Champions

See the results at http://www.royaltorbayyc.org.uk/hosted2008/fire/fireos.html

Paul and Laura Kameen, winners of the overall Championship.

Phil and Jilly win the Ultimate Trophy, Peter and Dawn win top helm in the Gore over 41 yrs old, Jamie wins 3rd helm under 18 and Best Improver, Sophie wins 3rd Lady Helm - Go Restronguet!

Jamie collects a brand spanking new jib for winning "Best Improver" - like he needs the help!

Winners of the Restronguet Ovaloid Trophy for best under 18 helm in the Championships, Matt Johnson and Emma Mackley. I think my Dad was responsible for gifting this trophy back in the day, and it has been encouraging young helms ever since.

Congratulations to winners of Top Lady Helm, Lizzie Edwards (R) and crew Ruth Verrier-Jones (L)...and thanks for the friendly little shunt at the Leward mark today...women drivers, I don't know!

The Final Countdown - Race 8/8

The Final Countdown – Race 8/8

Conditions: NW moderate. Big shifts coming off the land. It's shifty, shifty, very very shifty....its very shifty!

Before the last race the race for the championships was tied between Mark Tait and Paul Kameen. We were on 23rd (dropped a place overnight as a result of a protest, which allowed someone to leapfrog us.)

Gate starts again today. The first is abandoned halfway after a huge header causes the starting procession to turn sharply into the melee of waiting boats. We are quite relieved after a second rate start, it being very crowded at the pin end.

The second start we take off with some space about half way along the line. Great, but the pathfinder is released just as we go, and tacks right on top of us. To make matters worse this is the boat we have to beat to gain a place in the series.

Crikey it’s shifty out there. Did I say that already? The boats that got away early are able to make more of the shifts. Peter and Dawn are 4th around the w-ward mark. We get there in the early 20’s with Dave&Betty on our tails. The boats that went left did best.

It’s opposite on the 2nd beat. A few boats head far right and overtake everyone to the w-ward mark. Nigel Wakefield goes so far right you’d think he was going home. But he effectively cuts a huge corner and comes out 100m in the lead. We play it safer up the middle-right and gain a few places, rounding in 19th.

The wind fills in on the final reaches and we manage to catch another, and some more on the final beats to finish 15th, just catching Peter&Dawn at the end. Sorry about that P&D!

At the front, Nigel manages to win the race, but the Chapionship is secured by Paul Kameen by keeping Mark Tait a few boats behind in the final beat. A series decided on the final beat of the final race – now that is proper job!
It has been a great week of sailing with some really challenging conditions. Our hands are raw, legs bruised and thighs aching. It looks like everyone feels the same, pretty much slumping into the bilges across the finishing line.

Our last score is enough to push us up to 21st out of 69 in the series, just inside the top-third where we were aiming to be. We are stoked. With no discards and including the practice race (Rothman’s Tropy) we have finished 14th overall. Whoaa, that’s worth the bruises – eh Liz! Thanks to Liz for putting up with me and being a top top crew!

Phil & Jilly finished top RSC boat, and 16th overall. Nice one guys.

Now for prize giving and the short drive back to sunny Kernow!

Catcha Later,
Ben

Cornish Olympics

Cornish Olympics

Twas fancy dress night, and the theme was Olympics, but to no ones surprise some of the Cornish contingent showed up in full Pirate costume. ARRRRR!

The contest for best dress was between a pair of gymnasts and a group of synchronised dancers who won with an impressive piece of choreography on the dance floor.

Liz and I won nothing for our Olympic efforts, but did win the day’s buddy prize with our buddies Lucy and Rachael (Buddies are allocated to eachother at the beginning of the week). Their 29th added to our 7th was the lowest buddy-score of the day.

One more race to go. Catcha later, Ben

Full Frontal - Race 7/8

Full Frontal - Race 7/8



This one was a gate start, so we went early to make the most of the shifts. We got a clean start, clean air, and hey presto, crossed off all bar a couple of the entire fleet. 4th to the windward mark. What a great feeling - its supposed to be easy from here, but we were sailing with butterflies now! After a long reach we began a long run. Liz even managed to get this photo in-between trimming the jib, bailing, and feeding her helm water! What a crew!! And just to be clear - thats looking behind, not infront!




The course was a Trapezoid, Sausage, Trapezoid, Beat to finish. We held off as many as we could, but the sailors at this end of the fleet arent just quick they are tactical and aggressive. we finished 7th overall - our best result yet.



Talking about great crews, check out 8yr old Ella, the lightest crew in the series, sailing with Dad Dan.

























