The magazine of Exe Sailing Club
EXE Issue 96 news Autumn 2015
In this issue . . .
Commodore’s Notes ...... 4 Notice of AGM ...... 6 Members’ Survey 2015 ...... 6 EXE news Dinghy Report ...... 7 Issue 96 Cruiser Update ...... 10 Autumn 2015 Training Centre Briefing ...... 13 Editor From the House ...... 17 Mike Coleman 3 Creeks Race ...... 20 Tel 07767 607118 editor@exe–sailing–club.org Bar, Restaurant and Social ...... 24
Editorial Team Shanty Night ...... 25 Sue Hamilton 2014 Trophies ...... 24 Anna Marks Two Rivers Junior Series ...... 26 Advertising enquiries, Wine Run 2014 ...... 30 please contact [email protected] Still Sailing at 102! ...... 33
This issue printed by Finn Class, Ben Cornish ...... 35 Optima Graphics SW Winter Series ...... 37 Topsham Ironhorse - Further Voyages ...... 38 Tel 01392 873822 www.optimagraphics.co.uk Not Quite Round Britain 2016 ...... 42
Eddystone Challenge Pursuit ...... 43
Cover photo Seagull Racing at Lerryn ...... 45 New Sailability Hawk 20, Member Profile - Tony Brewster ...... 48 No Execuse
Naming Ceremony 19/06/15 With thanks to all our contributors and advertisers Courtesy Nigel Walshaw We always need good photos for the cover and articles. Please send your best shots during the season to [email protected]. Thank you.
Exe News 96 3 Commodore’s Notes
As we approach the end of anther busy season, and my second year as your Commodore, I would like to reflect on the Club's successes and dwell a little on the challenges that we face in the future. Exe Sailing Club offers its members (age 5 to 102!) more than just summer dinghy sailing; it is an enterprise that provides for a community whose roots lie in all aspects of the sport and delivers facilities, infrastructure and activities for its Members throughout the year. Whether you are still actively involved, retired or just taking a break from sailing then I hope we offer what you want. Standfast the commitment to try and meet everyone's aspirations, I am absolutely committed to maintaining the ethos of dinghy sailing and competition at the core of all the planning assumptions that the Management Committee make. I will explain in more detail at the AGM on 4 December when I will endeavour to explain how we will be taking forward an exciting initiative in the junior racing programme. I strongly believe that our Club offers the best range of sailing related activity and the best value for money than almost anywhere else on the south coast. The racing programmes delivered by Guy Farrant and David Palfreman are second to none and our training centre is the envy of Commodores from Weymouth to Falmouth. The programme of infrastructure improvements are impressive and as well as improving the resilience of our current facilities, they include a series of ambitious projects that will see major changes to car parking, dinghy berthing, Club interior decor and a fundamental redesign of our current storage facilities to the west of the Clubhouse. Following a winter of well attended ‘Thursday Night Talks’, dinners, skittles, navigation training, powerboat courses, fashion shows and the perennial pool competition, the sailing season started with a reception to honour Ian Williams, to celebrate his fifth title as the World Champion Match Racer. The real preparations for the season then started, cruisers back in the water, junior registration, yacht crew race training (40kts and high seas and they still came back for more!).
4 Exe News 96 The dinghy season also started well with a fleet of 30 boats taking part in the first race and good on-going participation. So how busy was 2015? The Feva weekend, Ted Draper falling overboard, kayak rally, Three Creeks Race, Supanova open, RS200 open, New Hawk 20, Wine Run, AZAB, Solitaire de Figaro, Orestone Race, Splash Nights, Two Rivers Series, Round The Island, Exe Regatta, Wimbledon and Cream Teas, Channel Week, Beer Regatta, RNLI Race, Trio Nationals, Dartmouth Regatta, Champagne Challenge, Barts Bash, etc etc. You would be right to say that it has been a busy season for the club and I have not even tried to capture the racing programme or Sailability. Resurfacing of the car and dinghy parks, maintaining progress on the new start box, finalising plans for redeveloping the outbuildings, completing the new fuel storage facility and completing the modernisation of the bar and restaurant areas are going to be challenging. But the most important issue the club faces is that of its status as a Community Amateur Sports Club. You will all have received a letter from me outlining the importance of this issue and I will not dwell any further on it, save to remind you that discussion on the future legal status of the club will form part of this year’s AGM. The other major issue is the future of the Exe Estuary and open access to it so we can continue to enjoy our sport with minimal interference from pressure groups that would like to see our access restricted; we are watching that developing issue very closely. Finally, I would like to thank all those volunteers that make this club what it is. Without them we simply could not operate and enjoy our chosen sport. Whether it is providing a trolley dolly service at major events, cleaning the premises, painting, instructing, organising or managing, your skills provide the foundation of the clubs ethos - thank you all and have a good Christmas and New Year. Dave Preston Commodore
Exe News 96 5
Notice of Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be held at the club on Friday 4 December at 7.30pm. Forms for nomination of officers are now posted in the clubhouse. If you wish to nominate someone, please ensure that their name is added to this list by 27 November. Also, as per the Constitution, there will be no ‘Any Other Business’ at the AGM. If you have an issue you believe needs to be discussed please contact the Honorary Secretary, Nick Webber, before 27 November. Reports and accounts will be published in the members area. Printed copies will also be placed in a folder in the bar area at the clubhouse. If you have any questions about this please email [email protected] Nick Webber Hon Secretary
Members Survey 2015 Here’s a summary of how people responded to the survey circulated with the renewal packs. Thanks to the 165 people that completed it. Just less than one third of the membership replied Over 50% of these replies were from respondents who had been members of the club for over 11 years By far the majority of people were satisfied with the club and would recommend it to others Members indicated more cruising in company along the coast and day sailing events Greater integration from finishing the training courses and the transition into regular club racing events More social activities with suggestions of a big screen for sporting events. Modernisation of the restaurant area with a more contemporary feel was consistently suggested along with the upgrading of changing rooms and club entrance Disabled electric wheelchair users commented on lack of access ‘Great club, happy to be a member’ is an example of many comments All extremely satisfied with present communication Many areas where improvement was indicated have already been tackled, with plans in place for others. As always, if you have suggestions to enhance the Club (or even comments on what is going well) , please speak to a committee member or Commodore Dave Preston. You can also email [email protected]
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Dinghy Sailing Report Guy Farrant Dinghy Captain
Winter Series 2014 Strong wind caused cancellation of the first race of the Winter series, so it was not until Sunday 12 October that the series commenced with 17 dinghies turning out: 3 Trios, 2 RS400s, 2 Supernovas, 4 Lasers, 2 RS100s, 1 RS200, 1 Blaze, 1 Wanderer – quite a mixture. Saturday 18th was cloudy with a S4-5 resulting in a few capsizes. There was some sun and a gentle SW5-10 kts on Saturday 25th with 13 dinghies starting. Sunday 2 November was a good fast sunny sailing day SW5 increasing to 20 kts. In contrast on the next Saturday, despite a gale in the morning, we only managed a one race drift in the afternoon. Sunday 16 November was overcast N/E 0-2, top of neaps and a bit of a lottery race near the wreck as the wind came and went. Notable for the first appearance of Chris James’s RS Aero and Frankie Upton’s RS400. On Saturday 22nd in broken sunshine and very little wind S/W 1-2, the race officer did well to get in any racing at all in Shelly Gut. For Sunday 30 November, 19 dinghies turned out for a very pleasant gentle sail on a bright morning in N2-3. Unfortunately Saturday 6 December was cancelled due to no wind. An overcast Sunday 14 Dec with a good sailing breeze SW4-5 was notable for Mike and Anne Way in their RS500 beating Chris and Les in their RS400. So overall after 17 races in the series Tony Brewster and Toby Elliot were first Trio and as ever Chris and Les were first in the handicap class. The full 2014 race results are summarised elsewhere in this magazine. Boxing Day Race 2014 On arrival at the club it was flat calm with light rain and there were mutterings of cancelling. However after a half hour postponement the wind filled unusually quickly and built to a gusty SW4-5. The start was near 17 buoy with a beat up to a mark in the bight. Out of 16 dinghies that launched (2 Trios, 1 RS400, 1 RS500, 3RS200s, 3 Lasers, 1 Supernova, 1 Contender, 2 Visions, 1 RS Aero, 1 Enterprise), a RS200 and a Laser did not start and soon some were capsizing. Indeed a Trio and an RS200 needed assistance from the safety boat and retired. Iain Horlock won in his Contender and back in the bar the best festive dress was awarded to race officers Frankie and Rosey. Iain and Bob Horlock, in their Supernovas, sailed in the new South West Winter Series. Well done Iain, see separate report.
continued . . .
