GJW Direct SailFest 2013

The inaugural WPNSA Annual Handicap Regatta

The inspiration

Inspired by the Games events held at Weymouth & Portland during 2012, the WPNSA Handicap Regatta was, as John Tweed the outgoing CEO of WPNSA commented “designed to be accessible to as many classes as possible and provide an enjoyable but still competitive weekend sailing and racing on Olympic waters. There will be a [perpetual trophy] awarded and the event will not be one-off, but be part of a programme to ensure there is a continuing and lasting legacy in Dorset and the United Kingdom.” In partnership with SailRacer, providing the on-line entry and live tracking for the event, GJW Direct SailFest aimed to fulfil this ambition and include an offering for every level of sailor, from novice to world champion.

The Fleets

The Bytes held their National Championships within the Regatta, the Fireball results counting towards their legendary Golden Dolphin Series and the Phantoms’ towards their Southern Series.  A perusal of the mixed handicap entrants had resulted in a slightly unconventional split of spinnaker-ed or spinnaker-less as the cut-off between the fast and slow handicap fleet, which in practice proved to work very well.

Saturday Racing

115 sailors in 85 boats ranging from Toppers to an International 14 were met by sunshine and 16 knots for the first race of GJW Direct SailFest on Saturday 24th August.  Resident WPNSA race officer James Gollop had the fleet on their toes running 5 starts for each race at 3 minute intervals with fleet starts for the Bytes, Fireballs and Phantoms.

Virtually all starts got away cleanly, resulting in all 3 scheduled races for the day being completed and everyone back off the water within 4 hours of launching. Gusts of up to 20 knots coming through during the afternoon resulted in a few capsizes and some retirements as the sailors became more tired. A bent rudder pintle for Duncan Jenkins resulted in an enforced retirement after race 1.  However, once ashore, the tenacious RS300 sailor called on the services of local boatbuilding legend Richard Woof, on hand to give boat preparation advice throughout the weekend, to get him back on the water for race 3 with moments to spare. He was not the only sailor to return to the race-course after a pit-stop during the weekend.

Coaching

With the ethos of the event firmly rooted in coaching, enjoyment and mixed-fleet racing, Peter Aitken led a coaching day on the Friday preceding the regatta racing.  A change to the standard sailing instructions for the event enabled Peter to continue his coaching throughout the weekend, not only his well-attended briefings before and after racing but also further pointers out on the race course.

Families

Unsurprisingly, a few family groups chose to attend SailFest together. The middle of 3 generations of Tweedles sailing, father Jon said the family "...had a ball.  The racing has been fantastic with awesome conditions and it has been nice to sail the trapezoid courses." Jon sailed his Alto with 14 year old son Cameron whilst daughter Caitlin was in her Laser Radial.  Jon described the strong winds as "testing" but took only one brief dip in Race 3.  Grandfather of the clan, 65 year old Gordon, sailed his Supernova and at the prize-giving was awarded an electronic Micro Compass from sponsors Raymarine for perseverance – the last placed sailor in the overall results to complete all 7 races.

Socials & Workshops

On Saturday evening the Academy hosted a Hog Roast and on Sunday evening RYA Portland House, home of Team GBR for the 2012 Games, held a meal on the top floor with its balcony overlooking the harbour. The whole of Portland House accommodation had in fact been reserved for sailors taking part in SailFest, with the available rooms being booked very early on. The socials went on well into the evening with a disco at the Academy on Saturday and the unlicensed Portland House offering a chilled atmosphere for sailors to unwind with their own drinks on Sunday.

In addition to Peter Aitken’s daily briefing and debrief, Richard Woof was on hand throughout the weekend to offer tips and advice to sailors. After racing each day he set aside time to work with fleet members in groups to discuss class-specific improvements that could be made to the systems on their boats and general ‘de-bugging’.

Olympic Talk

The hog roast at the Academy on Saturday evening was followed by an insightful talk by Peter Allam, Olympic bronze medallist in the Flying Dutchman in 1984 and 6 days into his role as the new CEO of WPNSA.  During the 2012 games Peter was LOCOG's deputy Sport Manager for Sailing and he shared memories of the immense organisational issues of the Games, where security and logistics were taken to a whole new level.  

