Bart's Bash - A September Regatta to remember at the Royal Southern YC

by Phil Riley on 22 Sep 2014 Bart's Bash added a unique element to the concluding weekend of the Royal Southern Yacht Club's 2014 Summer Series.

The worldwide yacht racing event held on Sunday in memory of Olympic Gold Medallist Andrew 'Bart' Simpson saw dozens of Royal Southern members swell the numbers taking part in the Club's AVEVA September Regatta in The Solent, as well as join forces with other Hamble clubs in the river itself.

Big and small, a total of 49 yachts raced a short course in sunshine and a solid breeze from a start line near Hill Head. They joined hundreds of clubs and thousands of sailors around the world in an event which will raise money for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation charity - as well as set a Guinness World Record benchmark for the largest sailing event ever held.

'It was an absolutely fantastic event and it was a real privilege to be part of it,' said Rear Commodore Sailing Karen Henderson-Williams.

'The Club was delighted we had so many keelboats out on the water with members of all ages taking part. There were our Splashers joining in with the Optimist racing and many other Club members racing with the Foxers on the river, which was quite a spectacle.'

And she added: 'The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation is absolutely fabulous, as was the event, and the beauty of it is that we are promoting youth sailing as well, so it was very exciting to be a part of this worthwhile initiative.

'As a club we are delighted that members of all ages were taking part etc and knowing that the Andrew Simpson Foundation has been set up in his memory to help promote sailing amongst the younger fraternity, we were thrilled so many took part.'

When asked about youth sailing, Karen said that she recognised youth sailing is an important part of many of our clubs' futures and this grass roots support from the Andrew Simpson Foundation will develop the sailing champions of the future.

While overall Bart's Bash results will have to await application of 'The Bart Number' handicap rating system to the thousands of elapsed times, the Club can at least acknowledge its own line honours winner - Louise Makin's J/111 Journeymaker II.

'It was a fantastic event and I had been quite determined we weren't going to miss it,' said Louise. 'It was marvellous to have so many people on the startline and to know that everybody else was doing it across the world. It was brilliant and really good fun.

'It's great that we can set a Guinness World Record, but also because of who Bart was and it's fantastic what people are doing to remember him and to get more youngsters in to sailing - if you're a sailor you had to be in Bart's Bash.'

Thanks to a fitful breeze, Saturday's racing in the AVEVA September Regatta was confined to a single, shortened race on White line. So with Bart's Bash triumphantly celebrated, attention turned to the finale of the Royal Southern's regatta season on a breezy Sunday.

Journeymaker II had to give best to Bernard Olesinski's X40 Xinska in IRC1 with two races sailed, with James White's Reflex 38 Puma completing the podium.

Julian Tickner's A35 Aztec took two wins to overcome Dirk van Beek's J88 Sabriel JR in IRC2, with Helen Hofmann's J/97 Jaslan repeating the process over Graham Chase's J/95 Just Is in IRC3.

Graham Edwards' My Dream took IRC4 ahead of a close tussle which saw the next three boats level on points, with Rob Salter's 707 Stormcrow just shading David Aldridge's Elizabethan 30 Infinite Jest.

Also on Black line, Graham Nixon's Magic won the cruiser class ahead of Barry and Anne Peddley's Illywhacker and John Rutherford's Apparition.

Not for the first time the closest racing came among the J/109s with the top three boats tied for the top spot on six points, each with a first, second and third. Separated on countback, Iain Mckinnon's Tigh Soluis took the win from Mike and Sarah Wallis' Jahmali and Tony Dickin's Jubilee.

Ian Wilson's Joyride also posted a 1-2-3 scoreline to narrowly win the J/70s ahead of Vostron (Tim Collins) and Jenga 8 (Andrew Barraclough).

By comparison Mike Lewis' three bullets in Jester made him the clear winner in the J/80s ahead of Jalapeno (Brian Denney) and J Out of the Box (Yannig Loyer).

Two wins, though, were enough to secure victory in the SB20 class for Scott Graham's Chill Pill, ahead of Tom Clay's Whyaduck and Gary Baker's Trio.

Andy Hamlett raced unopposed to take XOD honours aboard Satu.

Meanwhile a delighted Steph Merry, who has also cut a solitary figure in her 1720 in previous regattas, found she had competition - and overcame it.

'It was fantastic to have four 1720s out on the water,' she said. 'I bought my boat in May last year and I've been trying to get the 1720 fleet back on the water because there are lots of people who've got them in sheds and things.

'We had three in June and four for this one, so it's taking time but I think when people who've got 1720s hidden away remember they can have fun out there they may come and join us.'

Steph's Midnight Cowboy beat Richard Powell's Rogan Josh by a single point to win the class, ahead of Tom Richardson's Premier Cru and Alan Coad's Logica CMG.

The overall Summer Series Champion of Champions will be announced at the Club's Annual Prize Giving on November 8.

Full results are posted here.