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

This Newsletter of the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club was originally circulated in Summer 1984

1984 has not been a terribly successful year for the MPSC. With the results of dinghy races that I have to hand, only one of the meetings have been won by a member of the club. That does not mean that we have not been represented in the few police meetings that have not been cancelled because of the miners' dispute, but we always seemed to be the runners-up. The one exception was the Leicestershire Police Regatta, which was won by Roger Glass. Even in the PAA Nationals, the highest Place that we attained was 3rd, and that went to the 'Mum and Dad' team, the Burbecks in their Merlin Rocket.

Alistair Glen and his wife, Nichola, have had a number of successes in Albacore Open Meetings, in particular a 1st at the Blackwater SC joint meeting for Fireballs and Albacores, in September. Alistair is now the proud owner of "Monarch", formerly owned by his father, Dan. Barry Stott has also been sailing well in his Yeoman keel boat. He was the runner-up in the Newark-Avia meeting for Yeoman, Kinsman and Squib boats, at Rutland Sailing Club on 27/28th May. Another runner-up that we should congratulate is Chaz Jordan, of the Kent Police. He lost his title as National Champion of the Phantom Class, but only just. Better luck next year, Chaz !

Earlier this year the rudder and tiller were stolen from the club Laser, which is berthed at Queen Mary Sailing Club. I understand that both items were marked with either the sail number (112417) and/or "M.P.S.C.". If you happen to come across a Laser bearing either of these items you could have yourself an arrest. The rudder and tiller were replaced on the insurance, but the club still had to pay the first Ł25. If you do use the Laser, make sure that it is made secure afterwards. That is the bad news ! The good news is that the Laser is being used far more than the club Enterprise ever was, which justifies getting the single hander.

The number of paid up members of the MPSC stands at 53, at the moment. There are a number of active sailors that have not renewed their membership yet. If you do not have a membership card for 1984/85, then you are one of those people that have forgotten to send in your Ł3.00 to the MPAA Office. You will find a renewal form at the back of this magazine. Please complete it and send it off.

Just recently we have had a number of sailboard owners join the club. So it looks as if we shall soon have a sailboard section to go with the Dinghy and Offshore sections of the club. No doubt we shall hear more about that at the A.G.M.

The date of the 1984 Annual General Meeting of the Sailing Section of the MPAA will be Friday 14th December, at 3.30 pm. The venue will be the Briefing Room at New Scotland Yard. If you have any matters to go on the agenda, please let me know in good time.

Congratulations are due to our former Hon Sec, John Burbeck, who was presented with his MPAA Colours by Sir Kenneth Newman, The Commissioner, at the recent MPAA A.G.M. for his services to the Sailing Section.

Here I must echo the Commissioner's remarks about the success of the 1984 PAA National Sailing Championships, held under the auspices of the MPAA/MPSC, at Queen Mary Sailing Club in June. In spite of the Miners' dispute, it was a great success, with 57 entries from 21 different police forces. It was in no way a record year, but very good in the circumstances. Much of the credit for the smooth running of the whole meeting must go to Peter Moore, who carried the burden of responsibility for many months. But even his organizing genius could not stop the Job 'pinching' back their mobile police station from Queen Mary's in the middle of the night, whilst everyone was at the Championships Dinner at Bushey Sports Club. Peter Brewer, of the QMSC Secretariat, will never let us forget that he was 'dragged from his bed' to open up the club that night to let in B 11. Some people have no sense of humour! Well done Peter - both of them !

Would you like to sail a 72' ketch? This is what I was asked just before Christmas, and I jumped at the chance.

The Ocean Youth Club (OYC) is a registered educational charity aimed at giving young people between the ages of 15 and 21, offshore sailing experience.

The club has 10 yachts at present, with another being commissioned in August next. Nine of the yachts are 72' aux. Bermudan ketches, and 1, "Duet", is a 55' gaff ketch. The yacht due in August is a pilot schooner. These yachts are based at a number of ports around the coast of the British Isles, and club members may sail with any of them.

The club is looking for experienced yachtsmen, with offshore experience, to act as mates, so I booked for what is known as a familiarisation cruise on the "Samuel Whitbread" to be assessed as 1st. mate. By return of post I received a schedule of the assessment, which made me realise that I needed some experience beforehand, so I booked for a mates training cruise.