Exe News 96 7 Dinghy Sailing Report (continued)
In our packed programme, besides the ever-popular Wednesday evening and Saturday/ Sunday series, we have held: 25-26 April – RS Feva training/open organised by Frankie Upton. Hopefully a stepping stone for a Grand prix next year and possibly Nationals in 2018. 23-24 May – Supernova Open and RS200 Open 23 May. Organised by John Walpole and Liz Teague. There are three Supernovas in the club and this class is growing, and we hope to rebuild the RS200 numbers. 2 Rivers Junior Series – 13 June Topsham, 21 June Teignmouth and 27 June here at Exe. Well done to Sandy Bailey and Jack Francis, overall Slow Fleet winners. 11-12 July – River Exe Regatta at Starcross YC. Congratulations to Mike and Anne Way (3rd in Fast Asymmetrics), Iain Horlock (1st in Slow Conventional) and Tony Brewster/ Toby Elliott (1st in Slow Asymmetrics) Bart’s Bash on 20 September, organised by Tim Graham, was also successful with around 20 boats taking part. A major initiative this year was to encourage and promote the integration of all sailors new to the club, and particularly those that have been through training programmes, into the main racing fleet. Three groups have been identified – Juniors, some of who train on Thursday evenings, Youth under 21/X-Squad and Novice adults Particularly for the juniors and the novice adults, 8 neap weekend races starting 10 May had club professional Martin in an extra RIB in attendance to guide and advise. These are marked J/N on the website calendar. Courses are kept to moderate length and symmetrical (all triangles or sausage laps) so that slow boats can be stopped after fewer laps and positions based on average lap times (Race Officers please note). Class captains will promote a buddy system. The Youths now have their own separate series results with trophies extracted from the usual Wednesday and weekend series. Also there is a Youth King Cup for all King Cup races both estuary and at sea. If you don’t have your own boat, the training centre has a large fleet of dinghies which are free of charge for members whilst competing in club racing. Choose from 6 Visions, 6 Qubas, 2 Fevas, 2 Picos, 2 Lasers and 2 Toppers. Over the winter many members completed Powerboat RYA PB2 courses, safety boat courses and refresher courses. Please put your new experience to good use and volunteer via Dutyman to crew the RIBs. We now have four: Orange, Blue, Yellow and Grey (plus the little white one). And thanks to hard work by the bosun and some members, Up Spirits has a new roof which is a little higher.
The dinghy introduction and classes section on the website have been updated. Please ensure you have the latest course card May 2014 (not Nov 13) as on Green course 4, rounding 10 buoy is to Port (not Starboard). Unfortunately the lamp standard on the south pier has been removed and we are working on a substitute. Regrettably the Fireball class due to hold their Open in 2016 have withdrawn from a long standing agreement and are not coming. Fortunately we have just agreed to host the Nationals for the combined fleets of RS300s and RS100s. There are three of the latter in the club, so a dinghy to watch. For the hardy, enjoy the winter series! Guy Farrant Dinghy Captain
Exe News 96 9 Cruiser Update David Palfreman Cruiser Captain
n terms of 'organised' cruising activities the highlight of the season was undoubtedly our annual 'Wine Run' in early June, destination Treguier. We achieved a record I with some twelve boats and 39 participants, gathering for a memorable meal at Le Ponton restaurant on the waterfront of this delightful historic Breton market town. Your fellow members found numerous ways to enjoy themselves; boat parties, cycle hire, boules competition, visits to the well-known chandlery Co.Per Marine, just across the river bridge, being just a few. Sadly the local micro brewery was not able to accommodate our party when we called! The return passage took a rather less targeted approach with crews departing at different times to meet work commitments or via the Channel Islands to achieve a better wind-angle to make the best of a forecast of brisk northerlies. Some, such as Jeff and Sally Craven and our intrepid single-hander, Bob Green, extended their trips and picked their departure times and destinations to suit the weather conditions. Our subsequent wine-tasting competition was held at rather short notice the following week to take advantage of a slot presented by a cancelled evening cruiser race. Thanks are due to all who contributed bottles of wine and particularly for the generous spread of cheeses, pates nibbles etc – a banquet to be sure! Our Commodore, Dave Preston, was on hand to present the prizes. Liz Matson on Stardust won the under €5 category and Kay Rhodes, Footloose II over €5. Attention was drawn to a number of memorable scenes in the photographic competition. The winner was Bob Green with his shot of 'Scotty' at his easel outside Treguier cathedral. Thought is already being given to next year's event. Repeat visits to Carteret or St. Vaast have so far been mentioned. Any other suggestions for this or other events are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there, be you a regular or a 'Channel Virgin'! Our Cruiser Training programme, administered by Karen Melling on board her Westerly Regatta 330 Zephyr which is fully coded, continues to be well supported. Changing the emphasis to Cruiser Racing, both Neil Matson and Jeremy Moore returned safely from the AZAB (Azores and Back) race having acquitted themselves well, albeit feeling somewhat battered, bruised and having to contend with gear damage. Sam Matson continues to give a good account of himself in the single-handed 'Solitaire du Figaro' series. He also teamed up with Gonzalo Infante to compete in the Fastnet race,
10 Exe News 96 winning the Figaro class. The scale of their achievement can be gauged by the fact that their 32 foot craft finished ahead of boats such as an X41, First 44.7 and Farr 45. The Royal Torbay 'Offshore Week' in July was also well supported by Exe crews; Chris Rhodes, Rick Newcombe, Colin Leach, Martin Minter and Tineke Dixon. It would appear most of the silverware was lifted by Chris and crew in his new Sunfast 3600, Footloose II. He didn't do too badly in the Round the Island Race either! As usual a sizeable contingent of Exe boats took part in Dartmouth Regatta. Particular success was enjoyed by Rex Frost on Electra, winning his class against stiff opposition. Also giving a good account of themselves were Steve Best, Stuart Hills and Colin Leach among others. A handful of Exe boats also participated in Fowey and Beer Regattas. They reported a warm welcome and enjoyable sailing. I am also advised of other, perhaps less well- known, events that members may wish to consider for the future. Rick Newcombe and Rex Frost competed in the Devon Three Creeks Race (running and sailing) in May and came first and second. Rex also reports that he received a warm welcome and good competition in Brixham Regatta. Rick is now racing in the RTYC Winter Series. More locally our evening races have been well supported. After an initial shaky start, due to fog, no wind and a gale, conditions improved to give us generally good breezes for the rest of the season. Due to more favourable tides we were able to squeeze in the 'Royal Thames Cup' series a rather elegant small trophy first awarded in 1936 and only awarded four times since. Hopefully the greater number of races we have held in neap tide conditions will have provided more rewarding racing for those craft less able to point well. I shall not list series winners here as all results are now published as soon as possible on the web-site. Thanks are due to Rick Newcombe and Mike Coleman for their assistance, using the 'Sailwave' results system. The two annual free-standing events, the Damsel and RNLI races, were well supported. The Damsel Trophy was awarded jointly to Ann Way helming Footloose II and Donna Best on Jammin' after a closely-fought battle. We enjoyed a good sailing breeze for the RNLI Race, the crew of Footloose II emerging victorious. Thanks are due to our local RNLI crew who were able to be on-station for the start, during a training exercise. Thanks also to Race Officer, Hedley Saunders. We were joined in the bar afterwards by the crew and some £360 was raised for local RNLI funds. The season finale, the Champagne Challenge, took place in light airs 'Indian Summer' conditions. Thanks to the enterprise of race organizer, Rex Frost , a likely abandonment
Exe News 96 11 Cruiser Update (continued) for the Fast Fleet was avoided by restarting the fleet off Teignmouth by which time a sea breeze had become established. Winners were: Fast Fleet: Nemesis, Malcolm Lynn, Club Class: Hiva Oa, Bob Green. Thanks are due to race sponsor Michael Griffin (MA Griffin Associates Ltd) and our hosts, Brixham Yacht Club. We have been pleased to welcome several new race participants either sailing their own boats or crewing. If you would like to try your hand do please come down on a race evening (check the race calendar on the website) and make yourself known. I am sure we can find you a ride! Don't forget your lifejacket which is mandatory on the club RIB. In any event wearing an automatic inflating life-jacket is recommended. I would like to thank our club RIB volunteer helms who take crews to and from their boats. Particular thanks are due to Marilyn Booker who has stepped down having helmed regularly for a number of years – plenty of opportunities for new volunteers! Your Handicap Committee have deliberated throughout the season. In the Fast Fleet, generally comprising experienced racers, adjustments have been minimal as most craft have individual IRC Measurement Certificates. The more diverse range of yachts in Club Class allows greater discretion for adjustment to reflect crew experience or whether craft are 'white sailed' or short-handed. Our aim has been to provide close racing across a range of conditions and to give encouragement to those newer to Club Racing. Finally, in addition to our RIB drivers I mentioned earlier, who volunteer via the 'Dutyman' scheme, a big thank you to the many other volunteers who work behind the scenes to make our activity possible, be they race officers, helpers with cruiser launching, retrieval, storage or the many other tasks which make our club run smoothly. Thanks also to our bar and catering staff for tending to our needs, even when we turn up at unpredictable times! My cruiser owners e-mail list features more than a hundred souls and yet it is only the occasional few whose exploits we hear of. Perhaps a majority value the quiet enjoyment that casting off and sailing away, either on one's own, or with crew or family, provides. So if you have an interesting story to tell – maybe the discovery of an idyllic anchorage, a lesson learned or whatever, it doesn't have to be a hair raising experience – please feel free to share it with us. By the time you read this our Club lift outs will be completed. Since most of us are reputed to spend more time working on our boats than sailing them I wish you a productive laying-up period and enjoy your planning for next season. David Palfreman Speculator 2 Training Centre Briefing
