“It was the last weekend of the 2018 season for the Bembridge Redwings and the Bembridge One-Designs, so on Saturday it was good to see seven BODs and three Redwings heading out of the harbour to the start line off Pepe for the first of two races in a light easterly breeze. As usual the Redwings went off first; with Tara as their windward mark and the breeze coming and going and the usual easterly swell, it was anyone’s guess which the best side of the beat was going to be.
Mike Toogood in Tara appeared to have chosen well and found a slightly better breeze offshore but Hugh Tidbury in Enigma and Joe Robertson in Red Gauntlet II persevered and in fact in the final few tacks, Hugh went into the lead with Joe close behind him. Although on the slow run back to Pepe the order remained the same, Mike reduced the gap to Joe slightly. The final leg to the finish at Garland was another test of patience as the breeze went even lighter. Hugh held his nerve and managed to keep Enigma out in front. Mike picked up a couple of zephyrs that missed Joe, so Tara ended up in second place. With the breeze continuing to fluctuate, and given that the first race took an hour and a quarter, thoughts of a second race were abandoned and everyone headed back into the harbour.
After an excellent start with those at the pin end inch perfect, the seven One-Designs headed off to Under Tyne as their windward mark.
The fleet soon became well spread out as the light airs and swell made it difficult to keep boat speed going. Mark Grzegorczyk with Peter Harvey crewing in No 9 managed to pick the best route and rounded a good couple of minutes ahead of Robin Joy and Hugh Doherty in No 10. Anna and James Row in No 2, Jos Coad with Patrick Aylmer in No 8 and William Bland with Helen Mathieson in No 12 were closely bunched after William picked up an unexpected wind change which left Peter Summerhayes and Rob Mathieson in No 1 and Sophie and Alexander Ross in No 11 at the back having gone inshore.
The run to Pepe compressed the fleet so although No 9 was still well ahead, the remainder had all to play for on the beat back to the finish at Garland. Indeed, much to everyone’s surprise the first to cross the line was not No 9, it was Robin in No 10 by a substantial margin. Next to cross the line was Jos in No 8 however as he had not cleared before hitting the buoy, he had to take a penalty which let Anna in No 2 through into second just ahead of Peter in No 1. Close stuff! Not surprisingly there was little enthusiasm for a second race so they too all headed back into the harbour.
There were fewer boats on Sunday afternoon for the final race of the season which was a pity as the NW’erly F4 breeze provided much better racing than the previous day. With only two Redwings and three One-Designs it was decided to make the start off Garland a bit more interesting by having a joint start.
The first leg to Drum did not take long but was enough for Mike Toogood in Tara to get ahead of Hugh Tidbury in Enigma. Despite Hugh’s best efforts on the run to Tara, the beat to Derrick, run back to Under Tyne, beat to Nainby and reach to the finish at Pepe, he was unable to match Tara’s boat speed and finished a couple of minutes after Mike.
The three One-Designs meanwhile enjoyed some very close racing; James Row sailing single handed in No 9 rounded Drum just ahead of Peter Harvey & Mark Grzegorczyk in No 8 and Sophie & Alexander Ross in No 11. James held the lead on the run to Tara but then had to take a penalty after an incident with Peter which let Sophie through into the lead.
However on the excellent beat to Derrick, Peter managed to get ahead of Sophie with James a couple of boat lengths behind. Although by no means a procession, Peter managed to extend his lead and finished nearly a minute and a half ahead Sophie with James twenty five seconds later.
All in all, a good way to finish the season. Next weekend sees the start of the Bembridge Illusion Winter series. If you don’t already sail an Illusion but would like to keep sailing over the winter then do get in contact and come along and have a go.”
