Round 2 of the 2014 B14 Travellers Trophy Series took place at Stokes Bay Sailing Club over the 12th & 13th of April.
The arrivals were greeted by a beautifully sunny Solent and a slightly fitful looking breeze, with the promise of better to come. The PRO had consulted the weather tree and planned on getting 4 races in on Saturday while the going was good, leaving the remaining 2 races to the fate of Sunday's fickle looking forecast.
After a brief hold ashore the fleet were released into a 12-knot westerly which was to build gradually as the day went on.
Race 1 saw Blue Badge (Mike Bees/Ferret) and Ullman Sails (Mark Watts/Chris Bishop) hitting the front early and gradually stretching away with Blue Badge taking the gun. TORQ (Gerry & Leaky Fermor) pulled through to 3rd place followed by Neil Pryde (Mark Emmett/Allan Stuart) ahead of Trunky (Kathy Sheratt & John).
Race 2 was to be a 3-way battle all the way between Neil Pryde, Ullman Sails and Blue Badge. At the first weather mark Neil Pryde led from Blue Badge and Ullman Sails who had done a Houdini after almost boarding the pin-end boat at the start. On the 2nd beat Ullman Sails and Blue Badge made life as hard as they could for Neil Pryde by splitting tacks in opposite directions at every opportunity - Neil Pryde kept their cool to stay ahead but Ullman Sails jumped Blue Badge. Down the next run Blue Badge split left to round the leeward just behind Neil Pryde, but upwind Ullman Sails again turned it on to get back into 2nd. On the final bottom reach to the finish Neil Pryde chose to drop with Ullman Sails throwing caution to the wind to try and hold their kite. Ultimately after some nervous moments Neil Pryde had made the right call and took the gun from Ullman Sails and Blue Badge. TORQ took 4th followed by Trunky.
For race 3 the breeze built a bit more and the chop, which by rights should have reduced as the tide turned, became even trickier. At the start Ullman Sails lined up some marriage counselling sessions by involuntarily port-tacking into Trunky, leaving Blue Badge, Neil Pryde and TORQ to get the jump on the fleet. At the bottom mark Blue Badge led narrowly from TORQ who in an attempt to confuse the elder statesmen of the fleet bypassed the leeward mark and headed straight for the beach to recuperate - the conditions were taking their toll especially on those teams who had not sailed for 6 months or more. Blue Badge and Neil Pryde pulled away to finish in that order but behind them Ullman Sails hit more strife as a sudden loss of stiffness in the pole department left them looking soft and vulnerable downwind. Marlow (Dan Cowin/Dan Hollands) got their act together to take 3rd with Ullman Sails limping home in 4th followed by Trunky claiming their third 5th place in a row.
Race 4 was the breeziest of the day, and a depleted fleet were led off again by Blue Badge from newcomers Scott Gray & Charlie Coulborn with their spankingly-new-looking refurbished ship Dreadnought - if there had been a concours prize they would have won it hands down. Neil Pryde just made the start line after a trip to the beach. Blue Badge was left alone at the front, whilst Neil Pryde pulled through to 2nd ahead of Dreadnought, Trunky and Marlow.
4 races back-to-back in a breeze which spanned the 12-23 knot range and an awkward chop left most if not all sailors feeling shattered. Stokes Bay Sailing Club provided as much curry, rum, beer, and music as anyone could want in one evening although Dan Vincent's legendary quiz was greatly missed! There was some dancing, briefly, and some great work by the bar staff to meet the creative demands of the fleet in the cocktail department!
Your aged correspondent had snuck back to the nursing home early before the curfew, necessitating an investigative breakfast time interview with one who for personal privacy reasons shall be referred to here as 'Rab'. It went like this:
Elder: "So Rab, what happened after we left last night?"
Rab: "We waur skitin' th' barman's specials."
Elder: "I say, that sounds jolly interesting. Of what did the aforementioned specials consist?"
Rab (wearily): "Ah dunnae kinn. But thaur was a lot ay it."
Race 5, and the order at the first windward mark was dictated by the order of tacking onto port after the start - Dreadnought tacked right at the gun and laid the windward mark with Blue Badge and Ullman Sails hot on their heels. Blue Badge nipped past Dreadnought on the first hoist and thereafter had to keep looking over their shoulder as TORQ powered through to give chase. The race was livened up for the leaders at the bottom of the second run by having to sail downwind through the Musto Skiffs as they were lining up in sequence and then back upwind into them just as they started. Ultimately the order was Blue Badge, TORQ, Dreadnought, Ullman Sails, Neil Pryde and Trunky. Blue Badge retired to the beach for ice cream leaving the rest of the fleet to sun themselves on the water whilst the very naughty Musto Skiff fleet finished their twice-recalled race.
Race 6 and with the PRO keen to get the fleet away in the remaining breeze the black flag was flying and with the line heavily port biased there was a fight for the pin end and a somewhat inevitable general recall and Chris and Harvey heading for the beach.. The restart saw the same with the fleet bunched at the pin end and starting into a line of 800s that were coming round the bottom mark. Amazingly the fleet got away well and it was Ullman Sails that led round the top mark closely followed by Trunky and TORQ. The run was looooong as the fleet punched the now massive tide. The end result was Trunky hitting the left corner and coming out in the lead from Ullman Sails, only for the fleet to arrive at the bottom mark with the 800s. The resulting game of boats getting dragged into the mark by the tide and forcing last minute gybes led to ordered chaos which saw UIlman Sails lead round from TORQ, Neil Pryde, and Trunky in a group. The beat now saw some large passing lanes and it was TORQ that took the lead with NeilPryde 2nd from Ullman Sails. I would describe the next run but it just went on for ever… Ullman Sails did break through to 2nd then we went for a third lap… most stayed awake… some gave up in boredom but eventually TORQ took a well-earned bullet from Ullman Sails and Neil Pryde.
Overall Mike and Ferret returned with the form they left with to take the win. Neil Pryde took second. Ullman sails did enough for third after replacing the splintered pole overnight (surely their luck must change!).
Overall for the 2014 series this leaves Kathy Sherratt and John (clearly Kathy doesn’t know his surname!) leading the series with a 2nd and 4th
Overall a great weekend's sailing in the sun for everyone, close racing across the fleet and the opportunity to welcome some new faces to the fleet.
The next round is at Whitstable on May 17th and 18th where we expect the turnout to build in the run-up to the nationals.