At 1830 on March 26th. I joined "Scott Bader Commonwealth" at Gosport, together with 8 other men and 3 women, all doing mates training. We were met by the skipper, Colin LEWRY, who proceeded to give us an introduction to the OYC and divided us into watches.

The watch system used generally by the OYC, is 3 watches of 4 persons, each with a mate or watch leader in charge. For each period of 24 hours, one watch is the 'mother' watch and copes with all the feeding. The other two watches are deck watches and use the standard watch system of 4 hours on and 4 off, with two dog watches from 1600 to 1800 and from 1800 to 2000.

We were gradually introduced to the techniques of sailing and sail handling in this vessel, which only carries 1 winch - a jib sheet winch, all the sails are sweated up, and I mean sweated. With all sails hoisted, it requires considerable organisation to tack, for although the main, mizzen and the staysail (which is boomed and on a horse) need no attention, the jib sheets require careful handling to avoid the jib wrapping itself around the forestay. In addition there is a port and a starboard runner on the mainmast, so that each time you go about the weather runner has to be set up and the lee runner eased. As well as the sails already mentioned, there is a large mizzen staysail which can be used in light airs.

Our cruise made slow progress along the Solent, with much training in persistent rain. After spending a night on the piles at Cowes, we carried on with more training and 'chats' with each of us taking a turn as mate of the watch, to Swanage Bay for anchoring practice, then to Poole Town Quay for the night.

The next day the weather had cleared, so with insufficient time for a cross channel trip, we made passage around the mid-channel buoy, EC2, then back to Portsmouth Harbour via the Nab channel.

After manoeuvring under power instruction in the harbour, we returned to our berth to clean ship and de-brief.

I found it a very interesting and instructive five days.

On 9th. April at 1400 I joined the "Samuel Whitbread" at Brighton to sail as 2nd mate for my 1st. mates assessment. After meeting the skipper, Paul ALENSON, a Dutchman, the 1st mate who had sailed with the OYC for some 8 years, and the other 2nd mate also on a 1st mates assessment, we met our crew of 15 to

17 year olds, consisting of 7 girls and 4 boys. We all received an introduction chat from the skipper and allocation of duties from the 1st. mate.

The following morning they were divided into watches with a mate allocated to each watch, then we set sail for France. After a period of sail handling training we set our course. Unfortunately, soon after lunch the wind dropped so we had to motor for the rest of the day.

We arrived at Cherbourg at 0130 and anchored in the Inner Harbour to get some shut-eye. Later that morning, after cleaning ship, everyone went ashore with the undertaking to be back at 1830 to eat aboard.

Everyone was back in good time, and finding the sun shining and a good breeze blowing, we decided to sail at once and eat underway.

We beat out of the Western entrance to the outer harbour and shaped a course for the Needles. I had the watch from 2000 to 2400 but by the time I came on watch, 2 of my crew had succumbed to seasickness and the other one (my watch was one short) was an excellent lookout but couldn't steer to save her life. So for my
watch, I helmed for 3˝ hours, reading the Walker log hourly and memorising the reading, whilst a row of yellow oily clad figures sat hunched over the lee rail, clipped on, and making regular offerings to the deep.

At midnight I was relieved by the next watch with Anvil Point light just coming into sight, and I went below to complete the log and draw in my E.P's on the chart.

Later that morning we tied up at Hamble to collect 2 new sails and get our alternator repaired. That evening we slipped back into the Solent with the remaining tide, but as the wind died away, we anchored off Ryde.

Early the next morning, we pulled up the anchor and ghosted in light airs back to Brighton. It was a beautiful sailing day, but not enough wind. After a small celebration that night, an extensive 'clean ship' was held the next morning. At noon the crew departed and a short de-briefing chat.

I enjoyed myself immensely, despite the hard work, and I got my 1st mates assessment, so later this year I hope to sail again with the OYC, as 1st mate.

If anyone is interested in joining the OYC, a phone call will get you full details by return of post. Their phone number is Gosport (). It only costs Ł10 a year to belong to the club as a 'Friend' (over 21) or Ł7.50 a year if you make a deed of covenant. You have to join the club to sail with them.

If you have the experience, you can sail as either 2nd mate at Ł5.50 a day, or 1st mate at Ł3.75 a day. It is cheap sailing, interesting and rewarding, and I hope to see more of the Met. sailing with them in the future.

