Overall Solent Points

1st was Defender with Co-owner Rear Commodore Mark Fear as mainsheet and spinnaker trimmer and Mark McNeill as foredeck (helms Jeremy Preston and Peter Morton RYS/RCYC). Defender managed 43 starts – very well done to them.

5th Dolphin (David Gower) with 37 starts.

8th Finesse (yours truly) with 33 starts.

11th Decoy (Richard Ottaway) with 26 starts

12th Dauntless (Giles and Jane Peckham, Milo Carver) but they only managed 22 starts.

14th Destroyer (Brian Hardy) with 29 starts.

15th Diamond (Michael Fox) with 28 starts.

21st Decanter (David Walters & Jamie Clark) but only 13 starts

23rd Deinos (Neil Robertson) with just 14 starts (but they were going much better this season).

27th Ding Dong (Richard Carver, Andrew Holm, Larry Lugg, Julian Beauchamp, Philip Shears, Richard Westover) but they only managed 7 starts. Let’s hope they can turn out more next season.

28th Devius (Tony Leech) – 10 outings The Daring website is completely out of date so far as owners are concerned. We may have other members who are part owners of various Darings. Apologies if you have been omitted.

The Metre Regatta

The high point for the Royal London on the water has to have been the Metre Regatta. I am pleased to report this was handled excellently by the Race Officers (PRO’s Amanda Bradbeer and Peter Scott) with Bob Milner as CRO and was first class with the catering and events on land too. Other than the Thursday for the 1908 Olympic Regatta re-run (which was not overseen by the Royal London) our Race Officers in very breezy conditions set excellent courses (a mix of windward/leeward and round the cans). Most importantly Dolphin (David Gower) with son Ben and Tricia Neri on board walked off with the overall honours (so unfair of David to say Tricia never stops talking – she obviously won it for them). We on Finesse did OK too (5th).

King of Cowes

Cowes Week started with the news that Giles Peckham (sailing with Milo Carver) had won the pre-Cowes Week warm up for the rock stars of sailing and was “King of Cowes” - and he won a very expensive SUV too. How fantastic that members of our club who have always sailed as strict amateurs should trounce all the professionals and in a class they do not usually sail (SB3). Very well done.

Cowes Week

8 solid days of racing – when have we had that in recent years?

It was a good week on the water. While the weather was not to everyone’s taste it made for great racing although my arms felt they had been pulled out of their sockets by the end of the week (I had barely recovered from the Metre Regatta). Serious work in the Gym required!

The Royal London ran away with the prizes with Dauntless 1st and Defender 2nd. Decoy was 6th. Dolphin did not manage to keep up their form of the Metre Regatta but had a very creditable 8th. Finesse had a mixed week with some reasonable results and some dreadful – not least a retirement due to an unfortunate scrap (our own fault) with an Etchells – we managed 13th. The courses were the usual Cowes Week round the cans with strong tides variety and generally they were well set by the Race Officers.

Red Funnel Series

Defender was 2nd, Dauntless 3rd, Decoy 4th, Dolphin 6th, Finesse 8th, Diamond 11th, Ding Dong 12th, Destroyer 13th, Devius 16th. These windward/ leeward courses continue to be a favourite with many Daring sailors. The problem is always getting to the start on time! Very close racing. My Race Officer prize has to go to Cowes Corinthian YC who managed a 2nd Daring start while other classes were finishing. Very cool!

Royal London Solent Series

1st Division Belle (RYS)

2nd Darius (RYS)

3rd Dynamite (RTYC)

4th Finesse – if we had not had to retire from the 1st race for going the wrong way round a mark when we were in the lead by a considerable margin (the rest of the fleet went to the wrong mark) we would have been in the chocolates - but that is Yacht Racing.

The Future

Many of you will be aware of the controversy over D2. It is still on hold pending further evaluation to ensure we remain a one design class – with which I entirely agree. It was a pity the class split almost down the middle between the older boats (which will all need hulls replacing in the near/medium future) and the newer boats (whose owners feel they have plenty of life in their hulls). I hope it will be sorted out soon as I doubt Finesse will last many more seasons.

Memories/Observations

The best has to be Decanter (David Walters and Jamie Clarke) sailing an entire leg with their spinnaker upside down. As we passed them we heard a little grumbling from the helm (Jamie) which seemed to be directed to Walt as foredeck. Walt sent me this e-mail:-

“When you are two up as crew, sailing with the Commodore, you are in the enviable position of having instructions shouted at you that are intended for the foredeck and also instructions shouted at you for the main sheet man. This along with the more general comment that has Biblical and Colombian White Powder connotations; "Jesus, I want more speed" as we are all acutely aware we don’t sail a boat to go slow.

In my dual role I thought this innovative spinnaker set would address the question of speed and illicit a different response, as my previous efforts in flying a spinnaker in a more conventional fashion, still brought out the command "Jesus, I still want More Speed". This worked to a certain extent as the Commodores’ call for divine intervention was reduced to a simple cry of "Jesus!".”

A serious contender for the “Dropped Ollock”.

Darings are difficult boats. We feel we are learning all the time on Finesse. No sooner do we think we are beginning to get the hang of it then we suddenly discover we are going slow. Simon and Ben continue to tweak the boat at every opportunity – I think we are on our 3rd set up for the Main Traveller and goodness knows how many for the backstay. The outhaul now works. We have installed moveable cars and a ratchet block for the mainsheet. Although she did not look pretty after an emergency repair in Cowes Week she did fine in the latter part of the season. I reckon our sail handling and general racing has improved a lot this season. It is certainly not just a case of getting your sail handling up to scratch, the class has a large number of very talented sailors with huge knowledge of the Solent – expertise in depth is how I would rate it.

There were some wonderful days of champagne sailing this season. We thoroughly enjoyed the season and feel we are just beginning to compete with those in the upper half of the fleet. Best of all it was a huge amount of fun.

My thanks go to Finn and Scottie for providing an excellent launch service and to all the Race Officers who enable us to participate in such great sport. Whatever happened to the idea of buying a mobile compressor and a jet hose for the launch so that members could pay to have their decks cleared of guano? I hope the sailing committee will take this up. I reckon it should be self-financing.

I am sure you would say I am biased, but I reckon the Daring Class has to be the best class in Cowes, year in year out, for turn-out every weekend and good racing. If you have not tried it yet there is a quarter share going on Finesse!

David Christie 5.11.08