Firstly a big welcome to our new club professional, Martin Allen, who joined us in March, following a little wait for Erin, Vicki and Martin’s beautiful baby daughter. A notable winter event was the instructor / volunteer dinner in January a great evening which culminated in the eagerly anticipated award for Instructor and volunteer of the year. Instructor of the year went to Luke Hayward one of our newly qualified AI’s for his contribution to the year’s youth training programme. The volunteer of the year was won by Gordon Betteridge who himself observed that he tended toward the other end of the age spectrum from Luke. It was largely due to Gordon’s efforts that we got the funds for the new Sailability Hawk. So goes to show you are never too young or old to volunteer at Exe. In particular we can be very proud that we are encouraging and supporting what we hope will be a lifelong habit of volunteering in all who are daft enough to get anywhere near the training centre! After a very busy winter season with powerboat, safety boat, first aid, VHF and Dinghy Instructor courses our congratulations to all of our new DIs and Assistant DIs (George Crundwell, Neil King, Eve Birrell, Jenny Edwards, Leonie Burger, May Wood, Robin Adams, Harriet Melbourne). We could not manage any of this without you; your reward will be in heaven or possibly on the paid summer weeks! As always, priority will be given to the instructors who have put in the time as volunteers but if you are interested there will be lots of opportunities. We started our new season with the junior registration evening on 10 April. Standing room only at this one and I think the BBQ first idea worked well. All our Friday evening courses booked out on the night with demand for places being greater than for many years and rather catching us by surprise. My apologies to those who may not have got the places they wanted; our resources, boats and in particular instructors means we do have to cap the numbers. We have stretched it a little and finally registered some 18 children for stage 1/2 and 12 for 3/4, plus of course around 95 for Splash. Please don’t all turn up on the same evenings! Summer programme courses also proving very popular with two now fully booked. If you would like a summer place, contact Martin asap for cancellations. We have run one fully subscribed Adult Dinghy Level 1 and 2 courses. We are conscious that the full programme at the club gives little space for more courses so we are looking at ways to get our course graduates more ‘sea time’. Check the programme for the Go Sailing events and novice / youth racing events. If you want to get more time afloat do talk to Martin he may well be able to link you with like-minded others. /continued . . .
Exe News 96 13 No Execuse Sailability Hawk Naming Ceremony 19 June 2015 with RNLI, Exmouth Shantymen, Sailability users Photos: Nigel Walshaw and former First Sea Lord, Sir Mark Stanhope Training Centre Briefing (continued)
Off shore we ran another successful Cruiser racing training day in April with many of the new crews signing up to sail regularly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. If you missed the training, don’t worry; just turn up with some kit (waterproofs, non marking shoes, buoyancy aid/lifejacket) on a cruiser racing evening and you will get a sail. The RYA Cruiser training scheme delivered under the expert eye of Karen Melling has virtually sold out this year even with extra courses being set up. There are some spaces for late season September and October— contact Martin for details On the competition front Bob Horlock again ran X-Squad through the winter with a second group of aspiring young racers being coached by Rick Newcombe. Bob has led the junior race training for many years will stand back a little at the end of this season so we are looking for successors to take this on. In particular we would like to train a small team of Race Coaches, so if you are an experienced dinghy sailor who wants to put something back into the club do contact Stuart Hills (chair of the sailing committee) or Martin.
Sailability
Our Sailability programme has had a late start this year but for the best of reasons. At the end of last year we applied for and were hugely fortunate to be awarded a grant (thank you Trinity House) that has covered virtually the full cost of replacing our aging Hawk 20. We took delivery of a brand new model and she was formally launched in June with full razzmatazz — see opposite. If anyone wants to get more involved with this great project do come and talk to us. In particular we are looking for a few more experienced sailors who have a bit of free time in the week, full training provided. Don’t delay - apply today! As always a huge thank you to all who have supported the training centre over the winter and into the new season in particular the amazing group of instructors and Sailability volunteers. See you on the ocean. Rick
Exe News 96 15
From the House Mick Marshall
t the last gas safety check, the aging wet room and training office gas fire heaters were condemned. The training office heater was replaced by an oil filled electric A one and the wet room fire had a new gas fire replacement, just in time for the start of Rex’s winter theory course (well, almost in time). We took advantage of the early January kitchen shutdown to arrange the replacement of an old and badly corroded window, as per the development plan. This was followed by painting the downstairs wet room and the gents changing room. Once again thanks to Carol Griffits who temporarily seconded herself to the house team to assist us with the painting. Will this girl never learn? In addition, Martin Minter took it on himself to paint the Best Room single-handed. Many thanks to him for completing a job that we have had to put off for long time. Also whilst refurbishing the gents changing room a section of flooring had to be replaced because the seals had started to leak. Dinghy race officers will have seen that the badly rotted race box floor has been replaced by Rob Masters, in time for the first Easter race. Eagle One have committed to alleviate further flooding problems by installing a drainage gully around the building.
The dinghy park clean-up squad in action
For you kayak users, further racking has been provided to facilitate the new storage rules (that is, no kayaks on top of dingies if you missed it). In April a new dishwasher was installed in the downstairs members kitchen as the old one decided to flood the kitchen with soapy water, so you now have no excuse for leaving dirty cups around! Many thanks to all the cruiser owners and their crews who turned up on Good Friday, the day after the cruiser crane in, to help clean up the park in time for the dinghy sailors to arrive on Easter Saturday. Too many people to name individuals, but a good job well continued . . .
Exe News 96 17 done. In the afternoon, Mike Hill and myself had a another fun session cleaning the upstairs wooden decking and furniture in the rain with patio cleaners, but the pristine deck and furniture has been a lot nicer this summer. Hopefully you will have noticed that the re-upholstering and re-seating of the furniture is now complete. This project has been organised and managed by Marilynn Booker. Many thanks to all those who turned up for the annual boat park clean up. Once again we managed to reuse the old rubber beach matting and prep the beach ready for the new matting to be laid. Again a great effort to clean up the winter debris from the grounds. A new improved stairlift has been installed as the previous one was becoming unreliable. It also has the advantage of taking less space on the stairs. The wooden floor in the bar/restaurant has now been refinished just in time for the club’s off-sesason social events programme. Now on to the winter projects . . . Mick Marshall and House Team
Exe News 96 19 South Devon Bites Back! The 3 Creeks Race 2015 tarted by a group of running and sailing enthusiasts last year the 3 Creeks Race was intended as an accessible mini 3 Peaks race— you know, the one that sails S between and then runs up the highest points in the UK, Snowden, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis. The Devon 3 Creeks was intended to be a little less challenging sailed between Dartmouth and the Yealm with most of the running set along the coast path.
The rules and the course are pretty simple. Maximum team of five, two sailing races, three runs, runners must run in pairs, must get ashore by man power alone and their should be at least one responsible person on the board the yacht at all times. The winners would be the team with the shortest total time (ie run times plus handicap adjusted sailing time). This year two teams from Exe SC decided to take up the challenge, Rex Frost’s First 31.7 Electra and Rick Newcombe’s X-34 eXehibitionist. eXehibitionist fielded the events only mixed gender junior / senior team – skipper and runner George Melbourne (17), Tony Wood an experienced sailor and runner, May Wood (14) a regular eXehibitionist crew and another fine runner, Abi Wright an occasional sailor and serious runner and Rick who acted as the responsible adult! For eXehibitionist the event started with an anxiety provoking Friday afternoon dash out of the Exe scrapping through the approach channel with less than 20cm under the keel and a nasty breaking sea, however once out it was a fast if lumpy sail to the Dart.
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Saturday morning and after a race briefing and kit check at the always welcoming Dartmouth Yacht Club the first run, Dartmouth Coronation Green up the hill, (note unusual for a sailing race but hills feature a lot in this event!) back to sea level at Mill Creek then up to Dittisham , down to the ferry up the hill on the other side and back to Kingswear – 8 miles in all. The first team came in some 20 minutes ahead having jumped the Dittisham ferry, the next team was chased home by George and May with an amazing performance at around 8 minute/mile pace.
