27 miles, 50 sailors, 12 boats and at least one big hole in the wind

Published 12:38 on 18 May 2015

On Sunday the scheduled Cimbri Trophy was postponed owing to the forecast of the wind dropping in the afternoon, which would have made for a challenging race against the tide both ways! However a new course was set which allowed those competing to get some practice in for the upcoming Shambles Trophy.The race committee set a square line for the average wind direction of 195¬ and with the wind flicking either side of the average by 5¬ the choice of end at the start of the race was down to the sailors. Rocket lived up to their name with an amazing start, leaving the rest of the fleet floundering on their heels a little. A beat up to T saw the middle to left of the beat pay. A port rounding sent the fleet off to East Shambles(S). Another beat to S meant that the boats that stayed to the right of the course nearer Portland benefited from the 3 knot cross tide as they approached East Shambles.As the fleet approached S, with Arcsine in the lead, the wind inevitably started to drop making it very tricky to judge a lay line for the mark. Portland Bill was shrouded in low cloud, and 3 knots of tide and a steadily decreasing wind made the sound of the East Shambles bell an equally welcoming and eerie sound. As mentioned earlier Arcsine rounded first followed by Foxed 2, Saskia VII and Jammy Dodger. At this point I have to mention Saskia's spinnaker hoist - amazing! Hoisting as they bore away, as soon as the halyard reached the top of the mast the kite was filling and pulling the team away from East Shambles and down to Arish Mell. Suspicion had the best judged lay line, perfectly rounding the mark with a foot or so to spare.A close reach down to Arish Mell with 3 knots of tide behind them saw the fleet disappear into the murk. A little while later.....Sitting in the clubhouse waiting to see the first of the fleet to cross the harbour and finish at Q we could see that the wind had dropped off in the bay and all predictions of a finish time had gone well and truly out the window. When we last saw the fleet, Arcsine had a healthy lead over Foxed, Saskia and the rest of the fleet, we figured something must have happened, as now Saskia was hunting Arcsine's transom on the finish line. As we found out afterwards, talking to the sailors, as the wind dropped holes appeared in the wind and strategy became even more important. Foxed, it seems, were the biggest losers falling into a big hole in the wind and could only watch on as the likes of Farr Out and Jammy Dodger sailed around the hole and straight past them. Apparently, the mutterings under the breath on Foxed could be heard from a distance....'darn it'! But the wind finally filled back in, the sun came out and boats had a spinnaker reach to the finish.It was a very good long distance race incorporating everything - wind, no wind, tides, strategy, tactics and patience.All the teams that competed did very well to react and make the most of the changeable conditions but a special mention goes to Steve Bowerman and team on The General who we haven't seen on the race course for a while - good to see you out there again Steve!The postponed Cimbri Trophy will hopefully be run at the end of the month and we hope to see you all out there for this race around an iconic landmark.See you on the water.

Last updated 15:13 on 28 July 2025