South West Sailing

Well not quiet Rio but Salvador in Brazil with the departure this Saturday due from Le Harve in France. That is the plan for two West Country sailors Alex Bennett and Ifor Pedley in their new Open 40 Fujifilm as competitors in the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Fujifilm is a brand new Open 40 built at Totnes over the summer months by Composite Creations from a design by Owen Clarke especially for Alex Bennett to campaign on the burgeoning Open 40 Regatta Circuit in 2008.

The Open 40 is becoming regarded as the ideal stepping-stone from the Mini Transat fleet to the Open 60 fleet for both amateur and young professional skipper seeking to make his or her mark on the international regatta circuit.

Designed for off shore short handed sailing the Open 40 can easily be sailed fully crewed for club racing or family cruising and is proving very popular both here and in France. The French Finot designed Pogo 40 made its debut in the 2006 Route du Rhum and filled 4 of the first 5 places in the Open 40 fleet of 25 boats with victory going British skipper Phil Sharp.

British designers have entered the fray for the 2007 Jacques Vabre with Owen Clarke producing the Express 40 design represented by Fujifilm and Peter Harding’s 40 Degrees.

Simon Rogers has produced the Rogers 40 design represented by Nick Budd’s Set Environnement, Simon Clarke’s Clarke Offshore Racing and Frenchman Bruno Jourdren’s Lord Jiminy.

The stage is set for a battle royal with 6 UK wholly or partly crewed entries taking on another 26 crews predominately of course from France.

Fujifilm represents the third boat in which Bennett and Pedley have raced together with the 2003 AZAB and the 2004 Mini-Transat representing earlier partnerships, which in truth met with little success.

Hopefully given a brand new boat a willing and generous sponsor then the 2007 JV should represent the start of a new more successful era.

Originally from Mitchell Ifor learned to sail with his father in a succession of family owned cruising yachts based at Mylor. His sailing experience has broadened over the years and has ranged from Maxi Yachts such as Maiden to racing on board the Working Boat Evelyn.

Ifor had planned to take a year out and join the BT Challenge for 2004 but was forced to reconsider that option due to potentially damaging his successful career with the Northcliffe Group.

The AZAB and the two handed Mini Transat races allowed Ifor to continue his job at Northcliffe and yet still enjoy competitive sailing taking holidays to coincide with the regattas.

The Jacques Vabre will be a major break in his business career as the 4000 mile race will take up to a month to complete in Fujifilm.

Alex Bennett is trying to take that leap and become a full time professional sailor but as usual for all aspiring professional sportsmen in poorly paid or unfashionable sports is struggling to find sponsorship or financial security.

Some 8 years ago Alex made the front page of all the UK Yachting Press by finishing 5th in the Mini Transat at the youthful age of 22. He has crewed and skippered a wide range of yachts and dinghies and is regarded as one of the UK’s finest short-handed sailors.

A piece of notoriety he would probably not relish is that he has been rescued twice from sinking ships but it is a risk that all extreme performance sailors have to face. The first incident occurred as crewman on board Team Phillips with Pete Goss and the second occurred on a solo return voyage from South America on board Goss’s old boat Aqua Quorum.

The latter incident was a major setback to Alex as he had recently purchased Aqua Quorum as his trial horse on which to mount a campaign to contest the Vendee Globe in 2004 in an Open 60.

Up to the demise of AQ events had gone well with a Open 50 class victory in the Jacques Fabre Race of 2001 crewed with fellow ex-Team Phillips crewman Paul Larson.

The loss was undoubtedly been a major problem in his efforts to showcase his talents by competing in events prior to the 2004 Vendee.

Hopefully a successful Open 40 campaign in 2007/8 will enable Alex to resurrect his ambition of competing in a Vendee Globe and although the 2008 edition may be to early 2012 is certainly a possibility.

The pressure is really on Alex and I do wish him and Ifor a successful Jacques Vabre to kick start his career as professional sailor after a couple of years out of the spotlight.

Cockwells Modern & Classic boatyard at Ponsharden have just launched their Pilot Cutter Polly Agatha at Mylor Yacht Harbour. The design is similar to that of Peggy a Cutter built by the Rowles family of Pill in 1904 in Bristol and still actively sailing in the Bristol Channel.

