January - March 2003 (20/1/03) (3/1/03) (17/2/03) (23/3/03) (30/3/03)
The first race of the Spring Points Series took place at the Downs SC on Sunday. There was a gentle breeze of Force 3-4 from the North but a thick mist reduced visibility to a couple of hundred yards. The Race Officer sensibly set a course close to the shore to keep all the boats in sight.
The tide was running towards Ramsgate and so at the start it was pushing the fleet of 16 boats over the line, there were a number of boats over including Olympic helmsman Hugh Styles who had to return to restart. Following a short beat and reach there was a long run against the tide, the asymmetric boats mainly opted to gybe inshore out of the tide whereas the others headed straight for the mark. Simon Cory and Annie Smith in their Buzz were one of the first to arrive at the leeward mark and were joined by Hugh Styles and Frank Catt who had quickly worked their way back through the fleet. These two began to pull away from the rest, behind them the two Buzzes of Chris Dutton and John Cass had a close battle throughout the race although at the finish it was John Cass ahead by a couple of seconds.
Further back the Laser Radial of Chris Catt and the Laser of Rory Sharvill were both going well and in the Laser 2000 fleet Chris Stubbs was ahead of Roger Phillips in his new boat. As the sun began to clear the mist, the wind dropped slightly and at the finish it was Simon Cory, also in a new boat who took first place on handicap from Chris Catt.
Results: 1st Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 2nd Chris Catt (Laser Radial) 3rd Rory Sharvill (Laser) 4th Chris and Helen Stubbs (Laser 2000) 5th James Cooke (Laser) 6th Hugh Styles and Frank Catt (RS400)
With the start of racing at Deal just one week away, club members have been busy preparing boats, equipment and the clubhouse for the new season. Meanwhile, sailing has continued inland; the first Multi Gala event for Buzzes, ISOs Bosses and Spices was held at Draycote Water near Rugby .
The two Downs boats of Steve and Katie Restall and Simon Cory and Annie Smith met with a strong home fleet however at the start of the first race it became clear that they had a significant boatspeed advantage over the rest of the fleet and finished first and second with Steve and Katie taking the win.
The second race was a repeat of the first with Simon & Steve constantly changing places and never more than a few boat lengths apart. A similar pattern emerged in race three, the two Downs boats broke clear of the chasing fleet and had their own battle, again constantly swapping places. This time it was Simon and Annie who took the win.
Sunday's first race was sailed in lighter winds than Saturday, Steve and Katie won the first race with Simon and Annie second. A crowded start for race four saw Steve and Simon both keen to get the advantage and consequently both boats were over the start line and neither returned to start correctly. Thus they were both disqualified, this allowed Ian Moss a win and the first Draycote boat second.
The final race was won by Steve and Katie with Simon and Annie a few meters behind in second. This gave Steve the overall trophy with Simon second and another clean sweep for Downs.
Despite very cold conditions and a stiff North-easterly breeze, seven boats from Downs SC took part in the Hoo Freezer Race which was held on the River Medway on Sunday, with a practise race on Saturday. This event is one of a small number of winter races which attract dinghy sailors from around the country. More than eighty boats took part on Sunday and the race featured in the afternoon news on BBC television. For the practise race on Saturday the wind was from a more Northerly direction, blowing across the river, which made for a short beat and long reaching legs where the boats were able to attain high speeds especially when they could fly their spinnakers. The Downs boats did well with Chris Catt in a 29er taking 4th position and Steve Restall and Simon Cory in their Buzzes taking 7th and 8th positions respectively. On Sunday the wind was more Easterly and was blowing straight up the river, initially with the tide. This meant that the first leg was a long beat followed by a run back up the river. The breeze had freshened which kept the crews hiking hard or at full stretch on the trapeze. The long run tended to favour the traditional boats which could aim straight for the leeward mark, whereas the boats flying asymmetric spinnakers had to zig-zag across the river. This was made more hazardous when a huge container ship steamed down river on the tide right through the middle of the fleet. The Buzz of Steve and Katie Restall and the 29er of Chris Catt and Mark Heather were both going well, as in the practise race, behind them the Buzzes of Simon Cory, crewed by Annie Smith and Chirs Dutton and Chris Martin were close for the first two laps, then Cory pulled away. The race finished after two hours and as the crews packed up, the sun came out from behind the clouds, although the temperature was still close to zero. All the Downs boats finished in the top half of the fleet.
