Redwing 25th Anniversary Medal weekend at Bembridge Sailing Club
by Robin Joy & Laurence Blackburn 19 May 10:12 PDT
17-18 May 2025
Redwing 25th Anniversary Medal weekend at Bembridge - Day 1 start © Robin Joy
Saturday 17 May by Robin Joy
The forecast was mixed, but a warm 10kts from the south meant perfect sunny sailing for the six Redwings and two One-Designs who went afloat on Saturday.
An inflatable ODM was laid near JJ and the course for both classes was upwind to Under Tyne, and then down to Derek (Redwings) or Britten (One-Designs), twice round.
The first Redwing start saw two port-tackers crossing rather behind the other four on starboard, but the fleet was still closely bunched at the windward mark. Jockey Wilson in Quail was sparring with Xander Shaw in Harlequin, followed by Billy Clegg in Lady Laetitia, Mike Toogood in Tara, Colin Samuelson in Toucan and Alastair Speare-Cole in Avocet. With the course slightly shortened to give a running finish, Quail did indeed lead home to win, 25 seconds ahead of Harlequin, Lady Laetitia, Toucan, Tara and Avocet.
The second race followed much the same pattern, with Tara taking a long offshore leg on the second beat, which failed to gain them any ground. They then did the opposite after passing through the line, and heading well inshore on port in fact paid off to get them past Toucan. Quail was again the winner, followed closely by Lady Laetitia, Harlequin, Tara, Toucan, and Avocet.
Meanwhile Russ Fowler in No 1 One-Design, and Mark Hodgkinson, sailing No 6 solo had a nice couple of races. Mark was a little cautious at the first start, allowing Russ to get away into a lead which he retained to the finish of the race, which was shortened to one round.
The second start was much more competitive, with the pair being within a boat's length for much of the race. On the second beat Russ did however get away a bit to win by about a minute.
Sunday 18 May by Laurence Blackburn
On Sunday 18th May we were blessed with a consistent South Eastley breeze of 11 knots which eight Redwings took full advantage of, sadly no Bembridge One Designs came to play this time. Before going afloat there was a vote on 1 or 2 races and the over riding consensus was for two shorter races.
Race 1 Course: JJ > T > K > JJ (all marks to port)
Race 1 got under way with a perfect start from Quail (James Wilson) and Harlequin (Xander Shaw). On the way up to the Tara (T) the majority of the fleet went left on the first beat with 2 boats heading right towards the shore. Turns out that they all ended up in roughly the same place as they made the lay line for T.
Rounding T and on the run down to Derrick (K) Harlequin was in the lead followed by Qual, Toucan, Lady Laetitia, Blue Jay, Avocet, Quintessence & Plover. At K Harlequin seemed to lose some ground and Quail took the lead and held it to the finish at JJ.
Race 1 Results:
1. 30 - James Wilson
2. 32 - Billy Clegg
3. 18 - Xander Shaw
4. 11 - Colin Samuelson
5. 6 - Richard Jessel
6. 2 - Jessica Speare-Cole
7. 41 - Robin Ebsworth
8. 40 - Andrew Eddy
Race 2 Course: JJ > T > K > Y
The breeze remained steady and from the same SE direction for the last race of the weekend. The start of race 2 was very clean with a good getaway by all and yet again split strategies going up the first windward leg to T. At Tara the order was as follows: Harlequin, Toucan, Quail, Lady Laetitia, Quintessence, Plover, Blue Jay and Avocet.
As the boats made their way down to K again Toucan made up a massive advantage and overtook Harlequin. On reaching K the big question of the afternoon was who is going inside or outside of St Helen's Fort which provided massive entertainment aboard the committee boat. Clearly inside was favourable as Toucan held their lead to the finish line to take the winning gun and behind a very close finish between Quail and Harlequin.
All in all a glorious afternoon on the water as we turn our attention to the Bank Holiday weekend.
Race 2 Results:
1. 11 - Colin Samuelson
2. 30 - James Wilson
3. 18 - Zander Shaw
4. 32 - Billy Clegg
5. 6 - Crispin Kenyon
6. 41 - Robin Ebsworth
7. 40 - Andrew Eddy
8. 2 - Jessica Speare-Cole
With three wins and a second, Quail was the overall winner of the Redwing 25th Anniversary Medal weekend.
Next weekend (Bank Holiday) sees the Redwings competing for the Gunston Trophy and further races for the Wilson Prize and the One-Designs for the Lowrie-Corry Trophy.