Then hop on the boat and out to start the first sail race. A steady 18 knots gusting 25 greeted the fleet with a fantastic sail around the Start in perfect conditions. eXehibitionist quickly overtook the boats ahead to lead around the Start and into Salcombe. However Electra despite starting 20 mins after the last boat (their runners got a little lost) sailed an amazing leg choosing to sail inside across Start bay. They caught up to within 10 minutes of eXehibitionist scraping so close to Prawle that if they had got any closer Rex could have answered the phone at the National Coastwatch station on the point. Preparing for Run Two on board eXehibitionist, a degree of alarm set in when it was realised that however hard you pumped the dinghy would not fully inflate – a puncture.
Exe News 96 21 Electronics/Electrics Installation GPS / VHF / Instrument connection Fully insured for on-boat work 3 Creeks Race (continued) So we established the interesting technique of two runners paddling and George pumping frantically as they made for the shore. A 10 minute advantage had now turned into a 5 minute deficit as Tony and Abi set out to chase down the Electra runners one of whom just happened to be Abi’s partner, so no pressure there then! This was the tough one 11 miles along the coast path from South Sands beach to Bolt Tail then inland to Marlborough into Salcombe and back to the beach. It was very close but Tony and Abi were first home by a slender margin after a challenging run with Tony taking one extended roll down a steep section of the path. Fine running combined with accurate navigation was the secret of success. Supper on board, a pint, and back for an early night ahead of the 0600 start. Salcombe harbour staff deserve a vote of thanks for reorganising the pontoons to get us all alongside for the night. Day 2 and second sail from Salcombe to the Yealm via the Eddystone light. Up at 0500 for the start at Salcombe harbour limits. George timed eXehibitionist’s start to perfection and we hit the line at 0600 exactly. After a period of dodgy helming (Rick) eXehibitionist got into her stride and pulled out a big lead getting into the Yealm and a short paddle to the finish line (we were allowed alternative propulsion) as we lost the wind under Mouthstone point to drop her runners at 1034. Dinghy ashore again although this time with high tide we were able to get close in and the runners had only a short paddle / pump to the rocky shore. Run Three: Cellar beach at the mouth of the Yealm around the coast path heading east for five miles before turning back toward Newton Ferries and a finish at the harbour office, total 8 miles. Abi and Tony made short work of this one and came in with a very comfortable lead. So it was over although time differential between the first and last teams was considerable, how would the handicaps work out? The organisers kept the results under wraps until the prize giving BBQ at the Yealm Yacht club, when it was made clear that eXehibitionist had got it with Electra second. An Exe SC 1-2! Fantastic. This was a great weekend and the concept worked brilliantly. A combination of the challenging sailing, close pilotage and boat work to put the runners ashore and endurance running over two days on the beautiful South Devon coast could hardly fail. We very much hope the event will run again with more competitors next year. Don’t miss it. Rick Newcombe eXehibitionist
Exe News 96 23
Bar/Restaurant & Social It helps us greatly if you can book in advance for the restaurant. In return we will reserve the best spots and lay up your table. The booking diary is by the kitchen door. You can also book by ringing the clubhouse during bar hours - telephone 01395 264607. If you would like to consider the Clubhouse for a function with groups of 8 to 80, please talk to Laura, Martyn or myself in the first instance. Ted Draper, Bar & Catering Winter Opening Times – please check website/noticeboard for changes Bar (open) Restaurant (for orders) Monday Closed Closed Tuesday 7 – 11pm 7 – 8.30pm Wednesday 7 – 11pm Closed Thursday 7 – 11pm Closed Friday Coffee 10-11am 7 – 9pm 12 – 2.30pm Closed Saturday 7 – 11pm Closed Snacks 12.30 – 2.30pm Sunday 12 – 2.30pm plus monthly Jazz Lunches
Social Events Coming Up . . . Friday 20 November Fashion Show with new lines from local retailers 7pm £6 including glass of wine on arrival. Thursday 26 November RNLI Cheese and Wine Informal social (cocktail outfits 7pm optional) with raffle and RNLI stall. Cheese / snack contributions welcomed - please contact Mary Fagan Saturday 28 November Book Launch ‘The Secret Coin’ Time TBC Storytelling and children’s games with Freddy Woodcock Wednesday 16 December Club Talent Night Come and enjoy performances by our 7pm excellent singers, musicians and more. Friday 18 December Vice Admiral’s Lunch Open to all members, 3 course Midday traditional festive lunch. Advance booking essential Sunday 20 December Christmas Carols and Lunch Hearty singalong followed 11am by festive roast. Please book for lunch. Thursday 31 December New Year’s Eve Disco See in 2016 with a party from 8pm Thursday Night Talks See noticeboard, emails and website for updates Saturday 23 January Burns Night Supper with piper, ceremony and 7.30pm traditional meal. Get your best tartan out.
24 Exe News 96
Bar/Restaurant & Social Shanty Night It helps us greatly if you can book in advance for the restaurant. In return we will reserve the best spots and lay up your table. The booking diary is by the kitchen Four folk singers who sing at Topsham Folk Club (Fred Sparkes, John Bickford, Graham Butterfield and John Stephens) presented an evening of 'Songs of the Sea and Other door. You can also book by ringing the clubhouse during bar hours - telephone Places' to an enthusiastic audience at the Club on a Saturday in February. 01395 264607. If you would like to consider the Clubhouse for a function with groups of 8 to 80, please talk to Laura, Martyn or myself in the first instance. The programme consisted of sea songs and other folk songs accompanied by guitars, Ted Draper, Bar & Catering fiddle and mandolin. The sea songs fell into two main types – shanties and forebitters. Shanties were work songs sung to give a rhythm to repetitive jobs. Forebitters were Winter Opening Times – please check website/noticeboard for changes songs sung when off duty for entertainment. A song sheet was provided to encourage the audience to join in the choruses, which they did with gusto.
Social Events Coming Up . . . Friday 20 November Fashion Show with new lines from local retailers 7pm £6 including glass of wine on arrival. Thursday 26 November RNLI Cheese and Wine Informal social (cocktail outfits 7pm optional) with raffle and RNLI stall. Cheese / snack contributions welcomed - please contact Mary Fagan Saturday 28 November Book Launch ‘The Secret Coin’ Time TBC Storytelling and children’s games with Freddy Woodcock Wednesday 16 December Club Talent Night Come and enjoy performances by our The group didn't charge for their performance but donated the proceeds of a collection 7pm excellent singers, musicians and more. of £250 to Prostate Cancer UK. The charity was chosen by the whole group as Fred went Friday 18 December Vice Admiral’s Lunch Open to all members, 3 course through Robotic Surgery two years ago. It was also felt it was a great way to spread Midday traditional festive lunch. Advance booking essential awareness of prostate cancer and the need for all men to have a PSC/blood check Sunday 20 December Christmas Carols and Lunch Hearty singalong followed through their doctor. 11am by festive roast. Please book for lunch. Thursday 31 December New Year’s Eve Disco See in 2016 with a party from 8pm Photo from Hedley Saunders Thursday Night Talks See noticeboard, emails and website for updates
Saturday 23 January Burns Night Supper with piper, ceremony and 7.30pm traditional meal. Get your best tartan out.
