'GYBE OH' -

This Newsletter of the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club was originally circulated in Autumn, 1983

THE MAGAZINE OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE SAILING CLUB

 


OFFICERS and COMMITTEE

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EDITORIAL                                  Autumn, 1983

Here we are at the end of the 1983 sailing season, well for most of us it is. Although there is one more meeting for the dinghy sailors amongst you. That is the annual British Police Laser Sailing Championship. This year's event is to be held on Saturday 26th November, at Walton on Thames Sailing Club, West Molesey. The club is situated at Island Barn Reservoir, which is the Reservoir sited behind Imber Court Police Sports Club. However there is no access from Imber Court, only through Ray Road, West Molesey. The championship has been organised by that well known Met Laser helm, Roger Glass. He has put a lot of work into it and I hope you will support him by coming along. If you have not got a Laser, then beg, borrow or hire one, and join the fun. You will find more details at the back of this magazine.

There has been a marked increase in the membership of the Met Police Sailing Club this year. At the last count it was 68. It has not been as high as that for some years. Many of the new members have their interest in the off-shore section of the club. Whatever part of sailing turns you on - Welcome to the fold.

One of the longest and unusual races that the offshore section took part in this year was the Three Peaks Race. It is in fact a combination event between sailing and fell running. It is only the second time the Met have entered such a race. The 3 Peaks has been called many things, but the one word that sums it up is the word, 'unique'. There is just nothing else like it. You can read more about later. I was privileged to attend the prize-giving last month, and I feel that we should all echo the words of congratulation given to the Met team when they were presented with the Third prize by the famous Broadcaster, Wynford Vaughan Thomas. Well done chaps; very well done! The skipper of the team, John Stickland, is going to write his own story of the memorable event. This should be published in the next issue.

There have been many other successes in the offshore field, but as yet I have received nothing in writing that I can publish. If you feel that you have done particularly well in any event, then why not drop me a line and then we can all enjoy it.

David Sinnock from Kent Police is the 1983 Police Sailing Champion. He won the crown at this years championships, held at Exmouth at the end of September. There was no doubt of his superiority - he won all of the four races. The runner-up was last year's champion, Gareth Owen from Merseyside. The highest placed Met helm was John Burbeck, who was ably assisted by Alex Ross to take third prize. There is a full list of the P.A.A. event later in the magazine.

Dave Sinnock narrowly missed becoming the National Albacore Champion this year. But another of his team-mates, Charlie Jordan, did actually become a National Champion last month. That was in the Phantom Nationals. Well done Charles! He gives the credit for his success to the new sail he recently bought from Michael MacNamara, and which he tuned up at the Police Nationals. Charlie will obviously be a force to reckon with in 1984.

There is no report on the 1983 Sussex Police Open Meeting, although several Met crews did attend this event. The weather dictated that it be cancelled. The wind was blowing strongly straight off the sea that day in September ( Thursday the 8th) that the surf was pounding the beach something terrible. The risk to boat and limb was too great for the Race Officer to allow us to launch. Better luck next year!

The Met Police Sailing Club A.G.M. will be held in the first week in December, but as yet the actual date has not been fixed. All members will be notified in due course.

SIDEWINDER

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WEST MIDLANDS POLICE REGATTA - 83

'West Midlands - 83' was held on Thursday 28th April, at Chasewater Sailing Club, Brownhills, Warwickshire. The weather was fine and warm, but the wind conditions were very light. There was some rain - some very heavy rain, but it came just after the end of the last race. It made packing up the boats a race against time. The first one to get packed up stayed the driest!

For most of the fleet, it was a good day - not too strenuous after the winter break. The older you get the gentler you have to get acclimatised again.

In spite of the light winds, there was some very good racing at this meeting. The Merlin Rockets of Burbeck and Neaverson were having a race of their own in the last two races. Also the Lasers of Owen, Batten, Riley, Glass and Westall were also treating it like a class race. Rod Bramhall in the Enterprise, and Barry Hudson in the Solo, did well against the 'faster' boats on handicap.

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The star of the show, helmsman-wise, was undoubtedly Gareth Owen, from the Merseyside Police. He showed his inimitable skill in not being too far out in front, but just enough to win every race. He did well against some strong opposition, and was a worthy winner of the event.

Stan Batten must be the fittest police pensioner in the Met, if not in the U.K. He returned to the water this year in order to christen the Met Police Sailing Club's brand new Laser. He has lost none of his skill since he retired from the Job. It was good to see his smiling face at the front of the fleet once again - and the Laser did not go too bad, either. Stan says that it needs five or six outings before it will be at its best. Stan went on to win the second prize.

