Streakerramblings – Bosham 30th June 2012

A nice Bright sunny, if breezy, trip down to Bosham Village and sailing club. On the way there was massed, static,  traffic on the Chichester by-pass on its way to Goodwood for the ‘Festival of speed’. Fortunately that was all going eastwards whilst we were headed west.
Friday evening we had received a telephone call from the Streaker rep at Bosham SC to say that the RO was watching the weather forecast for the following day as it was not brilliant and that the event might be called off.  I had checked with Windguru – for the Itchenor Buoy – and it was giving Saturday morning readings of force 4 with gusts to force 5 and thus assumed the meet would still be on.

On arrival at the club we rigged the boat and went to the 10.00am briefing. All seemed to be going ahead although it was still fairly breezy when the six  Streakers  launched and headed into the wind for the half hour beat down the Bosham channel and into the Itchenor channel where the Committee boat was going to be moored - in the more open stretches of Chichester harbour. The two of us who were visitors were given a chart before going afloat with all the harbour marks (and required sides for passing) shown but there are dozens and we really did not know exactly where we were starting from to head for the first turning point  (Astra as it happened).

Just after the 5 minute sequence had started Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) was blown over in a gust and was still capsized when the start gun went. Graham Butler (Bosham SC) made the best start and was long gone before Alan. S  was upright and going once more.  Of the others,  Jan Garety (Bosham SC) using a Wave sail,  Hugh Garety (Bosham SC),  John Smith (Bosham SC) and Gary Hogan (Haversham SC) were all ahead of Alan.S.
Capsizes came thick and fast as the wind strength rose to force 5 to 6 and first John .S and then Gary.H decided to head for home.
Graham.B was first to round the top buoy and then reached off across the channel, not daring to go dead downwind as the course dictated, until he arrived at the east side whereupon his tiller extension parted company with his tiller thus ending his race. Next to reach the top mark was Alan.S who closed with Graham to ask ‘where to next’  the guide boat being nowhere in sight. The direction was dead downwind but there was no way Alan was going to take the direct course – he would have been swimming within seconds so he too started to reach off across the channel, tacking and reaching back again – with the sail out against the shrouds and spilling as much wind as possible just to stay upright. He finally closed with the two safety boats (later to be advised that one had been having problems) and directed one towards Graham.B who was just about staying upright.

After several cross channel tacks Hugh.G caught up with Alan.S and the pair continued in fairly close company until Hugh eventually succumbed to the gusts  and took a swim.
More by luck than judgement Alan had passed the next mark (Peacock) on the required side and was closing the area where the Committee boat was moored. He thought he had to go between the two pillar marks (‘Goal Post’ he thought) to the next mark (Wear), which although he did not know it was just a little north of the start line. In  tacking he fetched up close to the committee boat only to see the checkered flag flying. He tacked through the line, tacked again and rounded up above the boat only to be hailed that ‘all racing for the day was abandoned’. He then headed back to the club escorted by another of the Bosham safety boats which had been seconded from another event.  On coming ashore it was discovered, after she was finally towed home, that  Jan.G had attempted to sail dead downwind but had capsized and then lost contact with her boat before being picked up by the safety boat. Graham.B was also towed home – Alan felt this was probably more comfortable than the half an hour tacking/reaching sail he made back to the club.
The call to abandon the racing was a wise one, the wind and wave conditions were not suitable for a group of helms 50% of whom (I believe) were over retirement age and perhaps not as fit or agile as the conditions required. It would appear that  Graham.B was the only helm to stay upright with everyone else having at least one capsize, some several. The intial beat, in those conditions, was in the writers opinion also far too long  - although the RO did not subsequently  agree -and the downwind return leg downright’ unhealthy’.

There are of course no results for this meeting to be added to the Southern Paddle data but, given the conditions, all six helms deserve to be congratulated for their sterling efforts.

Alan.S 1700

PS. Begining to wonder if I am a Jinx – two opens in a row blown out when I attended.