2025!

A new racing season is under way, get your entries in please.

 

Unfortunately, Fishy Fingers has lost his libel case and is unable to pen any words of wisdom pending an appeal. So, I have taken on the challenge of race reports, listing gossip and providing up to date news.

 

The first race is on May 10th starting at Beacon Hill. After an excellent prize giving at Haven Ports YC, it has all gone down hill from a political point of view. However, at least sailing clubs are not going to have to put in extra toilets after the supreme court confirmed the difference between men and women, but there again maybe one for our Chairman.

 

With all around us being a bit more difficult, getting out on the water, one of our last freedoms, must surely be better than reading the news. So, before sailing gets banned or diesel engines are outlawed, get out on the water, You know you want too.

 

So two classes.

Experienced; which is competitive but in entirely the right sporting way. Apex needs to be stopped. We cant be made monkeys off again!

Entropy has a smaller headsail this year and Manitou has had a bigger fridge fitted with an icemaker.

Relaxed: can the Oysters be toppled? Time Off II is due some wins and that top team from Pin Mill will be a threat.

We are lucky to have the rivers and Dovercourt Bay to race in, Lets make use of it.

 

Remember there is a new handicap system YTC which is free to get. Just need sail details. If this is a problem raise it with the Chairman. Boats got their sails measured at Suffolk Yacht Harbour by One Sails where sail measurements were not available. If you are struggling, ask for help.

 

Finally, our leader Fuhrer Cowan is currently doing a Long John Silver impression after having a knee replacement, an old injury from grovelling too much in the Fens. He may miss the first race but is hoping he can be strapped above the tiller from the back stay.

 

See you on the water

 

SEAMAN STAINES

 

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Last of the racing, a round up.

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Fishy fingers reports:

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With the last race of the Haven Combined series on Saturday, the series came to an end  in glorious weather. Blue Skies, 6-14 knots of wind and another start on the HPYC line!

The experienced out to sea and the relaxed around the rivers. Hats off to Allegro and Columbine who were out for over 4 and 5 hours enjoying the weather. Strider grabbed a race win while Casbah and Scallywag fought it out for the honours over the season; Casbah prevailed.

In the experienced, Entropy led more or less from start to finish and Apex a dismal 2nd to confirm dominance over the season.

In total 14 boats raced in the relaxed fleet with 22 registered to race in the experienced.

For those boats who prefer racing from the Beacon Hill line, we have 2 options:

1 moor your boat at Levington or,

2 we need to get comm boats and race officers booked well in advance. I know the Walton boats love the journey from Essex into Classier, more civilised Suffolk but it is understood that it makes for a long day.

Despite that, It has been a good season with some great racing, humour and good competitive spirit.

Des, Peter and Liz have done a great job. Good communication, results out quickly. All the clubs who organised boats and race officers, a big thank you and to those who stepped forward to take charge of races, a massive thank you as without you there is no racing.

The offshore series included a no wind drift in the shipping lanes for the Oostende Race but was otherwise dominated by those rascals on Rainbow despite Blue Jay’s best efforts to cheat them in the Burnham race. Two good crew meals at Burnham and Lowestoft.

The Prize giving is on October 12th at Haven Ports. Come along to receive abuse, tall stories, give excuses and enjoy the company of fellow competitors. Menu’s are out, reply to Liz.

We can take the winter to heal our wounds get rid of the salt rash, gloat over our success’s moan about our bad luck, ridiculous handicaps, bad crew, dodgy courses and dream of oilskins that don’t leak.

Then we can start wandering the boat yards after dark feeling other skippers bottoms to see if our hull finish is better or needs more work.

Then before you know it the racing season will start again.

Looking forward to seeing you all out there next season.

Fishy Fingers out.

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Series Race 6 31/08/24

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Not a proud day for the Series

The relaxed fleet did not have a relaxing day and Liz and James did well to get round on Scallywag, the only finisher. Also very well done to the those that had to retire, it is a shame you were put in that position. The Committee will be looking into this.