Rod Bramhall, from Greater Manchester, showed that he too has lost none of his cunning in light weather sailing. He was able to keep his Enterprise at the front of the fleet, and did especially well in the last race, when he came 2nd on handicap. He took the third prize overall.

The star of the show, boat-wise, was the new Merlin Rocket of John Allen. He had it built in his local town of Nottingham, and it is wonder to behold. What a beautiful boat! It was obviously built by a craftsman, and is more like a piece of furniture than a sailing dinghy. It seemed a great pity to even get it wet. He has called it "Perfect Company". It was on display at the London Dinghy Exhibition at Crystal Palace Sports Centre earlier in the year. If you get the chance, be sure to have a look at it. There were photographs of "Perfect Company" in the 'Yachts and Yachting' magazine, and guess who they were taken by ? Stan Laureson-Batten, that's who!

The Met's new Laser is a pretty boat, but not quite as pretty as the Merlin Rocket. It has a plain white hull, and a multi-coloured sail. The sail number is 112417. It is un-named, as yet. Not only does it look good, but it 'goes good' as well. At least, it does when helmed by the old maestro, Stan Batten.

Many helmsmen made mistakes at this meting which cost them valuable points. Some went to the wrong marks. Others crossed the finishing line wrongly, or not at all. There were a lot of cobwebs to be swept away after the winter. However, it was very enjoyable, and I am sure that everyone learnt something at 'Chasewater-83'.

SIDEWINDER

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FUTURE EVENTS:

The 1984 P.A.A. National Sailing Championships will be held at Queen Mary Sailing Club, Ashford, Middlesex, and will be organised by the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club. The dates will be the 7th and 8th of June. So make a note to keep those dates clear.

The P.A.A. championships for 1985 will probably be held at Bala Sailing Club, in North Wales. The dates have yet to be announced.

The 1984 Three Peaks Race will start from Barmouth, North Wales, on Saturday 23rd of June. The runners for the race are in training, and there are rumours that the elderly couple that ran in this year's race are going to sit back and watch the young men do it in 84.

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METROPOLITAN POLICE REGATTA - 1982
 

This year's Metropolitan Police Regatta was well and truly won by Stan Laurenson-Batten. He won all of the three races quite convincingly. After all, he was on his home water, and was sailing his new boat. There was just no stopping him.

Alex Ross and his young son, Fergus, turned up in a boat that looked like a cross between a Laser and a sailboard. It was called a Wizzo and that is the way it went on a reach. It looked a very hairy machine to sail. The family Ross did very well in it, and came 2nd in the last two races. This was good enough to win them the second prize.

The third prize went to Alistair Glen and his girl friend, Nicky. Big AL seems to have taken over the family tradition of sailing fast Albacores. Last season he was doing very well in a Laser. I should add, that he was not sailing his father's boat, Monarch, but one of his own, sail number 1852.

The 4th and 5th prizes went to Laser sailors, in the form of Geoff Norman, and N Jackson, both from the Nottinghamshire Constabulary. Norman beat Jackson in the first two races, but Jackson reversed the order in the last race. These two men helped their team to win the Visitors' Team Trophy too.

John and Elizabeth Burbeck did well in the first race, sailing their Merlin Rocket and came 2nd. However, after that things began to go wrong, and they retired in the second race. It just was not their day!

The weather throughout the day was warm and sunny. The wind varied between force 3 and 4, from the south-west. All in all, it was a good day for sailing. It is a great pity that more competitors did not take advantage of it, and come to Queen Mary Sailing Club. See you there next year!

SIDEWINDER

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AN ON-SHORE VIEW OF THE 1983 THREE PEAKS RACE

In 1977 two medical doctors, Rob Haworth and Merfyn Jones, both of Barmouth, in North Wales, said, " Why not sail from Barmouth to Caernarfon, and let two runners from the crew climb to the top of Snowdon and run back to Caernarfon; then sail on to Ravenglass with another run to the top of Scarfell Pike; and finally a sail to Fort William, an ascent of Ben Nevis, and back to break the tape at the jetty ?"

This non-stop race would involve sailing at least 350 miles, and running and climbing another 70 miles, taking in the three peaks which, added together, total over 11,000 feet.

This idea was stimulated by the life and adventures of Major Bill Tilman, the famous climber and explorer, who settled in Barmouth and took up sailing in his fifties. He only took to the sea then because he felt he was too old to climb mountains over 20,000 feet. But even then, he used to sail off to climb some mountain or other.

