Pyefleet Week 2014 - Racing finally underway on day three

by Brightlingsea Sailing Club on 13 Aug 2014 Pyefleet Week 2014 - Brightlingsea, Essex - Day three of Brightlingsea Sailing Club's Pyefleet Week 2014 brought a slight moderation of the winds which had plagued the first two days and both the morning and afternoon racing sessions were run for almost all classes, with the exception of the Brightlingsea One Designs.

Although still a blustery force four to five from the west-north-west, the morning session went off without delays for the Fast Handicap, Lasers, Teras, Wivenhoe One Designs and Cadet Handicap. The classic Wivenhoe One Designs and the Cadets started from the club line and were set courses that kept them within the shelter of the river, while the other classes started from the committee boat and went out into the more open estuary.

Once again the Laser Class came down to a battle between Chris Rust and Ollie Newman with the two boats trading places around the course. As they turned into Brightlingsea Creek for the finish Ollie had a narrow lead, but he suddenly found himself caught be a combination of a strong gust and a slightly rogue wave and before he knew it he was broaching round with his rudder out of the water. It was all Chris needed to slip by and claim victory on the line. Stephen Williams took third place again.

Chris Bannister's Contender took a second victory in the Fast Handicap fleet. After their swim yesterday, Piers Lambert and Tim Bees made sure they stayed out of trouble and took second place in their Merlin Rocket, beating fellow Merlin sailors Andy and Sarah Bines who came third.

The Laser Radial race was won by Gary Pilgrim with Eddie Bridle second and Ollie King third. Having won yesterday's race Ollie still holds the overall lead in the class, but was a little disappointed with his upwind speed today.

Several of the Wivenhoe One Designs, the oldest of which was built in 1935, elected to reef to help them cope with the gusty conditions on what was their first race of the regatta. These pretty little classic day boats enjoyed great racing on an upriver course with George Brown and Ben Sharp beating Nigel and Peter Cook by a narrow margin on the line with Nick Blower and Dan Twyman third.

The Tera Class produced one of the pluckiest performances of the day. Leading the fleet were Matt Smith and Max King, both racing Tera Pros, who sailed with great confidence to take first and second respectively. Five of the eight-strong fleet retired as the race wore on, but Blake Tudor in his Tera Sport was determined to finish come what may. Blake is one of the smallest sailors in the class and he had to work incredibly hard to keep his boat moving through the big waves and strong gusts, but he kept plugging away and eventually crossed the line to claim a very well deserved third place.

The Cadet Handicap was also out for the first time this week and again the youngsters put in some very gutsy performances with eighteen crews coming to the line and twelve completing the race. There were a few capsizes and retirements, but the novice section of the cadet fleet is supervised by the club's cadet coaching team so everyone had a great time even if they didn't complete the course. Cadet Handicap winner was Brandon Hastings in a Topper with Ben Eales in a Laser Radial second. Alex Lightly in a Topper and Zoe Bees in a Topaz actually tied on corrected time and so shared third place.

The rising spring tide brought an increase in the wind strength and for a while the afternoon racing session looked to be in doubt, but fortunately it moderated a little and the race committee elected to run racing from the club line for all but the Brightlingsea One Designs.

Although very disappointing for the BOD fleet, some of which date back to 1927, the decision not to race proved to be the right one as heavy gusts were a major feature of the afternoon session. The BODs have a relatively large sail plan and although they can reef, the boats are still quite a handful on a windy day. They aren't easy to capsize, but it does happen from time to time and when it does the boats always require rescue boat support to recover so a cautious approach is always wise.

For those that did race it was to be an exciting first session on the water with some strong gusts and big chop to contend with. The Cat Handicap were first away and whilst the strong winds produced some spectacular bursts of speed, they also caused a capsize and some gear failures. Of the five-strong fleet only Neil Barnes in a Viper completed the course.

For the Fireballs it was to be a fast and furious race with father and son Pete and Tom Kyne claiming victory over second placed Roger Etherington and Joy Adams and Ben Richardson and D Pennewll in third. After racing Tom and Pete confirmed that at times they were right on the edge coping with the heavy gusts that accompanied the scudding clouds.

Fresh from a top ten finish at the recent Laser 2000 Nationals, Chris and Gill Jordan were on sparkling form in the Slow Handicap. Simon and Fiona Gillow's Scorpion took second place with Fergus O'Sullivan and Ian Hill in another Laser 2000 third. One of the advantages of Pyefleet's split racing programme is that it gives competitors the chance to race twice each day if they want to. Having finished third in the morning's Fast Handicap, father and daughter Andy and Sarah Bines stepped into their RS200 and took fourth place in the Slow Handicap.

