The May Family Cup 22nd July Results

With an amazing demonstration of downwind speed & control, playing the angles with the spinnaker, Lymington racer Sam Webb and his mum Jenny zoomed around the course making the Feva XL do things it probably didn’t think it could. Its always a pleasure to be thrashed by sheer quality, and never more so than Team Webb’s 12 year old helm – we want his autograph!

40 sailors in 27 boats raced the 45th May Cup in perfect conditions Sunday. The May’s and friends had brought with them bright blue skies and a good 3-4 sowesterley as demanded by the course diagram in the Sailing Instructions and eagle-eyed RO Ginnie Sykes and her team aboard Julian White’s motor cruiser Dickens..  Julian was able to watch his teenage son Jack manfully get to grips with a full rig club Laser and lets hope they get time on the water together this summer in a club Vision.

Given the busy nature of the river on a summers weekend, four safety boats and 8 crew were deployed to buffer the race area from errant craft and other such flotsam & jetsum

Rescue of the day? – a dismasted cruising dinghy not racing, gently & courteously towed by Martin Fenton and Mike Lowe to Durgan; apparently viewed by telescope from as far away as the Scillies to the New Inn Manaccan. Get me one. Returning to race mark positioning and photography we shall be rewarded by a developing online gallery at Mike’s et al’s pleasure.

A plucky young Freya Skingley shrewdly got her capsize out of the way before the first race and gave a sterling account of herself thereafter. Miranda May & Elly Gordon were less lucky when wayfarer equipment failure denied them a chance to race. Miranda’s talents were however fully on display at the Afternoon Tea Table – groaning as it was under the weight and quality of Mirandas baking and Susie Lawrence’s savouries to be washed down with gallons of Tea.

Typical of the relaxed racing style of a May Cup, the precise location of the start line was taken as a suggestion, and any gentle imploring’s by the CB politely ignored or rather unheard above the din of crackling new sails at precisely 13:08 – ish.
Bang on 30 minutes later Phil Philpott’s Blaze was back over the line hotly pursued by Andy Biggs’ Laser and Tom Gilbert & Troy Christensen’s Musto Skiffs – a craft that delivers blistering and exhilarating performance when coming first to come last. Such are the vagaries of PY racing.

Another vivacious teenager, Morwenna Richards, seems naturally to revel in competition; galloped her Topper about the course and received just reward for her efforts at the final accounting.

Father and Daughter Andrew and Beks Hosking jostled around the course narrowly missing out on a top 3 at 4 & 5 overall. Eligible for her first Bootle of wine this outstanding 18-year-old took Lady Helm.

Elsewhere Dr Paddy Royal and Paul Randall were enjoying a fruitful discourse as to the similarity between Brownian motion and the predictability of their two particles coming together on the downwind. DrR had the Vision to prove water is a finer buffer and took it for a 7th to Paul’s 8th. Not bad for a first outing in a strange craft.
Distracted by this earnest and animated discussion going on ahead; Allison Philpott thought the Windward Mark needed a good clean so wiped it all the way round with the biggest cloth she had; thus qualifying handsomely for the Black Flag, and not only that, came back with a 9th overall, ahead of Roger McDonald’s one to one sailing school with Sarah on the second Wayfarer home.

Manaccan’s finest Colt’s scrum half Finn Walsh-Newton on his first outing in a Laser Radial sold a few dummies to the opposition wiggling as he did up through the field to within one point of the Maestro himself, Adam Mason in the Europe. Finn discovered getting the boat to sail flat in the stiffer wind of the second race a little trying on the six pack but rightly proud, ended up in middle orders 3 places above the chap twice his weight in the full rig Laser. More Importantly – a whole good point above Ollie & Tom in the clinker-built Rocket –or as they would have it, a flimsily built garden shed. Excuses Excuses.

Released by the drought from the necessity of mowing his lawn, Richard Graham-Vivian had time for his 2nd sail of the year and a 3rd in the Wayfarer cup. Just in front of the G-V our very own Rear Commodore Sailing was delighted as Lily, the youngest crew and sailor of the day, made the lucky half point difference for a 12th.

Team Lucy & Nick Gordon put their lucky Devon Yawl: Anne-Louise through very elegant paces to finish as the first of the May Group home; just a snip in front of the venerable Dave Philpott at 18 – no that’s not his birthday, but it could have well been for the spritely way in which he led his Solo about the second race.

Almost hand in hand a beaming George & Charlie May went down the final leg of the second race with Andrew Prince & Richard Corrie to take a 4th in the Wayfarer Cup and the first May’s home in the same.
Rose Burley and Peter Lethfead-Currie were the last HRSC Wayfarer crew to remain in the last race, Angie Watson and Peter Headland retiring with their Wayfarer shedding fittings.

With an amazing demonstration of downwind speed & control, playing the angles with the spinnaker Lymington racer Sam Webb and his mum Jenny zoomed around the course making the Feva XL do things it probably didn’t think it could. Its always a pleasure to be thrashed by sheer quality, and never more so than Team Webb’s 12 year old helm – we want his autograph!

Results are final as of  9:45 pm 23rd July, 2018

May Cup Overall

R1

R2

Wayfarer Cup Overall

R1

R2