The suggestion of holding such a race sparked off the imagination of a few enthusiasts in Barmouth. It would be a novel and excellent way to publicize their town in the year of the Queen's Jubilee. So a Race Committee was formed, and the Daily Telegraph agreed to sponsor the race and give a prize for the winner. So the first Three Peaks Race was held in 1977. There were 7 boats entered, only 4 of which finished the course. The winner was presented with his prize by Major Tilman, himself. Soon afterwards, Bill Tilman set off by boat to climb a mountain in the Antarctic, at the age of 79. After he left South America on the final stage of his journey, he was never seen again.

And so the Three Peaks Race was born. In 1977 it was a rather leisurely affair. Nowadays, it has developed into an out and out race to the finish. Some of the finest fell runners and sailors in the country take part. As the years go by, so the times for 'running the mountains' become less and less. The race has been won and lost on the running alone.

A vast army of Marshalls and helpers is required to make the race run smoothly. These are organised from Merioneth Sailing Club at Barmouth. They have to spread their wings far and wide to cover the three legs of the event. It would be almost impossible to do without the help of the Royal Signals. They treat the whole thing as an Army exercise, and not only man radio and teleprinter links with all the ports of call, but also man the three peaks as well. On top of Ben Nevis, they were camped on top of ice and snow.

The entry list for 1983 had been restricted to 35 boats, although there were many more applications. The Race Committee felt that 35 was as many as they could cope with safely. In fact, for various reasons, only 29 boats actually started the race.

How did the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club get mixed up in the race ? Well, it was all due to John Stickland. He has some very good friends in Barmouth and they suggested to him that the challenge that this race offers would be just the thing to interest a disciplined force like the police. It had certainly attracted a lot of competitors from the Royal Marines and other Armed Services, so why not the police. When John heard that the Merseyside Police were entering a team in 1982, he felt that he just had to make the effort. So he gathered a team of enthusiasts around him, chartered a boat, and had a go. Although a great deal of money and effort went into the 1982 race, the result was disappointing. The boat that they had was far from ideal, and they were forced to drop out of

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the race When they lost the propeller in rough weather, off Ravenglass. However, they did continue their journey to Fort William after repairs had been made to the boat, and the runners 'ran' Ben Nevis. They felt that it would stand them in good stead if ever they did it again. The Merseyside Police, under the guidance of their skipper, Gareth Owen, went onto finish second in the 1982 race.

They say that the Three Peaks Race gets under your skin. Once bitten by it you cannot leave it alone. So it seemed with the Met team. No sooner had the 1982 race finished, than they were planning for the 1983 race. In fact, only one of the team places was changed. Alex Ross took over Spike Millegan's place. But even Spike could not stay away. He went along as part of the unofficial support group. Therefore the 1983 team consisted of John Stickland as the skipper; Keith Bateman (XD) as the navigator; Alex Ross (PM) as the tactician; and John Peck (JD) and Trog Royle (TD) as the runners. An official support team from the Cadet Centre was lead by Dave Eatwell. Several other enthusiasts, including Mrs Stickland and Mrs Bateman, went along as an unofficial support team.

The boat that was chosen for this years race was quite special. They had learnt what not to have from their experiences in 1982. This year they went for the ultimate racing machine suitable for shallow water sailing. It was a racing trimaran which had been built especially for the Round Britain Race. That meant that it was as light as possible, would carry as much sail as was safe to do so, and was only meant to carry two people. It was about 35 feet long, had a very narrow hull and outriggers, and could sail in about 15 inches of water. Very little of the boat was ever in the water. It was far from comfortable, but it certainly looked fast. It was called TRIPLE FANTASY.

Leading the opposition was a trimaran called M.M.MEMEC AND CHIPS. This was another 35 foot boat, and had won this particular race twice before, last year as SIGNALLER in the hands of the Army. This year it had been bought by a civilian firm that dealt in micro chips, hence the name. They had a pair of very experienced runners, and would be hard to beat. Then there was ALEXANDRA FLYER, a magnificent 45 foot trimaran owned by a Towing firm from Liverpool. It was in the hands of the Merseyside Police team, skippered by Gareth Owen. This team had come 2nd in 1982 in a smaller trimaran. They were certainly out to win this year. Another team eager to win was the all girl crew of RED GOBLIN. This was a huge 50 foot Luna ketch with a lifting keel. Its size belied its capability of sailing in shallow water. It was owned by a millionaire owner of a fast food firm. Red Goblin was the brand name of one of his products. This boat and its curvaceous crew drew a lot of attention wherever it went. If they could sail and run as good as they looked, the chaps had better watch out.