The 1984 season of police sailing was opened by this meeting, held on Thursday 12th April, at Chasewater Sailing Club. The good Lord was kind and the weather was fine and warm, and the winds were light.

Many helmsmen were flexing their muscles after the winter rest, and were glad that the winds were not too
fresh.

Although the Laser men were well represented, they did not have things all their own way. Charlie Jordan showed a fine turn of boat speed, and split the Lasers of Owen and Glass. Rod Bramhall also showed many of the single handers the way home in his swift Enterprise.

But it was Gareth Owen that won the day - yet again! He is always a hard man to beat. He may not be at the front of the fleet for all of the race, but he is there when it counts, that is except in the last race, when Charlie's blue Phantom got far enough in front to beat the handicap. Roger Glass, the leading Metro helm, had to be satisfied with the third prize.

Editorial (Continued from page 3.)

The 1985 PAA National Sailing Championships will be the responsibility of the Merseyside Police. The date will be the 8/9th June, and the venue will be Bala Sailing Club, Gwynedd, in the southern part of the Snowdonia National Park. It is a great place to sail. So don't miss it. Mark your diaries up right away.

If you have not already done so, then have a look at this month's POLICE magazine. There is a very good report in there of the Merseyside Police Team's adventures in this year's Three Peaks Race. It is written by one of their runners. It is a real eye-opener in the sort of conditions that had to be faced in this year's race.

You will find some pages of advertisements at the back of the magazine. These are just some of the leaflets that drop in my lap as your Hon Sec. I in no way endorse any of the products. I just publish them
for your perusal only.

This was the view that most competitors in the 1984 P.A.A. Sailing Championships got of
Gareth Owen from Merseyside , at Queen Mary Sailing Club, Ashford Middlesex on 6th/7th June.

Last year's P.A.A. Sailing Championships were held on the sea at Exmouth. This year they were held inland, at Queen Mary Sailing Club, at Ashford, Middlesex. The date was Wednesday and Thursday, the 6th and 7th of June. The organization was in the hands of the Met., mainly in the shape of Peter Moore (Secretary of the Dinghy Section of M.P.S.C.) and Derek Alldridge (General Secretary of M.P.A.A.). Peter had most of the work, and all of the worry, on his shoulders. The miners' dispute did not help. He was never sure whether those that had booked to come would do so, and many did not book because they were uncertain of getting the leave approved. Only one member of the Kent contingent was able to attend, and there was nobody from South Wales, Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire.

57 boat crews did take part in these championships. They represented 20 different police forces, as far apart as Devon & Cornwall and Lothian & Borders. They brought with them 18 different classes of sailing dinghies, the most popular being the single handed Laser. There were 26 of those. The next in the popularity stakes were the Albacores and Enterprises, of which there were 4 of each. The most successful boats were the Lasers, Merlin Rockets and Albacores. Of the 10 prize winners, there were 6 Lasers, 2 Merlin Rockets and 2 Albacores. The highest placed 'slow' boat was a Solo, sailed by Dennis Langton from Thames Valley. He finished 20th overall.

Four races were held, two on each day. The weather was fairly mild, and it was a contest of skill rather than the survival of the fittest. There was some very close racing, especially amongst the Laser enthusiasts. Gareth Owen (the runner-up in the 1983 championships) and Simon Hawkes sailed consistently well, and finished in the first three places in all four races. At the end of the third race they were both level on points. In the last race it was the more experienced Owen that won through in the end, but only just. They finished first and second.

So the winner of the 1984 P.A.A. National Sailing Championships was Merseyside's own, Gareth Owen, sailing his new Laser. He was presented with the Sunderland Trophy for being the first boat overall, the Laser Trophy for being the first Laser, and the West Midlands Trophy (a beautiful ship's clock) for being the winner of the last race. He won races two and four, was second in the 1st race, and third in the 3rd race (his discard). Gareth last won these championships in 1982, when they were held at Rutland Sailing Club.

The runner-up in this year's championships was Simon Hawkes, from Avon & Somerset. I think that this was the first time he had entered for the P.A.A. Nationals, but he is obviously someone that we are to see a lot of in the future. He was presented with the Police Review Trophy. Unfortunately, although he won the third race, there was not a special trophy for that. He was second in races 2 and 4, and third in the 1st race (his discard). He was also sailing a Laser.

The Merseyside Trophy was presented to the husband and wife team, of John and Elizabeth Burbeck, sailing their Merlin Rocket. They also took home the Bala Trophy for winning the first race. They were second in the 3rd race, and third in the last race. Something went wrong in the second race, and they retired. Fortunately they were able to discard that result of 56 points. Their performance was all the more remarkable because John was still recovering from a leg injury which he got skiing earlier in the year, and Elizabeth had given birth to a bouncing baby boy (Matthew) the previous Christmas.

The Fourth Prize went to Phillip Chester, from Hampshire, sailing another Laser. This one was a comparatively old one, with a sail number of 65080. He may not have been right at the front, but he was consistently placed well. He was fifth in races 2 and 3, 6th in race 4. and eighth in the 1st race. His was another new face that we are going to see more of in police sailing circles.

A study in concentration. John and Elizabeth Burbeck keeping their Merlin Rocket flat, as they beat
across Queen Mary Reservoir during the 1984 P.A.A. Sailing Championships in June.

The M.P.S.C.'s second placed boat was an Albacore, sailed by the two Davids, Abbott and Nicholls. They won the Fifth Prize for the championships. They sailed their borrowed boat well enough to come third in the 2nd race, 7th in the 1st race, 10th in the last race, and 18th in the 3rd race. They were able to discard those 18 points.

The Sixth Prize went to yet another Laser helm, in the shape of Kevin Johnson, from West Yorkshire. Kevin first came to note last year when he came all the way down from Leeds to the British Police Laser Sailing Association Championships at Walton on Thames Sailing Club, and walked off with the trophy. He is another young man with a great future in police sailing, and Laser sailing on the whole. He gained 4th place in the 1st race, 6th place in the 2nd race, and 7th place in the last two races.

The Seventh Prize was won by the third placed Met boat, another Laser, helmed by the omnipresent Roger Glass. In the Met, Roger has taken over where Stan Laurenson-Batten left off. He travels the country, far and wide, representing the M.P.S.C. in the Laser sailing world. This year he managed to improve on his 1983 and 1982 P.A.A. results by one place. His best result this year was a 4th place in the 2nd race, and then he gained 6th place in the first race, 9th place in the 3rd, and 11th in the last race.

When Stan Batten retired from the Job, it was Dick Sivers that offered to take over the running of the British Police Laser Sailing Association. Dick has been one of the stalwarts of police sailing over the years, and has been one of the longest running one-man county police sailing teams that I have heard of. Where would Northamptonshire be without him? It was to him, with his now famous fleet number "5" on his sail, that the Eighth Prize for the '84 P.A.A.s went. His best result was 5th place in the 1st race. His previous three P.A.A. results have been 21st in 1983, 10th in 1982, and 12th in 1981.

The Met took the Ninth Prize, in the shape of another stalwart of constabulary sailing, Ross Elliston. Now he has become a father, he has learned the error of his ways and has given up single-handed sailing, and turned to the comfort and safety of two-man boats. This year he 'conned' young Mark Donnelly to crew for him in a borrowed Merlin Rocket. He did not do as well as he did in 1981 and 1982, sailing on his own, but he did a lot better than he did last year when he played 'Swallows and Amazons' down at Exmouth.

The Tenth Prize went to the grandfathers of the Sussex Police Sailing Club, in the shape of Peter Goodman and John Loake, sailing an Albacore. John is more familiar with the tiny 'cockpit' of a Laser, which he can make travel very fast, especially in heavy weather. He may be past retiring age, but he is still very fit. These two spent most of the two days trying to keep in front of a certain other Albacore, crewed by two geriatrics from the M.P.S.C. They each 'won' two races , but the Sussex lads gained the better result overall.

The Lancon Bell, awarded to the highest placed.GP14, went to Tony Critchley and Phillip Cross, from Lancashire.

The Spinnaker Trophy, awarded to the fastest spinnaker carrying boat with a yardstick 'faster' than a GP14, went to John and Elizabeth Burbeck, in their Merlin Rocket.

The Seagull Trophy, awarded to the highest placed R.Y.A. recognised slow handicap boat, went to Dennis Langton of Thames Valley, in his Solo.

The Maiden Trophy, presented in honour of the late Inspector Ian Dodds, and awarded to the highest placed 'novice' (someone that had not won a P.A.A. prize before), went to Nick Haggitt from West Mercia.

The prizes were presented by Mr John Dellow, O.B.E., Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, Commodore of the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club.

There's nothing to this two-handed sailing! Ross Elliston and Mark Donnelly in their Superman
outfits at Queen Mary Reservoir, during this year's P.A.A. Sailing Championships,
sailing a Merlin Rocket.

Peter Moore, the Championships Secretary at this year's P.A.A. Sailing Championships at Queen Mary Sailing Club, Ashford being presented with a commemorative plaque by the Royal Ulster Constabulary sailing team.

POLICE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - 1984 - Results

	Helm	Class	Force	R1	R2	R3	R4		Total Pts	Nett Pts
1st	Gareth Owen	Laser 117166	Merseyside	2	.75	3	.75	=	6.5	3.5
2nd	Simon Hawkes	Laser 100267	Avon & Somerset	3	2	.75	2	=	7.75	4.75
3rd	John Burbeck	Merlin Rocket 3326	Metro	.75	56R	2	3	=	61.75	5.75
4th	Philip Chester	Laser 65080	Hants	8	5	5	6	=	24	16
5th	David Abbott	Albacore 6649	Metro	7	3	7	10	=	27	17
6th	Kevin D Johnson	Laser 85256	W Yorks	4	6	18	7	=	35	17
7th	Roger Glass	Laser 113346	Metro	6	4	9	11	=	30	19
8th	Richard Sivers	Laser 5	Northants	5	8	17	13	=	43	26
9th	Ross Elliston	Merlin Rocket 3236	Metro	15	16	4	9	=	44	28
10th	Peter Goodman	Albacore 6678	Sussex	19	7	13	8	=	47	28
11th	Chaz Jordan	Phantom 799	Kent	14	11	15	4	=	44	29
12th	Alex Ross	Merlin Rocket 3170	Metro	37	15	10	5	=	67	30
13th	Nicholas Haggitt	Laser 64165	W Mercia	13	9	12	12	=	46	33
14th	Len Gooch	Albacore 1852	Metro	18	10	6	20	=	54	34
15th	Christopher Wilcock	Laser 61738	Sussex	9	12	14	23	=	58	35
16th	Roger Brown	Finn 423	Thames Valley	56R	19	8	15	=	98	42
17th	Ted Frith	Fireball 11651	W Midlands	11	14	24	34	=	83	49
18th	Mark Cam	Laser 107088	Metro	16	56R	19	14	=	105	49
19th	K M Wilson	Laser 54587	Lothian & Borders	12	20	33	18	=	83	50
20th	Dennis Langton	Solo 3366	Thames Valley	23	27	11	17	=	78	51
21st	Roderick Bramhall	Enterprise 10932	GMP	20	17	16	19	=	72	52
22nd	Simon Weeks	Laser 85776	Hants	10	56R	34	16	=	116	60
23rd	Tony Critchley	GP14 6043	Lancashire	22	13	27	26	=	88	61
24th	Nigel Tinkler	Laser 42865	Metro	17	56R	32	22	=	127	71
25th	James Sturdy	Laser 65022	W Midlands	32	22	28	21	=	103	71
26th	Barbara Selby	Laser 88687	N Yorks	27	30	20	30	=	107	77

27th	J A Mahood	Laser 91911	RUC	24	56R	23	31	=	134	78
28th	Neale Moore	Laser 44005	RUC	56R	29	22	28	=	135	79
29th	J Humber	GP14 11088	Lancashire	36	24	29	27	=	116	80
30th	Stephen Proffitt	Laser 75370	Metro	21	56R	31	29	=	137	81
31st	Barry Hudson	Solo 2198	Herts	25	18	57R	41	=	141	84
32nd	David Armstrong	Laser 100946	RUC	30	21	36	56R	=	143	87
33rd	David Jones	Graduate 2511	Sussex	33	23	57S	35	=	148	91
34th	Bryan Tucker	OK 1359	Dorset	28	26	57R	37	=	148	91
35th	Malcolm Wood	Enterprise 7451	GMP	31	56R	26	40	=	153	97
36th	David J Davies	Lightning 94	Wiltshire	56R	56R	26	40	=	158	102
37th	Kevin Dowley	Mirror 6617	Metro	26	25	57R	52	=	160	103
38th	m g hudson	Laser 46242	GMP	39	56R	35	32	=	162	106
39th	keith bateman	Enterprise 1967	Metro	35	28	57R	46	=	166	109
40th	f j coppenhall	Laser 85068	Cambs	42	56R	30	38	=	166	110
41st	ian smith	National 12 3189	W Yorks	56R	56S	25	33	=	170	114
42nd	john benson	Albacore 1294	Lancashire	29	56R	57S	36	=	178	121
43rd	michael kinnard	GP14 8945	Metro	45	31	57R	48	=	181	124
44th	kenneth carter	Pacer 399	W Yorks	43	32	57S	50	=	182	125
45th	j a lake	Laser 67110	Metro	40	56R	57R	39	=	192	135
46th	g squires	Laser 32649	W Yorks	56R	56R	57R	24	=	193	136
47th	mike cannon	Miracle 2403	Lancashire	34	56R	57R	47	=	194	137
48th	lesley lambert	Enterprise 17830	Metro	41	56S	57R	43	=	197	140
49th	martin albron	Graduate 2526	Sussex	38	56R	57R	49	=	200	143
50th	peter nordquist	Laser 39340	D & Cornwall	56S	56S	57S	42	=	211	154
=51st	brian reed	Minisail 3745	Sussex	44	56R	57R	56R	=	213	156
=51st	r e moore	Laser 50105	RUC	56R	56R	57R	44	=	213	156
53rd	derek coleman	Mirror 43150	Metro	56R	56S	57R	45	=	214	157
54th	malcolm sparks	Solo 245	Metro	56R	56R	57R	51	=	220	163
55th	paul skerman	Laser 72570	Sussex	56S	56S	57S	56S	=	225	168
56th	james fricker	Lark 534	D & Cornwall	56R	56S	57R	57N	=	226	169
57th	andrew hewitt	Laser 112417	Metro	57N	57N	57S	56S-	=	227	170
R=RETIRED, S=DID NOT SIGN OFF, N=NON START, D=DISQUALIFIED, X=DISQUALIFIED-NOT TO BE DISCARDED

Gareth Owen (centre), this year's P.A.A. Sailing Champion, and the other prize winners at Queen Mary Sailing club, on 7th June, 1984.

This race started from Barmouth on Saturday 23rd June. This was the third year that the Metropolitan Police Sailing Club had entered a team. Their first effort in 1982, in a monohull, came to grief off Ravenglass, when they lost their propeller . Their second attempt in 1983, in the lightweight trimaran, Triple Fanatasy, was more successful, when they came third out of a field of 29 boats. This year they tried again in another trimaran, a bit smaller than last year's craft, called Shanty Town. But the weather was too rough for them. They felt that the heavy seas made it too dangerous to cross the bar at Ravenglass, and too dangerous to sit out at sea waiting for the bad weather to abate. So they ran back to Beaumaris for shelter. The winds failed to drop to a safe level in time for them to be still competitive. So they called it a day, and withdrew from the race.

Some of the flavour and atmosphere of this year's race may best be obtained by quoting from the press releases in the Daily Telegraph, sent in by Frank Chapman. The race is sponsored by the Daily Telegraph.

"The first 24 hours of the Three Peaks Race, gunned off at Barmouth on Saturday evening, were packed with incident as crews in the 38 boats encountered raw conditions, hitting a Force 5—6 Westerly on the nose, as they tacked towards Bardsey Island.

During gusts reaching up to Force 7, the 30ft trimaran, Dobbin, from Cardia., was dismasted and Abersoch lifeboat was launched to escort her to harbour. Nyorama also suffered gale damage and went in for repairs.

This was the weather for the big boats, and the all-girl crew on the 38ft trimaran, Skandia Life, were in their element, winning the first leg of the race to Caernarvon.

They completed the 62-mile leg in 9 hours 38 minutes, arriving just after 3.00 am. Next in, 16 minutes behind, was the trimaran, Sanscarry, whose runners, Simpson and Martin, excelled in the 24-mile return run and ascent of Snowdon, overtaking the girl runners to enable Sanscarry to cast off from Caerarvon 30 minutes ahead on the next leg to Ravenglass.