The crew member of Apex made it to Halfpenny Pier and subsequently to hospital for treatment.

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Fishy has nipped away on holiday (last seen in Essex!) so may not be in a position to report, so for the record from your editor .....

 

Britannia Race - Marvellous sail in fantastic conditions. Thoughts were of a slow affair trying to get to Lowestoft before the Ebb kicked in but a moderate NE'ly came in at Orford Ness and it was then a beat up to East Barnard (for some) and then a faster than expected passage.

Good meal and social in the RN&SYC well organised by LIz with mixed tables of crews and quite a noise created. Enough drinking done, Kevin Moll gave the introductions with the portrait of Peter Cockayne looking over us!

Stephanie Hensley (Rear Commodore Sailing RHYC) gave the prizes: Eclipse (Des Cowan) won the Britannia Plate but Rainbow were to winners of the Offshore Series for 2024.

Some sore heads left Lowestoft very early on the Sunday morning for the trip home.

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Haven Combined Clubs Round 5

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A great days sailing following on from the trip to Burnham. The forecasts we sailors rely on are notoriously un-reliable. Suggestions of very little wind, wind direction swinging wildly, and spring tides.

Thankfully the course set with longish legs against the tide worked because the wind generally stayed at 10- 12 knots from roughly the same direction.

The relaxed fleet who usually don’t like to leave the two rivers, were sent on a longish course that confused the experienced fleet as they crossed on the way to and from Armarda!

 

The first few boats that arrived at the start line were met with light wind which thankfully increased to a decent breeze by kick off.

It was noted that Entropy clearly run an autocratic regime where misbehaviour is not tolerated. Ed must have thrown one of his crew over the side attached to a rope as he dragged him around the course for punishment with the resulting lack of pace.

On some other boats, the skipper might meet the same fate!

David Card supplied the committee boat at short notice and Peter Cockayne kindly stepped in as race officer to ensure the race took place.

Whilst some boats have wrongly been called OCS by the race officer in the past, it seems there was a school of thought that several boats were over at the pin end ahead of the gun. The view that mattered said not.

With no recall, Apex and Cumara were the first to round the break water.

A good breeze saw the boats beat out to Stone Banks with a spinnaker leg to the Cork Sand yacht beacon. The wind did die making speed over the ground about 2-3 knots for most boats against the ebb tide to Armarda. Then the wind picked up again to guide the boats back to the finish line via Fox's and Pennyhole.

The X332’s with their tough handicap rating proved their worth, finishing first and second, Apex taking line honours ahead of Crikey. Manitou looked magnificent sporting her 220% genoa and had one of her best finishes with the 3 degrees alone on board.

Is there life on Mars? Short of about 20 knots of wind, she came in last no doubt having enjoyed tea and muffin all the way round the course

All boats finished within the hour and enjoyed a great days sailing.

 

The relaxed fleet had to dust off their chart plotters and remind themselves what the sea looked like, but what a great day to be out of the rivers. Cloud Nine and Dabtoe probably needed a bit more breeze with Casbah, Scallywag and Wild Craic taking up the podium places

Thank you to Peter and David (and crew) for stepping in as race officer and committee boat at short notice to allow us to race on such a glorious day.

Thank you to our sponsors Jackson Stops and Fox's Yacht Sales

 

Next race; Lowestoft passage race August 17th. Good race, good crew meal.

Start getting your entries in now!

Entropy may be missing for that one as she will be representing the series (along with Dynamic - Stuart Howells) and the RHYC at the IRC eastern dust-up being contested at West Mersea. Ed will be up against a larger Corby of note with a larger than life skipper. He will also cross swords with the EAORA fleet again, good luck.

FF

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Fishy fingers reports on a great weekend of sailing to the River Crouch.

Passage racing at its best!!!!!