The rest of the fleet ranged from the small monohulls like QUICKSILVER and FIRST CLASS, both Beneteau 26 s, to the huge 50 foot catamaran PULSAR II, in which they had carpets on the floor, standing headroom everywhere, a separate kitchen and a lady cook to go with it, an armchair for the skipper, and piped music. There was every luxury imaginable. That was one crew that was not cramped for space. The largest boat on the entry list never actually arrived. That was the 70 foot catamaran IRON BREW, skippered by Robin Knox-Johnston. It would have been interesting to have seen that monster coming into Barmouth harbour.

The boat with the most enthusiastic, if not the most expensive, back-up team was PRESS PAPERS of SCANDINAVIA. This was a 39½ foot Swan monohull, unfortunately built for deep water sailing. It had been hired by a team from Sweden who had seen the film of the 1980 race on the television. They were so captivated by the concept of the event that. they determined to take part themselves. They had brought over several directors of the firm and their families, and also had some local representatives driving a large mobile caravan which appeared to have been stocked with an unlimited amount of drinks with which they entertained all and sundry throughout the race. They were determined to enjoy the race, come what may.

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As far as the Met team was concerned TRIPLE FANTASY was an unknown quantity. It had a fearful reputation, but they had still to test that for themselves. Two of the team had gone down to Dartmouth earlier in the year for a trial run, but the boat had been damaged and they had not been able to sail it. So the first chance they had to try it was when the whole crew of 5 went down to the West Country to collect it for the race. They were having to sail it up to Barmouth themselves. It was a wise move on their part because they were able to discover the faults before the race actually started, because faults there were. They were also able to see how cramped the living conditions were.

They arrived in Barmouth on the Thursday, the 16th of June. They arrived in the evening on the last of the tide. They only got in then over the sand-bar by removing the rudder. There is not much water in Barmouth Harbour when the tide goes out. The trip had taken them longer than expected, and the 'vitals' and water had all been used up. So they were eager to get into Barmouth for a wash and a good meal.

On the Friday, the eve of the race, the crew set to to rectify one or two things that needed repairing. The most important was the mainsail. Some of the stitching had come undone on the luff. A young lady from the Merioneth Sailing Club came to their rescue here and spent most of Friday in carefully re-stitching the heavy sail by hand. The next important thing was that the log would not work. This was an electronic one, and was a job for the experts. The offending item was removed from the boat and taken along to the Royal Signals Regiment who had set up a recruiting tent on the Barmouth front, and who were also dealing with communications throughout the 3 Peaks Race. The log was duly cleaned up and checked and was declared to be in working order. So it was hopefully re-installed in the trimaran. Other minor electrical alterations were made to the switches and wiring of the boat.

The weather was warm and sunny and was ideal for drying out clothes and bedding. The whole fleet was covered with sleeping bags and items of apparel of all shapes and sizes. Small boats were constantly ferrying people to and from the quay with pieces of gear and boxes of provisions, It was an ideal day for preparing for a race. But they all hoped that there would be less sun and more wind for the day of the race.

Alex Ross had been rather disappointed with the performance of TRIPLE FANTASY on the run up from Dartmouth. That afternoon he was to discover why. He had reason to remove the rear dagger-board from its housing. It was a wood and foam aerofoil which had been sheathed in GRP. He discovered that about ⅓ of half the section of the bottom of the board had broken away and had been lost. This made a mockery of the aerofoil and was causing a lot of drag. Something would have to be done about it - and quickly. The first thing was to dry the board out. Fortunately the weather was on their side, and the board was laid out on the outrigger netting to catch as much of the sun as possible. The next thing to do was to find something to mend it with. It would have to be something that was quick-drying. Alex suggested car body filler paste would do the trick, but they would need a lot of it.

Alex quickly rowed himself ashore in search of some filler. By now it was after 5 o'clock and the shops were closed. He spotted the magic word 'chandlers'. When they heard what he wanted they directed him to another shop. This shop was closed, but the shop keeper, on seeing the look of despair on Alex's face, promptly unlocked the door and ushered him in. Fortunately he had just what was wanted and Alex left the shop clutching the largest tin of Isopon P38 that he stocked. Then, with the aid of the tools carried by one of the support group, a start was made on the repair. Strips of plywood were first screwed onto the board in order to give the filler something to grip onto, and then the layering of the P38 began. The initial layers were left to cure overnight, and then more layers were added the following morning. When that was dry the important process of smoothing

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the filler paste down to the required aerofoil shape began. Here invaluable help was given to the Met boat by one of the local sailing club members when he offered the use of and electric drill and grizzly disc. This speeded up the shaping of the board no end, but even then it was over an hour before the dagger board was the desired shape and finish. There was no time to paint it, and it was rushed aboard TRIPLE FANTASY as it was. The board was certainly a lot heavier then it had been, but at least the weight was low down. Alex was in such a rush to get the board back to the boat that he left his clean laundry on the quay, and had to trudge back through the thick mud to reclaim it. When he did get aboard the boat the dagger board fitted perfectly, and that was just as well because it was then only about two hours to the start of the race.

