The Hayling Challenge the Alan Earl Tankard
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THE HAYLING CHALLENGE Circumnavigating Hayling Island by sail and oar, pole, paddle or wading and towing, clockwise or anti-clockwise, starting and finishing at Cobnor. Problems include getting under Hayling Bridge and through the blocks, coping with Chichester and Langstone harbour ebb currents of up to six knots, coastal tide flow changes two hours ahead of high and low water, and variable currents under Hayling Bridge (which dries). THE ALAN EARL TANKARD Incorporating the same rules but awarded for the best circumnavigation by a boat with traditional rig. For the 2009 challenge, by popular vote, both trophies were awarded to David Sumner.. Well done David! Please see last two pages for Len’s summary of this event. Complete Logs Members submitted their logs for this cruise in various guises, some just filling-in the basic form; others writing several pages of detail. Unfortunately in the shemozzle of breaking camp, some of the pages were lost so, as it would not have been fair to those whose pages had been lost if the judging was done on detail in the logs, I only published the basic forms. But these logs are interesting to read and well worth publishing, so now the trophies have been awarded, here they are in as complete a form as is possible. Liz 12 Feb 2010 THE HAYLING CHALLENGE & ALAN EARL TANKARD The detail is hard to read on the copy I was sent, so I’ve tried to interpret it here. EB 10.38 Departure from Cobnor. 11.25 Camber – steered into east corner 11.40 N. Pilsey area 12.00 Marker Point 12.19 Emsworth Beacon 12.31 Northney A Beacon 12.55 Bridge. Busy after bridge. 14.00 Tried to leave Langstone. Entrance too rough so returned to beach. 15.30 Departure Langstone entrance. Reasonable seas once clear. 17.41 West Pole. Easy entrance. THE HAYLING CHALLENGE & ALAN EARL TANKARD Apologies to Chris as I think there were additional pages of log which were unfortunately lost. THE HAYLING CHALLENGE & ALAN EARL TANKARD (both bus pass holders) apologies to Brian as the rest of this was lost THE HAYLING CHALLENGE & ALAN EARL TANKARD THE HAYLING CHALLENGE THE HAYLING CHALLENGE (don’t recommend this beach – concrete blocks) (he had started about 5 minutes earlier from Cobnor!) THE ALLAN EARL TANKARD TRIALS 2009 Of the eight boats that completed the Cobnor 2009 Hayling Challenge, four were also eligible for the Allan Earl Tankard, which is for the best circumnavigation under traditional or unconventional rig (not Bermudan or parallel gunter). 'Best' allows voting members to make their own judgements on each boat's relative performance and take seamanship and style as well as comparative boat potential into account. In my opinion the four 2009 challengers were all worthy of the tankard. A sail and oar Hayling circumnavigation from Cobnor is a real test of advanced cruising skills, especially for the smaller boats single-handed. 16 August HW Chi. 07.57, 3.9 m, LW 13.46, 1.8 m. Winds WSW 3-4 Chris Waite with crew Tony sailed his 15'6" high aspect gaff sloop pocket cruiser 'Tit Willow', starting at 10.00 hrs and sailing ACW, lowering mast and rowing against tide at Hayling Bridge. (The LW channel was too narrow and shallow to tack). The current became favourable just under bridge. Finished 15.29 hrs. Time 5.29 hrs. Comment: Although having high aspect gaff, Tit Willow is a true cruiser, robust with a heavy plate. 17 August HW Chi 09.19, 4.1 m, LW 14.55, 1.5m. Winds SW 3-4 Brian Rockall sailed his 53 year-old 16' Sussex Cob 'Harriet' (dipping lug with jib and mizzen) with Hugh Evans, starting at 11.03 hrs and sailing ACW. They rowed their boat (about a ton weight!) against wind and tide through the New Cut and then manhandled against current under Hayling Bridge, finishing at 17.07. Time 6.04 hrs. Brian's Sussex Cob is arguably the most authentic of the DCA's traditional boats. Brian and Hugh are both bus-pass holders (but some of us are in the Zimmer-frame age group!) 18 August HW Chi 10.25 4,4m, LW 15.50, 1.2m. Winds SSW 3 becoming S 3 to 4. David Sumner sailed single-handed in his gaff rigged modified 11' Mirror, 'Curlew' (fully equipped for coastal cruising), starting at 10.35 and sailing ACW. He sailed and paddled through Hayling Bridge in slack water with the mast tilted some 30 degrees. Leaving Langstone entrance he was forced back because steep wind-against tide waves made progress impossible, and resume after Ihr 30 min delay when ebb had eased. Finished at 18.21, time 7.43 hrs. David's low-aspect gaff sail has been cut down from the standard gunter, losing a substantial amount of sail area. Graham. Deans and I were sailing the Hayling Challenge in a Wayfarer at the same time as Davi,d, and can verify that the conditions in the Langstone entrance run were impossible for a boat as small as the Mirror to make progress. David's wait for slacker water was good seamanship. 19 August HW Chi 11.19, 4.7m, LW 1638, 0.9 m. Winds F3 southerly. John Dean with Richard Farr crewing sailed in a 16' Cornish Coble (standing lug and jib), starting at 11.15 and sailing ACW. They lowered the mast at Hayling Bridge and rowed under with current. It was their first experience of Langstone Harbour, they had not been aware of the old railway bridge foundations to be negotiated! They finished at 17.17, time 6 hrs 2 min. A commendable attempt. Voting is limited to members attending Cobnor, arid David Sumner, though making the slowest passage, was the clear winner. This was very appropriate as the tankard is named in honour of the late Allan Earl, DC A Member No. l, whose little book based on his intrepid cruising in a 10 foot gaffer was seminal to the formation of the DCA. Allan's sons are still sailing with distinction. I understand that they won the Javelin dinghy's World Championship in German) in 2008. Incidentally, although all Hayling Challenge entrants have so far elected to round Hayling anti- clockwise, I reckon a faster time might be made in a Wayfarer or other high performance cruiser sailing clockwise and shooting Hayling Bridge sail up but mast partly lowered (Frank Dye was executing this manoeuvre when a gust caught the sail, lifting him off his feet still holding the mast. With commendable presence of mind Margaret at the helm grabbed his legs and hauled him and the rig back down!). Len Wingfield .