Burnham or bust (we didn't make it last year)

Couldn’t have been a better weekend of sailing. A breeze of 7-18 knots saw the fleet of 9 all finish in early afternoon. A good meal at the RCYC and a sunny sky and good breeze to get everyone back to Dovercourt Bay and their home ports on Sunday.

The early gun usually sees relaxed starts, with boats not fully awake and the right sails not flaked, cocktail dresses from the night before still on, spinnaker cock ups, grumpy crew from lack of breakfast, except on Eclipse after a famous Des fry up.

But eventually everyone crosses the start line settles down to long legs where crew can get their thermal underwear on, get some food, have a shower, have a coffee, do the cross word and settle into a great days sailing.

It wasn’t long before Blue Jay was sailing off into the distance and battles took place with the rest of the fleet. Islay cutting up Entropy, Rainbow getting in the way of Eclipse for much of the race. The ‘Three degrees’ on Manitou having their morning sherry interrupted with a ripped spinnaker which took a long while to get down as they chose to finish their drinks first, it truly was a case of "When will I see you again?" and it turned out they caught up past the Gunfleet Windfarm, "Gee Baby".

It was spinnaker all the way to North East Gunfleet, then white (grey or black) sails to the finish line. A long fetch to the underwater mouth of the Crouch and then a good deal of tacking up to the finish line at Inner Crouch just past shore ends.

Islay got some outside assistance from a generous competitor who pointed out they had gone the wrong side of a buoy. Not sure they could be accused of ‘outside assistance’ as they hadn’t asked for it. But a sporting gesture all the same. They paid the penalty in time lost backtracking but still were happy with the days racing.

The good thing about such radio interventions is that the whole fleet hears them and have a source of piss taking later on!!!

So the fleet all finished in a good time and got into the marina early afternoon with time for a shower, massage, leg wax and a 5K run.

Then on to the RCYC for the prize giving.

You find out some funny things. Some crew taking B & B to avoid snoring on board, tales of knackered crew from all the tacking, stories shared, good banter.

There is no doubt these passage races, although serious races are very sociable as well.

The prize giving saw Blue Jay win by a huge margin with Rainbow second and the Royal Yacht Eclipse 3rd.

But wait, on waking the next morning and actually reading the result time correctly, Blue Jay realised their huge win was wrong. The time given was 20 minutes earlier than actual.

Well, exaggerating a shorter race, what can you expect from a former Estate Agent! but it was a genuine mistake.

Rainbow and Blue Jay swapped positions and Blue Jay were the first boat to leave the marina with tail between legs and weighed down with the winners trophy and glassware. Wont see them again!

The sail back to Harwich was sunny with a good breeze and as pleasant as it gets.

A really good weekend. Great race, good meal and humorous prize giving, with plenty of mickey taking. We are really lucky that all competitors get on so well.

Thank you’s:

To the organising committee, who continue to do a cracking job. To the crew of Crikey who started the race and the Sponsors, Jackson Stops and Fox’s Yacht Sales.

Another Haven Combined Clubs Series race this coming Saturday with the last of the passage races to Lowie' on August 17th with a team dinner at the Royal Nobs and Snobs, can't wait.

Get your boat out there!

 

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Race 4 in the Haven Combined

 

As the fleet arrived at the Haven Ports YC start line, fears of the forecast being true were realised. No wind, and lots of Thames Barges getting in the way as they drifted with the tide in the Pin Mill Barge Match.

A glorious sight nonetheless.

 

As if by magic the water started to ripple with a breeze which got the participants fairly zipping across the river. Liz Neville was the race officer representing the Royal Harwich YC with Claire Scott riding shot gun and no doubt pointing it at someone's head.

 

The relaxed fleet were to be sent down the Stour and the Experienced to Stone Banks and back via Foxe's.

 

Then as the starts approached the wind died down to a whisper and became variable. The Relaxed got away in a group tacking to Collimer.