Sunday Racing

An hour before the sailors went afloat for the second day of racing at GJW Direct SailFest, Portland Harbour took on a magnificent turquoise hue speckled with white horses.  The wind gradually strengthened throughout the first race, on a larger course than Saturday featuring some awesome reaches.  There were a few early retirements but the majority of the fleet remained out and had a respite in race 2 as the wind abated a little. With the northerly breeze building back to a more than healthy 22 knots a challenging chop developed, but the sun came back out and conditions were stunning for those remaining out for the 3^rd race. The most exemplary performance noted was that of the safety team, without fail on hand to support the tiring crews, some after multiple capsizes.

Byte Nationals 2013 (and to return in 2014)

Although many of the Byte Class remained to take part in the pursuit race, their National Championship, run within the SailFest racing programme, concluded at the end of race 6 on Sunday.  The prize giving was held prior to Peter Aitken's daily debrief and Peter presented the prizes.  Winning 5 out of the 6 races was Louis Saunders who took the Championship title.  Charlotte Gough in 3rd place won race 3 and was first lady in the event.  Former champion Richard Whitehouse was in second place overall and Edwin Pope 4th.  Edwin co-ordinated the prize giving and announced that, following discussions at the AGM held on Saturday night, the Bytes are planning to return to SailFest for their Championship next year.

The Raymarine Long Distance Pursuit Race

Despite a similar start to the day with a good breeze, the Monday forecast was for the wind to drop so the race team was keen to start the 150 minute pursuit race promptly at the scheduled time of 10.30.   James Gollop and Bob 'Arky' Wainwright led the excellent race management aboard the committee boat, with a clear tannoy system as an additional prompt to the starting sequence. The breeze was dropping even as the first boats started and at about 70 minutes into the race, minutes after the last start of the International 14 at 61 minutes, the wind turned off completely.  The sea breeze soon arrived, but filled in with a 140 degree windshift.

Having led for most of the race it was Mike Radford in his Byte who kept his head to finish in front of the rapidly approaching International 14 (who pipped the RS300 of Steve Bolland) and win the race.

Activity Sports Tasters

Meanwhile, closer to (and on-)shore, the warm bank holiday weather brought a number of local people down to WPNSA to experience sports activities via the taster sessions. Visitors to the Academy could try watersports in the windsurfer and paddleboard fleet of the OTC, SailLaser's dinghies and Weymouth College's kayaks. Weymouth College also ran sessions in Rock Climbing and Mountain biking out on the beautiful natural playground of Portland throughout the weekend. Local 8 year old Arthur Blackmore-Dark tried rock climbing on Saturday, paddlesports on Sunday and dragged his mum Lorraine back again on Monday and persuaded her to join him in the kayaks for what Lorraine described as “an experience in muscle discovery.” !

With the racing scheduled to leave a good portion of the day free to spend time with family and friends, a number of the competitors and their families took advantage of these sessions too. Key Yachting were offering trial sails in their new J/70 sportsboat, which had a very good take up from the regatta sailors and, as the good breeze held into the evening on Saturday and Sunday, the J/70 was the last boat out on the water.  

Pilot for Charity Water Duathlon at SailFest 2014

Tris Best of the OTC Windsurfing Centre set of with his team shortly after racing on Saturday to sail the pilot event for the Will Mackaness Trust Charity Water Duathlon.  Leaving the WPNSA slipway by windsurfer it took only a few minutes to reach the north entrance of the harbour, but the NW wind direction meant a beat all the way to Overcombe Corner before picking up bikes.  Tris himself completed the course in just over 57 minutes, a good bench mark for next year’s full event.

Prizes & Awards

The prize giving was held in the Academy's Spinnakers Bar, with the Olympic Cauldron as centrepiece.  A number of spot prizes were distributed before the main prizes by raffle to those competitors that were present - which was a good majority able to stay till the end of the event.  There were fleet prizes for the Bytes, Fireballs and Phantoms with prizes also awarded for first Lady and first Youth.

