South West Sailing

It is very easy to write about a subject you enjoy, as the words tend to flow quiet easily if the topic is of interest. Sailing in Falmouth is very special as the sailing waters are exceptional with little commercial traffic and thanks to the efforts of South West Water and their long suffering bill payers fairly clean.

You could say however that clean water and good sailing waters can be found else where in the UK and I would be forced to agree but add in interesting local sailing fleets, shipyards of all shapes and sizes and a geographical location that continues to bring a vast array of visitors and you have a unique mix unrivalled anywhere in the world.

Last Wednesday it was the turn of the Working Boat fleet to take centre stage with the Silver Oyster Race to celebrate an historic legal victory for the oystermen over the Fishery regulators in 1901.

Mylor Yacht Club was the venue for the 31st SOR and it was a very special event as always a gathering of friends both old and new and a chance to forget “credit crunches” and poor fishing returns and savour friendship and camaraderie in a glorious waterside location overlooking the oyster fishery.

As luck would have it the weather was sunny and cold with a northerly force 3-4 in attendance giving the combined fleets of licensed and unlicensed working boats a delightful sail across the oyster beds to Messack, St Just and back to Mylor.

After a couple of turns around the course the fleets adjourned ashore for a pasty and a pint at the Clubhouse. New Chairman of POFSA Steve Nicholls was the Race Officer and Master of Ceremonies ashore and Sue Treneer presented the trophies.

In Class C for unlicensed boats Sapphire (Chris Simmonds) finished 1st with Muriel (Steve Miles) in 2nd place whilst in B Class Moon (Pat Selman) took the gun from Irene (Robert Northey) and Agnes (Robin Snelson).

In the Licensed fleets Dolly (Barry Prynn) won C Class from Girl Sarah (Adam Davies/Timmie Bailey) and in B Class the Silver Oyster went to Chris Ranger on board Alf Smythers from Ian Shield and the Molly.

Molly in fact had taken the gun but Ian confessed to as yet not having commenced dredging so retired and surrendered the beautiful Silver Oyster trophy to the Alf Smythers crew.

All in all a brilliant event organized by Mylor Yacht Club, which demonstrates all the strengths that sailing has to offer in Falmouth and no doubt Steve Nicholls will as the new chairman of POFSA seek to reaffirm in Falmouth Week 2009.

Events like the SOR make our regattas so different to the average fare on offer around the country. Falmouth Week should not mirror other events but celebrate what makes it different - every day a new Sailing Club and a new start line offering the best estuary sailing anywhere in the UK.

The 49’er fleet gathered at Grafham Water last weekend for the Inland Championship and some 24 boats assembled for a seven-race one-discard regatta.

On Saturday 4 races were completed in cold blustery conditions with the wind gradually increasing throughout the programme to reach 30 knots in some gusts.

Truro’s Andy Walsh having been forced to abandon an Olympic Tornado campaign after the Class was dropped from the 2012 Olympics has started to find his form in the 49’er. As a skiff it is notoriously difficult to sail as any mistake means a capsize and as wind strength increases its ability to stay upright diminishes. Anything over 25 knots and the fleet normally retire ashore as breakages start to mount.

Walsh with crewman Simon Marks posted 2 x 4th an 8th and a 9th to be well placed overnight despite the testing conditions. The wind lightened on Sunday and Andy and Simon posted a 2nd and win to steadily move up the overall standings to finish 4th overall.

Restronguet’s Ed Powys crewed for UK Olympic sailor Simon Hiscocks and the pair finished 12th overall.

The UK is blessed with strength in depth in nearly every Olympic class and the 49’er is no exception so it will be interesting to see how Andy Walsh progresses in the fleet next year assuming he remains committed to Olympic sailing and the Tornado fails to be reinstated for 2012.

The ISAF are meeting in Madrid as I write this article and despite the efforts of Mylor’s Brian Phipps who is in Spain seeking to get the Tornado back in the Olympics it would appear a done deal that there will be no catamarans in the Games for the foreseeable future.

30 intrepid sailors set off at Sunday lunchtime for the start of the 6th edition of the Vendee Globe. This really is the Everest of the Seas with 41 of the 60 sailors who have sailed around the world non-stop achieving the feat whilst competing in the Vendee.

It promises to be a really exciting event with thrills and spills guaranteed as 30 of the worlds finest sailors do battle for victory in the toughest race in any sport in the world.

Some 36 hours into the event and a vicious Biscay storm with massive seas and a 50-knot breeze has already taken its toll with 7 skippers returning to Les Sables d’Olonne for repairs.

Notable returnees include race favourites Bernard Stamm and Michel Desjoyeaux but also sadly Alex Thomson the UK sailor who was already handicapped by suffering a severe crash just prior to the event and having to instigate rush repairs just to make the start line. A large crack has appeared in the hull of his Open 60 Hugo Boss and it would appear the crash damage was more substantial that first thought and could mean the end of his dream after barely 24 hours serious racing.

A novel rule in the Vendee means that the start line is open for 10 days after the official start so in theory any returnee could re-start with Wednesday 19th November being the cut off date.

Stamm and Desjoyeaux have already returned to the fray but 24 hours in arrears may even in a 3-month yacht race just be too great a margin to catch up.

Given their abilities it would be foolish to write off their chances just yet but some informed observers believe the leaders in the fleet could well finish within hours of each other and that after 26,000 miles of racing and some 80 odd days at sea.

Currently three Frenchmen Jean Pierre Dick, Roland Jourdain and Loick Peyron are disputing the lead with Mike Golding some 40 miles in arrears the best placed Brit in 10th place.

It should compulsive viewing over the next few months as good as any TV drama and the ultimate reality TV show but for real. I wish fair winds and a safe return for all the fleet. Catch all the action on the official website www.vendeeglobe.org which is full of excellent content about all aspects of the race.