Exe News 96 25 Trophies 2014 – Dinghies Trophies 2014 – Juniors & Cruisers
King Cup Chris Rhodes / Les Arscott Wednesday Evenings 1 Trio Handicap 1 Guy Farrant – Deavin Challenge 1 Les Arscott – Norman 1930 2 Bob Horlock – Fulford Team 2 Stuart Hills – Elsie Mary 3 Tony Brewster – Norman 1936 3 Paul Beer – Norman Chandni Wednesday Evenings 2 Trio Handicap 1 Andrew McAusland – Ent. Rose Bowl 1 Les Arscott – Sharp Nat. Ent 2 Martin Luce – 12ft Nat. dinghy 2 Mark Nicholson – Fulford Cup1965 3 Tony Brewster – Ashore 1931 3 Justin Harris – Paul Martin Saturday Early Trio Handicap 1 Guy Farrant – Skrimjanker 1 Les Arscott – Easter Cup 2 Keith Lawson – Sun Cup Ent. Class 2 Stuart Hills – West Bay 3 Bob Horlock – Exe Trophy 3 Rob Jones – Roberts Cup Saturday Fixed Time Trio Handicap 1 Guy Farrant – ESC 1 Les Arscott – W of E Challenge 2 Keith Lawson – Coronation 2 Nick Pearce – D H Reed Cup 3 Bob Horlock – Paul Seddon 3 Mike Way – Flame 1934 Summer Sunday Trio Handicap 1 Guy Farrant – Bristol Tipped 1 Nick Coombes – Thorpe Family 2 Tony Brewster – Flame 1935 2 Malcolm Crundwell – Colebird 3 Nick Webber – Deavin Asthore 3 Les Arscott – Hedges Challenge Winter Trio Handicap 1 Tony Brewster – Pilots Challenge 1 Les Arscott – Clumsy 2 Fred Woodcock – Open Meeting 14ft 2 Bob Horlock – Water Carnival 3 Nick Webber – Coralie Best 3 Mike Way – King Challenge Overall Trio Handicap 1 Guy Farrant – Boyce 1 Les Arscott – Belsher 1934 2 Tony Brewster – Derring Do 2 Stuart Hills – Mermaid 3 Keith Lawson – Sharp Coralie 3 Nick Coombes – Sharp Alette 1938 Trophies 2014 – Dinghies Trophies 2014 – Juniors & Cruisers
Juniors Thursday Evening Most enthusiastic and supportive 1 Josh Geare – Evening Cup Zoe Kuyken – Patience Cup 2 Charlie King – Williams Cup 3 George Crundwell – Merrie Tankard
Cruisers Series Fast Fleet Slow Fleet Esilman Chris Rhodes – Esilman Tineke Dixon – Ingham Challenge Spring Chris Rhodes – Little Ship Cup Hedley Saunders – Spring Plate Fairway Chris Rhodes – W H Hamlin Tineke Dixon – Fairway Cup MacPherson Chris Rhodes – Pithers Award Tineke Dixon – MacPherson Cup LSC Stuart Hills – Fulford Challenge David Palfreman – LSC Cup Damsel Cup Ruth Carter Walter Holman Cup No races Overall 1 Chris Rhodes – NatWest Cup 2 Tineke Dixon
The Claret Jug for service to the club was awarded to Guy Farrant Two Rivers Junior Series Bel Bailey he Two Rivers Junior Series comprises three dinghy sailing events, held over separate weekends, for under 18s from all the sailing clubs of the Exe, Teignmouth T and Torbay. This year’s series attracted a total of 27 boats, and each event was blessed with great conditions for racing. The first event was run by Topsham Sailing Club, and the racing took place off Starcross Yacht Club. The wind was a good force 4, gusting 5, and there were plenty of wind shifts to challenge the sailors. Scott Acheson and Jenny Edwards, from ESC, really excelled in this event, showing great tactics and consistency, and won in their RS Feva. William James, from Royal Torbay Yacht Club came in close second in his RS Tera. Woody Powderly-Turner, from ESC, helmed with a new crew Max Christie coming in third. Max, a very keen sailor, but at only 7 the youngest competitor, had never sailed in a Feva before. Woody and Max made a great team, pulling together their combined skills remarkably well in the strong and gusty conditions.
The second event was held by Teign Corinthian, at Coombe Cellars (above). It was a beautiful sunny day, with a good force 4, occasionally 5, blowing from the NW. The course was just off the club, offering an incredibly close up view of the racing. Louis Siveyer, from Louis Siveyer in his Topper ESC was sailing his Topper, and said: "It was gusty but really, really good fun. I was pleased to stay upright when, on one occasion, I saw three boats capsized around me. It was nice to sail at Teign Corinthian SC; they organised the event really well. The most thrilling part for me was crossing the finish line behind two Fevas and a Laser." There was really close and exciting sailing in all three races. Sandy Bailey and Jack Francis from ESC won the event, with a great display of consistently good sailing in their Feva. William James from RTYC, again, came second, with lots of comments heard on
28 Exe News 96 the day about his exceptional level of sailing. Woody Powderly-Turner, sailing with his regular crew Samuel Arkinstall from ESC, had a wonderful win in the windy last race of the day, and came in third overall. The third meeting was hosted by ESC. The forecasts all gave a promise of enough wind, but there was a little trepidation as the boats headed down the beach as the wind was nowhere to be found. With the confidence of the forecast, however, the safety boats towed the competitors out to sea and after only a short postponement, a steady force three SW started to blow. This event had two fleets – the ‘Fast Fleet’ made up of two Lasers, with Ben Flower from
Ffion Morgan
Starcross Yacht Club taking the win, and Jake Peat coming second. Jake had also competed as the only Fast Fleet Sailor at Teign, so won the overall Trophy. The ‘Slow Fleet’, made up from the rest of the sailors, had three good races, with ESC sailors excelling again to gain the top three places. Sandy Bailey and Jack Francis won, Louis Siveyer pulled it together in fine form to come second, and Ffion Morgan in an RS Quba showed how well she has been sailing this season by coming in third, with very consistent results in each of the three races. The overall Trophy for the large ‘slow fleet’ was awarded to Sandy Bailey and Jack Francis (above), who were delighted with their win. In second place was William James again, and in third place was Ming Speyer, from Topsham Sailing Club, in her Topper Taz. She was deservedly happy with this recognition of her consistently good results through the series. This was a great start to the summer for all our young sailors! Bel Bailey Exe News 96 29 Wine Run 2014 David Palfreman e counted seven boats out and seven boats back – a recent record in the history of the Wine Run (although now surpassed by the 2015 turnout – more W next time). Most planned to depart Wednesday evening around 7pm. On arrival at our moorings a westerly gale was still in force although forecast to abate late evening. A planned supper on passage was brought forward and the opportunity taken to grab a couple of hours sleep. We awoke at 11.30pm feeling cold but with a benign F4 blowing. After a caffeine reviver we cast off in company with Wavelet, Merlin, a Moody 28 from Lympstone with Alan Hoare and Nigel Hayman on board and, slightly later, Maybee 3 and Stardust. Brixham coastguard must have thought we were all off to a party with so many radio calls advising passage plans to Cherbourg! A good sailing breeze held as far as the west-bound shipping lane before some of us resorted to engine to speed our progress through the traffic! On arrival mid-afternoon we were surprised to find Cherbourg’s Chantereyne Marina with spaces to spare bearing in mind it was the 70th Anniversary of the D-day landings, which allowed us to find berths close together. It was good to be greeted by Stuart Hills, Steve Best and crew on board Jenesis who took our lines and welcomed us in customary fashion. They had arrived a few days earlier. Our first priority was a mission to secure our hire car, booked on-line before departure with Enterprise, well worth while as it appeared to be much better value than booking on arrival. A forecast of brisk winds and possible showers over the next couple of days convinced us that our first evening in port was a good one for a ‘boat party’, so after collecting our hire car first stop was provisioning at Carrefour. Plans for a light meal ashore later, where last year we had enjoyed Moules Frites at Cafe du Port, were dealt something of a blow as the fare on offer and attitude of staff was not what we recollected. Still there were plenty more fish in the sea and an amenable alternative was found. Next day, Friday, the D-day Anniversary, saw crews heading off bright and early by various modes of transport; bus, train and hire car to commemorate the day at various
30 Exe News 96 locations along the Normandy coast. To avoid the crowds the crew of Speculator 2 made an excursion along the west side of the Contentin peninsular, visiting Portbail, a drying inlet set between miles of sandy beaches, before renewing our acquaintance with Carteret a few miles north. Both resorts along with Dielette, further north, have shallow approaches, not to be attempted in brisk westerlies. Our plans for a communal meal at the Yacht Club had to be brought forward to the Friday evening on finding that the club was fully booked on Saturday, our original choice. At this stage we were missing a crew as Wavelet had broken their passage in Alderney. Since then the wind had backed to a very brisk south easterly – not ideal for a passage from Alderney to Cherbourg in wind over tide conditions! We were therefore relieved to return from our days’ excursion to be greeted by the salt-encrusted trio of Tineke, Mick Marshall and Peter Todd. We all sat down to a well deserved excellent spread overlooking the marina. The redeveloped marina buildings now include a further restaurant which appears smaller and rather more intimate with similar pricing – worth a try on a future visit. The new marina facilities are spacious and fitted out to a high standard. Production of your RYA membership card currently entitles you to a discount together with a possible further reduction for pre-advised rallies. Our Wine Run would not have been complete without the presence of ‘deep sea’ Craven. Jeff and Sally had returned from the Scillies, via Falmouth and Dartmouth, specially to be with us. Their She 36, Tai Chi has the unmistakeable classic lines of an earlier era. Those fortunate to be invited on board should however be given a health warning as the offer of a gin and tonic seems to result in a 50/50 mixture in a rather large cut glass receptacle! On the subject of health warnings we are advised of the activities of a certain crew member of Jenesis who, feeling the need to answer the call of nature in the early hours of the morning, decided to exit via the fore hatch rather than disturbing his fellow crew members. Unfortunately re-entry did not go so well and he got stuck! We understand a design modification has been submitted to J Boats for larger hatches! continued . . .
