International 14 Easter Tray 2025 at Itchenor Sailing Club

International 14 Easter Tray at Itchenor © Caroline Gosford

International 14 Easter Tray at Itchenor © Caroline Gosford

The traditional season opener of the 14 calendar is the Easter Tray. Three days of varied conditions saw a total of 14 boats launch. For some this was the first outing since the worlds in Garda, others had been out training for three weekends already.

POW at Weymouth is only a month away, so race practice will be at a premium. Lots of boats showed gleaming paint and polish, as well as the debut of the parrot perch forward spreader on the forestay for 1553. A small number of boats are known to be available at all budgets for anyone wanting to join in.

Day 1

The wind was in the mid to high teens, testing conditions for the season opener. The race committee decided to test everyone with a short beat from Thorney towards Ellanore followed by a marginal kite leg to SW Pilsey. A certain amount of rust and miscommunication with Pamela rolling in to windward on the bear away. At SW the fleet turned right for a true kite leg to Channel. The fleet was well spread by the beat back to the harbour mouth at dunes and a return to Channel. Martin and Harry, and Glen and Ed were well ahead, with Martin taking the win. For the rest of us the wind dropped and a cold shower came through at the finish. Roger Ewart Smith was catching up to the fleet on his return after 20 years away, the 1996 European champion was looking strong until a lower pulled out.

Race two was a similar course, without the trip to dunes, but with a long trip back to the Gallon finish at the top of the reach. The wind dropped, and the entire fleet finished within 200 meters or so. Glen and Ed took the victory, Pamela rolled Smash it on a nail biting fetch from the last buoy.

Max Speed recorded on Pamela 17.5 knts.

Day 2

The wind dropped as forecast, from the mid 20knts to a similar level as the day before, again from the east. The first race took us down the harbour, with a large swell running. A short beat was followed by a run limited by depth at the chalkdock corner. Glen and Ed got a little close, found a hole and rolled in to windward, a rare mistake from 1553. Several boats struggled to spot SW Pilsey amid the chop and the HISC start line. Harry and Martin missed the mark and capsized. The rounding order was Andy and Rob in 1569 (a return to Garda form for the world champs), Douglas and Mark in 1561, with Me and Tim nipping inside 1531 at the mark to take Pamela into 3rd. Glen and Ed hit the burners and pulled through to second by the end. A messy drop from Pamela proved costly.

The second race started with the fleet racing towards the shore. Andy and Rob rolled in on a slow tack and retired. Glen and Ed sailed away, Martin and Harry picked up another second place.

Day 3

Race 5 was a four lap crew buster in the reach. Fitz was running second in 1575, Pamela was able to split on the third run and cross ahead, but at the buoy Fitz rode a puff in on starboard with room to reclaim second. James and Tim rolled into a too slow tack out the buoy to break free, and Fitz followed for a tacking battle up to the finish line, this enabled 1569 (who had swum on the second run) and 1567 (who swam in exactly the same spot by the committee) to gain. Andy and Rob sailed into 2nd, Pamela snuck past Fitz at the top and clung on to finish ahead of 1575 and 1567 by a small margin at the finish.

The final race saw a very tight windward mark rounding, 1569 and 1553 popped clear, Pamela rounded on the breeze of Penguin Juice, with 1575 rounding behind before gybing onto port and running through the fleet approaching the buoy. The wind had dropped to the point the gybing angles in the reach were enormous, and with tide against making it rather tricky, and forcing a lot of gybes. The fleet then had to hold above the Thorney spit to get down to Gardner. Pamela was able to sneak over the top of 1567 on the beat back up, rounding less than a boat length clear and doing a gybe set back to Thorney. 1567 was able to roll over the top before a nail biting beat to the finish, clearing ahead by less than a boat length at the finish.

Takeaways are that Andy and Rob are fast when upright, and their battle with Glen and Ed will continue for another year. Maybe we could see someone beat 1553 at the Prince of Wales this year? Douglas and Mark were third in every race they finished, and Harry and Martin were the third boat to take a win.

Overall Results: