'GYBE OH' - THE MAGAZINE OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE SAILING CLUB

This Newsletter of the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club was originally circulated in March, 1981

As this is the first edition for 1981 I should first of all sum up the club's performance in 1980. As far as the dinghy racing section goes, they had another successful year. Out of the 14 police meetings attended by at least one crew, they won 10 of them. They travelled to places as far apart as Bala, in North Wales, and Herne Bay, in Kent. In the P.A.A. Sailing Championships the M.P.S.C. had 7 boats in the first 10 places, including the Champion, himself, Dan Glen, crewed by Charlie Waters.

The cruising section were not idle. They were tuning themselves to a fine pitch for this years racing by entering two boats in the Cowes to Deauville race. One of the boats finished 19th and the other was unfortunately disqualified for sailing the wrong course. But all good experience! This year they have got their eyes set on the Fastnet Race. That means that they have to take part in four other races to qualify. So they are in for a very busy season. We all wish them every success. The boat that they hope to use is a Contessa 43. If anyone is keen to take part in this salt water sailing please contact Steve Fillery or Dave Thomson.

If you have not already done so, will you please send in your subscriptions for 1981 to the M.P.A.A. Office. You will find a renewal form attached to this copy of Gybe Oh. If you want some more membership forms then just put your form through a copier before you fill it in. Remember, send it to the M.P.A.A. Office, not to John Burbeck. The M.P.A.A. will forward part of the form to John later.

A film show was held on the 21st of January for club members and their families. It was organized by Liz Burbeck, ably assisted by Clive Bishop on the projector. It was held at Elliot Section House, which is fairly centrally placed, near Marble Arch. A very good evening it was too. There was a cross section of sailing films shown, the two most memorable being on the Sailing Olympics at Kingston, in Canada, and one on the Whitbread Round the World Race. There were some very spectacular shots of large racing cruisers thrashing down the Solent in the latter film. It was well worth going just for that film alone. In addition to the films, a mouth-watering buffet was laid on by the Canteen Service. The number of members that attended was disappointing. Those of you that did not come missed a treat.

Liz Burbeck had a cartilage operation at the end of last season. That is the reason you may have. seen John with a variety of crews. Her knee has now fully recovered and she is looking forward to a full season's sailing in 1981. Just to set them off on the right foot, Liz and John have been off on holiday to Australia and New Zealand for a few weeks. What a way to spend the winter! All that sunshine and heat! I am sure that it cannot be good for you ! However, they are both back down to earth with a bump: On their return they were greeted by rain - rain - and more rain. Oh to be in England.... Welcome back to reality, Liz and John. They are hoping to qualify for the Albacore World Championships, to be held in the U.S.A. in October this year. We wish them every success in the venture.

Another of our members who spent some time abroad was Ross Elliston. He went off the the West Indies last Autumn to see what some real sailing water looked like. He returned to this country fully invigorated and set to, to building a 'Micro' racing cruiser in his back garden. Today, the Micro...... tomorrow, the World!

Dave Abbott, on the other hand, is returning to serious dinghy racing. I hear that he has sold his magnificent racing cruiser and has bought a Merlin Rocket..So it doeslook as if we shall see his name appearing on many more result sheets this year. Welcome back to dinghies, David !

Congratulations to Clive Bishop, our Assistant Secretary for a number of years, also navigator and mentor to the good ship SIDEWINDER, on winning his M.P.A.A. Colours for his services to the sailing section. Well done, Clive ! He, has been busy recently organizing a sailing club dinner, to be held at Bushey Sports Club, on Wednesday 8th April 1981. The cost wt11 be Ł3-50 per. person, and tickets are available from Clive at QD.

It is not often that we hear of anyone being injured, let alone dying, whilst taking part in the sport of sailing. It was therefore something of a shock to hear of the death of Iran Dodds, an Inspector in the Northumbria Constabulary, whilst taking part in the Northumbria Police Regatta, on the 18th September, last year. He was apparently sailing his Laser in force 4 to 5 wind conditions when his boat capsized. He was seen to right it and climb back in, but then collapsed and died soon afterwards. Iran was a familiar figure at the P.A.A. Championships and many other police meetings, and will be missed by all his sailing colleagues. We wish to convey our sympathies to his family and friends.

Board Sailing, the sport of sailing a surf board, must be one of the biggest growth industries in the world of sailing at the moment. You see them everywhere ! It was inevitable that policemen should also want to join in the fun. The. M.P.A.A. was approached by a group of enthusiasts about setting up a Sailboard Section. But they were told that a sailing section was already established and that they should join that if they wished to compete for the M.P.A.A. So, there is yet another dimension of sailing that you can try!

The Nottinghamshire Police have held several police regattas at the Nottingham Sailing Club, on the River Trent. The numbers attending those meetings were so poor that they stopped holding them. However, in the hope that it was the

river sailing that the competitors did not like, they have organised a 1981 regatta. This time however, it will not be on the river. It will be held on the lake (about 100 acres) of the Retford Argonauts Sailing Club, at Newark. The date is Monday 7th September so mark it in your diaries and make an effort to be there.

A letter was received from D.S. Eddie McLean, of the Devon and Cornwall
Constabulary at Exeter informing us that they had a section called the Devon
and Cornwall Police Sailing Association. It was only one year old and had about 40 members. They have held some dinghy racing events against local clubs, and various other activities. They hope soon to be able to hold some police open events, and have.asked to be informed of similar events to be held by other Forces. Eddie can be contacted at Heavitree Road Police Station, Exeter.

Last year, the club's Enterprise dinghy, METROGNOME was based at Sunbury Cadet Centre. It was hoped that its proximity to the Thames would encourage more members to use
it. However, it was revealed at the A.G.M. in December, that the Enterprise has only been used about three times throughout the year. It was therefor decided to move the dinghy to another base. It is through the hard work and good services of our Mirror Fleet Captain, Derek Wyeth, that METROGNOME has found a new home. He is the Housing Committee Chairman of the International Publishing Corporation Yacht Club at Iver, in Buckinghamshire. At the request of the M.P.S.C. he formally asked the I.P.C:Y.C. for permission to base and sail METROGNOME at their club. This was agreed to subject to the following guidelines:-

It is hoped that the Enterprise would join in club racing on Wednesday evenings and Sundays, but the club did reserve the right to make such participation the Officer of the Day's decision.

The I.P.C.Y.C. rules preclude direct entry of tne M.P.S.C. into the club, and it was resolved that our boat and members would be accommodated by it being, technically,a second boat belonging to an existing club 'Mirror Owner', that is, Derek Wyeth. Therefore there would be no entry fee, but a donation of Ł15 would be acceptable, per annum.

For you information, I.P.C.(Iver)Y.C. is situated on the Met.(XU)/Thames valley border, at Uxbridge. It is midway between the M.4. and the A.40, and is about 20 minutes drive from the centre of London (outside the peak, hours). The clubhouse has mains electricity and flushing toilets which are available at all times. The club is secure by the presence of two static homes on the site, Derek Wyeth ( PC 679 X ) works in the R.T.A. Admin. department at Ruislip Police Station (KR), which is only about 10 minutes drive away from-the club. He has offered to hold and issue the sails for the Enterprise. So if you want to use our dinghy, then contact Derek first. The full address of the I.P.C.(Iver)Y.C. is Farloes Lake, Ford Lane, Iver, Buckinghamshire.

It must be common knowledge by now that Stan Laurenson-Batten, our R.Y.A. and Laser Fleet Captain, received a serious injury on duty, in the middle of last year. He took a nasty blow on the head whilst arresting a violent prisoner, causing a perforated eardrum, and severe headaches. The eardrum healed up, but the headaches persisted. In the end he was taking so many pain-killing drugs that they were making him groggy, and he had to give up sailing and driving and anything that called for physical effort or precise judgement. He had to stop work and spend most of his time just sitting around at home. He had difficulty in sleeping even with the drugs. All this made him very irritable, as you can imagine, and his

and his /
family have had to 'take some stick' over the past months. However, in spite of the headaches, Stan is determined to wean himself off the drugs that are making him so depressed, and get fit again.
I telephoned him the other day to see how he was getting on, and, much to my surprise, he informed me that he had just been back to his office to hand in his warrant card. He had been 'cast' by the Job as being medically unfit, that was on the 12th of March. So now he is just plain MR. Laurenson-Batten. As yet, he has not decided what to do for a job. It will all depend on how fit he can get. If at all possible, Stan hopes to get back to sailing, and continue sailing in police regattas (they are open to retired police Officers. He also wants to continue organizing the British Police Laser Sailing Association and its events, and hopes to hold a police Laser open event at Queen Mary S.C. in October this year, similar to last year.

Stan hat been a stalwart of the M.P.S.C. for many years. We have seen him sailing many kinds of boats, including Enterprises, Contenders, 470's, and Lasers. He has travelled many, many miles and attended many, many regattas to support and encourage police sailing. He takes his sailing very seriously and must be the fittest member of the M.P.S.C. that there is. You don't get many tailors, running around the sports field at Bushey to keep in trim! His supreme fitness was obvious last year, when, in spite of his mature years, he was chosen as one of the British Team, at the Laser World Championships in Canada. I think that he was the oldest competitor there out of a field of 300. Unfortunately he did not make the finals, but he did make the top 25 in his particular fleet.

He took to the water quite early in life when he joined the Royal Navy. The only trouble than was, that he spent a lot of the time under the water, not on it. He was a Navy diver. Perhaps that accounts for his ability to sail flat out in a blow whilst being completely immersed in spray. Whatever it did for him, he certainly has no fear of the water, whatever the strength of the wind.

I did hear that Stan took to competitive sailing as physiotherapy after a cartilage operation. Typical of Stan, he needed both knees operated on, but, instead of having them done one at a time, he had them both done together. It was extremely painful, and he had grave difficulties in walking again after the op. He was not satisfied with the slow progress he was making at the hospital, and decided that it would be much more fun in exercising his legs in a boat as it would be at the hospital gym. So he took to the water, and has never looked back since then.

Over the last few years Stan has become associated with the Laser. The physical effort needed to master this boat suits him down to the ground. He can make it sail well in all weather and wind conditions. He is a founder member of the Laser fleet at Queen Mary Sailing Club, which has the biggest Laser fleet in the country. Because of its size it attracts the keenest competitors in the south of England. In the face of this competition, Stan has won the Winter Series there, and many other races. too. He not only sails the Laser, but also invents things as well, to improve its performance. His alloy, box-section, tiller is quite famous amongst the Laser fraternity. And his stainless steel trolley is a joy to behold (it must be the only one of its kind in the world!). To get a restricted class association, like that of the Laser, to accept a component that you have invented yourself, is quite something. It just goes to show that he is the Maestro of the Laser.

Last year, his ability was recognised, when he was voted the Sports Personality of the Year, by the readers of 'The Job', the official newspaper of the Metropolitan Police. It was a well deserved honour for one of the sailing world's true gentlemen. He is a real ambassador to the sport of sailing. We wish him a happy retirement and sincere hopes that, he may soon be fit and well again.

Stan's C.I.D. colleagues have organized a retirement party for him on the very same night of the club dinner, or should I say - the fitting out social, on the 8th of April. This retirement party is to be held at Bushey Sports Club; as is the social, except they will be held in different rooms. So, if you were not coming for the sailing club get-together, then why not come to Stan's 'farewell do', better still why not come to both. Stan has asked me, through the pages of Gybe Oh, to invite all sailors and sailing friends, whether they be in the Met. or other police forces, to come along to Bushey on the 8th of next month and have a drink with him. So, y'all come now, y' hear !

The Fitting Out Social (or sailing club dinner, as described earlier in the text) has been arranged at Bushey Sports Club on Wednesday 8th April 1981, 7-00 pm for 7-30 pm. There will be a disco instead of the usual group. This is the first night of the Charcoal Grill, so the menu will be a little different. Instead of having a set meal, each person will be able to select one of seven meals available on the menu, varying from grilled sirloin steak, to a four egg American omelette. There will be a choice of two starters and seven deserts. You should place your order as you arrive. If you have not booked already, then get in touch with Clive Bishop, at the Enquiries Office at Wembley (QD). Clive emphasizes that he must have at least 80 bookings by the end of March or we will be forced to cancel it. So, hurry up and send in your booking slips!

April 8 Fitting out social at Bushey Sports Club.
        23 West Midlands Police Regatta at Chasewater Brownhills.
        18-20 Easter Regatta at Bala S.C., North Wales,

May     12 Thames Valley Police Regatta at Maidenhead S.C.
        23-25 Spring Regatta at Bala S.C., North Wales
                 "     "     Marconi S.C., Steeple, Essex.
        27 Metropolitan Police Regatta at Queen Mary S.C., Ashford Middlesex

June    11 Leicestershire Police Regatta at Rutland Water S.C.
        22 Hampshire Police Regatta at Eastney Y.C. Southsea.
        29/30 P.A.A. Sailing Championships at Shoreham on Sea S.C.

July    22/23 Dorset Police Regatta at Poole Y.C., Poole Harbour.
        23-26 Medway Regatta

August 5 Sussex Police Regatta at Bognor S.C.
        8 Fastnet Race.
        12 South Yorkshire Police Regatta at Ulley, near Rotherham.-'
        24-28 Open Week at Bala S.C.
        29-31 August Regatta at Bala S.C.

Sept. 7 Nottinghamshire Police Regatta at Retford Argonauts S.C., Newark.
        15 Kent Police Regatta at Hampton Pier S.C., Herne Bay.
        25 Northamptonshire Police Regatta at Middle Nene C.C., Thrapston,
        30 Sussex Pursuit Race at Cobnor, Chichester, Harbour.

This annual two-day event was held again at Poole Yacht Club, a club with some of the best views and water in the country. 23 crews turned up for this years event ( 2 more than 1979 ). Five of those crews were from the Net. The dates were the 23rd and 24th of July. The weather was seasonal and sunny, the winds were variable. For the first race there was only a light wind, but for the second race the wind freshened up to Force 3 to 4. The following morning there was no wind at all, and the start was delayed. However, a breeze did blow up for the third race, and this became moderate for the last race. So the competitors had four races, all with different wind conditions to contend with. That is just as it should be. It was two of the local sailors that took everybody by surprise and stormed into first place by coming second in the first, third and fourth races. They were Edward Hind and Ken Alexander from the Dorset Police, sailing a 14 foot Day-boat. These boats appear to be fairly heavy, but heavy or not they are well suited to the conditions found at Poole Harbour. Charlie Jordan from Kent, sailed his Phantom extremely well on the second day to win the last two races. However, he had to discard his second race result, and his 6th place in the first race was not anywhere good enough to topple the Dayboat from the top position. Charlie took the second prize.

The battle for the third and fourth prizes was closely fought between the two M.P.S.C, boats helmed by Ross Elliston and Len Gooch. They both finished up with 12 points, but the Gooch/Bishop combination took the third prize by having the lowest discard.

The Sussex Police Regatta is traditionally held during the summer school holidays, and this year was no exception. Wednesday 13th of August was the day in question this year. Those competitors that listened to the weather and shipping forecasts could well have been put off from going. The general weather forecast was for a misty start and then rain, with 15 to 25 knot winds, The shipping forecast promised force 7 to 8 winds for the South Coast area. In actual fact the weather was not at all frightening. There was some rain on the journey down to Bognor Sailing Club, but the rest of the morning was just cloudy, and the afternoon was positively sunny. The wind was from the south-west and was between force.3 and 4. Just the day for a good sail !

There was a total entry of 26 boats, and these were divided equally into a Fast and Slow Handicap Fleet. Our hosts, the Sussex Police fielded a magnificent 14 boats, 7 in each of the fleets. The M.P.S.C. had only 3 boats and these were all in the Fast fleet.. They were John and Elizabeth Burbeck sailing their 505, PEACEMAKER; there was David Burgoyne sailing his Laser; and there was Len and Jonathan Gooch sailing their Albacore, SIDEWINDER: Len's normal crew, Clive Bishop, was away on Holiday down in the West Country.

Six different Police Forces were represented. The most popular class of boat was the Laser, and there were 8 of them present. The next most popular class was that other single hander, the Solo, of which there were 4. In fact, 16 of the entries were single handers.

Two races were held on an olympic type course with all boats sailing the same route. It was the 505, PEACEMAXER, that took the lead in the first race in the Fast fleet, and held it all the way to the finish. SIDEWINDER was the second boat for most of the race, but was overtaken by the Woodhouses' 5o5 (Hampshire)just before the finish. The Lasers were lead round by Chris Wilcock ( Sussex ), Dick Burnside ( Hampshire ) and John Loake ( Sussex ). Dick Burnside was going extremely well considering that he had had a serious ankle operation only a month earlier. This Laser trio were chased round by the other Albacore in the fleet, sailed by Goodman and Scrase ( Sussex ). Two more Lasers were then in evidence sailed by Dave Burgoyne and Nick Woolger ( Sussex ). The Lasers did very well in this race, with 7 finishing in the first 10 places.

All the boats had a very exciting time coming into the shore at the end of this race, The on-shore wind and the high tide combined to make some heavy surf. It is a shingle beach at Bognor and it is fairly steep. A shore party would have been very welcome, but as it happened, the competitors formed their own shore party to save any damage being done to the boats. Several crews. were floored by their boats being thrown about by the waves. Davey Jones, one of the local helms, treated us all to a very spectacular 'home-coming'.. He just sailed his Graduate straight up onto the shingle.

The appearance of the sun just before the lunch break did not cause the
wind to drop. Therefore the difficulties experienced in getting off the water were to be repeated as the crews attempted to launch their boats for the second race. Some of the crews had had to make several attempts before they could get clear of the surf. But eventually everyone beat their way clear of the beach and the breakwaters to the relative safety of the open sea. This second 'Fast' race. was to be a much closer contest between the two 5o5s. In the fresh winds they shot off into the lead with the Burbecks only just ahead. Behind them came two or three Lasers, and then the two Albacores. Goodman was determined to better his position in the first race, and was ahead of his rival. The Sussex boat held the Met boat on the very fast reaches earlier in the race,

but was eventually overtaken by SIDEWINDER on a run down to the leeward mark. The wind strength slowly increased as the race went on. This allowed the Albacores to catch the leading Lasers on the beat. But the Lasers were not finished because on the next reach they were back in contention. However, SIDEWINDER was able to gain and again on the following beat and stayed ahead of the Lasers to win the race. John Loake found the stronger winds to his liking and lead home his fellow Laser sailors.

For the ' Slow ' fleet it was the Solos that ran off with all the prizes. But it could have been a different story if Davey Jones had not had to retire in the second race in order to keep an important appointment. In the first race he put all the single handers in their place and romped home the winner. The Graduate does go very well up-wind given a good wind strength. The next seven places in tha t race were taken by the one-man boats. That ancient mariner from Bedfordshire, Chris Lambert, had to be satisfied with 4th place to his colleague, Reg Jones, in another Solo, and a Streaker from Kent ( it is a boat, not a person !).

In the second race it was Solos all the way. They finished 1, 2, 3. This time Chris Lambert showed his usual form and won yet another race. The stronger winds helped the smaller two-man boats, and they filled the next three places, with the Pacer of the Trevis family leading the way home. There were only eight finishers in this second race.

So there it was, a very close finish overall between Lambert and Reg Jones. Chris took the first prize by only ľ of a point.

The first prize for the Fast Handicap fleet went to the delighted Gooches with their two wins. The second and third prizes went to John Loake and Dick Burnside respectively with only one point between them. In fact there was only one point separating the 2nd to 6th places, and also the 8th to 13th places.

Looking through the figures and the results it is uncanny how similar the two fleets were. For instance :-

At the prizegiving at the end of the day, one man should have brought his wheel barrow along. That man was John Loake. He went away-loaded down with three separate trophies. He won the prize for being second overall in the Fast fleet. He also won the Sussex Trophy for being the leading local helm, and also won the Waddell Trophy for being the leading singlehander in his fleet.

1st	L&J Gooch	Metro	Albacore 442	ľ	ľ	=	1˝
2nd	J Loake	Sussex	Laser 42199	4	2	=	6
3rd	R Burnside	Hants	" 68638	3	4	=	7
4th	C Wilcock	Sussex	" 61738	2	6	=	8
5th	J & E Burbeck	Metro	5o5 6871	6	3	=	9
6th	Goodman/Scrase	Sussex	Albacore 1445	5	5	=	10
7th	D Burgoyne	Metro	Laser 75120	7	8	=	15
8th	J & C Woodhouse	Hants	5o5 5749	15	7	=	22
9th	N Woolger	Sussex	Laser 32351	8	15	=	23
10th	C Waddell	"	" 72238	9	15	=	24
11th	P Skerman	"	" 72570	10	15	=	25
12th	D Langton	T Valley	" 54470	11	15	=	26
13th	R & R Nevitt	Sussex	Enterprise 318	12	15	=	27

1st	C Lambert	Beds	Solo 3129	4	ľ	=	4ľ
2nd	R Jones	"	" 2511	2	3	=	5
3rd	B Smith	Kent	" 3115	5	2	=	7
4th	C Nicholson	Beds	Topper 6135	6	7	=	13
5th	J & C Sumner	Sussex	Mirror 617	9	5	=	14
6th	M Alborough	"	Topper 17553	7	8	=	15
7th	D & T Jones	"	Graduate 2511	ľ	15	=	15ľ
8th	C & R Trevis	"	Pacer 603	12	4	=	16
9th	Sole/Kearns	"	Mayfly 380	10	6	=	16
10th	C Gay	Kent	Streaker 322	3	15	=	18
11th	H Nicholson	Beds	Solo 1968	8	15	=	23
12th	Cannon/Griffin	Sussex	Graduate 2407	11	15	=	26
13th	Desborough	"	Topper 17928	13	15	=	28

SIDEWINDER

Tuesday 9th September turned out to be a day full of bright periods, but not very warm. There was a Force 2 to 3 westerly wind blowing, making it too cool for the spectators to stay on the beach without being well wrapped up.

There were only two races, held over an olympic type course. The 5o5 sailed by the Burbecks took line honours in both races, ending up 5th on corrected time. Dave Sinnock returned to police sailing in the unfamiliar guise of a Laser sailor. He sailed well, but was disqualified in the first race. Sidewinder was sporting a new crew in the shape of Ernie Pidcock. The green Albacore was well outclassed by the very posh looking one sailed by the Sussex crew, and who went on to win the last race and come second overall.

It was left to Ross Elliston to carry the flag for the M.P.S.C. and lead home the other Lasers. This he did in fine style by taking second place in both races, and winning the first prize. The other Lasers in the first four places were sailed by Alan Gimes of the local force, and big John Loake from Sussex. Another big John, Bayless, of the Met, came a well sailed 6th. He was the second Laser for much of the time in both races, but slipped back before the finish.

There were several capsizes in the second race. Amongst the people that got wet were Ross Elliston, Dave Burgoyne and Brown from Sussex sailing his Graduate.

On Thursday 11th September 1980 the South Wales Police ( Sailing Sec.= PC Mike Jones of Whitechurch Police Station, Cardiff ) held their first open police regatta. The venue was the Eglwys Nynnydd Reservoir, which is the sailing water of the British Steel Corporation Sailing Club, at Margam, Port Talbot. This reservoir
runs alongside the M.4. Motorway, and is in the shadow of the giant steel works, itself.

A lot of hard work and expense went into organizing this event, and it must have been very disappointing for the hosts when only nine boats turned up for the racing, and only two of those were from outside Forces. The reasons for the low turnout are many - the main one must have been the weather reports of gales all along the west coast - the long distance to travel - some crews getting off late from late-turn the night before - being on the same week as the Kent Police Regatta, and so on. But a greater effort could have been made to support this first venture by our Welsh colleagues.

On the evening of the 10th, the eve of this regatta, the wind was indeed blowing at gale force. It was impossible to stand up straight against it, and it blew hard all night. But, by morning it had lost a lot of its sting, and settled down to a steady force 3 from the west, although stronger winds were forecast. The conditions suited the Lasers, as they were able to plane that bit earlier than the other boats. Dick Sivers was in very good form and won every race. Only in the last race did it look as if Derek Westall could challenge him for the lead. But Dick got out in front and covered Derek successfully to the end of the race.

Len Gooch, the sole M.P.S.C. representative, was without his regular crew, and had gone to the meeting with his daughter, Christine. She had volunteered to crew if the conditions were light or moderate. But, with the forecast of stronger winds, discretion was the better part of valour. Alan Hall, one of the organizers of the regatta, kindly offered to take Christine's place. It was a very brave thing to do considering he had never met me before, and a very good job he did too. They managed to keep ahead of the local Albacore sailed by Mike Jones, and finished third overall. Although Sidewinder could not gain any ground on the Lasers of Sivers and Westall, it did have its own battle with another Laser, sailed by Stuart Roberts. Stuart managed to get in front in the second race, but was narrowly beaten in the other two races, and came fourth overall.

At the end of the racing Derek Westall was the victim of cat-calls and abuse when it was discovered that he had not switched on the electric heater for the showers. It was only the very brave that took a shower that day ! Other than that, everyone was made very welcome, both at the clubhouse and at the South Wales Police Social Club at Bridgend, where the Prize Giving took place. The prizes were presented by Mr John Woodcock, the local Chief Constable.

There was no doubt at all who won this years Northampton Police Regatta. It was the old fox from the Fingerprint Department of the Bedfordhhire Police, Chris Lambert, that used his own finger tips to steer his Solo through the fleet of 24 boats to victory. It was finger tip control that was required in the very light drifting conditions. As can be seen from the result sheet, most of the competitors had had enough of the frustrating conditions by the end of the second race, and did not bother to start in the last one. Another old salt, in the form of Jim Sturdy from the West Midlands, also showed his skill in the light airs by coming second in the first and last races. This gave him the second prize. Jim was sailing a Laser.' The third prize went to another Laser sailor, Geoff Norman from Nottingham, with a first position in the last race and a fifth position in the first race.

The regatta was held on Thursday 25th September 1980 at the Middle Nene Cruising Club at Thrapston. The weather conditions were similar to last year - too much sunshine and not enough wind, as was the number of entries ( 25 in 1979 )... But the welcome from our Northamptonshire hosts was as warm as ever. This is always a very popular event, and long may it remain so.

1st	D & A Glen	Metro	Albacore 6403	ľ	ľ	dns	=	1˝
2nd	D Westall	S Wales	Laser 75245	2	2	2	=	4
3rd	Gooch/Pidcock	Metro	Albacore 442	12	3	3	=	6
4th	A Ross	"	Laser 36166	3	4	6	=	7
5th	C Wilcock	Sussex	" 61738	4	5	5	=	9
6th	G Norman	Notts	" 43330	8	28	4	=	12
7th	C Jordan	Kent	Phantom 799	5	9	7	=	12
8th	J Pierce	Metro	Laser 81085	7	6	29	=	13
9th	S Gathercole	Notts	" 96	6	11	10	=	16
10th	R Burnside	Hants	" 68638	10	7	9	=	16
11th	J Allen	Notts	M Rocket 2527	16	8	8	=	16
12th	C Lambert	Beds	Solo 3129	13	5	15	=	18
13th	J Bayless	Metro	Laser 61695	9	10	11	=	19
14th	J & E Burbeck	"	5o5 6871	21	32	ľ	=	21ľ
15th	J Sturdy	W Mids	Laser 65022	11	16	13	=	24
16th	R Jones	Beds	Solo 1176	15	12	12	=	24
17th	C Nicholson	"	Topper 6315	20	13	14	=	27
18th	B Hudson	Herts	Solo 2198	14	17	18	=	31
19th	B Tucker	Dorset	OK 1545	18	15	17	=	32
20th	D Abbott	Metro	Laser 54548	22	14	29	=	36
21st	Patterson	T Valley	Lightning 68	19	18	21	=	37
22nd	D Coleman	Metro	Mirror 43150	17	21	22	=	38
23rd	Grayley/Cadet	"	Wayfarer 6527	26	26	16	=	42
24th	T Vincent	"	Mirror 47301	28	19	23	=	42
25th	P Moore	"	Laser 2	23	20	29	=	43
26th	H Nicholson	Beds	Solo 1968	24	25	19	=	43
27th	Brown/Langton	T Valley	M Rocket 2013	24	24	20	=	44
28th	R Povey	Metro	Mirror 58189	27	22	24	=	46
29th	Lacey/Cadet	"	Wayfarer 6528	29	23	25	=	48
30th	Varley	Herts	Enterprise 14991	31	32	32	=	63
31st	-	-	Fireball 189	32	32	32	=	64

- - - - - - - - - -oooo0oooo- - - - - - - - - -

The 1980 Metpol Regatta was yet again held at Queen Mary Sailing Club at Ashford, Middlesex. The time was a little different this year on the 1st of October, instead of the end of May or the beginning of June. It had been planned for the 28th of May, but this date was thought to be to near the P.A.A. Championships, and so it was changed. In spite of this late date there was a very

page 14

good turnout of 31 boats from 11 different police forces. The entry list should have been longer, but three of the Met stalwarts were not sailing. One was away on holiday, Clive Bishop had sadly suffered the recent loss of his father, and Stan Batten was on the sick list with severe earache and head pains resulting from an injury on duty. Stan was present but had been banned from sailing by his doctor. So he played Assistant Race Officer instead.

It was good to see the two Wayfarers from the Hendon Cadet Centre taking part in the competition. One of the young lads crewing was Nicholas Moore, the son of Peter Moore, our P.A.A. rep. There is nothing like following in father's footsteps ! Now that our Vice Commodore is working at the Cadet Centre perhaps we shall see a lot more of his young charges on the water in police sailing events.

Talking of following in father's footsteps. Another young man who is hoping to do just that is Dan Glen's eldest son, Alistair. He has recently left the Royal Navy and is just waiting to put on another blue uniform. Alistair was crewing for Dan in their Albacore " Monarch ". His " heavyweight crew ", Dan calls him. No doubt we shall see a lot more of young Alistair in the future.

Of the 31 boats that sailed, 13 of them were from the Met. There were 11 Lasers present, the largest class represented by far. The next most popular class boat was the Solo, of which there were four. Amongst the Laser sailors were one or two that we have not seen on the water for some time, in the shape of Dave Abbott and Peter Moore. Welcome back chaps ! I think that they are both concentrating on bigger boats these days.

Some of the competitors had quite an effort in getting to Queen Mary Reservoir let alone sailing there. The traffic in the Sunbury area was extremely heavy and came to a standstill for a long time. Geoff Norman, from the Notts Police, came along the Great Chertsey Road from London and could not get off at Sunbury Cross. He had to go off down the M.3. and then turn off onto the M.25 and then come in from Staines. I was asked whether it was a plot by Traffic Patrols to keep the opposition away, but I did hear that the real reason for the holdup was a demonstration by some local residents about the heavy traffic. They certainly made their point ! The time of the first race was put back half an hour to make sure that all the contestants were able to rig their boats in time.

The weather was fine and sunny. The winds were between force 2 and 3. It was just the right sort of day to get out on the water away from all that smoke and traffic. There Were to be three races, with the best two results to count towards the prizes. The Race Officer, Malcolm Humphries of Queen Mary Sailing Club, had chosen a simple triangular course with marks that could be easily seen. He had obviously heard how easy it was for police helmsmen to get lost on most sailing waters ! At the request of the M.P.S.C, committee, he was also running the races so as to finish all the boats at about the same time, and then working out the results on average lap times. This idea had been tried at some other police events and had been quite successful in cutting down the delay between races. It did mean that the slower boats did not have to drag on trying to finish the same course sailed by the much faster beats ahead of them. All three races were run over the same course. This gave a good beat, a reach and a run.

The fastest boat of the day was the 5o5, " Peacemaker ", sailed by John and Elizabeth Burbeck. This was quite obvious by the way they streaked ahead from the start of the first and last races. They went on to win the last race, finishing well ahead of the rest of the fleet. This team did extremely well considering that they also carried the responsibility of collecting the entries and working out the results from the times supplied by the Race Officer. As you can imagine, they spent a very busy day. It was because of the results that they missed the second race. As their performance in the last race would indicate, had they been free to concentrate on their sailing alone, then their names would have appeared amongst the prize winners for sure.

It was the Glens, Dan and Alistair, that showed their superiority by winning the first two races in their Albacore. Having done so well on the first two races they had no need to sail the last race, and in fact-stayed ashore. The other Albacore in the fleet, "Sidewinder", had its moment of glory in the second race, when shot off at the start and then lead the other boats, including Dan Glen, around the first lap. Sidewinder's crew, Len Gooch and Ernie Pidcock, could not believe their eyes. But it was not to last ! Instead of covering Dan on the second beat Sidewinder went off on its own tack. Monarch chose a more beneficial line and managed to overtake the other Albacore just before the windward mark. Sidewinder was unable to make up the lost ground but did stay ahead of the Lasers that were in hot pursuit. However, the leading Laser of Derek Westall was not to be denied, and he get close enough to the Albacores to split them on handicap. Sidewinder had another close battle in the last race, this time with Westall and Charlie Jordan in his Phantom. The Albacore and the Phantom changed places many times during the race, but he and Westall get ahead on the final leg. However, Jordan was forced to tack right at the finish to avoid hitting the committee boat, and Westall had to tack to avoid the Phantom. This move allowed Sidewinder through to pip them both at the finishing line. But Westall had sailed well and gained a very worthy second place to the 5o5. In fact Derek gained a second place in all three races. There's consistency for you, Boyo !

The Lasers were certainly making their presence felt. In the first race 9 Lasers finished in the first twelve places. In the second race, and the third race too, there were 7 Lasers in the first dozen places. Other than Derek Westall, the leading bunch of Lasers included Alex Ross, Colin Wilcock ( Sussex ), John Pierce, Geoff Norman (Nottinghamshire ), and his fellow countyman, Simon Gathercole who had come down to Queen Mary and borrowed a boat from the club, Big John Bayless, Jim Sturdy ( West Midlands ) and Dick Burnside ( Hampshire ). Alex Ross took a third, fourth and sixth place to finish 4th overall. Colin Wilcock took a fourth, and two fifths to finish 5th overall. John Pierce took a seventh and sixth place in the first two races and gained 8th position overall. The two Nottinghamshire Laser sailors took 6th and 9th place in the final results, and Gathercole's 9th place was all the more creditable considering that he was sailing a boat that he had never seen before. Dick Burnside ended up with the same number Of points as Gathercole but had to take the 10th place on the tie breaker.

The only other boat to get in amongst the Lasers was Charlie Jordan ( Kent ) in the Phantom. Charlie is a great enthusiast and really enjoys his sailing, He gained a 5th, a 9th and a 7th place, and finished up 7th overall. His photo finish with Derek Westall in the last race has already been mentioned above, and was well worth seeing.

The three Mirror dinghies, all from the Met, had their own private battle. Derek Coleman won the first round. The in fighting was a lot closer in the second race, and the last race come to think about it. This was reflected by the finishing positions, i.e. 19th, 21st and 22nd in the second race, and 22nd, 23rd and 24th in the final race. Terry Vincent beat Derek in the second race, but Coleman managed to pip him in the third. Dick Povey played a shadowing game on this occasion, but he is only biding his time before he shows the rest of the Mirrormen what he can do.

At the end of the day the prizes were presented by Chief Superintendent Ray Rodley of the South West London Traffic Area. He kindly offered to do the job at very short notice when it was found that Mr Dellow would be away on leave. Perhaps it was quite appropriate for a ' Traffic ' man to do the honours, because at least six of the competitors were from Traffic Patrols.

At the prize giving Dan Glen put into words the thoughts that many of us had that day - that it did not seem the same without having Stan Batten out on the water with us. He certainly had the backing of everyone present when he wished Stan a speedy and complete recovery from his nasty injury. Hurry on back Stan !

The above event was held on Thursday 2nd October 1980 at Queen Mary Sailing Club, Ashford, Middlesex. The weather was beautiful for everything except sailing. The sun shone all day, but there was hardly any wind. It was one of those creepy, crawly days, when you put a lot of effort into going nowhere very fast, and a lot of the time going nowhere at all.

There were 16 boats present. 7 of them came from the Met., 3 from Sussex, and one each from Hampshire, Kent, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, South Wales and the West Midlands.

Alex Ross and John Pierce took full charge of the situation and kept the M.P.S.C. at the front of the fleet. Alex won the first and the last race, and John won the middle race. Geoff Norman ( Notts ) was the leading Visitor and really revelled in the ultra light conditions. Dick Sivers and Derek Westall tried very hard but had to make do with 4th and 5th places respectively.

It was Dave Abbott that showed the fleet what a " Two -man " helmsman could do. He came third in the second race, and sixth in the last race. This took him into 6th place overall and that Was in a borrowed boat ! All the other non-singlehanders were left trailing the field. It does show how good their regular crews are - they are quite lost without them !

Stan Batten was not sailing this year. He was there at Queen Marys, but he was unable to sail because of a serious ear injury. He made good use of his Laser sailing talent by assisting Malcolm Humphries, the Race Officer. These championships were Stan's idea in the first place. They would not be the same without him there at all. We all hope that he will soon be sailing again.

1st	A Ross	Metro	1	ľ	10	ľ	=	1˝
2nd	J Pierce	"	81085	2	ľ	3	=	2ľ
3rd	G Norman	Notts	43330	3	4	2	=	5
4th	R Sivers	Northants	83524	5	2	5	=	7
5th	D Westall	S Wales	75245	4	7	4	=	8
6th	D Abbott	Metro	54548	11	3	6	=	9
7th	J Sturdy	W Mids	65022	7	6	11	=	13
8th	J Bayless	Metro	61695	13	5	8	=	13
9th	C Wilcock	Sussex	61738	8	15	7	=	15
10th	R Burnside	Hants	68638	6	9	17	=	15
11th	P Skerman	Sussex	72570	9	12	9	=	18
12th	J Burbeck	Metro	43320	10	11	17	=	21
13th	L Gooch	"	82	17	13	10	=	23
14th	D Jones	Sussex	12	12	14	12	=	24
15th	C Jordan	Kent	77832	16	8	17	=	24
16th	E Pidcock	Metro	2	16	16	17	=	32

       Last year the Hampshire Police Regatta was held on the 10th of September at Netley, on Southampton Water, and there was an entry of 26 boats. This year it was held on Wednesday the 15th of October at the Eastney Cruising Association's club at Southsea, and there was only an entry of 7 boats. This meagre list of competitors was a great disappointment to the organizers, and also to those taking part in the event. It turned out to be an ideal sailing day with plenty of wind for everybody. The T.V. Weather Man had promised 35 knot winds along the South Coast, but those strong to gale force winds did not materialise in the area of Southsea. The actual wind varied between Force 2 and 4. The tide, which can be a problem at the mouth of Langstone Harbour, presented no difficulties on this day as it was flowing into the harbour for most of the day. Those people that failed to support this event, for whatever reason, missed a jolly good day's sailing.

       The M.P.S.C. entry consisted of two boats, both helmed by Trafpols from TDV. John Bayless, that up and coming young Laser sailor, was there, and in very good form; as was Len Gooch and Clive Bishop in their Albacore, " Sidewinder ". John and Elizabeth Burbeck did come along but did not sail. Liz had recently had a cartilage operation on her knee and will be out of sailing for some time. It was nice to see her there complete with crutches, and we wish her a speedy recovery. The other five boats consisted of two from Hampshire, and one each from Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire and Sussex. One of the Hampshire boats was the 5o5 owned by John Woodhouse. John had decided that he would like a spell on the trapeze wire, so he allowed that well known Hampshire Laser helm, Dermod O'Malley, to take the tiller. Both these lads have red hair, and that is a very potent combination. There was bound to be trouble and there was ! But that comes later. The other Hampshire boat was a Kestrel which was crewed by Val Potter, a former sailing instructor at Ravens Ait, on the Thames at Surbiton. Val had a different helmsman in each race. Her skipper in the first race had the misfortune to capsize. His place was taken in the second race by the familiar figure of Colin Lewis.

       Brian Holden, the Race Officer, had intimated that if the conditions got too rough then the two races would be held within the harbour itself. But, in fact, they were held out on the sea. The club line was used as the start and finish line, and there was a very short run into the mouth of Langstone just to give the competitors a windward start. From the windward mark there was a broad reach out to 'Fairways' buoy which was straight out to sea from the mouth of Langstone Harbour. From there the boats had a run westwards to the wing mark, off the Southsea shore. In the first race they had then to beat to 'Fairways' and then back to the club. In the second race 'Fairways' was missed out the second time because there was enough water to beat straight for the club from the wing mark. With the wind against the tide there was quite a good chop on the water out to sea.

       The 5o5 shot away at the start of the first race and reached the windward mark well ahead of the other boats. But then it capsized right on that mark. Sidewinder was the next boat there and had to go round the mark and the 505, as did the rest of the fleet. The fleet then all took to the eastern shore to keep out of the tide. Before they had cleared Hayling Island the Laser of Chris Wilcock had taken the lead. The Kestrel was closing up on the Albacore as they made out to sea. Our intrepid red head heroes stormed up to the Fairways buoy and were the second boat round. The Laser and the 505 then headed west for the wing mark, but they both appeared to be heading too far inshore. Sidewinder saw their mistake and ran straight down to the correct mark. The leading two realised their mistake and veered further out to sea, but they had lost a lot of ground. The 5o5 was first to the wing mark, but then - wonder of wonders - they capsized again. Sidewinder was the next boat, and it was already on starboard tack. So the crew just hardened up to take the mark to starboard, and frightened the life out of Dermod O'Malley who was languishing in the water, by shooting through between the striken 5o5 and the mark itself. I suppose an Albacore can look pretty big when your line of Sight is only about a foot above the water !!!

       On the next leg Chris Wilcock had misunderstood the Race Officer's instructions with regard to the course for the first race, and was following the course for second race. He started to beat straight back to the club. The 505, on righting, did just the same. Meanwhile Sidewinder and the Laser of John Bayless beat back to Fairways and then down to the quarantine mark, just off the clubhouse. On the way in they passed the Kestrel sailing very low in the water with a newly acquired bend in their mast. It had capsized on its way out to Fairways, in some fairly shallow water by the look of it. From the quarantine mark the boats set off on another lap. The leading boats were yet again overtaken by the persistent 5o5, but it was not long before Dermod could be seen leaning over the transom of his wallowing craft. They had rudder trouble, and it could not be cured, so the dynamic duo decided to retire. It just was not their day ! So that left only five boats in the race. Sidewinder took line honours and the race. John Bayless won the battle of the Lasers, and Chris Lambert, in spite of capsizing once, won the battle of the Solos. Lambert did well enough to beat Lasers on handicap and take second place. Walker finished on corrected time ahead of Wilcock.

