PRESS ARTICLES

'BLACK ADDER' TO COWES AND BACK

The British Classic Yacht Club Regatta - July 2009

In the depths of winter and after several beers, it seemed like a good idea! The British Classic Boat Club had invited West Solent One Design owners to come and play at their Cowes Classics Regatta in July 2009. Somewhat to my surprise, Richard announced that Black Adder was going - whether or not any of the others turned out - and we were going to sail there. By the time we had any second thoughts we had told too many people to be able to back out!

The weather was the critical factor. Sailing a yacht from Mersea to the Isle of Wight is not unusual. However, the difference this time was that Black Adder was built in 1927 and she has very low topsides, no guard rails and no engine, so very limited opportunities for a marina stopover. With the cockpit sole below the waterline, it is not "self-draining", just straight into the bilges. She has full "lying down" headroom, 2 bunks, a single burner cooker and a bucket. Not exactly luxury cruising, but this was an adventure!

Having previously prepared and stocked the boat, Friday 10th July saw Black Adder's passage crew, Richard and Sue Taylor and Howard Hill, assembled at 21.00 at WMYC for a pint before going aboard. With HW at 03.21 we dropped the mooring at 04.50 and set off close reaching for the Spitway. As we passed the wind farm we were in force 2-3 and eating bacon in buns with coffee, watching the sun break through the early clouds - a most pleasant start to the trip.

With the aid of a strong ebb we were through the Spitway and crossed the sands by the Sunk Beacon. Once through Fisherman's Gat the wind slowly increased and backed, so by the time we were passing North Foreland it was quite brisk and bumpy. As we passed Ramsgate some rather nasty rain squalls came in and by 12.00 we were beating towards Dover in Force 5 and rising with horrid seas and the tide turning foul. The decision to put into Dover rather than proceed westward was a no-brainer. As soon as they learned we had no engine, Dover Port Control kindly invited us in through the Eastern Entrance, providing a gap between the ferries and the offer of a tow through the entrance, which we declined. Once through the entrance (very bumpy!) the harbour launch skillfully towed us into the marina and parked us nearby to Mersea friends Jon and Penny (my doctor) French in their Bavaria 41 "Waterlily".

  Black Adder W18 - BCYC Regatta 2009 Beken

On Sunday it blew - all day. However the sun shone and the veranda at the Royal Cinque Ports YC was most pleasant and the beer tasty. We dined well aboard Waterlily that evening on a combined effort meal.

Monday 13th July was my 60th Birthday. Waterlily kindly towed us out through the western Entrance into what was still a nasty chop. It was predictably a beat to Dungeness, but we were then able to fetch close inshore past Rye and Hastings, with the unexpected assistance of a strong back eddy of the tide nearly all the way to Beachy Head. Just off Eastbourne, were delighted to meet up with Peter and Lizzie Clements in Carronade of Tortola, who kindly handed over a birthday bottle of wine. Beachy Head proved a little trying as the wind dropped and we got caught in the backwind under the cliffs. We watched in frustration as other boats turned on their engines and motored out to more breeze. Out came the oars to turn back southeast, creeping out to find the true breeze and head west again. At sunset, dark clouds amassed in the west and soon we were down to 2 reefs and full oilskins. Richard decided not to attempt the Looe Channel in those conditions so we passed outside the Owers with 27 knots of wind over the deck. However as we fetched into the Solent in the approaching dawn the clouds departed and the wind freed us then went light. Once into the Medina it failed us completely within 50 yards of the marina wall so it was quickly out with the oars again to avoid getting swept back into the Solent. 28 hours of sailing excluding the stop at Dover - Not bad for an old girl! (or an old boat! Ed)

Team Black Adder re-assembled in Cowes on Sunday 19th, being Richard (admiral/navigator) and Sue (helmsman) Taylor, son Christopher (foredeck) plus Charlotte Winser and Howard Hill (string pulling and winching). With great generosity Michael and Sam Greville had offered their house in Cowes High Street as our base and we dined with them on the Sunday night after the BCYC Regatta Reception at the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Racing commenced on Monday in what turned out to be the norm for the week - forecast 3-4, got 4-6 - with windward/leeward courses. Tuesday was Ladies Day and the OOD decided to stick with the Class starts as 60 lady helms on a short line at the same time was deemed to be bad for owners' nerves! Black Adder had her best day and finished 2nd in Class and 5th overall beating double Olympic gold medalist Sarah Webb sailing her own boat. Racing on Wednesday was cancelled due to much wind