The day of the race was Carnival Day in Barmouth, and there was certainly a carnival atmosphere on the quay that Saturday morning. Crew members and supporters were staggering about under boxes of food and drink and trying to get them ferried out to their respective vessels. The rails on the quay were lined with holiday makers enjoying the free entertainment laid on by these strange folk that thought it was fun to sail to Scotland and climb three mountains on the way to break the boredom. The local Lifeboat was there, as was the Mayor of Barmouth and his retinue. It was all very colourful. It was carnival weather too, with not a cloud in the sky.
The only trouble was - there was no wind.

The start of the 3 Peaks Race is held about a mile off the shore, and it is traditional for the fleet to be lead out of the harbour to the start by the Lifeboat and the Mayor, in numerical order. So when the signal was given the boats started up their engines and started jockeying for their rightful position in the procession. As the harbour entrance is quite narrow, this procession gives the spectators at the mouth a very good view of each of the boats, and they are close enough to hold a conversation with the folks on shore. And so the intrepid sailors left Barmouth to the shouts of "Bon voyage," and the clicking of hundreds of cameras.

From the shore the sound of the starting gun was heard at 15-30, but there was little movement from the boats themselves. They appeared to be pointing in different directions. The flash of sunshine on moving oars could be seen on many boats. An hour later the fleet seemed to be still milling around in the starting area, and it was wondered whether the start had been postponed. But eventually the boats began to string out as they moved slowly, so very slowly, northwards along the Welsh coast, and then to disappear one by one into the heat haze. They were on their way to the first stop at Caernarfon.

The spectators drifted away from the quay and the harbour mouth; the holiday makers to watch the Carnival procession marching through the town, and the race support crews to collect their vehicles and look up the route to Caernarfon. With the lack of wind there was not going to be a rush to get there. Some of the more enthusiastic supporters headed off to the western end of the Lleyn Penninsula where it was possible to see the competitors sailing through Bardsey Sound as they rounded the north west tip of Wales. The leading boats did not reach this point until early dusk. Much to the delight of their supporters it was the two police teams that were out in front, with TRIPLE FANTASY taking the lead at the very point of the peninsula. There was only a very light breeze blowing, but the two trimarans were making the best of it. RED GOBLIN with her crew of girls, was lying third at that point. But there was still a long way to go. That was only halfway to Caernarfon, and with night coming on, anything could happen!

As the sun began to set that Saturday evening so the 3 Peaks Race support crews began setting up 'camp' on the quay at Caernarfon, in the shadow of the castle. The Cadet Land Rover found a prime position overlooking the quay wall, and a certain blue Renault parked alongside them. The first boats were not expected until after dawn on Sunday morning. So it was a case of 'heads down' and get some sleep. They would be busy enough when the boats came in.

To be continued:                      SIDEWINDER

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LEICESTERSHIRE CONSTABULARY REGATTA - 83
 

Thursday 23rd June, according to Francis, was to be clear and warm. It was however, a day more suited to March than June which greeted the 18 boats which arrived at Rutland Water Sailing Club.

With the wind, force 2-3, blowing from the direction of the dam wall, the race officer set a triangular course for the first race. Following a clean start on a very heavily port biased line, there was some confusion as to the whereabouts of the windward mark. Several of the leaders, including Roger Glass in his Laser, sailed past the mark, leaving the boats in the middle of the fleet to round in the lead. Despite a fine early showing by Walters in a Laser, it was Charlie Jordan (Phantom), Roger Glass and Stan Laurenson-Batten (Lasers) and Alistair Glen (Albacore) who worked their way through to emerge as the main contenders.

Eventually the windward speed of the Albacore proved decisive, with Glen beating Jordan over the line to take 1st place on corrected time. Glass and Batten filled 2nd and 3rd places, respectively, with Jordan 4th.

Continued on page 14

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HERTFORDSHIRE POLICE REGATTA - 83
 

Thursday 7th July was the date of this years Hertfordshire Police Open Meeting at Grafham Water Sailing Club. It was the middle of a heat spell as far as the weather was concerned. Whether a lot of the would-be competitors took a look at the forecast, and decided that it would not be worth while to make the trip, I do not know. But the forecast that there would be very little wind was right for once, and sailing conditions were a little trying, to say the least. So much so, that the Race Officer, Mike Hay, cancelled the last of the three races. It turned out to be a popular decision - there were no complaints!

