RHYC AJAX FLEET NEWS 2007
The Ajax fleet had a busy
racing schedule in 2007 with 34 races held on 27 days. A total of 17 Ajaxes have raced at various
times and the average turnout has been between 8 and 12 boats with more racing
in the Spring Series. We were not able
to race at sea as much as we would have liked owing to light winds and poor
tides but we have had some very close racing and the standard of racing remains
high. There is little doubt that we are
still the strongest racing fleet in the club.
One of the main
factors that gives us such close racing is the one design nature of our
fleet. Most of the boats were
constructed within a small time period in the late 60’s and early 70’s and we
try to keep faithful to the original design and measurements. There is one other Ajax
fleet at St Mawes in Cornwall
and both fleets have an active class measurer.
Our measurer is John Williams
and our thanks due to him and his measurement committee for keeping a close eye
on the rules. An important part of
measurement is the weight of boats and we are now turning attention to this
aspect. Weight can be a factor
especially in light winds and the weight of boats can vary especially if they
have been treated for osmosis. We weigh
most boats at the beginning of the season with the aid of a crane scale load cell
and there is in fact some significant variation in weight.
We had good
conditions for the Ajax National Championships which were sailed in Dovercourt Bay in June with 5 races over 3 days and
2 well attended social functions were held at the Club, a BBQ and a Dinner.
There were 17 entries including 2 boats from St Mawes, Athena and Nemesis. A third team from St Mawes led by the farmer,
Cedric Thomas, also sailed in Avocet.
The championships produced a remarkable victory for Johnny Pack in
Goosander which was helmed by Ian Sharps who beat David
Liddington in Athena, the south west fleet Champion, into
second place with John Williams in
Thunderer coming third. Johnny has now gone
from novice racer to championship winner in 8 seasons. The National
Championships this year will be held at Falmouth
in July and it is likely that at least 6 East Coast owners will trail their Ajaxes down to Cornwall
to take part.
We have
purchased a new launching trailer this year to go with our A frame with thanks
to Ken Stowe and David Kerridge for their design in combination with Hayling
Trailers. It has been very successful
especially for pulling out boats to scrub and we have found it far easier to
use than our old mark I trailer. We did
at one stage consider the possibility of installing a winch but we found that a
4WD vehicle is the easiest way to pull the trailer and Ajax out of the water
and we would like to pursue the possibility of having a dedicated 4WD vehicle for
use at the club.
The fleet
welcomes enquiries from member and sailors who wish to join an active racing
fleet especially as several owners are often looking for regular crew and it is
nearly always possible to accommodate new blood in the fleet. Ajaxes do also come up for sale from time to
time and at least one boat should be available next season. Any enquires with regards to the fleet should
be directed to our new class captain, Charles Rice email: *charles.rice * @btopenworld.com* (remove * and
spaces to prevent spam) or tel. no. in RHYC book.
We are all
looking forward to the 2008 season under the guidance of Charles and as this year
will be the 40th Anniversary of Ajax racing at the RHYC we are
planning to have a special Ajax
40th Anniversary Regatta on Saturday and Sunday the 7th
and 8th of June. We hope that
other classes will join in our celebrations and further information will be
circulated in due course.
Bob
Tate
2007
Season Ajax Class Captain