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Foot Trophy 2004

Eleven 3 boat Firefly teams gathered at the Welsh Harp on the weekend of 30th/31st October for the Foot Trophy which is run by Castaways under the burgee of the University of London Sailing Club. The storms of midweek had given way to much gentler weather, and there was even plenty of warm sunshine. The clement conditions allowed a full programme of 86 races which included a round-robin, followed by gold and silver leagues, then finals for the top four teams and an all-in race for the Gnurns Trophy for the others. Good practice for those aspiring to represent UK in the team racing Worlds next year!

Most of the round-robin was sailed on Saturday in a light and shifty East to North-East wind. It soon became apparent that four teams – Spinnaker All Stars, Royal Thames, ‘F Club’ and West Kirby - were going to dominate the event and they produced some close and tactical (and noisy) racing. In this round, All Stars were unbeaten and the others had one, two and three losses respectively.

Sunday produced a better North-Easterly breeze, and in the gold league the top four were joined by Tamesis and Southampton University. This time it was West Kirby who dominated followed by All Stars, ‘F Club’ and Royal Thames. The silver league was won by Castaways with University of London second.

The final was best of three races and All Stars were convincing winners over West Kirby. The play-off for 3rd place was a dogfight which was eventually won 2-1 by ‘F Club’, leaving Royal Thames in 4th place.

Meanwhile, the other competitors had an all-in race over a longer course for the Gnurns Trophy and this was won by Tamesis with 3nd, 4rd and 5th places.

Other competing teams were two from Sevenoaks School, and the Spinnaker juniors.

Overall Results:

1st Spinnaker All Stars:

Steve Tylecote/Sally Wilson, Dave Ellis/Damion Boreham and Nigel Wakefield/Emily Saunders

2nd West Kirby:

Andy Bryson/Wendy Carlin, Paul Kameen/Katie Parry, Jonny Cross/Laura Smith

3rd ‘F Club’:

Jono Pank/Amy Morris, Roger Morris/Sally Wakefield, Ben Vines/Liz Neeve

8 November 2004

Castaways members shine offshore

Cathy Claydon took delivery of a new boat this year and promptly gained second place in the Junior Offshore Group's Solent Race in late March and won the JOG Cherbourg Race a week later. With a win in the Weymouth Race in June and good results throughout the season, Cathy and her crew on Arcsine were placed second overall in the big boat division of JOG's Category 4 (Coastal) series. Natalie Jobling and Tom Hayhoe won this division in the JOG Nab Tower race early in the season and led for much of the Weymouth Race before retiring after a crew mutiny when the wind died completely off St Albans Head. The other highlights in Natalie and Tom's season were winning the Prima 38 class in the Round the Island Race and a second place in IRC 1 in the Royal Ocean Racing Club Ouistreham Race in last August.

8 November 2004

Annual Dinner

The Annual Dinner was held at the Ranelagh Sailing Club on Saturday 17th January 2004, and was attended by 60 members and guests. It was a great success, and thanks are due to our Rear Commodore (Chris Downham) who organised it and to Chris Edwards and Tom Hayhoe who manned the bar.

The 'Foot' (Ricky Walters) introduced our guest speaker - Rod Carr, who is Chief Executive of the RYA.

Ranelagh is booked again for next year - on Saturday 15th January.

18 January 2004

Foot Trophy 2003

In the second consecutive weekend of firefly racing on the Harp, eleven teams brought their boats to ULSC for the Foot Trophy over the weekend of the 25^th of October. Conditions on both days were nearly perfect with sunshine and a westerly force 2-3 to play with. A round robin was started, and by the end of the first day New Forest Pirates were top of the tables dropping only one place (i.e. a 1,2,4 not a 1,2,3) all day! Other strong teams included Royal Thames, The Band, and West Kirby, while two teams from University of London fought it out with Tamesis, London Corinthian and hosts Castaways to be top London team. Sevenoaks school fielded two teams who were as usual capable of showing up the opposition. 33 Fireflies all racing in one corner of the lake was quite a sight, and as usual members of the public stopped by to watch boats twisting and turning just a few feet from the shore. They were probably on the assumption that everybody knew what they were doing and they were partly right, a Castaways boat crewed by Chris Downham and Simon Cowdell being the only competitors to run hard aground against the trees today.

The Social was held in the Ship Inn in Wandsworth, with some of the younger Castaways heading instead for the Union on Malet Street to relive the good old days. By Sunday lunchtime the hangovers had worn off, everybody had sailed everybody else, and the teams were seeded for the next round. The top 6 teams competed for the Foot trophy while the bottom 5 fought it out for the Gnurns, the best-of-the-rest prize which consists of a locked wooden box which rattles suggestively. This prize makes a welcome return this year after a period in the Spolton residence. The Castaways team of Simon Spolton, Amy Stanford, Suzie, Matt Addison, Al Morley Chris Guy, Simon Cowdell and Chris Downham were in the silver league and were beaten in a very close race by a squad from Tamesis, who will hopefully bring the Gnurns back with them next year. Tamesis were represented by Will, Robert and Arthur Henderson, Jeremy and Ben and Jenny Vines, James Fox and Iona.