It is a source of bitterness for me that the proposals to redevelop the Watersports Centre into a sailing academy some 8/9 years ago failed to get off the ground. Many would say get over it – it is history move on but in writing about sailing on a weekly basis I am continually struck by that lost opportunity.

I was with the RYA at their office in the Hamble last week and in discussing the build up to Weymouth in 2012 there are several major sailing events in the pipeline and all involve using the facilities of the RYA Sailing Academies built around 2000.

Falmouth was the only one of 7 such academies not built and I believe it is a tragedy of almost epic proportions that local politics prevented the Watersports Centre becoming a major UK regatta venue.

The International Laser Association the ruling body of the Laser Class based in Falmouth has brought the 2010 Laser World Championships to the UK for the first time in since 1988.

In 1988 the Standard Rig event was based in Falmouth and attracted 88 entries come 2010 numbers for the Standard Rig fleet will probably be around 150 plus and for the Radial Rig around 250. Add on the 4.7 Rig and in all probability some 500 Laser sailors plus families, friends and coaches will be visiting the UK.

It will be too big an event to stage in one location and so has been split in two with the Largs and the Hayling Isle sailing academies hosting the various fleets. You cannot blame the ILA for ignoring Falmouth as quiet simply the facilities ashore are not up to hosting such major events.

Falmouth is however the 3rd largest natural harbour in the world and is such an asset it is almost criminal that the RDA and Government Agencies do not focus more resources on utilizing its potential.

I happily concede that the Funchal 500 surprised and exceeded my expectations this year but only serves to underline the opportunities we continue to miss out on for the lack of shore side facilities.

The continuing development of the University of Cornwall is a golden opportunity to incorporate a waterside students union facility to include a water sports academy encompassing sports such as diving, water skiing, jet skis, canoeing and of course sailing.

Add into the mix some adjoining student accommodation and you have a ready-made event centre for use throughout the summer during the University vacation. It is of course not that simple but it really should be as the logic is overwhelming that we would all benefit from such a development.

This summer has in hindsight been a disaster for our tourism industry and a steady flow of sailing events would attract eager competitors whatever the weather.

It is remarkable that through the efforts of our local sailing clubs such as Restronguet, Mounts Bay and the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club we continue to attract quality sailing events every year.

Booked for 2009 at the moment are the International 14 Nationals at Restronguet, the SB3 and Dragon Nationals at the RCYC with Mounts Bay and Looe yet to confirm their championship events.

The demand is there as the sailing waters off our coast are stunning thanks in part the efforts of South West Water and the lack of commercial shipping. In short a perfect play ground in which to host major sailing events.

The creation of the single unitary authority offers another opportunity for the new Council to either create a new post of Maritime Promotions Officer to promote maritime events across the County or persuade the Tourist Board to allocate a member of staff to adopt a similar role.

I firmly believe it is purely a question of vision and it should not be left just to the enthusiasm of one or two volunteer sailing secretaries at our sailing clubs.

Given the current financial situation our local economy is likely to suffer along with the rest of the country and our sailing waters are a neglected asset that could help lift the County out of recession.

This is a subject very dear to my heart and I will continue to push for change in Cornwall as I watch developments at Weymouth and the other sailing academies.

Just to underline the comments above some 10 Cornish sailors made the trip to Carsington Sailing Club near Ashbourne in Derbyshire last weekend to take part in the Laser Inland Championships.

All 3 Rigs were represented although the forecast may have reduced numbers across the board with cold strong winds on both Saturday and Sunday giving many intrepid sailors an early bath.

Five races were held over the 2 days with 3 races on the Saturday and 2 on the Sunday with 1 discard.

In the Radial fleet Jon Emmett from Weir Wood reined supreme winning all 5 races and truly demonstrating his awesome talent as one of the finest Radial sailors in the world.

James Grant from Restronguet proved to be the closest Cornish challenger finishing 12th overall and 5th Junior with Douglas Lloyd Haynes from Newquay finishing 37th and Harry Houlding from Fowey Gallants back in 41st place.

In the Standard fleet Stephen Grant from Restronguet finished 16th overall.

Our best finisher in the Laser 4.7 fleet was Harvey Davies in 5th with David Grant in 7th and Alice Burford in 11th place.

It was a wet and windy venue and I salute all the young sailors and their families for making the long journey up North on such a miserable weekend.

This weekend sees the start of the 6th edition of this incredible round the world yacht race and I wish I could be there to watch the start on Sunday.

Some 30 Open 60s will provide an unforgettable sight with an estimated 300 boat plus spectator fleet. Best hope of the 6 UK sailors should be Mike Golding who finished 3rd in the last event despite losing his keel as he approached the finishing line.

The French have a formidable line up in the fleet and I expect Michel Desjoyeaux the winner in 2002 or Loick Peyron the winner of the 2008 Transat to maintain French domination of the event.

The Transat and Funchal 500 have been excellent events staged here in the West Country but are dwarfed in comparison to the Vendee. The support shown by the Vendee Conseil General  (County) and Les Sables d’Olonnes (Town) French local authorities just show what can be done given the determination and vision.

To date some 300,000 people have visited the Race Village since it opened on the 18th October and this weekend should see the town packed to the rafters.

If you have never visited the event then I would urge you put it on your bucket list and try to catch the finish in February next year. I saw the finish in 2004 and it remains a vivid image in my memory as probably one of the greatest sporting events I have ever witnessed.

It should also be a compulsory visit for any UK race organizer to witness a fully professional organization stage a world-class event.

The attention to detail is extraordinary and you can easily see why the Vendee has eclipsed all the UK single-handed yacht races, which originally pre-dated the French event.

In the words of the Bond theme “Nobody does it better”.