Next boats to arrive at Caernarvon were Royal Insurance (Merseyside Police); last year's winner, Memec and Chips; Low Contour (the first monohull); then First Class Marines, crewed by the Royal Marines from Plymouth, who arrived 1 hour 36 minutes after the first boat, and about half an hour ahead of the Belgian Army rivals.

Memec suffered a blow on the mountain run when their lead runner, Taffy Davies, completed the race, but became indisposed and likely to be replaced on the Scafell and Ben Nevis climbs (Taffy suffered severe sea sickness on the first leg).
page 18

When Sanscarry and Skandia Life left Caernarvon, they decided to progress up the west of Anglesey, whereas some of the others decided to take the shorter but riskier route through the Menai Strait.

This passage was the undoing of the Ruffian class, Ramharry, from Glasgow, which got stuck on the rocks on the notorious Swellies and seemed likely to have to wait for the next tide to obtain freedom."

The first boat to get into Ravenglass was the 25ft Gwahir catamaran, Scorpion, manned by a team from the Royal Corps of Transport in Germany. They had left Caernarvon almost 2 hours behind the leading boat, Sanscarry. They booked in at Ravenglass 5 minutes ahead of them. (There was talk that Scorpion had to carry a railway sleeper in each hull to keep them on the water.) First Class Marines was 2 minutes behind the big trimaran. Merry Fidler, a Sigma 33 from Beaumaris was 4th, and the last of the first batch of boats. The Merseyside Police, in Royal Insurance, was next, but they were 7˝ hours behind Scorpion.

The Royal Marines showed their skill on the mountain run by completing the Scarfell 32-mile round trip in 6Ľ hours, and most of that was done in the dark. The Sanscarry runners did it in 7Ľ hours, and the Royal Corps of Transport took 9 hours 24 minutes. The Merseyside police completed their run in 6 hours 47 minutes. That left the Marines in the lead.

"The Royal Marines from Plymouth, sailing the 26-foot monohull (8.5m Beneteau), First Class Marines, and the 40-foot trimaran, Sanscarry, helmed by Paul Rouse, are clear leaders in the Three Peaks Race, sponsored by the Daily Telegraph.

These two boats, vastly contrasting in size and type, escaped on the tide from Ravenglass and sped off against the piping northerly, on the final sailing leg, the 230-mile haul to Fort William. They were later joined by Anglesey entrant, Merry Fidler, a Sigma 33.

The weather was the worst experienced yet in this fatiguing race. The occupants of Scorpion, the 25-foot catamaran, being the worst to suffer.

Members of the Royal Corps of Transport, based in West Germany, were the first to arrive in Ravenglass. But their climbers scaling Scafell Pike in the middle of the night, buffeted by strong winds and rain, with visibility down to a few feet, had difficulty in finding the summit and a rescue party was on the point of being sent to find them, when they emerged safe, but too late for Scorpion to catch the tide.

Sanscarry, a 40-foot trimaran, in which Gareth Thomas, Paul Rouse and Mike Dunham shared the helming, has won the eighth annual 380-mile Three Peaks Race in a record time.

Arriving at 2.02 yesterday (Wednesday) morning, Sanscarry's climbers, Martin Stone and Peter Simpson, fast and reliable on the three climbs, completed the Ben Nevis ascent in 3 hours 37 minutes.

The home-built Sanscarry, which was chartered from its owner, Simon Frost, finished the race in three days, 12 hours and 9 minutes.

Next boats in were First Class Marines, Merry Fidler, Royal Insurance and Innovation (an OOD 34, crewed by 'Lawyers who have all 'run the bulls' at Pamplona'). First Class Marines arrived 3 hours 3 minutes after the winners.

The new time beat the previous record set two years ago by Signaller, now named Memec and Chips, by 12 hours 9 minutes."

This year's championships were held on Saturday 1st September, at Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire, under the flag of the Northampton Sailing Club. All the hard work of organizing the event was done by Dick Sivers (ex Met.). His job was made more difficult by the miners' dispute. It meant that many of the competitors that wished to come were unable through picket duty. But, as so many of the police sailing events had had to be cancelled earlier in the year, Dick decided to carry on regardless, and hoped that enough helmsmen would make the effort to attend to make the meeting worthwhile. As it happened, he made the right decision. 13 boats took part in the racing, almost half of them from the Met, and a good day was had by all.