It is a great success for Dave and Joy Cockwell and underlines the Yard’s growing reputation for quality work with wooden boats. I visited the Cockwell Stand at the 2006 Southampton Boat Show and greatly admired the ribs and framework of the Cutter, which formed part of the exhibits on display.

Pilot Cutters have always been built in the West Country with the likes of Bowdens at Porthleven, Slades at Fowey and Treadwells at Padstow building some of the finest of the Bristol Channel Pilot fleet.

Dave Cockwell and his team are another band of highly respected and talented shipwrights in Cornwall building such magnificent vessels and joins the Gweek Boatyard as a centre for Pilot Cutter excellence.

Gweek is the current spiritual home of Pilot Cutter building in Cornwall with shipwrights Luke Powell and David Walkey actively building and restoring Pilot Cutters. Luke Powell trading as Working Sail has to date built 4 Cutters namely Eve of St Mawes, Lizzie May, Agnes, Hesper and Ezra.
His current project Tallulah is a 44 ft Cutter nearing completion with a launch date early next year.

The Bristol Pilot Cutter Association have a rather snooty view of so called replica cutters but I feel that with the use of traditional materials and the workmanship of the likes of Luke Powell or Dave Cockwell that age is the only difference between the modern and the old cutters sailing today.

Dave Cockwell has always dreamed of building a Pilot Cutter based on the lines of Peggy and Polly Agatha is built in a similar fashion with oak frames and larch planking. There are slight differences with bronze bolts and screws replacing the iron materials used in 1904 and a new deck of marine plywood sheathed in epoxy and glass and then overlaid in teak rather the traditional use of planks and pitch.

The new deck improves the strength and stiffness of hull and provides a more durable and lasting finish in an area on wooden boats often prone to water ingress.

Down below new owners Kim and Trudi Hartley had a major input into the layout and design and specified English Oak throughout. The layout includes a luxurious master cabin with en suite head and shower; forward two berth cabin with two occasional berths and an additional heads.

The main living area has another four berths plus another two occasional berths, a large galley and nav station.

Polly Agatha is one of the new breed of Pilot Cutter maintaining the excellence of the original design in hull shape and sail rig and yet incorporating a modern luxurious interior and utilizing all the modern electronic aids for navigation and living on board.

The boat will be based on the River Hamble and will be available for corporate and private entertaining as well as sail training with a professional skipper and crew. Full details can be found on www.polly-agatha.com.

Polly Agatha was christened in style by Trudi Hartley with the usual bottle of bubbly and then all present were invited to admire the stunning living accommodation below decks and following a splendid buffet in Mylor Yacht Club embark for the first sail.

The workmanship throughout is outstanding and since the formation of the Company in 1996 Cockwells have delivered some outstanding wooden boats. Polly Agatha continues that tradition and yet raises the bar higher for the next vessel out of the Yard.

David Walkey at Gweek is also actively working on Pilot Cutter restoration and repair. In 2004 Marguerite returned to the water after undergoing a major restoration and last year Marian was restored and relaunched to be based locally at Mylor. The last cutter David is currently working on is probably the most famous namely Kindly Light, which has been undergoing a meticulous restoration for several years with a launch date hopefully next year.

No doubt at height of the wooden boat industry in the 18th and 19th centuries many Pilot Cutters were launched every year but over the last few years the Carrick Roads has seen a flurry of activity at least 5 Cutters launched or relaunched.

Design tends to be improved and refined over the years and without a doubt the design of the Scilies or Bristol Pilot Cutter evolved and grew to make become the classic coastal sailing vessel it is today.

You cannot improve upon perfection and I left the Yacht Harbour a bright tinge of green after drooling over Polly Agatha – a modern day classic.

This week I have to start with bouquets all round to those involved with last weekend’s Oyster Festival. It was attended by around 27,000 people and although size and numbers don’t always make for a great event the Festival was superb from Thursday right through to Sunday.

Clarissa Dickson Wright kicked off proceedings with wit, style and aplomb and the event created a wonderful atmosphere throughout Falmouth for the whole weekend. The local Falmouth Community laid on a great party aided by some glorious weather and some very tasty ingredients.