Tomorrow is Big Wednesday at Pyefleet Week, which traditionally features an all in handicap start for all classes at 14.30. In addition a race will also be run for the BOD fleet at 11.30 in the morning. With the forecast for slightly less wind everyone is very much looking forward to finally seeing the BODs in all their glory and to enjoying some more relaxed racing for Big Wednesday. Pyefleet Week continues until Saturday 16 August.

Results

Pyefleet Week 2014

Brightlingsea Sailing Club

Cadet Handicap Fleet

Rank	Tally	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total	Nett
1st	8	Cadet Handicap	TOPPER	9	BSC	Brandon Hastings		1370			1.0	1.0	1.0
2nd	26	Cadet Handicap	LASER RADIAL	179834	BSC	Ben Eeles		1150			2.0	2.0	2.0
3rd	1	Cadet Handicap	TOPPER	47162	BSC	Alexander Lightly		1370			3.5	3.5	3.5
3rd	39	Cadet Handicap	TOPAZ	8524	BSC	Zoe Bees		1278			3.5	3.5	3.5
5th	29	Cadet Handicap	LASER RADIAL	85315	BSC	Tyler Stonebridge		1150			5.0	5.0	5.0
6th	21	Cadet Handicap	TOPAZ	10333	BSC	Sam Fisher		1278			6.0	6.0	6.0
7th	3	Cadet Handicap	TOPPER	42504	BSC	William White		1370			7.0	7.0	7.0
8th	12	Cadet Handicap	TOPAZ	17	BSC	Alice Reed		1278			8.0	8.0	8.0
9th	44	Cadet Handicap	LASER PICO RACE	10107	BSC	Alexander Button		1350			9.0	9.0	9.0
10th	16	Cadet Handicap	TOPPER	42623	BSC	Connie Hughes		1370			10.0	10.0	10.0
11th	9	Cadet Handicap	TOPPER	25463	BSC	William Slack		1370			11.0	11.0	11.0
12th	5	Cadet Handicap	TOPPER	44351	BSC	Luke Walker		1370			12.0	12.0	12.0
13th	4	Cadet Handicap	TOPAZ RACE	2380	BSC	Chloe Walker		1261			19.0 DNF	19.0	19.0
13th	7	Cadet Handicap	RS FEVA	14	Dabchicks SC	Charlotte Kingston	Elizabeth Hill	1200			19.0 DNF	19.0	19.0
13th	27	Cadet Handicap	TOPAZ	2584	BSC	Charlotte Bate		1278			19.0 DNF	19.0	19.0
13th	35	Cadet Handicap	RS TERA SPORT	2664	Alton Water SC	Sam King		1508			19.0 DNF	19.0	19.0
13th	49	Cadet Handicap	TOPAZ	2335	BSC	Harry Robins		1278			19.0 DNF	19.0	19.0
13th	59	Cadet Handicap	OPTIMIST	0	BSC	Amelie Hiscocks					19.0 DNC	19.0	19.0

Fast Handicap Fleet

Rank	Tally	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total	Nett
1st	53	Fast Handicap	CONTENDER	708	BSC	Chris Bannister		985		1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
2nd	2	Fast Handicap	MERLIN-ROCKET	3620	BSC	Andy Bines	Sarah Bines	980		2.0	3.0	5.0	5.0
3rd	31	Fast Handicap	MERLIN-ROCKET	3671	BSC	Piers Lambert	Tim Bees	980		4.0	2.0	6.0	6.0
4th	11	Fast Handicap	MERLIN-ROCKET	3584	Netley SC	James Spikesly	Hannah Chalmers	980		3.0	7.0 DNF	10.0	10.0
5th	60	Fast Handicap	MUSTO SKIFF	446	BSC	Ben Clegg		845		7.0 DNC	4.0	11.0	11.0
6th	41	Fast Handicap	SL16	791	BSC	Tom King	James King	796		7.0 DNC	5.0	12.0	12.0