Thursday was Round the Island. We were sent clockwise from the Squadron Line, starting under spinnaker with the tide making it a "cavalry charge" to the forts. It was a reach down to Bembridge Ledge and then a long foul tide beat to St. Catherine's Point. Cross tacking with Foglio we discovered that some south coasters can't tell their port from starboard which, after hailing him loudly 3 times, meant an emergency crash tack for Black Adder and some rather terse comments. During the close fetch with the tide to the Needles the wind rose to force 6 and, now against the tide, produced some big seas. Black Adder' soldiered on, not always over the waves! In the very confused seas at the Needles we decided to tack round rather than gybe. Not a good idea! Some slack in the main sheet wrapped around a block and the horse, and the end of the genoa leech line "tied" itself to a stay, causing Black Adder to broach rapidly towards the rocks.

Black Adder rounds the Needles - Beken

We recovered ourselves but the excitement didn't finish there. After a couple of wild gybes we spotted that the port top spreader had sheared off. Immediately, the main was dropped to the 2nd reef to bring the head safely below the top spreaders. We could no longer race competitively, but we still had to get back to Cowes. At one point we were making 7 knots through the water but only 1½ knots over the ground. Despite the problems, we still managed to be 20th out of the 44 boats to finish.

With assistance from a kind local friend, we had managed to arrange for a new spreader to be made overnight, which Chris fitted before we left the marina, so we just made the line at our 10 minute gun for the final inshore race on Friday. It was blowing hard again and we were shipping it green, so by the final windward mark Richard was up to his knees in water IN THE CABIN despite much pumping and bucketing. By the time the sea was mostly evicted from the boat there was only another 100 yards to go before the finish and we was knackered so no spinnaker!

We felt that the old girl had given a good account of herself. Despite being almost the oldest and one of the smallest there, we were 4th in Class on the inshore races, as well as having given some entertainment as we successfully sailed in and out of the Cowes Yachthaven Marina nearly almost every time to receive plaudits from some of the others!

Saturday, 25th July - the Return - After loading Howard on to the Red Jet with all our couth gear to drive home, Black Adder left Cowes at 14.00. We took the Looe Channel against the tide in the hope of catching the tidal "conveyor belt" all the way round the coast. Perversely, the wind went light during the night so the strategy failed. However the night watch was offered the extra interest of sailing through the navlights of the RORC Channel Race fleet heading slowly back to Cowes.

Fortunately the wind picked up from the South as the tide turned off Dover. To cheat the foul tide we cut in through Pegwell Bay, popping out at Ramsgate into the new Northerly tide to round North Foreland, by which time the wind had increased to its now normal 4-5 and we were back to reefs again. We were pooped twice on the uncomfortable passage across Margate Roads and towards Fisherman's Gat, but we consoled ourselves with the thought we would be broad reaching home from the Sunk Beacon.

Wrong!. The wind veered progressively so we suffered a nasty beat up the Swin into a strong foul tide. This was made rather more tricky when, with the sound like a very large zip opening, the lashings on the top 20ft of the main luff sliders parted. Sailing with a "loose luffed" main was interesting …. It can be done, but we'd rather not repeat it. Once through the Spitway we were just able to lay Mersea on a very close fetch. We finally picked up the mooring at 20.55. - just too late for a beer in the Bar!

On Monday Richard and I cleared, cleaned and dried out Black Adder. At no time had we felt she was not up to the task. She took everything that we, the wind, sea and others had thrown at her with only a broken spreader (we still finished the race), detached luff sliders (we got home) and the loss of 1 winch handle and 1 bucket (we did have 2 for the trip!). She was home and she had done us proud.

Sue Taylor

Voiles de Saint Tropez 2010

Arrow pipped for title in final race thriller.

Arrow took to the road in late September for her fifth trip to the Cote D'Azur to participate in what is possible the finest show of classic yachts in the world today, the event is the Rolex sponsored Voiles de Saint Tropez.

Hoping in improve on our 3rd place overall from the previous visit in 20008 we opened our account in Race 1 with a 2nd place , beaten by 36 seconds by a well sailed IOD class in the 15 mile coastal race. The seasons winner Windhover , built in 1904 in Hamble was 3rd with the cruising 8mtr Sonda, another regular competitor in 4th. These four boats would now form the group challenging for the lead of the group.