The spell of very hot weather had caused the water, or what was in it, to turn bright green. It was like sailing in pea soup. Goodness knows what would happen if you fell in a took a mouthful! Mind you, there were plenty of fish leaping about in it.

Both races were drifting matches, although the wind did make an effort to pipe up a bit towards the end of the first race. This allowed all the back markers to creep up on the leaders. This allowed the giant killers in the South Yorkshire Mirror, Morton and Jill Thompson, to beat all the Lasers, the Merlin Rocket, the International 14, the Albacore and all the others on handicap. Well done !

This event was eventually won by P Walters, from Nottinghamshire, by a more ¼ point from Chris Wilcox, from Sussex. They were both sailing Lasers. The third prize was shared by two boats from Nottinghamshire, Geoff Norman in yet another Laser, and John Allen in his very smart Merlin Rocket. The Mirror from South Yorkshire finished 5th overall.

As you can see from the list of 'runners and riders' above, there were only 15 boats taking part, and only one of those came from the Met. What happened chaps ? If our Hertfordshire colleagues can go to all the trouble in organising such a meeting, then surely we can support them by attending.

SIDEWINDER

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 DORSET POLICE REGATTA - 83

The 1983 Dorset Police open meeting was again held at Poole Yacht Club, in Poole Harbour. The event was spread over two days, the 20th and 21st of July. The weather was fine and sunny, and there was plenty of wind to go with it, too much for some people. Originally, there was to be two races held on each day, but something went wrong in the second race - around the Brownsea Island race - and the results were not counted towards the prizes. To compensate for this, it was decided to hold three races on the second day. Therefore, there would be four sets of results, with the best three to count towards the final results. This was very fortunate for one crew that were unable to attend on the first day because of a coroner's court commitment. They ended up coming second overall. ( How lucky can you get ? ).

The courses set by the Race Officer were Olympic type courses, with triangles and 'sausages'. This gave all the boats a chance to show their potential. The Lasers went very fast on the reaches, but found it a bit of a struggle on the beats. The two-man boats were able to make up ground going up-wind and had to try and hang on to the wake of the single-handers off the wind. Certainly in the last three races, the leading places were in the balance right up to the finish. There were numerous capsizes by both two-man and one-man boats.

The fastest speed was shown by the Osprey of the local team of Palmer and Lee. However a series of capsizes put paid to their chances on Thursday. A change of crew in the last race did help, but they could not get far enough ahead of the rest of the fleet to make up their handicap. Perhaps with a little less wind they could have won this meeting. The fastest of the Laser sailors was Roger Glass, although even he was put in the shade by a young schoolboy from the local sailing club. This lad and several others were racing over the same course in the 3rd race, and he was making his Laser go like a train. he was well in the lead when he did a very spectacular pitch-pole capsize, and broke his mast. He is obviously a helmsman to watch for in the future! However, Roger sailed consistently well and won three of the four races. Derek Westall, the Welsh wizard, and Chris Wilcox were never very far behind. Derek tried particularly hard in the final race, and was close enough to Sidewinder, the Albacore of Gooch and Bishop, to have won on handicap. However, on the last short beat, he tried to avoid a drifting canoeist, and capsized. That not only allowed the Albacore to get away and win the race, but also allowed Roger Glass to sneak through and take 2nd place. Bad luck, Derek!

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The pair of ancients in the Metro Albacore had the time of their lives. They had travelled down to Poole early on Thursday morning just so that they could have a sail in Poole Harbour (one of their sailing places). They were both surprised and delighted when they found that, not only was there a force 4 wind blowing, but also that they were to have three races. At the end of the day, although they were aching in every limb, they felt that it was well worth the time and expense to travel down for such a great day's sailing. They were tickled pink when they were presented with the second prize.

The Albacore saved the meeting from becoming a Laser benefit. There were 4 of them in the first five places. Roger took the first prize with his 3 winning places. Derek Westall took the 3rd prize with his 2nd and two 3rds, and Chris Wilcox took the fourth prize with his three 4ths. The leading local helm was Brian Tucker in his OK, who came 5th with Paul Skerman from Sussex. Thanks must go to Brian for putting so much work and effort into organising this event. It was very disappointing to see so few police sailors taking part. The prizes were presented by the Chief Constable of Dorset, Mr Wade. The Race Officer was Jim Macgregor, and the Time Keeper was Frances Killminster.