Exe News 96 31 Wine Run 2014 (continued)
Sunday, the final day for Speculator’s crew gave sun and light airs for a motor-sail along the coast to Braye Harbour, Alderney. Time enough for a trip ashore to enjoy a fish and chip Sunday lunch and a pint at The Moorings pub, order some duty free via Mainbrayce Marine, who also operate the water taxi and rest up prior to our evening departure at dusk for Exmouth. Our return passage was uneventful save for negotiation of the east-bound shipping lane, akin to threading ourselves through the eye of a needle. Not only did shipping form a procession but they were spread across the full six mile width of the lane as well! It is possibly not fully appreciated how much of a logistical exercise it is to ensure a vessel is fit for an open sea passage, to organise crew, provisions and so on particularly when seven vessels are involved. My thanks to all who made the effort and I hope you also enjoyed the wine tasting and photographic competitions held at the club afterwards. David Palfreman Speculator 2
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32 Exe News 96 Still Sailing at 102!
After being seen off by Commodore Dave Preston, Bob Green and Bob Glanfield took the club Hawk, No Execuse for a trip out with three veterans on a not so sunny July day. Jenks Hughes, now 102, was accompanied by his friend Verona (93) and John the youngster at a mere 90. They have all asked to go for another sail!
Clockwise from top left Dave Preston with Verona, Jenks and John; Bob Glanfield; Jenks at the helm; Verona and Bob Green
Exe News 96 33
Finn Class Ben Cornish t has been another convincing couple of months for me on the International Finn circuit. As expected with this period of the season, it’s been pretty non stop with I regattas, training and travel. My first major event of 2015 was the European Championships in Split Croatia. We spent a number of days training on the racecourse and soon sussed out that it was going to be a mostly light wind venue. The Europeans was my first major of the year and I felt that my preparations had been as good as they could have been. I had made some significant progress over the winter and the start of the 2015 season training alongside Giles Scott. I was confident that I could challenge towards the front of the fleet and match the speed of the fastest guys in the World. Split delivered some excellent conditions and really good sailing condition. With a strong fleet of 75 boats from around the World the calibre of regatta was always going to be high. Conditions mostly were under 10knots apart from one day where we sailed 3 races in 18 – 24 knots which was one to remember. My body took a few days to recover from it that’s for sure! I had some great days of racing which exceeded a lot of my previous performances. Mentally I found myself in a good place. I was able to overturn the disappointment of have a 3rd place wiped out from an OCS, followed up with a 5th and 8th. The first time I can say that I have been able to get emotion based decisions out of my racing and make decisions based 100% on logic. This is something which I have worked on for the past few years with various coaches and I guess experience is playing its part too. On reflection of the event, without the OCS I would have gone into the final day with a shot of competing for a medal at the Europeans. I took nothing but positives from this; I came to Croatia with the aim of Top 20 finish. I achieved with a 12th place in the Open and 9th in Europe. This for me was a really fantastic end to my first major of 2015. The only downer put on the back of the Europeans was the 3 day drive from Croatia back to the UK. I was lucky that Dad kindly came and assisted as co-driver! continued . . .
Exe News 96 35 Finn Class (continued) Most recently I have been competing on more local waters of Portland. The ISAF World Cup this year returned to the 2012 Olympic venue which is great for British Sailing. The event was limited entry from the World rankings and therefore was a smaller fleet than normal but extremely tight racing. The sailing couldn’t have been better. Weymouth bay provided wind and waves which only happen a few times a year. I enjoyed the sailing against such a close fleet and really tight racing till the finish. After 4 good days of fleet racing I was sitting in 6th place which got me into the medal race for the Top 10. With the points so close I was able to climb to 4th or drop to 10th. I had a poor final race with a bad call to work the right of the first beat after seeing it work in the previous race. I managed to catch the pack by the final mark to take 8th in the race and 8th overall at the event. My latest competition was the British Nationals at Hayling Island in July, where I was delighted to win the championship. Apart from the brisk conditions on the last day, the main challenge was from Hector Simpson and Andrew Mills, current and former squad members respectively. My attention is now 100% on the World Championships in New Zealand in November. This is the event I highlighted to peak at this season. I am moving in the right direction towards the front of the Finn fleet. Between now and November I have a few opportunities to train in Rio as Giles Scott’s selected training partner. This is something I dreamed of 18 months ago when I first stepped in the Finn and am totally honoured to have the opportunity. It was great to see a number of Exe SC members on the final day in Portland supporting and as always I must thank everyone for their continued support with my sailing. I hope the summer saw some great sailing for you all!
Ben Cornish
36 Exe News 96 South West Winter Series Iain Horlock Over three consecutive weekends a new series was held to find the best sailor in the south west. It combined a new event, the Roadford Rocket, the ever popular Starcross Steamer and the tricky Exmoor Beastie at Wimbleball. Bob and Iain Horlock travelled to each of these events with their Supernovas; Exe SC’s emerging fleet! The inaugural Roadford Rocket was attended by 60 competitors, and conditions were a suitably challenging shifty force 3. The event was run with 4 separate starts for similar boats, and the results were collated after a 2½ hour race by using average lap times. The race was sponsored by Sailracer who provided tracking for the event. Despite some results issues, the overall winner was confirmed as the Osprey of Terry Curtis. Iain Horlock finished 10th (and first single-hander), with Bob Horlock finishing mid fleet. The second event was the Starcross Steamer, and reigning champion Iain Horlock was looking to get close to this in his new Supernova class. The 2½ hour pursuit race took place in varying conditions from F1-F3. After time was up it was the usual suspects near the front, with Richard Cain in his RS400 taking line honours from Terry Curtis in his Osprey. Horlock junior was 12th and Horlock senior was 30th out of the impressive 80 boat fleet. The third and final event was the Exmoor Beastie and 50 boats made the journey to the remote lake for a 3 hour pursuit race which is normally won by a local. This year though, the weather meant very few boats were planing for long which helped some of the slower classes. However with Richard Cain continuing his form from the previous weekend it was a foregone conclusion after 2 hours when he took to the lead and never looked back! Iain held onto 5th and Bob was a very respectable 16th, far in front of the other Supernovas. The Overall Series was presented and as there were no discards allowed it benefitted Horlock junior who crept into 3rd place overall. The Osprey took 2nd and the RS400 ran away with the victory. Good weather blessed the series and hopefully participation will be up for next year! Iain Horlock
Exe News 96 37 Ironhorse Rosemarie & Alfred Alecio fter we returned from an enforced 12 months break in UK until October 2014 (although it was nice to catch up with our Exe friends) Alfred and I rejoined our A yacht Ironhorse, waiting in the Royal Langkawi YC, in the north of the Malacca Straits, Malaysia. We left there at the beginning to March 2015, en route to crossing the Indian Ocean to arrive in South Africa before the cyclone season begins around October/November. We have been on the move all the time, and such concentration on passage-making within the limits of the season, leaves little time for anything but preparing, recovering, repairing and navigating! Needless to say, we've tried to make the most of our short stops – of which there are very few – along this route. And, as is the case for most of the few yachties on passage here, each stop means effecting some repairs, for the oceans seek out every weakness in both crew and yacht! We actually entered the ocean from the Java Sea at the Sunda Pass, Indonesia – between the coasts of Java and Sumatra.Currently we have just arrived in La Reunion – with 4,500nm under our belts since March. Our trip so far has been 'normal' – that is , with loads of things going wrong and also many being OK. We had hardly any wind all the way down the Malacca Straits (normal for that part of the world) and did a huge amount of motoring and motor-sailing until we were almost into the Indian Ocean. Lots of big squalls 'Sumatras' – with big thunder and lightning, though. Frightening! Two great surprises on our passage south. One was meeting up with Exmouth friends Geoff and Sandy Hallett, who were on holiday at one of the islands we stopped at, and we also met up with other friends from home, on holiday in Singapore. Just before we reached our final pre-ocean stop, at an island in the Pass, we anchored below the famous volcano – Krakatoa. Very remote, and quite exciting. It is apparently inactive at the moment, but a volcano on the other side of where we anchored, was throwing out sulphur all the time.
