Glyn Charles Memorial Pursuit Race - The Report

by Mark Rushall on 26 May 2007
Sun, wind, Chichester harbour, 140 boats from the Mirror to the X, Swallow and Sunbeam keelboats, and somewhere in-between foiling Moths, Musto Skiffs, and International 14’s: what better way to honour an old friend and raise money for the John Merricks trust?

If that wasn’t enough, a very generous list of prize sponsors meant that there was a chance for everyone in every type of boat to win a prize.

The 140 entries included representatives from the West Indies, as well as clubs all over the country, and the HISC members were also joined by a large contingent from harbour clubs Mengham Rythe and Itchenor. The TP 52 'Patches' sent an entry from Valencia and was allocated a very generous handicap, but probably not enough to overcome the lack of depth over Pilsey Sands at the start line.

'We have several of Glyn Charles and John Merricks closest friends on the boat. Clearly we’d have struggled with the depth in Chichester Harbour so we stuck to a few practice laps in Valencia whilst thinking of old friends. Thanks to everyone who supports the race and John’s Trust.' said skipper Ian Walker

The Mirror of Neil Mackley gamely led for 1 1/4 hours, but the close spinnaker reaches and long beats were ideally suited for traditional trapeze boats: James and Will Rusden’s 420 were in the end the only boat to challenge the Fireball of Chips Howarth and Vyv Townend who finished comfortable winners and took home the voucher for a Neilson holiday as well as the Glyn Charles Memorial Trophy:

'The reaches just went on for ever and ever: just hang on as long as you can'

Dick Pratt was winner of the Basilica prize for first single hander:
'It was a bit windy for sailing the Finn from Bosham: so I brought the board!'

Winner of the biggest class, the RS200’s and a day’s sailing on the Pindar Volvo 60 were Nick and Kate Peters: 'So much fun to travel round the harbour as a change from windward/leewards: the best days sailing we’ve had for several years.'

For once, with the exception of Ricjhard Stenhouses Musto Skiff in 13th, and Simon Allen’s Canoe in 6th, the 'modern' high performance boats failed to make an impression on the traditional classes.

'The hardest part was swimming fast enough to catch the boat': said Paul Brotherton, who finished 26th in his International Moth.

'Bonza: the best sail we have had all year': added National 12 sailor Terry Cooke who was representing major Sponsor Gill.

At the prize giving, Mark Rushall gave thanks to all the sponsors who donated prizes for the event:

'We could not do it without the sponsors, and it is fantastic to be able to distribute special prizes throughout the fleet, as well as having the big ones like the Neilson holiday, the Gill vouchers, the television from Basilica, Books and vouchers from the RYA, and the corporate day on Pindar’s Volvo 60.'

Approximately £1400 was raised for the John Merricks Trust, which we are hopeful will be doubled through a charity match scheme. Chips summed up the spirit of the event when he was presented with the Glyn Charles Memorial Trophy by Margaret Charles:

'I knew both Glyn and John, they loved sailing in a big breeze. I think they got together over a beer at Hayling Bar last night and persuaded the sun and wind gods to send us they best they had: thank you!'

See a selection of images here: http://www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=2504

Overall leading results:

1st Fireball 14830 Chips Howarth Vyv Townsend HISC 1.0 1.0
2nd 420 52229 James Rusden Will Rusden Highcliffe 2.0 2.0
3rd Fireball 14946 Keith Walker John Rees HISC 3.0 3.0
4th Fireball 14791 Angus Hemmings Steve Chesney Stokes Bay 4.0 4.0
5th Int Raceboard 666 Dick Pratt BSC 5.0 5.0
6th Int Canoe 278 Simon Allen HISC 6.0 6.0
7th FF 3591 Charles Apthorp D Richard HISC 7.0 7.0
8th Merlin Rocket 3643 Dave Dobrijevic Rach Dobrijevic HISC 8.0 8.0
9th Merlin Rocket 3656 Roger Gilbert James Stewart Frensham Pond 9.0 9.0
10th FF 3776 Greg Wells Mark Darling HISC 10.0 10.0
11th Merlin Rocket 3685 William Warren Chris Robinson Shoreham 11.0 11.0
12th Merlin Rocket 3661 Graham Swoggie Ben Swoggie Parkstone 12.0 12.0
13th Musto Skiff 265 Richard Stenhouse Rutland 13.0 13.0
14th FF 3883 Alan Bax Paul Busby HISC 14.0 14.0
15th RS200 1060 Nick Peters Kate Peters HISC 15.0 15.0
16th FF 3818 Gill Browning Simon Weatherill HISC 16.0 16.0
17th RS800 985 David Sayce Fiona Sayce HISC 17.0 17.0
18th Merlin Rocket 3684 Andy Davis Ellie Bremer Hollingwoth Lake 18.0 18.0
19th FF 3736 Peter Bannister Sue Bannister HISC 19.0 19.0
20th FF 3563 Mike McIntyre Caroline McIntyre HISC 20.0 20.0