Competition was tight in the gold league too, and the team of umpires seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the competitors. The banks of the Welsh harp were swelled with spectators for the final between Royal Thames (Captain Andy Cornah, Hamish Walker, Paul Campbell-James, Orwin Murray, Tom Hebbert and Toni Corlett) and New Forest Pirates (Captain Stuart Hudson, Lucie Buck, Dom Johnson, Debs Kershaw, Owen Modrul and Jane Stamp). Pirates finished the job in 2 races to take the Foot trophy home with them to the Spinnaker club.

Thanks were given in the prizegiving to organisers and helpers from Castaways and their friends. The list includes (but is probably not limited to) Dave Law, Jeremy Vines, Mandy Henderson (on the shore) Nick Martin (PRO) Caroline Martin (on the start boat), Amanda Hebbert, Stephen Males, Tom Hayhoe and Natalie Jobling (in the finish hut), with Christine Law, Georgie Kruip, Natalie Jobling, Jenny and Fiona McLeod, Peter and Jane Law, Mary Henderson and Imogen from UL doing a splendid job in the kitchen. Alan Guy set the course with his characteristically slick execution, and the excellent team of umpires was Ricky Waters, Bruce Hebbert, Bill Brockbank, Hugh Wylam, Peter Price, Penny Carter and Martin Smethers.

6 November 2003

Castaways Cup

You may recall that the Castaways Cup was held this year on a Wednesday afternoon in mid-May. The format was random pairs, and we had eight boats, a sunny day and a really successful event. However, it was exam time and attendance was small, and it was felt that a random pairs event might be more useful as part of the UL startup activites in October.

Thus it was that Castaways Cup was raced for again on Saturday 19th October. Jeremy Vines was Race Officer, ably assisted by Sarah Richards, Dave Law was beachmaster/marklayer and Bill Brockbank kindly came along as umpire.

Once again, the weather was ideal. The wind blew a warmish 10-15 from the East and the sun shone almost all day. An 'S' type course provided for start and finish at the committee boat.

UL had invited Castaways to make up numbers, and eventually 8 boats (including F.T.S.E.) took to the water. We had two individual warm-up races, and then seven flights of random pairs. We also had a late lunch break because Simon Cowdell had thoughtfully brought a portable TV and we were able to watch the second half of the England/Springboks match.

The Cup was won by Castaways Andy Palmer-Felgate and Alastair Morley. Second were Nick Phillips (fair) and Greg Garcia. Third were Nick Phillips (dark) and Kate Marshall. Strange we should have two Nick Phillips, but luckily they don't look alike. Other Castaways taking part were Matt Addison, Chris Guy and Simon Cowdell.

All in all a very enjoyable day - but did it achieve its aim of helping with UL start-up activities? I hardly think so because of the small entry which included only one fresher. None of the UL first team was there - but this was maybe because they had only recently arrived back from the BUSA America tour.

Thus, I don't think we have yet found where Castaways Cup best fits into the UL callender.

On the bright side, we came away with 3 completed Castaway applications - including Anneka Smith who is an expert Laser Radial sailor and now second year at IC.

29 October 2003

Fastnet Race

Four Castaways boats were entered in this year's Fastnet Race, which started from Cowes on the morning of Sunday 10th August. With high pressures settled over the British Isles the big challenges were avoiding getting becalmed and resolving which crew member would be eaten first when the food ran out. The two best performers were both 2 handed entries - facing a 50% probability of being eaten rather than the 10% in a boat with ten crew must have focused their minds on getting home in good time.

The star Castaways result was delivered by Cathy Claydon sailing the smallest boat in the 245 strong fleet. Hurrying Angel, her Contessa 32, stormed home in the small hours of Saturday morning in the stiff north easterly that piped up after most of the fleet had finished, winning the 2 handed division overall and taking 6th place in IRC3.

The other three boats were entered formally as a Castways team - Tom Hayhoe and Natalie Jobling's Prima 38, Mostly Harmless, in IRC 1; and Dave Derby racing the Elan 40, Flair IV, and Simon Curwen racing two handed in his J105, Voador, in IRC 2.

18 August 2003

Burghfield 10 Hour Race

A Castways team entered the Burghfield 10 Hour Race on Saturday 5th July - and cleaned up. Sailing a National 12 in light airs, Caroline Martin crewed by Arhur Henderson (combined weight 13½ stone) and Will Henderson crewed by Robert Henderson (combined weight 16 stone) were unstoppable, while Tom Hayhoe and Natalie Jobling (combined weight not disclosed) who had taken the weekend off from big boat sailing avoided disgrace.

