biggs

Radial Fleet 1st R Kestin, 2nd H Broad, 3rd M Broad

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Committee & Safety: Phil Samuel, Andrew Hosking, Chris Broad.

Spring Weekend Series Sunday 21st June 2015 : Linestart NW, Wind 4-5

Beccy Bests the Bunch

Walking and talking the dogs at 5am, is how Laser specialist Beccy Kestin starts her preparation on race days, and gets in two Sunday breakfasts before the farmers. To give the reader some indication of what Beccy does to win her races, do a search on You Tube for Hiking Tips from GB’s Nick Thompson 2016 Olympic hopeful or click here

youtube.com/watch?v=1fKYrWw6UNE

Race Officers Beks Hosking & Jim Lea set a superb course with a huge beat West up river that would test or rather remind racers they had abs and quads and needed to use them. Starting in the middle of the river off Grebe, the handicap fleet ran out of wind near the committee boat; on the opposite side 50 yards away Brooks was on a planeing reach to the Pin, but couldn’t quite make out the numbers on his stopwatch. Phil Philpott new exactly where and when he was going in the Blaze and the rest of the fleet followed, although Andrew Hosking did take pause to reconsider his options – twice – and came last.

Bionic man Andy Biggs knows how to keep a Laser flat, swapping the lead with a glistening Blaze in the unpredictable wind of the first Lap to eventually to come second. Phil Samuel a former exponent of the physical Laser seemed effortlessly to guide his Solo about the course but was denied a podium position by just one fine second.

With the wind shifting in the Blazes favour for the remaining laps Philpott together with Biggs stretched their lead, but were trumped by Beccy’s 4.7 at the final accounting

Results 1st R Kestin, 2nd A Biggs 3rd S Brooks

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Committee: R Hosking & J Lea

Spring Evening Thursday 18th June : Average Lap

Results

Race 1
Overall: 1st P Samuel, 2nd P Philpott, 3rd D Philpott,
Juniors: 1st R Hosking 2nd S Philpott

Race 2
Overall 1st P Samuel, 2nd R Hosking, 3rd P Philpott
Juniors 1st R Hosking, 2nd S Philpott

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Safety & Comittee Boat: A&K Biggs

Spring Evening Thursday 11th June : Linestart NE, Wind 2-3<

Gentle Evening

Results 1st P Philpott, 2nd P Samuel, 3rd R McDonald

Juniors 1st S Philpott, 2nd B Johns, 3rd R Hosking

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Safety & Comittee Boat: A&K Biggs

Spring Weekend Series Sunday 31st May : Pursuit, Wind NW 4-6

Communal Capsize

Phil Samuels reports “The wind was pretty lively and all five lasers capsized. McD won from Andy Biggs with Phil Philpott in third, on his first laser outing. The two 4.7s had a close tussle with Matt Broad in 4th just ahead of Beks Hosking”

Results 1st R McDonald, 2nd A Biggs, 3rd P Philpott

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day

Safety Boat: Phil Samuel & Andrew Hosking, Chris Broad.

Spring Weekend Series Sunday 26th April 2015 :
Triangular Average Lap x 2 BCX Wind N3-4

A Pin Tale

A faultless Met Office forecast for Thursday’s racing gave way to one that lost 15 & 35mph gusts over 36hrs for Sunday. Culdrose recorded a sun blessed 11-14MPH during the race – perfect for a spring’s first outing. Thus a cosy little fleet set of from Bosahan without the un-persuaded – usually attired in wetsuit shorties, or indeed shorts of the red kind. The Met Office is still working with their old 2009 £33 million computer – before a new 140 tonne £97 million replacement begins service in September 2015, reaching full capacity by 2017. In the Interim, keep wetting the forefinger.

Each race was decided almost from the start, with Roger McDonald taking a 30 yard advantage the Pin end offered in shifty conditions of the lee shore. It took the first race to loosen the rust from Andy Biggs navigational gyros – giving away, as he did, near 50 seconds per lap. Despite voluntarily acknowledging the error of his starting ways, Biggsey was again lured to the Committee boat for the start of the second race. Giving himself a stiff and unrepeatable talking to, and a kick to the gyros, Andy’s resolve returned and caught McD half way to Central.
Whispering in his old & faithful Laser’s ear with a promise both: to polish her bottom, and buy a shiny new mast before the next race; McD encouraged his charge to victory by 7 small seconds.

Results 1st R McDonald 2nd A Biggs

Captain Dinghies Andy Biggs thanks all those in support of the fleet on the day
Safety Boat: Stephen Brooks

After the success of the 2014 season I think we are all looking forward to another fantastic fun and competitive season of dinghy racing on the Helford. This season will again be a mix of line start courses, average lap racing and pursuit races. With the number of racers increasing we should be able to increase the use of the Q20 committee boat and have more line starts. Committee boat duties will be requested of racers during the season.

There will be a pre-season briefing on Thursday 16th April at 7.00pm. The weekend races are mainly on Sundays and I hope to organise several fun Saturday events to encourage new sailors and progressing juniors to join the fleet. The formal racing starts on Thursday 23rd April but depending on weather and enthusiasm there may be some informal practice races earlier in April. These events will be notified by email circulation. The Dinghy Regatta Day will be on Saturday 11th July, with the first race at 10.30am. This will be a day of 5 average lap races allowing all standards of sailing ability and speed of dinghy to compete in fun exciting races.

The Susanna May Cup will be held on Saturday 8th August at 3pm. The May family are again hosting this fun race afternoon and party/prize giving event, and everyone is welcome. My thanks to everyone who helped make the 2014 season such a success and I hope 2015 is as enjoyable for everyone.

If you would like to try dinghy sailing, experience racing or join the adult sailors in the Club fleet of Wayfarers on a Tuesday evening, then please get in touch. Email me on [email protected].

Andy Biggs – Captain Dinghies