38 Exe News 96 So, 5/6 days of really good sailing found us in Cocos Keeling – Australian owned, west of their Christmas Island, which is much more highly populated. Cocos is simply an atoll, with a tiny population of about 500 people. It comprises several tiny uninhabited islands, plus the small Home Island, that of the local Muslim population, introduced from what is now Malaysia, as plantation workers many years ago by Mr Keeling... the other, West Island, is the Aussie's Administration HQ, which also holds a tiny airport. Supplies arrive
weekly by plane from Perth and also every 3 months or so by ship. So we were able to stock up again with good fresh food. The yachtie anchorage is at another island – Direction Island – which was very pretty , uninhabited, and visited by a very few tourists from time to time. We enjoyed our stop there very much,(except for the black or white- tipped sharks which encircled our yacht all the time!) especially the Pass through the reef near us, where the snorkeling is beautiful and coral very much alive. Then the long (2000nm) passage – 17 days – to Ile de Rodriguez. Nothing in between! Since we hadn't done a real ocean passage for a number of years until then, we found it quite a long way! Some yachtie friends already there, heard we were on our way and, before we'd anchored in the tiny anchorage off the main town, took to their dinghy to bring gifts of fresh salads, fruit and veg! Just what we needed when such things don't last more than a few days on board… Also noticeable was how well the 'Ironhorse S (Sailing) Plan' diet was working, for we found that all our clothes were now rather large – but probably not for long! Rodriguez is delightful – small, with many small towns all around, and very hilly. There is an excellent bus service all over the island, and well used by the locals – as well as us! Exe News 96 39 Ironhorse (continued) We enjoyed a couple of hikes, with super views over the reef. Also there was a big kite- surfing festival for a week whilst we were there, at which we spent a day. Perhaps best of all is the Nature Reserve for Giant tortoises, a species indigenous to the island until a few years ago, when the species was threatened with extinction. But this Reserve would seem to be their salvation and we had a wonderful day amongst them – reminiscent of those in The Galapagos Islands in the Pacific. We were also able to do a few repairs there, reinforcing the Aries vane, and replacing a teak plank 'stolen' by Neptune from our stern frame one passage. He also 'stole' a small anchor, and a really good pair of my spectacles during one night watch. Perhaps we should be looking on those as 'gifts' to him, but he's seldom been as greedy! One interesting aspect of being anchored by the tiny main port was that, when the supply ship arrived from the 'mother island' of Mauritius – every 10 days? – the yachts anchored in its way for maneuvering alongside, had to up- anchor and move away, with a similar 'game' having to take place when it was leaving 3 days later. We'd never seen that before. The main problem was the very close proximity of this tiny anchorage to the reef, only metres from where we were all anchored. The people were exceptionally helpful and kind. When talking with us, they seemed to prefer French, but would also speak in English, their official language. The Brits took these islands from the French years ago. Now, with its mother-island Mauritius, it is independent. Needless to say, they realised we'd not understand their everyday Creole! We looked forward to moving further west to Mauritius, and made plans to order some vital replacement parts for Ironhorse to be delivered there. However, the Fed Ex agent – when we asked about delivering to 'yacht in transit' – (not importing into the country, therefore no import tax to pay) told us that was not the case. So, since they would not honour that, we arranged to have our parts sent to La Reunion – and hope to return to visit Mauritius later. We're a bit sad that this was the case because we may not have the time to do that. We arrived here in La Reunion a few days ago, and one of our packages has already
40 Exe News 96 arrived. The other one – a special high-output alternator and charge controller – should be here this week. So it all depends on how long it takes to replace that. Also, we had a big problem during our passage here but we weren't the only ones. Our good friends who had been with us down the Malacca Straits lost their rudder and had to abandon their yacht 1000nm from anywhere, and when we arrived in Rodriguez, there was an Australian yacht without a mast – which they'd lost 3 days out from Rodriguez! We also heard that a catamaran had capsized on its way, the fate of craft and crew unknown to us. No wonder this is known as an 'unforgiving' ocean. For us, our automatic steering paddle broke off – about 24 hrs before we arrived here! So we had to tiller-steer the 18 tons of Ironhorse – taking turns every hour. We're really proud that our 70 year old bodies were up to it – whilst also realising it could have been worse. But after we arrived, Alfred ‘had a feeling’ that we had a spare to replace the broken sleeve, and delved deep into the spares locker. And voila!. Still in it's packaging – ordered and posted to us to Singapore in 2007 by our wonderful 'Support Team' Bill and Cherrill Bailey! The following day, using his blow torch and a hammer, Alfred removed the broken and fitted the new. Ready to go again – at least for the steering. We hope to visit Madagascar before we reach South Africa, which is quite a long 'deviation' – but also need to be in South Africa by mid November at the latest, when the cyclone season begins in the Indian Ocean. We send our good wishes for the Club's continuing success – which we follow regularly online, something impossible to do when we began this voyage in 1993! We are still look forward to completing the full circle and maybe get used to being landlubbers again. Rosemarie & Alfred Alecio s/v Ironhorse
Exe News 96 41 Not Quite Round Britain Summer 2016 Cruising Opportunity Next summer Karen Melling will be taking Zephyr, her Westerly Regatta 330, on an extended coastal cruise from Exmouth, as far as the Shetland Islands and back to Oban via the Caledonian Canal. There will be 9 legs of two weeks on these dates: Exmouth to Milford Haven 10-23 April Milford Haven to Liverpool 24 April-7 May Liverpool to Bangor (NI) 15-28 May Bangor (NI) to Oban 29 May-11 June Oban to Stornaway 12 June-2 July Stornaway to Wick 10-22 July Wick to Lerwick 23 July-5 August Lerwick to Wick 12-26 August Wick to Oban 27 August-10 Sept
You can use the trip to complete an RYA certificate course, build up miles for a Yachtmaster qualification or just enjoy time exploring new waters. The changeover locations have been chosen for access to rail or air travel. Stops between the departure points above are flexible depending on where the crew would like to visit. Zephyr is a comfortable boat with new rigging and engine, MCA-coded and RYA inspected. Karen is a Yachtmaster Instructor with many miles in her logbook. Cost for each leg is £750 to ESC members (£780 to non-members) with priority given to the former. The price includes all food on board, mooring/harbour fees and fuel. It does not cover travel to the boat or meals/entertainment ashore. If you are interested, please contact [email protected] to find out more. A £100 deposit secures a place on your chosen leg (subject to availability). There are only 3 or 4 places on each leg (depending on mix of individuals and couples) with a number of deposits already taken, so don’t delay! Eddystone Challenge Pursuit Rex Frost he Eddystone charity pursuit, held on 13 June 2015, is a long standing Plymouth event which Dave Ashman has entered before and again this year in support of T the RNLI. Also entered were Dennis Pearce with Dreamcatcher, Rick Penketh Moonshine, Rick Fry Zipadedoda and Rex Frost Electra as the Beneteau Team. We assembled in QAB Plymouth on Friday and were treated to a Pimms reception by Ancasta before the briefing in the National Aquarium. Our chances of an award looked slim, as the prizes were all for charity and biased towards the biggest fundraisers. We had about £2000 but some had £10,000 which seemed a bit more significant. The pursuit to Eddystone started at 0800 with boats going off in groups at five minute intervals until nearly 1100. There were 72 boats entered; many were definitely not used to racing so the start line manoeuvring got quite interesting. With a good southwesterly blowing, the breeze was good for speed, but gave a long beat to the rock and kicked up a nasty little chop. The gin and tonic sailors weren’t happy! In the quirky charity-based handicapping, Dave Ashman and Malcolm Dodd in Suntrapper started at 0830 while Brian Abbott, Jim Attrill and me in Electra (31.7) were away at 0945. We made good time, keeping pace with a J80 all the way out, only being caught by an X99 and a couple of similar craft, until overtaken by a huge cat yards from the line. Getting 12 knots on a wave was a personal best for Jim who happened to be helming. Dreamcatcher (Oceanis 411) suffered from starting nearly an hour later than another 411 and needed to shorten sail on the way out, but enjoyed a good kite reach home. Moondust (First 40.7) started 20 minutes later and came in at about the same time as Dreamcatcher; needed a bigger spinnaker. Zipadedoda (Oceanis 50) started last, with a 50ft cat and enjoyed their sail, despite watching the cat open a huge gap early on. The Beneteau Owners Association kindly subbed drinks for the team before the prize giving dinner and we waited with interest for the results. Sitting under the gaze of the big aquarium fish, we watched as the charity version of sailing took form and realised the Pursuit counted for little, it was indeed all about giving. Despite sailing well, we did not figure in any awards, but the team sailing little Hawk 20s deserved to do well, for their long sail and for the huge amount of money they raised. A fun event and definitely not a race, but it raised about £96,000 for charities and offers a sociable day of sailing. Thank you to Dennis for his organisation and cajoling to get us there, to Ancasta and BOA for their support with berth fees at QAB. We hope our efforts will benefit Macmillan Cancer Care in a way we could not do otherwise. Rex Frost
Seagull Racing Nick Martin he Annual Seagull Engine Race is organised by the Royal Lerryn Yacht Squadron. Martin Minter and I went down to Lerryn, Cornwall in early January to take part. T All craft must be propelled by standard British Seagull engines and you can have up to five of them! The race is open to three classes of boat: under 12 foot; over 12 foot; canoes, and other ‘irregular’ boats. All money raised is donated to the RNLI. Each year a theme is set and there is a prize for the best fancy dress. This year the theme was Circus and as you would expect there were plenty of clowns, including us (even before we put on our stylish costumes). We were kindly loaned a sleek looking rowing boat by Jeff Craven and elected to use a single Forty Plus as we expected this to push us along at hull speed (it transpired that it didn't). This year there were 47 entries, so the river bank at Lerryn was packed. After a quick briefing in which the rules were explained – no ramming – we joined the melee jostling for position on the start line. This wasn't helped by the lack of water two hours before top of the tide. Engines must be off at the start, so there are always a few red faces from repeated pull-start attempts, rather than embarrassment. Anyway, our beloved engine fired into life on first pull and we were fifth boat over the line. Being strangers in these waters we weren't too sure where the deep water was but it definitely wasn't where one of the lead boats was, which was soon flinging mud into the air. continued . . .