For those of you that know Poole Yacht Club, but did not attend this meeting, you could be in for a shock when you revisit the club. The clubhouse and the ground it is built on, including the extensive moorings have been sold. They are now in the process of building a new ferry terminal where the moorings used to be. Eventually the clubhouse will be pulled down, and a new one will be built about half a mile west of the present one. At the moment all the dinghies are kept in a temporary boat-park on the edge of Hamworthy Park. That meant a long walk to and from the clubhouse. The Club seems to have done a good financial deal, but is having to put up with a lot of inconvenience. It remains to be seen whether the new clubhouse, and the view therefrom, will be better than the old one. The old one took a lot of beating.

SIDEWINDER

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Leicestershire 83, continued from Page 11..

After lunch, the second race was set over a 'figure of eight' course, providing plenty of reaches. This proved a delight to the Lasers, whose attacks on the Albacore of Glen, were likened to a pack of hyenas chasing a limping water buffalo (which I thought was very unkind).

With Glass revelling in the gusty conditions, he was able to create enough of a gap between himself and Glen to take 1st place on handicap, despite being eventually overhauled by Glen on the last beat. The Lasers of Batten and Sivers, although snapping at the heals of Glass and Glen all the way round, took 3rd and 4th.

The final race, set over an altered course with a slight increase in the wind strength, was to provide a showdown between Glass and Glen - up-wind versus down-wind speed. Unfortunately, the start proved Glass's downfall, as he became enmeshed with a group of other boats, and despite strenuous efforts, found difficulty in extricating himself. Glen, in the Albacore, led at the windward mark, and from there fought off a strong challenge from the Merlin of Allen, who was obviously enjoying the extra wind. This gave Glen the race, and therefore the event, with Glass, who sailed through the fleet to pick up second place, second overall.

ALISTAIR GLEN

page 14

KENT POLICE REGATTA - 1983

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The 1983 Kent Police Regatta was held on Tuesday 6th September, at Hampton Pier Yacht Club, near Herne Bay. This has become the regular venue of this event. It is a small club that makes you very welcome, and is noted for the excellent home cooked food supplied by the ladies of the club. Launching is over a fairly steep shingle beach, with a concrete ramp to help the heavier boats. Normally there is an electric winch to assist in retrieving, but this year it was out of action.

The weather was ideal. There was sunshine and force 3 westerly wind. This combination made for some very good racing. Triangular courses were set for both the races held. The Albacores and the Lasers revelled in the conditions. Dave Sinnock and his crew, Martin, had by far the better boat speed, and soon showed a clean pair of heels to the rest of the fleet. Roger Glass did make a valiant attempt to catch him in the first race, but without success. The other two Albacores, one from Kent and one from the Met, had their own private battle. In the first race Sidewinder, the MPSC boat,managed to beat their rival. But in the stronger winds of the second race Bob Bruce and Roy Cousins reversed the previous result, much to their glee.

The number of police crews taking part was down to 9. The entry list was boosted by the Kent Police inviting the host club members to take part. 10 of them accepted the invitation, and really enjoyed the day. Separate prizes were presented to the best two crews from Hampton Pier Yacht Club. They went to Adrian Thear and Lee Gardner. Prizes went to the top 3 police crews.

SIDEWINDER

page 15

P.A.A. NATIONAL SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS - 1983

The 1983 P.A.A. Sailing Champions were David Sinnock and Alan Gimes, from the Kent Police, sailing an Albacore. There was no doubt about the result. Their tremendous boat speed allowed them to win all four races.

The Runner-up was last year's champion, Gareth Owen, from the Merseyside Police, sailing his Laser. He always sails well, and this year was no exception. He finished only one point ahead of the third boat.

That third boat was the leading M.P.S.C. entry, and was in the form of a Merlin Rocket sailed by John Burbeck and Alex Ross. They lost the second prize in the last race, when Charlie Jordan pushed them back into 4th place. Had they come 3rd they would have tied with Gareth, but would have won the tie breaker which was the result of the last race.

Other M.P.S.C. places were :- Len Gooch and Clive Bishop, in their Albacore, were 7th; Roger Glass was only one place behind them in his Laser; Dave Abbott and Dave Nicholls in their very pretty Flying 15, were 14th; Stephen Proffitt was 26th in his Laser; Derek Coleman, sailing his Mirror 10 singlehanded, could only manage 34th in the very light conditions, although he did manage to come 15th in the 2nd race; Malcolm Sparks sailed the club Laser in his very first championship and came 39th; and last (well not really last) but not least was Ross Elliston and Lawrence Swinton-Bland in the oldest boat in the race, a Hamble Star, who came 46th. They looked like something out of 'Swallows and Amazons'!