6 July 2003

Wilson Trophy 2003

The Castaways team for the 54th annual Wilson Trophy (the Brtish Open TeamRacing Championship) consisted of Andy Palmer-Felgate (Captain) crewed by Simon Cowdell, Chris Guy crewed by Nicola Attwood and Sam Barron-Fox crewed by Sally Wilson. Sam, who won BUSA for London in 1999 travelled over from New York to complete one of the strongest teams fielded by Castaways in recent years.

The event began with a perfect force 2 breeze and sunshine, with all of the36 fireflies owned by WKSC prepared for their one and only outing of the year. A new format for the event, the Swiss league, ensured that the racing was always close by sailing off teams with similar scores, and the race order was therefore continually updated as the results came in. Castaways managed to win two of their first three races, thus landing themselves difficult matches against Southampton Uni and Wessex Exiles (which were both lost), but made a come back to finish the first day all square on four wins and four losses.

Sunday's racing began in light airs which increased steadily to a force 5. A tight race ensued at the windiest part of the day against the Oxfordand Cambridge Sailing Society. Castaways approached the first mark in 1,2 and 5, but were converted back to 1,4, 5. Some sketchy gybing by the Society landed them in the marine lake and left Castaways with the job of just staying upright - which luckily they managed!

Finishing the weekend with a win against West Kirby Second Team left a seven wins and seven losses score line, and tied for 14th place overall.

Once the tie break was resolved Castaways were 19th overall out of 32 teams, and ahead of 2001 winners West Kirby. The Event was won by the New Forest Pirates from Spinnaker Club who fended off four of the top US teams including the recent World Champions.

17 Junes 2003

Castaways Cup

The Castaways Cup, a very handsome trophy, and now 49 years old, has been revived by Castaways as a random pairs two-a-side team racing event for London University students. Eight teams took time off from exam revision on Wednesday afternoon 14th May to enter this event, using Fireflies belonging to UL and IC.

The weather was perfect - sunshine and around 10 knots of wind from the North West. The course was a modified 'S' to allow the start boat to double as finish boat, and the umpire was Martin Smethers.

Fourteen races produced a lot of good tactical sailing, and resulted in a two-way tie for first place, and a four-way tie for second. These ties were broken by countback in favour of 1st Chris Martin and Rachel Harrison, 2nd Jim Eynon and Hannah Wickerson and 3rd Phil Sharp and Alex Lassoued.

Afterwards, there was a mini-social with the menu a la McD, and everyone went home happy. It may be that we will continue to use this random pairs format, but possibly during the Autumn term.

Castaways present were Dave and Chris Law, Mandy Henderson (Beachmaster), Jane Curwen (start boat), Jeremy Vines (Race Officer) and Chris Downham.

Tamesis Team Racing

Tamesis Club took on the Castaways at home for an unusual "friendly" match at Teddington on Sunday, April 27th. It was sailed both in National 18s and Fireflies, and for the Firefly teams it was valuable practice for West Kirby's Wilson Trophy on May 10th and 11th.

The sun shone, there was a fresh breeze and the racing was watched by quite a crowd of spectators, including a magnificent pair of Egyptian geese with their 4 tiny goslings. The course was two rounds of a figure of eight and a total of eight races was completed. Ricky Walters was Race Officer.

The Tamesis helms, Will Henderson, Jon Redding and Ed Smith were dominant in the Fireflies, winning all four races, though races three and four were close.

It was matchracing, three up, in the 18s with Jeremy Vines and Dave Law alternating as helms for Castaways, and Ian Burnett and Jo McLaughlin for Tamesis. Castaways prevailed 3 - 1.

It was thirsty work and the crates of Budweiser, generously donated as prizes (via Chris Guy) were quickly consumed by both teams.

For the Wilson Trophy, Tamesis helms will be Will Henderson, Jon Redding and Charles Stanley and for the Castaways the helms will be Chris Guy, Sam Barron Fox and Andy Palmer Felgate.

Castaways competing or spectating

included:

Dave & Chris Law

Jonathon and Rose Clark

Will & Mandy Henderson

Andy Palmer-Felgate

Chris Guy

Nicola Attwood

Simon Cowdell

Robert Baserfield

Matt Addison

Jeremy Vines

29th April 2003

AGM 2002

The Annual General Meeting took place on 28th November and, for the first time in living memory, was quorate which means that we will need an excuse other than ratifying the AGM minutes in order to uphold the tradition of always holding an Extraordinary General Meeting at the annual dinner.

Officers and committee were elected for 2003: Dave Law (Commodore); Andy Palmer-Felgate (Vice Commodore); Chris Downham (Rear Commodore); Jeremy Vines (Secretary); Alastair Morley (Treasurer); Simon Cowdell (Bosun); Foot (Jeremy Gardner); Footprint (Mandy Henderson); Auditors (Ian Robson and Patrick Gifford), Committee (Nick Martin).

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