Laser Fleet

Rank	Tally	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total	Nett
1st	48	Laser	LASER	186725	BSC	Chris Rust		1120		1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
2nd	38	Laser	LASER	183498	BSC	Oliver Newman		1120		2.0	2.0	4.0	4.0
3rd	28	Laser	LASER	204035	BSC	Stephen Williams		1120		3.0	3.0	6.0	6.0
4th	22	Laser	LASER	169827	BSC	Richard Herbert		1120		5.0	4.0	9.0	9.0
5th	15	Laser	LASER	166606	BSC	Ethan Hughes		1120		7.0	5.0	12.0	12.0
6th	14	Laser	LASER	198567	BSC	Tim Ashworth		1120		8.0	6.0	14.0	14.0
7th	57	Laser	LASER	154767	BSC	Nigel Edmunds		1120		6.0	8.0	14.0	14.0
8th	10	Laser	LASER	172807	BSC	Edward Slack		1120		9.0	7.0	16.0	16.0
9th	51	Laser	LASER	205148	BSC	Will Sunnucks		1120		4.0	13.0 DNC	17.0	17.0
10th	40	Laser	LASER	186353	BSC	Stephen Carr		1120		13.0 DNC	9.0	22.0	22.0
11th	52	Laser	LASER	204979	BSC	Bill Parsons		1120		13.0 DNC	13.0 DNC	26.0	26.0
11th	25	Laser	LASER	184130	BSC	Adam Gladwin		1120		13.0 DNC	13.0 DNC	26.0	26.0

Laser Radial Fleet

Rank	Tally	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Rating	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total	Nett
1st	42	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	154482	BSC	Oliver King		1150		1.0	3.0	4.0	4.0
2nd	43	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	182485	BSC	Eddie Bridle		1150		3.0	2.0	5.0	5.0
3rd	54	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	120569	BSC	Peter Williams		1150		2.0	4.0	6.0	6.0
4th	45	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	204040	BSC	Gary Pilgrim		1150		6.0	1.0	7.0	7.0
5th	55	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	176801	BSC	David Saker		1150		5.0	5.0	10.0	10.0
6th	6	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	146441	BSC	Benjamin Richardson		1150		4.0	8.0	12.0	12.0
7th	56	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	85848	Ardleigh SC	Jacob Elson		1150		7.0	6.0	13.0	13.0
8th	13	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	147046	BSC	Fin Clark		1150		13.0 DNF	7.0	20.0	20.0
9th	58	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	125787	BSC	Katie Norfolk		1150		13.0 DNC	9.0	22.0	22.0
10th	30	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	200654	BSC	James Ferber		1150		13.0 DNF	10.0	23.0	23.0
11th	23	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	8	BSC	Jemima Phillpot		1150		13.0 DNC	13.0 DNF	26.0	26.0
11th	50	Laser Radial	LASER RADIAL	173873	BSC	Imogen Maytum		1150		13.0 DNC	13.0 DNC	26.0	26.0

Tera Fleet

Rank	Tally	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Rating	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total	Nett
1st	32	Tera	RS TERA PRO	984	Alton Water SC	Matt Smith		1401			1.0	1.0	1.0
2nd	34	Tera	RS TERA PRO	2315	Alton Water SC	Max King		1401			2.0	2.0	2.0
3rd	47	Tera	RS TERA SPORT	1638	BSC	Blake Tudor		1508			3.0	3.0	3.0
4th	46	Tera	RS TERA PRO	1744	BSC	Henry Gillett		1401			8.0 DNF	8.0	8.0
4th	33	Tera	RS TERA SPORT	418	Alton Water SC	William Carron		1508			8.0 DNF	8.0	8.0
4th	36	Tera	RS TERA SPORT	2201	RHYC	Issy Taylor-Jones		1508			8.0 DNF	8.0	8.0
4th	37	Tera	RS TERA SPORT	1058	Alton Water SC	Harvey O'Sullivan		1508			8.0 DNF	8.0	8.0

WOD Fleet

Event website

Rank	Tally	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Rating	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total	Nett
1st	17	WOD	WOD	2	Wivenhoe SC	George Brown	Ben Sharp				1.0	1.0	1.0
2nd	20	WOD	WOD	1	Wivenhoe SC	Nigel Cook	Peter Cook				2.0	2.0	2.0
3rd	18	WOD	WOD	16	Wivenhoe SC	Nic Blower	Dan Twyman				3.0	3.0	3.0
4th	19	WOD	WOD	17	Wivenhoe SC	Rob Maloney	Oliver Goodwin				6.0 DNF	6.0	6.0
4th	24	WOD	WOD	10	Wivenhoe SC	Chris Osborn-Jones	Keiran Smith				6.0 DNC	6.0	6.0