Conwy Fife One Design 'A' Series Race 4 at Royal Anglesey Yacht Club
by Mike Hardie 15 May 2022 22:08 PDT
15 May 2022
Conwy Fife One Design 2022 'A' Series race 4 © Ian Bradley
Rear, sorry, Pier of the year
Bangor Pier, built in 1896 has been voted Pier of the year by no less a body than the National Piers Society (well, everybody needs a hobby), and so in honour of this accolade the Race Officer, Garth was talked into making a trip to the pier part of the course for Saturday's race, a decision that was not met with universal approval it has to be said, but go we went.
13 of the 16 boats afloat decided to race with an 'X' course of B8, BP, B5, Hwfa set by Central Office (Strawberry Jam and Cream Sponge today I'm told). After some initial discussion on VHF regarding direction of rounding B8, The fleet settled down to the task in hand, with a force 2 to 3 North Easterly breeze and a Penmon bound tide, the middle to Anglesey side of the line seemed to be the favoured starting position, unfortunately some boats were judged to have been OCS at the start, 35 (Hugo & Bob), 37 (Rhys & Rowan) and 34 (Paul, Tom & Helen) returned to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing.
I should point out at this stage that your reporter was A. crewing, I.E. at the pointy end (come back Steve, all is forgiven!!) and B. in one of the leading boats for most of the race and so consequently some of the finer detail of placings may seem a little vague / inaccurate! Apologies in advance.
As the fleet rounded B8 we were presented with a genuine choice as to the long downwind leg, with the fleet fairly evenly split between the Banks and the Anglesey shore. On the Banks side 1 (Martin, Catherine and that really nice man, Harry) led with 33 (Merfyn, Simon and Annie) 38 (John, the Chair and Mike) led the charge and on the Anglesey shore 35, 29 (Trigger & G) 39 (Gavin & Clayton) 15 (Tak & Dave) and 37 did likewise. Also out were 41 (Family Yates), 42 (Family Booth) 24 (Pippa and she who must be obeyed, Stevie) and 14 (BOMO). As the fleet compressed at B12 35 took the lead followed by 1 and 33 (sadly, 14 discovered the lack of water over the bar and parked for a while, before being extracted by Arwel). At this point, 29 decided to dive into the moorings to avoid the tide, along with 33, 38, 15 and several others and it looked like a good move to start with, however as we once again compressed at Gallows point, those who had sailed the banks route had gained a clear advantage.
Maybe not surprisingly (downwind leg, adverse tide) the fleet compressed as we approached Bangor Pier, thus giving the watching throng (well, 3 people, 2 of whom were looking the other way and a dog, who was more interested in lampposts) on the Pier a photo opportunity, a demonstration of boat handling and a lesson in nautical terms such as 'NO ROOM IN THERE'.
35, avoiding the melee behind, rounded first with 1, 33, 29 and 38 in close company not far behind. At this moment we discovered a poor unfortunate motor boat, broken down in the middle of the channel who was looking a little uncomfortable / surprised / alarmed, as the fleet descended upon him and passed either side of him, particularly as one of the leaders seemed keen to point out the error of his ways!
The long beat back saw 35 and 1 exchanging tacks all the way, 38 managed to pull into 3rd and closed on the leaders with 33, 15 and 34 and 39 fighting it out for 4th. Rounding B5 35 held a narrow lead and maintained it for the short run to Hwfa, the beat back to B8 saw 1, pass 35 and 33 pass 38 before rounding, the run back to the finish saw the fleet split again Banks / Anglesey, with 15 making a late bid for glory on the Anglesey side.
1 held on to take their 2nd win of the season, followed by 35, 33, 38, who just held off 15, then 39, 34, 41, 37, 42, 29 and 24, with 14 having retired after their brush with the sands and consequent tow.
Meanwhile, in the MSOD fleet Steve took his 7th straight win of the season, beating Ray by the thickness of a coat of paint.
Nature Note number 3
As an aside, apparently the collective noun for our friends the Terns who seem to have moved on now, is a 'Committee'. This might be why they make so much noise when disturbed and produce the copious amounts of Guano that they do, just saying.