In race 2 we were too early for the start and bailed out but there was a train of boats coming into the favoured committee boat end so we had to wait our turn to cross the start line. The long beat to mark B in the Golf de Frejus, 7 miles along the coast ,gave a chance to make up some ground. There was some confusion as to whether the cardinal marks were to be respected which then became the subject of a racing amendment. Unfortunately for Arrow , both Sonda and Windhover slipped inside the towers of La Seche a Huile , giving then a shorter distance to the top mark but we kept in the frame and performed well to stay on the podium with a 3rd. The race went to Windhover with Sonda 2nd.

Boules was the sport of champions' for the evening of race 2 , but a first round knockout ensured an early retirement for the day.

It was back on the race course after a lay day but we were greeted with a failing westerly gradient under less than clear sky so it was touch and go as to whether the sea breeze would come in. The start line had now been swung to 20 deg bias at the pin, a start we negotiated well but with all the chop and 5knt breeze tacking angles would change enormously if you could find the pressure. We elected to stay right and look for pressure in Anse des Canebiers behind the Cap de Saint Tropez. We met up with Windhover here and exchanged a couple of tacks , rock hopping past point de la Rabiou, staying inside the larger yachts so keeping reasonably clear air. With the breeze dying and 3 miles of a 19 mile course completed we thought the race would simply run out of time but just around the headland we spotted a new south westerly sea breeze. Windover peeled off for the next cardinal but we continued SW toward the breezline ,which seemed to be stuck on the corner of the rock spit to La Moutte. We sailed into this breeze, hoisted a kite to the top mark and in true "buffalo girls" style were now first on the water in our class and had re-overtaken a significant number of much larger yacht. A clean drop at the mark , rounding up onto starboard tack kept us busy, as did keeping clear of the modern boat fleet racing in the same waters. We generally kept left for the 6 mile beat to mark J off Cap Camerat, looking for smoother water and less congestion. The breeze was building , probably 15 to 18 knots and about 2 miles from the top mark we put a reef in the main as things were becoming quite lively, however the sun was shining and it was the most beautiful day, which always makes a difference. It wasn't until we were 2 miles back down the run home, Windhover crossed our bow…still going upwind! The course was shortened at La Moutte where we finished alongside Marigold, a 55ft Camper and Nicholson. A quick check of the results showed we were a clear 1st by about 35 minutes and with a score of 2,3,1 were now leading the class going into Saturday's final race. Windhover was on 3,1,2 Sonda 4,2,3 and the IOD 1,4,DNF so it was all to play for in what became the medal race. Basically whoever won the final race won the class overall.

I took some advice from my good friend Jerry Hill, who recently won the SB3 Worlds on Lake Garda and I briefed the crew as to our strategy which was to stay with the pack as we had been quick all week but made some silly mistakes in race 1 and 2, messing up a start for one and on a reaching leg home were gassed by the huge classics that leave a hole in the wind about ¼ mile long.

The start was pin end biased by about 25 degrees and I was a little early in my line up but managed to slow up enough to let the luffers slip to leeward. Windhover was 2 boat lengths ahead ,Sonda somewhere behind me and we were deep pin end in good shape. What I had not considerd was Adam Gosling on a 12m Tofu coming in on port and tacking right beneath me blocking my way . Windhover slipped round her transom but I was too close to get the bear away, so he took us both over. It must have been 4-5 minutes before we cleared the line, game over…..or was it?

I noticed a few boats with good pressure on the St Tropez side ( right) so elected to take a big one over in clear air and see what happened. The resulting long starboard tack back to the meet the fleet ,after getting the much awaited 20deg header off the Point de la Rabiou , bought us nicely in contention once again and by turning a tight corner at La Seche we managed to sniggle ahead and to leeward of Windhover. With 12 miles to go we were back in the game! However Windhover carries a huge mashead genoa when she races in the Med and romped along nicely on the tight fetch to buoy B in Gulf de Frejus, the turning mark for the course . What followed was a 7 mile spinnaker leg home. We were unable to make much of a dent in her 3 minute lead at the top mark, perhaps a minute or so and despite keeping clear air ( essential) and sailing good angles we were resigned to finishing 2nd in class and 2nd overall.

It was Windhover's day and we struggled to match her pace on the long fetch so she deserved the win, had there been more beating or running we would have probably faired better but it was another stunning sail on a stunning day in the south of France.