The Skinners and St Austell Brewery Ale and Wine bars supplied the refreshment and Harvey’s and the Falmouth Bay Oyster Company provided the food. Add in a wide range of music from folk to jazz and some extraordinarily talented local chefs demonstrating their culinary flair and you have close to perfection.

The event has been through some ups and downs but in all honesty I believe the organizers will be hard pressed to improve on the 2007 programme and format.

I have often criticized Carrick District Council over various issues in the past but their continued support of this event is to be whole heartedly applauded and I firmly believe that many more visitors will come down for future Festivals.

During my 3 visits to this year’s event I met several visitors from Berkshire and Surrey who had specifically made the trip to attend the Festival. One remarkable couple had between them consumed 7 dozen oysters.

Carrick have always been looking for ways of extending the tourist season and in the Oyster Festival they have struck gold and the District Council deserves a lot of credit for its faith in the event.

The Camra Beer Festival at the Princess Pavilion also provided an additional attraction over the weekend and there was a steady flow of people between the two venues.

The completion of Events Square has also helped give the Festival a firm foundation for 2008 and beyond and it really is not to unrealistic or in the realms of fantasy to suggest a second marquee or stage at the original home of the Festival at Custom House Quay in the near future.

I was that impressed with this year’s event.

The Harbour Race for Working Boats was well supported and Abigail Rose skippered by Norman Bowers won B Class and Leila with Adam Bird on the helm won C Class.

Irene (Robert Northey), Zulu (Kevin Radford) and Edith (Mal Stone) won special prizes for sailing in the their working rig and in the case of Edith even towing an oyster punt.

I must finally salute the efforts of all at Falmouth Bay Oyster Company the team shucked some 20,000 oysters over the weekend.

Could the Oyster Fishery become a growth industry in Falmouth once again?

The Cornwall Offshore Group Series (COGS) held their annual prize giving at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club last Saturday night. This was the 7th annual awards event for COGS and a bit like the Oyster Festival is steadily growing in popularity with local sailors and sailing clubs.

The existing 7 member clubs Fowey Gallants, Helford, Mylor, Penzance, St Mawes, Royal Fowey and Royal Cornwall were joined by Saltash Sailing Club this year and some 50 yachts competed in the 6-race 2007 programme.

Offshore racing I suspect will always take a back seat as an option in comparison to simple local racing around a set course.

The time constraints of first sailing to the race start and then sailing back from the race finish means that offshore racing is only going to have limited appeal.

Nevertheless given the attractiveness of the harbour destinations along our coast I feel more and more local sailors will at least compete in 1 or 2 COGS events per season.

The racing is competitive with an IRC and PY class in each event together with a two-crew class option for those who may prefer to sail short handed or as a couple.

This year regular competitor Tony Stathem from Helford sailing Jacobi his J109 was dominant in the IRC class with another stalwart Damien Bloor and Artful finishing as runners up.

In the PY class new comer Culum Matheson sailing Solent Dolphin took the silverware from Martin Leech and Incite. The two-handed class was won by Noon Hi skippered by Jack Plenty from Silver Harmony and Lyulph Hesling.

Jacobi was also declared the overall Top Yacht of the series to underline Tony and his crew’s achievements this year and a fitting way to mark the end Tony’s involvement with the COGS Committee after 7 years at “the coal face”.

Helford’s Commodore Rob Hewett presided over the prize giving even though the event was hosted by the Royal Cornwall and that to me confirms the friendliness and informality, which makes COGS well worth supporting in 2008.

It is a unique opportunity to race and socialize with members of sailing clubs from Plymouth to Penzance and at the same time fine-tune boat handling and navigational skills in competition.

The third and final RYA ranking event took place at Weymouth last weekend and it brought further success to Andy Walsh and Ed Barney in the Tornado class.

The pair went into the weekend tied on points with the other two leading UK Tornado crews McMillan/Howden and Wilson/Bulkeley. McMillan was on usher duty at a wedding on the Saturday so Olympic 49’er helm Chris Draper stood in on and showed that there is no substitute for skill winning the opening race of the 6 race 1 discard series.