This years Championships were held at Exmouth on 24th and 25th of September, and were organised by the Devon and Cornwall Police Sailing Club, mainly in the person of Peter Nordquist. An unusual feature was the dinghy park which was laid out on the beach quite some distance from the Exe Sailing Club clubhouse. However, all the social events, the food and the showers were held in the clubhouse, which overlooks the Harbour and the River Exe. We were all made very welcome by the local club members who seemed rather bemused to have all these 'coppers' descending on them.

The Race Officer was the famous sail-maker and expert dinghy sailor, Michael MacNamara, who has his sail-loft in Exmouth.

There was a total entry of 55 boats, from 21 different police forces. The boats varied in size and shape from the Flying 15 keel boats to the tiny Toppers. The fastest boat on the water was the Osprey from Dorset, sailed by the Palmer/Tucker combo. The oldest boat was Ross Elliston's Ramble Star.

The idea was to hold two races on each of the two days, and run them 'back to back', that is to hold them one after the other without the boats returning to the beach between races. The racing area was two or three miles off shore, and a lot of time would be wasted in sailing in and out again. In actual fact, because of the lack of wind on the Saturday, the second race had to be cancelled. Michael Mac', who was determined to get four races in, come what may, then decided that he would try and hold 3 races on the Sunday, all 'back to back to back'. They would have to be shorter than usual, but at least we would finish up with four results. And so it was !

As it has been reported, Dave Sinnock and Alan Gimes won all four races, and they were well deserved to. However, let me mention some of the other competitors:-
In the first race it was the Dorset Osprey that shot into the lead. That left Sinnock, Toms in the Flying 15, Burbeck and Allan in their Merlin Rockets, Sidewinder, Gareth Owen, Roger Glass and Charlie Jordan to squabble amongst themselves. On corrected time the Osprey finished 2nd, John Burbeck was 3rd, and Owen 4th. The wind dropped off when about half the fleet had finished. That left the back-markers floundering on a windless swell.

The last three races were held in light wind conditions. The helmsmen that deserve a mention are Roger Glass, who came 2nd in race 2; Charlie Jordan who came 2nd in race 3, and 3rd in race 4; and John Neaverson who came 2nd in race 4. All these sailed well to beat the usual opposition.

SIDEWINDER

P.A.A. NATIONAL SAILING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RESULTS

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SUSSEX PURSUIT RACE - 1983

This year's Sussex Pursuit was held by special request of the Met. The race had been cancelled originally by the Sussex Police. However, at our request, Paul Skerman got together a few Sussex enthusiasts and laid on the race for Friday 4th October. The weather forecast for that day was terrible with gale force winds promised. This probably was the reason for the small turn-out. But the weatherman is often wrong, and in this case he was forecasting a day too soon. That Friday turned out to be warm and sunny with a beautiful force 3 to 4 sailing breeze.

Only 7 boats turned up, 4 from the Met and 3 from the host team. That meant that we had to forget where we came from and toss up to see who would be in which team. Roger Glass (ZW) was matched against Paul Skerman, in Lasers; John Bayless (TDV) was matched against Paul Stewart (TDV), John in a GP14 and Paul in a Wanderer; and a Sussex Mirror was matched against a Sussex Topper: The Albacore of Len Gooch and Clive Bishop just went along for the ride. Neil McAlpine (TDV) assisted in a rescue boat brought along from the Met.

A course was set from Cobnor to East Head and then back to Itchenor for the finish of the race and the lunch break. The strong southerly breeze gave us a long beat down to the mouth of Chichester Harbour. Most of the crews revelled in the fast conditions. But the Met Wanderer was having trouble getting rid of the water they had shipped. In their struggles the boat gibed and the crew found themselves swimming. Try as she could the crew could not get back to the boat and had to be pulled out of the water by SIDEWINDER. Clive then volunteered to jump overboard and assist Paul to right the capsized boat. This he did successfully and then both the rescued and the rescuers sailed safely up to Itchenor. The helmsman of the Topper found the wind was a little too strong for him and had to be assisted by the rescue boat. And then the Met rescue boat ran out of fuel and had to be rescued themselves.

But for all that, it was a good day out, enjoyed by all that took part. Who won the race ? I think the Met did. But it does not really matter. We hope to be down in Chichester again in 1984. Why don't you join us !

SIDEWINDER

If anyone has a hard copy of this or other old MPSC 'Gybe Oh' newsletters, please contact 'Barnacle Bill'.

Grateful thanks to C Jordan for supplying the above newsletter content.

Newsletter scanned December 2011