Leading Flying 15, Apthorp/Richard at 7th
Leading Merlin Rocket R & D Dobrijevic at 8th
Leading Musto Skiff, Richard Stenhouse at 13th
Leading RS200, N & K Peters at 15th
Leading RS800, D & F Sayce at 17th
Leading I-Moth, Paul Brotherton at 26th
Leading Finn, John Tremlett at 32nd
Leading RS700, Tim Dickinson at 35th
Leading RS Elite, Lamb, Carpenter, McBride 37th
Leading Swallow, Chris Creak at 50th

Full Results - http://www.hisc.co.uk/openresults07/Glyn_Charles_Pursuit_07.htm

2007 sponsors

Neilson Active Holidays Beach plus club holiday for 2: Lesvos www.neilson.co.uk
Pindar Volvo 60 corporate sail day x 2 places www.pindar.com
Basilica 17 inch flat screen TV www.basilica.co.uk
Gill vouchers worth £400 www.gillmarine.com
Sailing Networks.Com Free website build www.sailingnetworks.com
RYA Publications £200 book vouchers plus books value £100 www.rya.org.uk
Musto Ltd 10 * sailcloth backpacks www.musto.co.uk
Scott 1 x pair skis www.scottusa.com
TackTick Mico compass www.tacktick.com
Oceanair £ 200 voucher for blinds www.oceanair-marine.com
Seahorse 5 Subscriptions www.seahorse.co.uk
Dinghy Sailing Magazine 2 * subscriptions www.dinghysailingmagazine.co.uk
DailySail.com 5 x Subscriptions www.thedailysail.com
Yachts & Yachting 2 * subscriptions www.yachtsandyachting.com
Rick Tomlinson 5 x Calendars www.rick-tomlinson.com
APP DVD's x 6 andrew.preece@appbroadcast.com
Billabong Backpacks www.billabong.com
Gul Multi tools x 6; beanies x 6 www.gul.com
Ingrid Abery Framed & signed Print www.hotcapers.com
Volvo Ocean Race 4 x race DVDs; 4 x VOR race books www.volvooceanrace.org
Fat Face £50 voucher plus accessories www.fatface.com
Royal HK Yacht Club HK signed Rugby Shirts
Henri Lloyd Buoyancy signed by Ben Ainslie; 1 x Bag www.henrilloyd.com
Holts 10 x goodies bags ( shirt & key ring) www.holtperformance.com
Dee Caffari Ocean racing sweat shirts x 2 www.deecafari.com
Offshore Challenges 2 xDVD's; 2 x hats www.ocgroup.com
Boats & Outboards Subscription and shirts www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk
Lewmar 2 x RS 200 mainsheet systems (or equivalent) www.lewmar.com
White Horse Chilgrove Bottle of Wine from the White Horse wine list www.whitehorsechilgrove.co.uk
Mark Rushall 1 x Tactics Book www.rushall.net
Winning Tides Winning tides book and wet notes www.winningtides.co.uk
Overseas Race Entries
Patches - TP52 skipper Ian Walker £100 race entry fee

All proceeds from this event go to the John Merricks Sailing Trust

More images here: http://www.hisc.co.uk/news/news07/015_GCphotos.htm