Andy and Ed finished 2nd in the opening race and went on to win Races 3 and 6. Wilson/Bulkeley also posted 2 wins winning Races 2 and 4 to underline just how competitive the racing is between these 3 crews.

Draper only raced on the Saturday and McMillan returned on Sunday and although not winning another race posted 3-x top 3 finishes to win the regatta by 1 point from Andy and Ed.

Wilson/Bulkeley finished 3rd equal on points with Walsh and Barney but losing out on countback in Race 6, which had been won by the West Country crew.

The change of helmsmen meant however the Draper/McMillan/Howden crew could not win the overall RYA rankings and so victory went to Andy and Ed from Wilson/Bulkeley.

Mylor ‘s Tom Phipps and Marcus Lynch finished 4th overall at the weekend counting 2 podium finishes and finished 4th overall in the final rankings.

Phipps/Lynch and Walsh/Barney now face an anxious couple of weeks as the Olympic Organizing Committee has decreed that for 2012 the sailing events will be reduced by 1from 11 down to 10.

The ISAF will have to make a recommendation on which class gets the chop and there is a distinct possibility it could be the Tornado. Both crews would then have to decide whether to continue their Olympic ambitions and if the Tornado goes in which class?

Ed Powys and Will Morgan continue their learning curve in the 49’er fleet and finished 12th overall counting an 8th as their best result. Ed and Will finished 8th overall in the RYA 49’er rankings behind the Exmouth pairing of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes the current World Champions.

It will be interesting to see how they progress next year given the tough competition in the UK 49’er fleet.

Finally Ben Ainslie made a rare appearance in the Finn class as he prepares for the 2008 Melbourne Finn Gold Cup and a showdown with Ed Wright for the UK Finn berth at the Beijing Olympics.

Ainslie sailed the wrong course in Race 1 on Saturday then won the next 4 races with Wright posting 2 x 2nd places and finishing a disappointing 5th overall.

The overall RYA rankings show youngster Scott Giles in top spot with Wright in 6th spot and Ainslie in 8th but Melbourne will determine who goes to Beijing and you can’t really see anyone mounting a serious challenge to Ben.

He has already won 4 Finn Gold Cups more than any other sailor and I would not bet against him winning number 5 in Australia after almost 12 months absence.

Awesome.

Just to underline the almost constant use the RYA Sailing Academies the Optimist Class returned last weekend to the Weymouth Academy for the End Of Season Regatta.

The Class held their National Championships at the same venue in August and must have been slightly taken aback that a record 338 youngsters decided to make a return visit in October.

The importance of the Weymouth as an Olympic venue and of course the quality of Junior Sailing in the UK is attracting the interest and active participation of other countries and 6 other nations were represented at Weymouth including Ireland, France and the Netherlands.

Indeed it was a youngster from the Netherlands Jolbert Van Dizk who mastered the light conditions best to win the 5 race 1 discard series.

After a 27th in race 1, 4 wins proved unassailable with Restronguet youngster David Grant providing the strongest Cornish challenger finishing 4th overall and just missing out on 3rd place on countback.

Restronguet sailors as usual performed brilliantly with Christian Townrow maintaining his season long good form by finishing 13th and Jack Martin scoring his first top 20 finish at a National event by finishing 17th.

All the Cornish youngsters finished in the top half of the Main fleet with Robert Dyer finishing 80th, William Wilson 111th and Joe Burford 127th.

William Wilson aged 10 was one of the youngest sailors in the Main Fleet with the majority of the competitors having at least a 2 if not 3 year advantage in physical development and experience over the Cornish lad.

The results mean that David Grant, Christian Townrow and Jack Martin have all been selected for the National Optimist Squad for 2007/8 Winter training with a view to represent Team GBR at the Optimist Worlds and Europeans in 2008 after the Spring Qualifiers.

All sport these days is ultra competitive and having recently written about how impressed I was with the GBR Olympic Squad at the Sail for Gold Regatta at Weymouth last month you do wonder at what cost.

