Salcombe Yacht Club Bucket and Spade Series - Races 4 & 5

Salcombe Yacht Club Bucket and Spade Series © Iain McGregor

It has become a tradition for the Salcombe Yacht Club Bucket and Spade series to head out to the open sea on the Bank Holiday Weekend, as the ria fills with RIBs, Boston Whalers, Paddle Boards and the like, this is to the mutual convenience of sailors, power boaters and paddle boarders.

Race Officer David Greening with nine helpers in the committee boat and safety boats set windward leeward courses between Starehole Bay and Gara Rock on a force 3 to 4 South Easterly, which increased and went east throughout the day. Forty one boats took part a steady increase on previous years.

The first start was delayed to allow the Cadets time to arrive at the starting area following their Saturday morning training. Issy Wood in a Topper dominated the day, correctly spotting that the right hand side of the course was the side to head. She was eventually to score two wins. Full marks go to all of the Cadets who sailed two five mile races on the open sea for the first time in testing conditions.

The 29 strong Handicap fleet was hotly contested, with some stellar sailors competing for sea sailing bragging rights.

In the first race the 505 of former multi World Champion Peter Colclough sailing with his son Chris led off the line heading off right toward Prawle Point to two tack the first beat with the Merlin of AJ and Tris Squire and the Scorpion of Mike and Georgina Hicks in pursuit. However it was the Solo of Simon Dobson who broke free of the twelve strong Solo pack to take the corrected time win from Tim Law who was enjoying the open water conditions in his Laser.

In the second Handicap Race, Roger Lumby took advantage of a heavily pin end biased starting line to tack off and maintain a comfortable margin over all of the Solos, however Tim Law gave a masterclass of sailing downwind in waves, to pull over a minute ahead of the Hick's Scorpion on corrected time. The Laser Radial of Matthew Hodges showed good skills on the course to secure third place from Lumby.

Ten Yawls came to the course including the Appelbe's in reefed mode. The windward leeward course tended to neutralise the advantage of the Modern Yawls, allowing the Classics to mix it both on the course and on handicap. The fleet favoured working out to the right hand side, over-standing the windward mark which allowed them to power in over a building ebb tide. Mike and Karen Whitehouse were omnipresent, winning the first race, from Club Commodore Andy Savell, sailing with wife Liz. In the second race the Classic Yawl of Andrew Wood and Tim Petit were sufficiently close to the Modern fleet Yawls of the Savells and the Whitehouses to take the win.

With all races wrapped up, the race team pulled up their anchors and headed to the Yacht Club terrace to join the competitors and enjoy cold beers and jazz.

Race 4 Results:

Handicap
1st Solo 5676, Simon Dobson
2nd Laser 195867, Tim Law
3rd Scorpion 1943, Mike and Georgina Hicks

Salcombe Yawl
1st Yawl 171, Mike and Karen Whitehouse
2nd Yawl 187, Andrew and Liz Savell
3rd Yawl 171, Geoff Gilson and Chris Spencer Chapman

Race 5 Results:

Handicap
1st Laser 195867, Tim Law
2nd Scorpion 1943, Mike and Georgina Hicks
3rd Laser Radial 192784, Matthew Hodges

Salcombe Yawl
1st Yawl 140, Andrew Wood and Tim Petit
2nd Yawl 187, Andrew and Liz Savell
3rd Yawl 171, Mike and Karen Whitehouse