Results: 12th Steve and Katie Restall (Buzz) 13th Chris Catt and Mark Heather (29er) 26th Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 34th Sam Rowe (Topper) 38th Chris Dutton and Chris Martin (Buzz) 41st Chris and Clare Stubbs (Laser 2000) 44th Richard White and Martyn Styles (RS400)
Deal crews took 1st, 3rd and 4th places at the annual handicap open meeting hosted by Bewl Valley Sailing Club near Lamberhurst. The meeting was well attended with almost 40 boats competing. With a westerly 3 - 5 and bright sunshine (in the morning at least), conditions could hardly have been better. Race officer Jay Williamson set a trapezoid course giving varied and testing conditions for the fleet which, although this is a predominantly asymmetric event, ranged in performance from a Dart 18 to a couple of Toppers. The first race was dominated by the Buzzes from Deal which took 1st and 3rd positions, Simon Cory and Annie Smith led home from Steve and Katie Restall. The second race was held in fresher conditions with frequent gusts of up to Force 6. A capsize by Simon Cory allowed Steve Restall to pull away and win. Further back other Deal crews were having mixed fortunes. The Laser 2000 of Chris and Clare Stubbs was going well and gained a 2nd place whilst the Buzz of Chris Dutton and Chris Martin suffered a broken kicking strap and they had to retire. The conditions remained fresh for the final race and Steve and Katie Restall achieved a 2nd place which gave them the overall win and the Bewl Blaster trophy.
Results: 1st Steve and Katie Restall (Buzz, Downs SC) 2nd Dave Geal (RS700, Bewl Valley SC) 3rd Chris and Clare Stubbs (Laser 2000, Downs SC) 4th Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz, Downs SC) 5th Mick Whitmore and Gary Smith (RS800, Bewl Valley SC) 6th John Wardron and Neil Cunliffe (Flying Fifteen, Bewl Valley SC)
Racing at Deal is now in abeyance until the end of March, but sailing action has continued inland with several club members taking part in race events through out the country.
Steve and Katie Restall sailed their Buzz at the Grafham Grand Prix which had an entry of 200 boats. The fleet was split into fast and slow handicap fleets which both sailed a two race programme on separate race tracks. Steve and Katie were in the Slow Handicap fleet of 46 boats which was dominated numerically by 17 Flying Fifteens but the two Merlin Rockets of Tom Stewart and Simon Potts were much too quick in the light wind conditions taking the top two places in both races. Steve and Katie Restall sailed their Buzz into third place in Race 1 finishing almost three minutes ahead of a group of Flying Fifteens led by Andy Palmer. Race 2 followed a similar pattern with the two Merlins six minutes ahead of the next finisher - Vince Horey in an RS 200. Overall it was a one, two for the Merlins with Steve and Katie taking an excellent third place, just edging out the leading Flying Fifteen of Jeremy Davy on tie break.
Four Downs teams travelled to Queen Mary Sailing Club to take part in the Bloody Mary. This is a huge National event attracting some of the best sailors from around the country. 256 boats took part part in very cold conditions but a good wind. The race is a two and a half hour long pursuit race which means that the slower boats start first and the faster boats have to catch them up. First over the line after two and a half hours is the winner. Chris Catt and Mark Heather passed most of the slower boats to finish 18th overall. Steve and Katie Restall in their Buzz were 39th, Martyn Styles was 63rd in his RS400 and Clare and Chris Stubbs were 141st in their RS200.
A number of Downs teams are planning to attend the Hoo Freezer which takes place on the River Medway on 15th/16th February.
Photo: Steve and Katie Restall in action in their Buzz