The Overall title for the inaugural GJW Direct SailFest WPNSA Handicap Regatta went to Sam Pascoe and Alex Knight in their International 14 with an impressive scoreline including 3 seconds and 3 firsts.  Sam thanked both the rescue crew and the race management teams.  Alun Morgan, leader of the safety crew, was praised for the impressive way he and his team of volunteers had, in particular, handled the many capsizes in a fleet of wide-ranging age and ability on the windier days.  He was presented with an Overboard Dry-Bag as a token of thanks.

The Topper sailed by Scott Chudley was met by a round of applause from the shore having been the first boat onto the water and the last boat off it for Monday’s long race.  13 year old Scott was presented with the GJW Direct Outstanding Achievement Award for his determination during the previous 2 windy days and for leading the pursuit race for over an hour. Young ISO crew Elizabeth Gill was also commended for her determination and took home a Raymarine jacket as a softer option to the battering by boom and boat she had been receiving all weekend.

Raymarine sponsored Monday’s pursuit race as well as supporting the coaching. Ross Partridge of Raymarine had been on hand to give advice all weekend, not only on the Micro Compass but also the range of equipment the company offers, proving himself quite astute in general dinghy sailing too. In addition to Gordon Tweedle’s Perseverance Award, Micro Compasses went to the winner of the Pursuit race, Byte sailor Mike Radford, and the sailor that was considered by the coaches to have made the most improvement over the 4 days, RS300 sailor Harry McVicar.

Feedback

Here are a few of the comments we have received since the event (noting the class of boat sailed):

“A good vibe over the weekend.” - ISO

“This was honestly up there with some of the best few days sailing I've ever experienced” - Alto

“A good idea with a few improvements would be very good.” - Phantom

“Great mix of classes and race types at a reasonable price.” - RS300

“Excellent concept, well executed and will be even better in future years.” - Byte

“great sailing well organized.” - Javelin

“Good fun, class felt very welcome, coaching was fun, racing was very testing!” - Byte

“A good fun event, now it is on the map maybe a few more boats will come” - Fireball

“Great first run event has lots of potential to improve and grow” - Laser Radial

And finally, this feedback from Jo Wicken sums up the fact that SailFest has met the vision described by the former CEO, John Tweed and has set a firm platform for growth and sustainability of the event in future years:

“To everyone involved in the Sailfest organisation…
 
What a brilliant weekend!  For us it was very much a last minute decision to change our annual bank holiday sailing plans and come to Sailfest, but it was 100% worth it.
 
The racing format was great, and well-organised, and all the extra shore-based sessions and relaxed atmosphere made for a very enjoyable weekend.  It was good to catch up with sailing acquaintances and to meet a range of people from different classes too.
 
We very much look forward to returning in 2014. Thank You”
 
 
SailRacer & GJW Direct have already been contacted by a number of fleets keen to be involved in SailFest next year.  Huge thanks go to the sponsors, WPNSA, RYA, all those involved in providing tasters, safety and the competitors who committed to this first event and without whom it would not have been possible. The first edition of the regatta has given the organisers much to build on for this perpetual event celebrating the legacy of the Olympic Games Events held at the venue during the summer of 2012.

Results for the pursuit race:

1^st Mike Radford - Byte
2^nd Sam Pascoe & Alex Knight - International 14
3^rd Steve Bolland - RS300
4^th Tom Gillard & Tim Hartley - Fireball
5^th Russell Ward - Finn
6^th Andrew Wilde - Phantom
7^th Ian Morgan - Laser
8^th Sam Barker - Musto Skiff

Overall results:

1^st Sam Pascoe & Alex Knight - International 14
2^nd Matt Burge and Richard Wagstff - Fireball
3^rd Tom Gillard & Tim Hartley - Fireball
4^th Ian Dobson & Ben Ainsworth - Fireball
5^th David Hall & Paul Constable - Fireball
6^th Tim Rush & Dan Ellis - Fireball
7^th Anthony & James Willcocks - Fireball
8^th Will Gulliver - Phantom
9^th Steve Bolland - RS300
10^th Hannah Showell & Barry Smith – Fireball

1^st Lady - Hannah Showell

1^st Youth - Ross Banham, Laser 4.7

6/9/2013 11:53