We are now lying 22nd. Just inside the top third where we wanted to be. There's only 7 points between us and 19th - so a good result tomorrow might move us up the board. Here's hoping.

Now for a beer,

Catcha later,
Ben

PS. Thanks for all your comments and support - keep them coming.

A standing start - race 6/8

A Standing Start - Race 6/8

Conditions ssw light - moderate. Sunshine at last. Then Rain. Then neither.

Now we are 8 Restronguet boats in Torquay, with Guy English arriving overnight to join us.

After yesterdays racing, where the right hand side of the course was so favoured, there were a lot of boats trying to start at the commitee boat end of the line (line start). We were one of them. The first start went well but a general recall was called for a secont start with the I-Flag rule in play. Again we tried our luck at the committee boat end of the line, but we werent able to keep the boat moving in the thick of the melee, and came off the line slowly/stopped. A few tacks got us to the right and eventually out of the worst of the dirty air - which was everywhere.

in short, it was always going to be difficult to get back among the leaders, but slowly we picked off a few boats here and there to finish 25. Not a bad recovery. Phil&Jilly got away into clear air fast and wriggled their way into the leaders, finishing a fantastic 2nd. Dave&Betty sailed a similar race to us, managing to come up through the fleet after a dirty start, finishing 27th.

Sophie missing her usual form said "I seem to have prefected the art of going sideways instead of forwards. I can't wait to get back to Cornwall and get a load of practice in". RSC, it seems, is the place to be, and the envy of many of the National fleet.

A big falling out - The Gore - race 5/8

Conditions today:
Moderate SW with some marginal planing conditions - OUR WIND!

The big story today is for 2nd place; our local heros from RSC Peter and Dawn Langdon lead the Sir Ralph Gore Cup race for 12 of the gruelling 13 miles, before generoulsy handing it to someone who hadnt won it before, 38 years ago.

How was it for the rest of us?

The race was dominated by the conditions at the start. After two general recalls the black flag was flown and ensured a more obedient start. But the gun went as the wind begun a huge 40 degree shift to the right. The further right you were on the line, the better. We got a great start, but 3/4 down the line we were 1/4 mile behind the leaders within minutes. Of course we weren't on our own, but it was going to be a long fight back from the back of the fleet, rounding the windward mark in about 50th.

But its a long race, and we were going like a train. By the last beat, 3 hours later, we had gained about 35 places. But then disaster happened. A few hundred meters from the line Liz missed her footing on a tack and slipped overboard. Having filled up with water in the process we lost 16 places before limping over the line in 31st. Argh!


It's a blow and cost us a load of places in the series, but you cant dwell on these things. The positive is we were going really fast in the first place, and that will give us confidence going into the last 2 days.

However, that just might be a nomination for the Duckhams Award for Gross Over-achievement.

Now Neil, I have read your comments from the begining of the week and its worth saying that Liz, when she is in the boat, is the best crew anyone could hope for. Her agility on the reaches alone must have won us 20 places today. So unless you reckon you could do a better job yourself, I suggest you button it.

Catch lata, Ben

Langdons lead Gore

Today Peter and Dawn Langdon lead 68 boats in the Sir Ralph Gore Cup race, 38 years after they fist won this prestigious prize. The Restonguet veterans lead the race, a minimum 13 nautical mile marathon, for twelve miles, succumbing at last to the boat currently leading the Championship series, Paul kameen. Paul said "Peter and Dawn showed us the way around, but we were lucky to get them in the end. I wasnt even born the first time they won this Cup! When we finally got abreast of them on the final reach Peter called over "We wondered when you lot would show up!"

We are expecting the largest cheer ever for 2nd place at prize-giving tonight. Never mind Paul, you did well too!

Roller coaster riding – Race 4/8

Roller coaster riding – Race 4/8

Windy and choppy sums up the conditions today, gusting over 20 knots from the SW. These aren’t our best conditions – being light we struggle in heavy weather, but having said that there are plenty of other lightweights in the fleet too!

Today we took off from the far righthand end of the gate start. This was a good with clear air and open water, getting to the windward mark around 20th. The reaches were amazing, fast wave-riding planing all the way, and here we were able to make up a few places. Liz makes a superb spray deflector!!

In the end we finished 26th after a gruelling 1.5hr slog. Everyone looks as knackered as we feel right now.

The race wasn’t without incident. Several boats capsized around the course, and we only just escaped a swim by the narrowest of margins ourselves.

A couple of protests were made too. We are witness to one of the incidents, a barge on the leeward mark that messed us and another boat up. The protest hearing will be held at 1900 this evening.