Exe News 96 45 Can I Trust My AIS? So, there we were, a bit groggy, but happily heading for the Chenal du Four, with not another boat in sight. Suddenly, an alarm goes off, the AIS, but still nothing in sight. Then the alarm tone changes to a louder, blood curdling, two-tone racket – multiple targets on a collision course! Quick dash downstairs to look at the screen. "AIS is on the blink" I call up to Anne, "it looks like the chart at the start of ‘Dad's Army’ down here." A sea of 40 bright red triangles heading directly towards us was clearly an impossibility and still nothing in sight. Better switch it off and switch it back on again. Ahh all those years of studying engineering come in handy occasionally! "Bloody hell!! .... Come up here and have a look at this, these boats must be really shifting" shouted Anne. And sure enough the whole La Solitaire du Figaro Fleet was indeed heading right for us and looking as if they were intent on using us as their leeward mark. Just as well we have an unpainted hull! Thankfully the whole fleet tacked, just abeam of us, and disappeared over the horizon, in the direction of Torbay, as fast as they had arrived, and finally the AIS was silent once again. Please wish Sam all the best from us and tell him that the two panic-stricken pensioners that he may have seen on the Ovni have now made a full recovery. Frank Mulholland Scot Free III Seagull Racing (continued)
As we settled into the race, normal conversation prevented by the racket of the loudest outboard engine in the world, other boats started to catch us and one by one we dropped down the leader board. Most galling of all was being overtaken by a gang from Topsham Sailing Club who inch by inch gained on us. They did have 3 engines though, all running. It would have been a close finish but for no apparent reason our engine stopped twice – typical British Seagull behaviour I suppose.
The finish is a ‘Le Mans’ type – you have to beach the boat and one member of the crew has to run and ring a bell. This was undertaken by Martin who amazed the crowd with his sprinting ability. I would guess that we were around 15th although there are no results as such since the emphasis is definitely on fun. Prize giving is in the Ship Inn where prizes for first boat in each class, as well as other diverse awards, are given. Most notable for me this year was ‘in the spirit of the event’ which went to a crew whose boat had such low freeboard they had to bail all the way around the course. If all of this sounds like fun to you then go and dig out your British Seagull (we've all got one) from the dark recesses of your shed or garage, because we'd like to run something like this locally on the Exe.
Nick Martin
Exe News 96 47 Member Profile – Tony Brewster ony was born in 1936 and grew up in Hertfordshire. His uncle, who was a keen sailor, encouraged his interest in the water from an early age and they sailed T during the summer holidays in his Redwing at Starcross Yacht Club (International 14s were sailed at ESC at that time). Tony’s sailing skills were learned by trial and error on a local lake near his parent’s house, with his sister, in his first boat a 12’ gunter rigged National. Articled to his father, a Chartered Accountant at the age of 18, Tony then joined the Royal Navy as an air cadet in 1959 on a 5 year commission. This gave him fixed wing training with the RAF on a Piston Provost (ab initio trainer) and helicopter training in the Fleet Air Arm. The alternative was to paint coal white in the Army, which was the only option for deferred men at the end of National Service. Tony enjoyed flying so much he stayed in the Navy for 16 years. Front line service in the Navy was in helicopters and within his 16 years’ service he was involved in only two operations. Firstly when Iraq was about to invade Kuwait in 1961 but didn’t after they heard his Squadron had landed the Marines (you didn’t mess with the Royal Marines in those days!) Secondly, the Indonesian confrontation (Indonesia was going to invade and colonise Malaya), when he was Flight Commander of a Wasp flight on HMS Ajax. After several reconnaissance flights into Indonesian waters in the Malacca Straights, Tony and his crew found and intercepted an invasion fleet, taking the soldiers prisoner on Christmas Eve. Two naval ratings were placed in charge of each captured boat and told to head East for Malaya, turn left on reaching the coast and right into the first river, where they would be met. The following day all but one boat had safely arrived. There was considerable concern that they may have been captured by a heavily armed Indonesian fast patrol boat. Tony flew for six hours on Christmas Day trying to find them and finally, he did - they had turned right on reaching the coast not left! Tony had a very interesting posting to A&AEE Boscombe Down, an aircraft testing site in Amesbury Wiltshire, where apart from his job of intensive flying trials on the Scout helicopter, he had the opportunity to fly a number of different aircraft - Javelin, Meteor, Harvard, Argosy, Beverley and even 30 hours as co-pilot in a Valiant bomber.
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When he left the Navy in 1975 he flew Sikorsky S-61s (oil rig support helicopters), out to the oil rigs in the North Sea and the weather certainly made it interesting. Two or three times a year they had winds of 100 knots and as the forecasting wasn’t as good as it might have been, had to divert to Norway on a number of occasions. Radio altimeters were standard equipment during Tony’s time in the Navy and he had never flown over the sea without one. However they were not fitted to the North Sea S-61s at that time so instrument approaches to an oil rig in fog with dubious settings on the barometric altimeter was a risky business. Fortunately no one ever actually ditched as a result but it wasn’t long before all aircraft were fitted with radio altimeters. In 1978 Tony had the chance to fly for Shell Brunei in Borneo which was almost too good to be true. It was a colonial life style with live in Amahs, a tax free salary and amazing sports facilities, including a fleet of twelve 470 dinghies. There was racing in the sea during the SW monsoon and in the river during the NE monsoon when it was too rough to sail in and out through the surf from the beach. The team racing captain had captained the combined universities team in the UK and they raced together in Brunei for three years which didn’t give other teams in the Interport Regatta much of a chance. Their prize was a paddle from a dugout canoe which is now used in Tony’s Trio. Ten years prior to Tony’s retirement, Bristows won the contract for Search and Rescue, Crew rescue from MV Braer, Shetland 1993 filling the gaps in the UK not by Mo Wilson, Bristows’ first female pilot covered by the military. He was delighted to volunteer for this, having had the training and experience in the Navy. Most of his time was spent in the Shetland unit but he also spent time in Stornaway and Lee on Solent. After only flying to oil rigs, this was great fun and exciting and Tony had tremendous job satisfaction when lives were saved. On one occasion, on a stormy night, (force 10) a Klondiker dragged her anchor and ran aground on the lee shore at the foot of the cliffs on an island east of Lerwick. Tony and his crew winched up the first group of survivors and flew them ashore. On returning to the ship, they discovered it was breaking up so
Exe News 96 49 Member Profile Tony Brewster (continued)
they winched up all of the remaining crew, who would otherwise have been killed in the surf or on the rocks. They ended up with 32 souls on board, which is a record for a S61. Had it not been for the up-drafting air they couldn’t have carried such a heavy load. When and why did you become a member of ESC? I became a member of ESC when I retired to the West Country in 1995. I intended to make up for the 17 years with little or no sailing whilst living in Scotland. I raced with an ex-naval friend in his J92 and J109 in the ‘Round the Island’ races, Dartmouth Regattas and once during Cork week. However my main racing had been in Lasers and then Comet Trios. I’m extremely lucky to have Toby Elliot as my crew due to his skill and strength - he does all the work whereas I just sit there and steer! Where have you sailed? I started racing in a Firefly at the Aldenham Sailing Club near London. There were only three classes run in the summer - Merlins, Nationals/Fireflies (raced together) and Cadets. In the winter there was no restriction and Jack Holt lent me his Enterprise for one winter and another winter I sailed a Finn. I sailed Ospreys at the Royal Singapore Yacht Club (a boatman rigged and launched the boat and put it away after the race!), Firefly and Pusser dinghies in Hong Kong, Flying 15s in Aden, an 18’ jollyboat at Rock and various other boats in Karachi, Freemantle, Falmouth, the Solent and Portland. Later, as a civilian, I sailed in Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak (all in Borneo), also Lewis and Shetland. What has been your most challenging experience on/in the water? I’ve had two very challenging moments - firstly when I was attached to HMS Protector near Cape Cater off the Trinity Peninsular and a group of us were dropped off on an iceberg by the ship’s whaler. On attempting to climb the iceberg it capsized throwing all twelve of us into the sea. The sea temperature was –1.5 C. The water survival time chart for life expectancy was re-written after that! My second challenging experience was when we ditched in the Antarctic (further South than anyone had before, or since I believe), after an engine failure. I auto-rotated into the sea but the flotation gear failed and the aircraft capsized. I was extremely fortunate to survive both of these incidents although they did use up two of my nine lives! What are your plans for the future? To continue sailing for as long as I am able.
Sue Hamilton
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