 

The experienced were joined just before the starting sequence by Cumara, after a late night in the Alma (luckily they got no adverse reaction this week whilst asking for a repeat of the course). They were OCS in Race 1 and took the cautious route and started at the back of the fleet. The start was actually rather pedestrian affair with the tide luckily taking the fleet towards Collimer. Crickey made the buoy first and luckily the wind piped up creating a beat all the way down the river. In champagne conditions, there was plenty of tacking to test the Indian take away of the night before, and lots of crew would have been knackered by the time they got to Harwich and wished they did spin trim.

 

The Relaxed fleet spent less than 2 hours on the water to complete their course with Pindara victorious, followed by Scallywag and Clambake. James and Lizzie Fisher entered their third boat in the series so far this year! must be some kind of record, it be a SJ30 that came second.

 

The Experienced fleet saw Crickey, Apex Blue Jay, Cumara and Entropy leave the breakwater all in close proximity. Further back, Eclipse and Katla were going well. With few marks of the course, the Blue Jay navigator kept confusion at Bay and made Stone Banks in front. Cumara, Crickey and Apex arrived together with Entropy in the mix as well. It was then spinnakers up and back to the Orwell and home in glorious weather. What's not to like about sailing?

The wind held true till the end and got the fleet back in good time with the tide.

 

It was close till the end. Apex was knocked out of 2nd By Blue Jay by 4 seconds! Katla was the fastest boat back by about 90 seconds after handicaps were applied and Entropy got the inside line on Crickey at the last mark to call for room and slip inside. (Good trick if you can do it!) Who needs more than 3 on board!!!

 

A great days racing despite the pessimistic forecast.

 

So the scores on the doors:

 

Katla had her best result of the season and led the slow fleet home from Eclipse with Dynamic making the slow fleet podium in third.

Blue Jay and Apex continue their battle at the top of the fast fleet With Entropy being the 3rd fastest boat back.

 

Thank you's to our race officer of the day Liz Neville from RHYC and Claire Scott.

A big thank you to our sponsors Jackson Stops and Fox's Yacht Sales for their support

 

So good to get the results within hours of the race!!!!

 

To Come:

 

13th July passage race to Burnham

After a good turn out for the Cork Sands Race, this is the 3rd passage race of the season. Good crew meal to look forward to at Burnham. Get your entries in early to help with booking marina berths at Burnham.

 

20th July 5th points series race

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FF

 

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Felixstowe Regatta

Fishy Fingers reports

What a weekend! Full on conditions on Saturday and just enough wind on Sunday. Very well organized with lots of boats taking part in the experienced and relaxed fleets including some EAORA boats, one of which that was wired for sound!

The relaxed fleet is the destiny of a lot of the racers. When crew become scarce, sciatica, Zimmer frames, incontinence and pension living tell you its time to take it easier.

Racing in 18-30 knots of northerly wind was tiring and a test for all crews.

It is likely that everyone in the experienced fleet on Saturday wished they were sailing in the rivers with the relaxed fleet.

However, the relaxed fleet is not so relaxed these days. Cloud Nine reducing weight on board, including, during a near gale, of taking the life raft off the boat. Starts are no longer the ‘what was that noise? Oh the starting hooter? Better hoist the jib then!’

some great starts from the relaxed fleet particularly Clambake.

13 boats entered the relaxed racing. Wild Craic winning the first race, before destroying their mainsail in Race 2. Casbah won that race and the third was won by Clambake. Everyone saying how much they enjoyed the event.

Robert Campbell Grey the overall winner on Casbah, (cashbar sounds better) with

Nick Moulton’s Dabtoe 2nd and Cloud Nine coming in 3rd proving that getting rid of the life raft worked for Simon Sainsbury.

The experienced fleet took on Dovercourt Bay. Lots of spills and thrills with multiple roundings up. Jinge shredded a spinnaker, and very likely had the highest speeds of the day planning down to Armarda as sports boats should. Spirit who have managed to navigate the Fastnet on countless occasions and recently the North Sea Race, managed to hit the Armada buoy and now have some yellow go faster stripes on their bow. They retired a long with a few others. Harwich Haven Authority are looking into the damage.