Tonight the crews and helms split – the helms to the ‘Helms Dinner’ and the crews to the rather less sophisticated ‘Crews Union’, where it seems food is banned and potent punch is obligatory. But what would I know – the details of this dubious organisation are closely guarded secrets.

Tomorrow the fleet gets split in half on the racecourse too – the front half of the fleet racing for the most prestigious prize in Firefly racing, the “Sir Ralph Gore Cup”, whilst the remaining boats sail in the Marlow with a new mainsheet on offer for the winner. Entrants into the Gore are worked out by results in the previous races, so with our 9th we will qualify for the Gore. The Gore is a marathon of a race, with a time limit of 4.5 hours – more on that later.

We are still praying for lighter winds over the next few days.

Catch lata,
Ben

Flying the flag - Race 3/8

Flying the flag - Race 3/8
The race committee got the 2nd race started nice and quickly, with the 10th boat from the previous race acting as pathfinder for the gate start. A second rate start on our part left us fighting for clean air from the middle of the fleet, while Dave&Betty (RSC) and Rod&Jamie (RSC) got away nicely. Phil and Jilly meanwhile got caught off guard eating their lunch off to the side of the racecourse while everyone else started; A very rare mistake from the ever consistent Slaters.

Rod&Jamie sailed a fantastic race to finish 14th and 1st RSC boat, with us 3 places behind in Kong.

Looking at the results we currently have 5 RSC boats in the top 30, and that is before any discards take effect. (Lowest score is deducted once 4 races complete)

See the results at http://www.royaltorbayyc.org.uk/hosted2008/fire/fireos.html

Back home now with a Cornish cream tea – and some V tired legs on the table…and who’s that on TV? It’s us lot on the news – corr we’re famous!

To his great relief Patrick escaped the dubious honour of the Duckhams award last night. Interesting to see the RTYC have a bouncer on their door – to keep riffraff out or Firefly sailors in, we’re not sure!

A clean getaway – race 2/8

A clean getaway – race 2/8

Conditions: W 15mph – 20mph in the rain squalls. Shifty.

It’s a happy chaos launching 70 boats from the slipway in Torquay, launching and tacking out of the busy, narrow harbour. The RTYC are doing a great job marshalling us and looking out for us, but it’s even more fun on the way back in!

Two races back to back today. The first is a line start for a change, and we get away nice and clean in the middle of the line with a fairly big line-sag behind us. Jonathan – you can have fun explaining that one to everyone – if in doubt ask Ellen.

In a big fleet like this it really pays to get a good start and we managed to keep the advantage around the course, finishing 9th after 1.5hrs - The reaches were superb, and the waves were great along the runs. Our first National top-10 result...stoked!

See the results at http://www.royaltorbayyc.org.uk/hosted2008/fire/fireos.html

Five Ringed Fireflies

Five Ringed Fireflies
Yachting journalist Dave Henshall delivered a fascinating account of the 1948 Torquay Olympics to a somewhat captive audience! The Firefly was chosen as the single-handed class, and working with NMMC Dave has researched the event in match-of-the-day detail and uncovered some terrific images. Exactly 60 years ago to the day, sailing singlehanded in jumpers and oilskins the sailors battled away for Olympic glory. Paul Elvstrom took gold in very similar conditions to those we have this week – decidedly un-summery!

Firefly No 1 ‘Fe’ and Peter Scott’s Olympic Monotype both received mentions, and are of course both among NMMCs collection of famous boats.

Dave’s account will be published in ‘Dinghy Sailing’ magazine out 6th August.

A man in a dress?

The Duckams Award for Gross Over-Achievement is a Firefly tradition to recognise events worthy of mention that the perpetrators would probably prefer to keep quiet. The fleet gathers each evening to hear nominations and vote for them.

The winner of the Duckams- and his crew/helm - then have the honour of wearing a specially chosen dress, wig and accouterments for the following 24hrs, on and off the water!

Good reason to keep out of trouble

Race 1 of 8 - Mid-fleet madness

Enjoying a less-deserved beer this afternoon after a difficult race. Despite the moderate winds it was super-tricky out there. While some made the most of the very-fluky winds, we became somewhat slave to them. Seemed like we could never quite get on the right side of the beat or shift. And once you are in mid-fleet, it is difficult to get out what with all the dirty air and water.

Our start would heve been OKhad it not been for 3 or 4 late bargers to windward. Once out we continued left while the majority of the fleet lifted out to the right. The right side was the place to be. On the final beat we went right and the left was the place to be. Que sera sera.

