Ajax 23
Keelboat East Coast Championships 2014 Race Report
By James
Skellorn
Royal
Harwich Yacht Club hosted the East Coast Championship for Ajaxes in fine weather for two days’ racing in Dovercourt bay off Harwich harbour.
Saturday brought a light shifting breeze off the land. Eleven
boats competed. In the first race, Telamon (Gordon
Sutton), Thunderer
(John Williams), Polly
Oliver (Mike Clayton) and Pegasus (David Kerridge) headed
in-shore to the right and seemed to be doing better. Puffin (David
Pearce), Prometheus
(Tim Archer) and Teal
(Bob Tate) went left out to sea. However, a hole in the wind
just short of the weather mark meant that Prometheus led at the mark from
Puffin.
At the leeward mark, Puffin
was through to the lead with Thunderer
second and Prometheus
third. Puffin
built a significant lead up the second beat at which point the wind
dropped. This time the boats who went
in-shore picked up the breeze and the race was finished at the
weather mark. Puffin
won from Guillemot
and Polly
Oliver.
Race 2 on an Olympic course produced another beat in a shifty
breeze. Pegasus
went up the middle and led from Puffin
and Teal.
Down the reaches Teal
got past Puffin.
A hole in the wind approaching the leeward mark decided the
race. Pegasus
crept through it and got away. Behind her the fleet bunched
up. Widgeon
got through to finish second with Teal third
and Puffin
fourth.
Race 3 was on the Olympic course again. The wind breezed up a
little but shifted right just before the start of the race so the
fleet could lay the weather mark. It shifted back a little but
the first reach became a run and the second reach a close fetch and
the race became a procession. Thunderer
led at the first mark from Polly
Oliver and Telamon and that was how
it finished.
Overnight, Puffin
led on points from Guillemot
and Polly
Oliver.
Sunday started in a flat calm but by 9.30am the race committee
reported a steady breeze off the sea and the fleet set off to find an
8 knot easterly breeze.
Race 4 was sailed on an Olympic course. Most of the fleet made
a long starboard tack with the tide under them from the line. Pegasus led
at the weather mark from Guillemot
(David Mayne), Thunderer and Polly Oliver.
On the run, Pegasus
alone jibed off to the right while the rest of the fleet held out to
sea. However, at the finish she will still ahead and won from Guillemot
and Thunderer.
For the fifth race, the course changed to windward/leeward. A
tight points situation meant that whoever
won the last race out of the top four boats would win overall.
At the weather mark Thunderer led from Pegasus and Polly Oliver.
Polly Oliver
got past Pegasus
on the run. On the second beat the leading three boats all went
to the right, out to sea, and found a header lifting them away from
the rest of the fleet. Polly
Oliver and Thunderer arrived at the
windward mark together. Once again Polly Oliver went right, Thunderer
went left and Polly
Oliver led at the bottom mark to win from Thunderer
and Pegasus.
Mike Clayton and Bob Portway’s win in Polly Oliver
was all the more impressive because Polly Oliver had a large tree
fall on her in one of the storms in the winter so she needed a new
rig and hull repairs. She had only been launched on the Friday before
the championship. However, she had consistent results across
both days whereas everybody else had a good day and a bad day.
Thanks to Simon Quantrill who organised an excellent championships as
class captain and to Doug Brown and his team for running the racing
very efficiently in tricky conditions.
RESULTS
1. Polly Oliver
(Mike Clayton/Bob
Portway)
10 points
2. Thunderer (John
Williams)
12 points
3. Pegasus (David
Kerridge/James
Skellorn)
13 points
4. Guillemot (David
Mayne/Kelvin Douglas/Tim Hunt) 13 points
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