There is a price to pay at any level and in Optimist sailing that means David, Christian and Jack have to report to a Fitness Assessment Day at Chichester University on the 3rd November presumably to be started on a health and fitness regime.

No more donuts or Kelly’s at when you are 13/14 does seem a trifle harsh but our Olympic nominees for Beijing in the 470 Class Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield went on a crash diet after completing in a windy World Championships in Portugal in July to a windless Olympic Test event in China in August. The pair lost over 6 kilos on already lean fit bodies.

To start so young on training regime does seem like a loss of childhood and growing up with artificial constraints and yet it is noticeable how the nation’s mood and well being has improved in parallel to the exploits of the English Rugby Team over the past two weeks.

If we want sporting success on whatever the playing field then the inescapable truth is that the key is starting young whatever the sport.

My only plea and I am sure every parent would agree is that the youngster must have fun in the process.

After the Fitness Assessment Weekend the National Optimist Squad is at Plymouth over the weekend of the 18th and 19th November for their first training session.

The J24 Fleet visited the Royal Western Yacht Club for the annual Autumn Cup and more precious points for the World Championships in Italy next year.

A 14-boat fleet contested the event with 9 visitors joining the Plymouth regulars for a 7 race 1 discard series held over the weekend of the 6th/7th October.

Conditions were again light for both days with shifts and holes across the Sound making sailing tricky and testing for all competitors.

Up country visitor Rumble skippered by Mike Lewis started slowly but gradually found his form and won the last 3 races on Sunday to make off with the silverware.

Both Cornish boats Roger Rabbit (Gary Denning) and Joya (Paul Toms) had their moments and both won a race on the Saturday to look to mount a serious challenge.

Fowey Skipper Paul Toms can be more pleased with the final result finishing 3rd overall but the Falmouth crew on Roger Rabbit will be disappointed to drop down to 5th overall having been in 2nd place overnight.

It would seem they like a bit of breeze in Falmouth!

Both crews are well placed to qualify for Italy and I suppose the question then will be whether they can afford the trip to Sicily?

Gul has been a successful Cornish watersports company ever since I began writing this column some 10 years ago.

It is astonishing to consider that Dennis Cross founded the Company back in 1967 some 40 years ago as a result of him wishing to carry on surfing at Fistral during the winter months.

Using rubber more suitable for the manufacture of gaskets Dennis and his wife Rose started making 2 piece wet suits and demand grew and Gul came to life.

There have been ups and downs over the last 40 years and sadly wet suits are no longer made in Cornwall but the Company remains staunchly proud of its Cornish roots and continues to be a major player in the water garments industry.

It has continued to have a large slice of the surfing wet suit market but has expanded into sailing waterproofs etc and of course into lifestyle/leisure wear following a trend set by many Australian/American wet suit companies.

Gul has four shops in the South West at Falmouth, Newquay, St Ives and Truro with one outlet at Portsmouth somewhat an outcast as the only store outside the Duchy.

Today marks a major expansion as the Company opens its first outlet in Devon with a new shop at Drakes Circus in Plymouth. The store opens at 10.00 am and there will be a reception in the evening starting at 6.00 pm with live music and drinks.

Gul is one of the major sponsors of the British Olympic Sailing Squad and the Team is fully kitted out by the Company.

Exmouth’s Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes the Team GBR nominated 49’er skiff sailors for Beijing and the current 49’er World Champions will attend the evening reception.

I understand that after Plymouth the next target is a shop in London and it is quiet something for any Cornish enterprise to start in the back of a VW Camper and end up in Oxford Street.

I wish Mike Pickering and his team at Gul every success.

Sadly I can’t make the Plymouth opening as I will be at the Falmouth Oyster Festival, which promises to be a great weekend and starts at 11.30 am on Thursday and concludes on Sunday at 4.00 pm.

The 11th annual Falmouth Oyster Festival takes place next week with Celebrity Chef Clarissa Dickson Wright joining a very select list of top quality chefs to open proceedings on Thursday 18th October.

Previous distinguished operators in the culinary arts to grace the event include Rick Stein, Aldo Zilli, Antonio Carluccio and my personal favourite to date Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall but Clarissa’s appearance is the first for the fairer sex.