While we finished 31st, RSC scored some better results: Phil&Jilly 13th, Peter and Dawn 22nd, Sophie and Alan 24th.

But some of us had it worse than others. Poor Patrick (RSC) managed to capsize right on the start practically in front of the gate boat. A lack of buckets and leaky tanks ensured immediate retirement - and probably a nomination for the Duckhams Award for Gross Underacievement. (see Blog: 'A Man in a dress')

Catcha later,
Ben

Practice Race - Kong did good!

Enjoying a hard-deserved beer this evening after a windy choppy race. About 20mph – not our kind of wind, but we’ve outdone ourselves, finishing 6th out of the 41 boats that chose to do the practice race. Yeeha.

Olympic Victory 60 years on...

The winning boat today, beautifully restored F498, raced in the Torquay Olympics in 1948. How appropriate is that?

Knackered after the first race - what we gonna be like by the end of the week????

We chose to get away early across the gate-start, which did us well since we could begin sailing the shifts straight away, and earlier than the boats starting further along the gate. 5th around the windward mark – but we had to keep our cool because there was a hungry pack chasing us down the reaches - and Liz just might fall out the boat yet! Time for a rhyming game - the word to match was "fifth".

4th at the leward mark - we cant quite believe it. A difficult beat; we went up the middle and closed the gap on those to the left but those behind on the right came right back to us. Windward mark 7th.

The run - yikes it almost all goes very wrong - Im losing control in the difficult chop - the rudder feels very heavy - and we nearly go over on a jibe. The rudder pin has come out and the rudder has raised a bit - it makes an alarming difference. Thankfully we sort it and get to the final leward mark in 9th. A good short beat to the finnish to see us 6th over the line and first Restonguet Boat. Hurrah - but don't forget this is a team effort.

The reach home. Check out the boat behind nose-diving!!

If only this race counted! Hope we havent peaked too early!

Check out the results at http://www.royaltorbayyc.org.uk/

Catcha tomorrow,

Ben and Liz

ps - bigup to my gorjus better half and part time crew Nikki.

Team Kernow in Devon

The weigh-in....

Thanks for the comments and wishes of luck - LUCK? We need pasty-power!!! Please keep the comments coming...

Here we are at last in Torquay – the harbour has been completely taken over by Fireflies! Measurement was a slick operation, but it was a nervous time as Kong was hoisted under those scales – but she passed – phew!












The rule is the boats must weigh minimum 185llb. Kong checked in at 190llb – not as light as some – but it is windy out there today so will the extra weight help or hinder? At least we don’t have to go and rob some church-roof lead to bring her up to weight!!





All the serious sailors are here and most of the recent National Champions. No Steve Tylecote yet though, our Endeavour Champion - hopefully he'll be here with family in tow tomorrow.


Nerves are building now - a quick pint at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club should take the edge off...


More after the race..

Getting ready

Best sailing moment: Winning the Whitsun Cup with two 1sts and a stonking hangover

Worst sailing moment: Falling out the boat while leading the beat during the SWern Champs!



Hi there, I'm Ben and that's my crew Liz in the photo with me. Liz and I have known eachother since were were nippers, abandoned on the beach at RSC while our parents raced each other in Fireflies - Outrageous!

It's the last day in the Museum for me before we head to Torquay, and it is packed in here. The wet weather is driving everyone to our front door; the queue right now (12:30) is out the door onto the square. The office staff will be washing dishes over lunchtime again today.






Kong (my Firefly) is on her trailer ready to go first thing Saturday morning. Last minute repairs to the centreboard and mast are just about done. The forecast for the champs looks like a mixed bag at the moment. Saturday's wind says 17 gusting 36mph - YIKES! Liz and I do best in light to moderate winds, with a combined weight of 19 stone. But when the wind gets heavy we hand the advantage straight back to the competition.

Still, can't wait to get there now and get stuck in.

We had some last minute practice last night during club racing at RSC. I sailed a friend's boat for a change. Up the first beat we tacked, I put my feet where my toestraps usually are and leant out hard - and fell straight into the water. Whoops, his toe straps arent quite where mine are. Glad to provide some cabaret! Seriosly hope neither of us fall out in the Nationals.

The first thing we have to do on arrival in Torquay is go through measurement. Each boat is carefully checked it complies to a few key measurement rules, like weight (each boat is hoisted under weighing scales), length of jib poles, distance of shrouds from transom etc etc. We all want to be as near to the limits as possible, but fingers crossed Kong passes the checks!

Talk to you from Torquay -


Ben