Sheartwater Catamaran 2016 Results

 

Stone Shearwater TT

The Shearwater Fleet’s 60th Anniversary has got off to an amazing start very kindly hosted by Stone Sailing Club.

The club put on an amazing warm welcome as ever with the facilities ready to go to get the Shearwaters back on the water for 2016! Unfortunately, the weather didn’t get that particular invite and the Shearwater members arriving on the Saturday morning found the Friday arrivals were either clearing a friendly troop of passing penguins offsite or in the process of defrosting from a cold night in tents that could only be described as igloos!

Thoughts of the forthcoming racing in freezing conditions were hastily pushed to one side. In true Shearwater spirit, and determination, boats were made ready with last prep works hastily taken place after the long winter.

Stone sailing club has always put on fantastic racing and to kick off our Diamond Anniversary year they delivered again. Wendy Robinson, Race officer, and her team did a fantastic job! It was decided that even though the conditions were on the chilly side three races off the Club line and a round the cans could still be achieved for Saturdays racing. The courses were short and would offer fast paced racing for the fleet in the harsh conditions.

With the race brief still echoing in our ears thirteen boats hit the water on the Saturday. The wind was lively and perfect to get the season underway. With a good clear start, the fleet sailed on a powered up reach to the first mark with Crews making sure that Helms didn’t forget they were there with hands firmly placed on the shoulders of the helms. Every one made it to the first mark without capsizing and more importantly with helms and crews on board. Matt Wiseman appears to be creating a tradition on Caned and Unable by rounding the first mark of the season second year on the trot!

With the fleet making its way up to the windward mark Stone reintroduced its strong tidal flow challenging the fleet as they beat up wind! Even though Wendy and her team had organised short racing courses it was far from processional and from the shore the beach crews enjoyed fantastic Cat racing! Throughout the rest of the Saturdays racing the fleet offered the same spectacle even when the weather decided it would really test the fleet with the world’s smallest, hardest hail stones. As always the Crews looked after their Helms respectfully and created the perfect shields while giving directions round the course to the Helms taking cover!

With Saturdays racing done the fleet made its way back to the beach to ready for the evenings activities complete with warm food and beer! As well as the Fleets 60th Anniversary kick off this weekend also was a special celebration for Kerry Elliott celebrating her Fo*****h Birthday! Happy Birthday Kerry from all of The Shearwater Family. As friends and members of the fleet will know the effort on the water is matched in the bar. With Denise Robinson, Stone member, in a mischievous mood Kerry, along with other members of the fleet, fell foul as Nick Elliott discovered when his crew was slightly worse for wear on the Sunday morning.

The wind on Sunday offered up the same as the previous day with some gusts giving a little more… quite a bit more. With a similar course set up again the racing was fast and furious all the way through the three races on the Sunday. Long reaches out from the front of the club to the first mark gave perfect opportunities for the younger members of the fleet to show their skills to the fleet. Family members are scattered throughout the fleet, currently as crew, adding to the healthy competition on the water. Chloe Stuart on ‘Sheer Flambouyance’, Zak Elliot on ‘So Tango’ and William Stuart on ‘Sim Sek’. There helms can always be heard ‘softly bellowing’ nuggets of wise words at advantageous points round the course. William Stuart on the other hand was heard offering equally helpful advice back to his Helm hauling in the mainsheet on a beat. ‘Come on! Grandma can go quicker than that!

 

So on completion of the weekends racing the top three results for the weekend were as follows:

3rd place Greg Wilcox (HELM) and William Stuart (CREW) on Sim Sek

2nd Place Shaun Allen (HELM) and Holly Parker (CREW) on Carbon Foot Print

1st Place Nigel Stuart (HELM) and Sarah Stuart (CREW) on CROWNS

 

Thank you Stone Sailing Club for an epic start to our 60th Year! Thank you to all the club members drafted in on Rescue in the Polar conditions, to the members working the bar late in to the night and to Cath and her team in The Galley for the constant production of warm and satisfying food! Thank you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pagham TT 

July 2nd and the 3rd saw the Shearwaters arrive back at Pagham for another weekend of sailing. Pagham has been on the Shearwater TT list for a number of years and always delivers fantastic weekends both on and off the water of which 2016 saw the same High standards.

The weekend was the first event of the year which allowed the fleet to sail in open waters. The south coast as always offered fantastic sailing conditions.

On the Saturday morning the wind built consistently and with gusts at top end of a six it was going to be demanding sailing conditions. Twelve Shearwaters attended the weekend and on the Saturday nine braved the conditions.

With the first race underway the shore crew were offered a spectacular view of Shearwater sailing. After rounding the windward mark a couple of the boats tried spinnaker hoists but as the wind carried on building this became a rarity. The first race positions saw Caned and Unable in third, Simsek in second and Carbon Footprint in first.

The second race as the wind continued to build saw a number of the fleet deciding to head back to the beach to fight another day. The second race was an exercise in survival sailing techniques and with a number of capsizes a round the course the boats on the beach were happy with there decisions. Simsek capitalized on the conditions offered and with remarkable skill made sailing in the building conditions look effortless. This allowed Simsek to cross the line first followed by CROWNS in second and Dilligaf helmed by  Murray Greenhill and crewed by Catherine Tulley come in third place. With the conditions now at the limit of safe racing the committee boat made the wise decision to end the day with two races under the fleets belt.

Then Sunday.... who forgot to load the wind meter? Sundays conditions were completely opposite to Saturdays offerings which was a welcome break. This time all boats hit the water for a good days sailing. With the third race underway the Shearwater sailing was fierce. Moving around the course the fleet made good use of the strong tide and positions were changing constantly. Genesis helmed by Mark Norman and crewed by Jenny Allen showed the fleet round the course and crossed the line first with a good lead. So Tango came in second and CROWNS third.  With the bar set the remaining races saw positions around the fleet change constantly. Alley Cat, Alan Howland and Rob Britton, on the last two races of the day celebrated a second and a third position.

With all the racing done the top three were as follows in third place CROWNS Nigel and Sarah Stuart, second place Genesis Mark Norman and Jenny Allen. In first place, after only one days sailing, So Tango with James Gibbons and Zac Elliot.

As always Pagham Sailing Club were fantastic and friendly hosts both on and off the water. Water activities were slick and well managed and in the club every detail had been well planned and executed perfectly. Thank you Pagham and we very much look forward to seeing you again next year, fingers crossed!

The next outing for the Shearwaters is going to be our Nationals start of August at Harwich very much looking forward to seeing all the fleet there ready to do battle on the water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60th National Championships at Harwich