I believe this does raise issues as to why celebrity chefs appear to be predominantly male and equally refute the long held view that men are useless in the kitchen.

I digress as the organizers have excelled themselves by compiling a superb package of fun and entertainment for all the family over the 4-day Festival.

Thursday’s programme includes cookery demonstrations, live music, food stalls, arts and craft stalls and of course oysters washed down either fine wines from Walter Hicks or fine ales from Steve Skinner.

On Friday the mix is much of the same but with a new feature in the evening will be a Ready, Steady Cook Competition between Nick Hodges (Lusty Glaze) and Arty Williams (The Cove) operating in Port and Starboard Kitchens with the audience voting on the best meal prepared by the two chefs.

Music again will be slotted in throughout the day with a mixture of styles to suit all tastes.

The Oyster Parade from the Moor to Events Square will be a lunchtime highlight on Saturday but other attractions include an Oyster shucking contest in the afternoon and an evening spent in the company of Tom Cunliffe and Claudia Myatt.

Cunliffe for those who have yet to meet the man is a hero of mine as a superb yachtsman, journalist and broadcaster. He has written countless books on sailing and has probably forgotten more than I have ever known on the subject.

A giant of a man in sailing circles and not just in stature if I was ever in a small boat at sea in a force 12 I would like Tom to be at my side.

Claudia is equally well known as marine illustrator and author and between them both it promises to be a highly entertaining and enjoyable evening.

This year the Marquee will be open until 11.00 pm on both Friday and Saturday and fish suppers will be available on the Saturday night after the entertainment.

I should add that the 30th Falmouth Beer Festival is being held at the Princess Pavilion on Friday and Saturday and Falmouth are playing Truro at rugby at the Recreation Ground on Saturday afternoon (KO 3.00 pm)

The atmosphere in the Town will be very special all weekend and really a must visit destination for everyone at some point during Festivals.

The Oyster Festival finishes on the Sunday with the Falmouth Working Boats Inner Harbour Race taking place at 11.00 am with prize giving and shanty singing with the Falmouth Shout in the Marquee in the afternoon.

The Maritime Museum is as ever a generous and active supporter of the Festival and throughout the weekend there are activities for the family taking place in the main Museum buildings likewise some of the active Oyster Dredgers will be along side the Museum pontoons.

All the ingredients are in place to make the 11th Festival the best yet.

I recently attended the Sail for Gold Regatta at Weymouth and met up with Peter Walsh proud father of Andy Walsh and commiserated with him over Andy and Ed Barney’s narrow failure to gain selection for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Tornado Class.

Peter confirmed that Andy and Ed would continue in the Tornado class and try to qualify for 2012 and also go to China next year as training partners for the chosen British crew Leigh McMillan and Will Howden.

At the Sail for Gold Regatta Andy and Ed finished 3rd behind their closest rivals over the last 3 years Rob Wilson/Mark Bulkeley and McMillan/Howden.

Going into the Medal Race Andy and Ed were 2nd but dropped a place to Wilson/Bulkeley after being covered throughout by the eventual winners McMillan/Howden.

The boys must be gutted because at long last they have discovered some boat speed and starting to challenge both their rivals.

A month ago Andy and Ed were crowned Tornado National Champions and last weekend the pair dominated the 2nd Round of the RYA Ranking Series.
Both rival crews were present but in posting 4 wins and a 2nd in the 6 race 1 discard series the pair could afford to sit out the last race.

Wilson/Bulkeley pushed the 2008 Olympic nominated crew McMillan/Howden back into to 3rd place to leave all 3 crews tied on 4 points going into the final round of Ranking Series due to be held at Weymouth next weekend 20/21 October.

It would be ironic if Andy and Ed found themselves above McMillan/Howden in the RYA Ranking Ladder and yet not going to China.

Meanwhile Restronguet’s Tom Phipps and Marcus Lynch are steadily emerging as the best of the next generation of Tornado sailors finishing 4th last weekend. It is obviously early days for this new combination but with Weymouth 2012 as their target they have 4 years to hone their skills.

In the 49’er Class Ed Powys and Will Morgan having repaired their rig after its failure at the Sail for Gold Regatta finished 10th overall.