Sunday proved to be a much gentler affair with some big wind shifts.

Experienced Fleet

Race 1 Jinge, Hullabaloo, Blue Jay

Race 2 Blue Jay, Jinge, Hullabaloo

Race 3 Hullabaloo, Apex, Bushwaker

This meant that Hullabaloo won the Slow class, with Jinge 2nd and Bushwaker 3rd

Blue Jay won the fast group with Entropy 2nd and Cumara 3rd

18 boats entered the experienced fleet.

All in all a very successful regatta

Haven Combined Clubs Series

Race 2

1st Jinge

2nd Hullabaloo

3rd Blue Jay

Race 3

1st Hullabaloo

2nd Apex

3rd Bushwaker

So after 3 races in 2024, Apex is leading the series with Rainbow the  fastest of the slow group.

A big thank you to all the organisers from HPYC, in particular Peter, Des and Jim for sorting courses and great race management including the relaxed fleet and experienced fleet starting in opposite directions and finishing from opposite directions.

 

A big thank you must go out to Tom Blake for providing musicians and singers to make a great night on Saturday.

Also, the sponsors who help keep the costs down to competitors.

Jackson Stops and Foxes Yacht Sales

And a big thank you to the fellow competitors who made it such a memorable weekend and proving there is life outside the Solent.

Next up is the round Cork Sands Race on June 22nd. Get your entries in

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FF

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Mercator Race to Oostende and the Elephant in the room..........

...........The race that never was.

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Talk on the Thursday night was of no wind, which month the competitors might finish. Added to the problem was low spring tides making it difficult to get out of the marinas with low water at 0630.

So an early start with the pleasant surprise that there seemed to be a steady 7 knots of wind at the Beacon Hill start line.

Blue Jay, Eclipse, Entropy, Hullabaloo, La Mouette, Manitou, Rainbow and Robin Leigh were at the start line complete with safety gear including life rafts which were to prove important later in the race.

Manitou, the new boat for Donald Duncan, in her Red livery, which matched the eyes of her crew, looked splendid on the start line.

The East Anglian Sea School started the race. With all yachts enjoying the light winds. Donald got a good start and  was heard to say ‘ Try and catch us before Oostende, to his competitors who all duly overtook him before  passing the breakwater!

By Medusa, Blue Jay was leading Entropy and crews were talking about which bar they would like their first drink in when they arrived in early evening.

Around Medusa and the reaching leg became down wind to Long Sand Head, by which time Entropy had taken the lead.

Back onto a reach, Blue Jay flew off in the wrong direction until a warning of a restricted area caused them to track back to the Rhum line.

Then the forecast of the previous day started to jog peoples memory as the wind went from 0-3 to 4 knots before the fleet started enjoying flapping sails. Boats tried all sail options, boxer shorts tea towels to get their boats to go faster, to no avail

Hullabaloo and Rainbow had a fight on their hands to keep out of the Galloper wind farm as the tide threatened to take them there.

Entropy and Blue Jay looked to be having a battle of epic drifting proportions at the front. As boats started edging into the shipping channel, thankfully, the numerous ships took avoiding action.

Except for Hullabaloo and Rainbow where a friendly conversation took place with a skipper of a tow boat with a 200 metre wire tow unable to change direction versus 2 yachts drifting at no more than 2 knots. This much to the amusement of the sunbathing crews on other boats.

And yes, the life rafts became an important bit of furniture doubling up as coffee tables for games of cards, countless cups of tea, beers and other beverages.

Eventually, after 12 hours of sailing, and mostly drifting with no wind in sight, Retirements started so by 2030 the whole fleet had retired.

Those desperate for alcohol made their way to Oostende, leaving the non drinkers to head back to Harwich.

Of course some strategic retirements had been made much earlier with the crew of Manitou retiring with enough time to get back to Harwich before last orders.