       For the second race there was more depth of water but a little less wind. Sidewinder managed to lead the fleet of six boats ( the 505 did not sail ) to the windward mark. It then crossed the tide to the western shore to try and get more wind. Bayless followed Sidewinder. The rest of the fleet chose to stay over on the Hayling shore, and they gained ground at first by so doing. But once Sidewinder and the Laser had crossed the tide and were in sheltered water they started to catch the others up, and in fact passed them. Once out of the lee of Hayling Island the two groups started to converge as they headed for Fairways buoy. There was not much to choose between them, Colin Lewis's Kestrel was just in front, closely pursued by Chris Wilcock's Laser. Sidewinder and Bayless and the Solos had to tag along behind them. Sidewinder overtook Wilcock on the beat, but could not make any ground on the Kestrel. Lewis lead the fleet round on the second lap as well. Sidewinder did close up behind him on the second beat by pointing higher, but the Kestrel took line honours. However he was not far enough ahead to beat the Albacore on handicap and had to accept second place. The Lasers took third and fourth places. John Bayless's 4th place was good enough to win him the second prize. Chris Lambert finished with the same number of points but lost out on the tie breaker. He took third prize.

       The prizes were presented by Mr Wilkins, the Assistant Chief Constable of the Hampshire Police. He expressed his disappointment at the lack of numbers and hoped that greater support would be forthcoming in 1981, when they hoped to hold their regatta bit earlier in the year. Eastney should be the venue.

1st Gooch/Bishop Met Albacore 442 ľ ľ = 1˝

2nd John Bayless Met Laser 61695 3 4 = 7

3rd Chris Lambert Beds Solo 3129 2 5 = 7

4th Chris Wilcock Sussex Laser 61738 5 3 = 8

5th Lewis/Potter Hants Kestrel R 2 = 9

6th M Walker Avon & Somerset Solo 4 6 = 10

7th O’Malley/Woodhouse Hants 5o5 5749 R dns = 14

SIDEWINDER

page 19

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

Commodore:	Deputy Assistant Commissioner J A Dellow, O.B.E. (Inspectorate)
Vice Commodore:	Chief Inspector Dan Glen	(Cadet Centre)
Hon. Secretary:	Inspector John Burbeck	(BH) also Treasurer
Asst. Secretary:	Inspector Dave Thomson	(FF)
Press Secretary:	PC 480 Q Clive Bishop	(QD)
Information Officer:	PC 679X Derek Wyeth	(XR)

Committee Members:	PC 295 Q Ross Elliston	(QH)
	PS 13 X Steve Fillery	(XW) Cruising Rep.
	PC 907 TD Len Gooch	(TDV)
	DC Stan Laurenson-Batten	(QW) RYA Rep. & Laser Fleet Capt.
	Ch Inspector Peter Moore	(FS) P.A.A. Rep.

DORSET POLICE REGATTA - 1980
Position	Helm	Force	Class	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1st	Hind/Alexander	Dorset	Dayboat	2	5	2	2	6
2nd	Charlie Jordan	Kent	Phantom	6	23	1	1	7˝
3rd	Len Gooch/Clive Bishop	Metro	Albacore	10	6	3	3	12
4th	Ross Elliston	Metro	Laser	11	2	8	3	12
5th	R Jones	Beds	Laser	3	9	7	5	15
6th	Chris Lambert	Beds	Solo	4	7	4	8	16
7th	Derek Coleman	Metro	Mirror	1	13	4	17	17ľ
8th	Malcolm Palmer	Dorset	Laser	9	3	9	7	19
9th	Richard Burnside	Hants	Laser	15	4	16	5	24
=10th	Tucker	Dorset	OK	8	17	12	9	29
=10th	Paul Skerman	Sussex	Laser	12	16	6	11	29
12th	C Nicholson	Beds	Topper	5	12	13	18	30
13th	H Nicholson	Beds	Solo	7	14	10	20	31
14th	Burbeck	Met	5o5	22	1	21	10	31ľ
15th	Saunders	West Mids	Laser	14	18	15	12	41
16th	Bayless	Metro	Laser	17	11	17	13	41
17th	Woodhouse/Thomas	Hants	5o5	22	8	11	24	43
18th	Sturdy	West Mids	Laser	13	23	20	14	47
19th	R & J Edwards	West Mids	Merlin Rocket	19	19	14	16	49
20th	Parry/Read	Dorset	Fireball	21	10	23	19	50
21st	Read/Brain	Sussex	Mirror	18	15	19	24	52
22nd	Woolger	Sussex	Laser	16	23	22	15	53
23rd	C Read/N Parry	Hants	Mirror	22	23	18	21	61

1st	Gooch	Albacore	6th	Burbeck	5o5
2nd	Wilcock	Laser	7th	Burgoyne	Laser
3rd	Burnside	"	8th	Woolger	"
4th	Loake	"	9th	Waddell	"
5th	Goodman	Albacore	10th	Skerman	"

1st	D Jones	Graduate	6th	C Nicholson	Topper
2nd	R Jones	Solo	7th	Alborough	"
3rd	Gay	Streaker	8th	H Nicholson	Solo
4th	Lambert	Solo	9th	Sumner	Mirror
5th	Trevis	Solo	10th	Sole	Mayfly

1st	Elliston	Metro	Laser	2	2	=	4
2nd	Goodman	Sussex	Albacore	4	ľ	=	4ľ
3rd	Gimes	Kent	Laser	ľ	4	=	4ľ
4th	Loake	Sussex	"	6	3	=	9
5th	Burbecks	Metro	5o5	3	7	=	10
6th	Bayless	Metro	Laser	8	5	=	13
7th	Wilcock	Sussex	"	5	9	=	14
8th	Gooch/Pidcock	Metro	Albacore	9	8	=	17
9th	Lambert	Beds	Solo	7	10	=	17
10th	Jordan	Kent	Phantom	10	12	=	22
11th	Sinnock	"	Laser	20	6	=	26
12th	Miller	"	"	12	15	=	27
13th	Brown	Sussex	Graduate	13	14	=	27
14th	Skerman	"	Laser	11	18	=	29
15th	Smith	Kent	Solo	18	11	=	29
16th	Burgoyne	Metro	Laser	18	13	=	31
17th	Read	Sussex	Mirror	18	18	=	36
18th	Waddell	"	Laser	18	18	=	36

1st	Gooch/Bishop	Met	Albacore 442	ľ	ľ	=	1˝
2nd	John Bayless	Met	Laser 61695	3	4	=	7
3rd	Chris Lambert	Beds	Solo 3129	2	5	=	7
4th	Chris Wilcock	Sussex	Laser 61738	5	3	=	8
5th	Lewis/Potter	Hants	Kestrel	R	2	=	9
6th	M Walker	Avon & Somerset	Solo	4	6	=	10
7th	O’Malley/Woodhouse	Hants	5o5 5749	R	dns	=	14