A word of praise for the crew of La Mouette, who had retired and were motoring to Oostende, passed on the way back to Harwich by Entropy and Blue Jay, they got to Oostende in time for breakfast.

Not the best of races with nobody finishing, but a cracking sail for the early part of the race, with bright sunshine and plenty of sunbathing . Porpoises on display, Seals turning up to take the piss out of  drifting yachts.

A full moon, brilliant sunset, great nighttime passage making. There was still a lot to enjoy not least the Festival of the Sea and Tall ships in the harbour.

Thank you's to Des, EA sea School, and of course the sponsors Jackson Stops and Foxes Yacht sales.

The Felixstowe Regatta takes place this coming weekend.

Oh, I nearly forget the Elephant ..... its all about the fair action of the wind across the sails propelling the yachts whilst racing. If you know you know.

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FF

 

Week 1 -11/05/24

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With 18 entered in the experienced fleet and 9 in the relaxed fleet 23 boats were milling around the start line at the Haven Ports start line with "Blond dictator" Claire (you want the course again?!) in charge in the race hut.

Cumara desperate to get back to Harwich were on course side at the start with Blue Jay leading Apex to the Collimer, first mark.

Lovely weather blue skies and a decent breeze saw the 2 fleets split at Harwich with the relaxed fleet off down the Stour with a challenging beat back to Shotley Horse against the tide, and the experienced fleet headed out to sea. The River was nicer!

The spectacle was lessened by the fog and reliance on the chart plotter to get to the marks was essential.

Those that had seen the light winds forecast and only had 3 or 4 crew, soon found out there was 15 plus knots at sea.

Participants that had chosen the shorts option and creamed up were sadly disappointed and were soon putting on extra layers.

So, little to report when you cant see anything!! At one stage a ghost ship sailing under only main was seen. I guess this was to help with visibility. Looked like Xstatic, but could have been anyone.

Then the relief as a return to the Orwell saw blue skies and sun for the final leg up to the finish line as crew returned to their G strings and crop tops and got the cream out again.

Apex finished off top of the pile continuing on from last season. Well done to them. In the relaxed fleet some brilliant sailing by the youngest sailor out there gave Pindara the honours.

Thank you to Haven Ports for hosting and a big thank you to the committee for the impressive communication with race results out before the second pint.

A great start to the series.

Oostende next on May 24th. Get your entries in!

 

Fishy Fingers out

 

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Fishy Fingers looks forward to the Haven Combined Clubs Series

 

Well, the sailing season is upon us and the first race of the HCCS takes place on May 11th. Seems only last week we had the excellent prize giving at W&FYC.

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   •Will the X332’s continue to dominate?

   •With Taika being sold, which boat will Messrs.’ Duncan, Bell and Weller enter this year and has it a big enough

     fridge?

    •Has Jonathan Penn recovered from his football injury?

    •Will the Haven Ports YC sharpen up the sword for yet another year?

 

These and many other questions will be answered next month. A great local series of competitive but fairly sailed racing for the experienced fleet and a chance to have a purpose for the day for the relaxed fleet.

 

The relaxed fleet is a great opportunity to gently introduce yourself to yacht racing. The starts are incredibly relaxed with crossing the line after the start gun having to be measured in cups of tea drunk rather than seconds.

 

How many times have you left the marina with no idea where to sail for the day. Join the relaxed fleet and get given a course. Its fun, tests your navigation and sailing skills without the stress of competitive racing.

 

The experienced fleet have a long list of experienced racers. Some times it gets a bit noisy at starts and mark rounding’s as rules interpretations are shared between boats, but there is a friendliness that you don’t get on the South Coast. The racing area is great. What’s not to like.

 

The first of four passage races is to Oostende on May 24th. Get your passport organised, pirate outfits dusted down and give the Belgians the benefit of our company.

 

Start buffing up your GPS and get your entry in…. The website is up and running and awaiting your visit.

 

F.F.