The weather turned out to be fine and warm, and there was plenty of wind at the start of the day's racing - more than enough for those helmsmen that normally sail more sedate, two-man, boats. Those experienced Laser-men took to the water with whoops of glee. The force 3 to 4 breeze was just what they wanted to show off their skills in this fast, easy planing boat. The less experienced only entered the water when they had run out of excuses for not doing so. Even then, they reached backwards and forwards just off the clubhouse, trying to pluck up enough courage to turn and start the run down to the start line. As you can imagine, there were quite a few capsizes. One Enterprise owner, with fair hair, enjoyed capsizing so much that he kept doing it all the way around the course, on the beats as well as at the gybe marks.
Another competitor, more at home in a Fireball or Wayfarer, managed to do the impossible and capsized his borrowed Laser directly on top of another that had come to grief a few seconds earlier. (These West Midlanders will do anything to become the centre of attraction !). But for all that, as far as I know, there was nobody hurt and no damage done.

There is plenty of room on the water at Pitsford and the 13 Lasers -Would have looked a little lost if they had not been joined by about 25 Lightnings, taking part in their first National Championships. It was to be a modest, one day, event for them, but they raced with just as much enthusiasm as any well established class. Both the Lasers and the Lightnings used the same Race Officer, and the same course, starting 5 minutes apart. This made for some interesting races, with the best of the Lightnings overtaking the slower of the Lasers. It was a good way of holding the two events. The Lightnings even had one police officer amongst their numbers - D Davies from Wiltshire.

In the first race Roger Glass let his enthusiasm run away with him, and was over the line at the start. This was a fact that he did not fully appreciate until he failed to get a 'gun' at the end of the race. That left the field open to the other Laser enthusiasts, such as Simon Hawkes, Dick Sivers, Kevin Johnson (the defending champion) and newcomer to police sailing, Simon Tinkler from the Met. It was Simon Hawkes that was able to use his weight to good affect in the stiff breeze and win this race. Dick Sivers managed to take second place, in spite of the weight of all those tufts on his sail. Kevin Johnson was third.

In the second race - the first one after lunch - Roger made sure that he was well behind the line this time when the start gun went. He then went on to have a fine battle with Dick Sivers and Kevin Johnson. The wind dropped off somewhat from the morning, and there was more racing, and less swimming, going on. The 'amateurs' were feeling more comfortable and were getting the hang of sailing these strange craft. Roger went on to win the race. Dick was the runner-up, and Kevin managed to keep ahead of Simon Hawkes, who finished 4th.

The winds were fairly light for the third race of the championships. The result was still very open. Any one of four helmsmen could win the event. Simon Hawkes had to make sure that he came in in front of Roger Glass if he wanted to win the event. Simon had one first place to his credit, and so did Roger. Simon had to try and discard that 4th place that he got in the second race. If Kevin could get a first place, that would put him point ahead of Dick Sivers, and a point ahead of Simon Hawkes. So there was everything to aim for. At the start all the 'big guns' were down at the committee boat end of the line, watching each other like hawkes (sorry Simon - no pun intended). Len Gooch and Rod Bramhall were at the other end of

end of /
the line, keeping their powder dry. Soon after the gun went for the start it became obvious that the better end of the line had been that furthest away from the committee boat, because Len and Rod were going straight for the windward mark. At one stage it even looked as if Len would be the first boat there. This was the last thing he wanted in actual fact, because he was not at all sure which way he had to round the mark, or where the next mark lay. He had his hands full just sailing the Laser, and relied on the boats in front showing him the way around. Fortunately for him, it was Dick Sivers who reached the mark first. Len was about third, with Rod Bramhall hard on his tail. But there was a long way to go, and many places changed hands on the next two or three laps. At the finish it was Simon Hawkes that crossed the line first, ahead of Roger Glass and Kevin Johnson. Poor old Dick could only manage 4th place. It was Len Gooch that scuttled over the line to gain 5th place - his best result of the day. Simon Tinkler was 6th, Dick Anelay was 7th, and Rod Bramhall 8th.

When all the results were worked out, and the worst race scores discarded, Simon Hawkes was declared the winner of the 1984 Police Laser Sailing Association Championships. The runner-up was our own Roger Glass. The third prize went to the local lad, Dick Sivers. It had been a close fought match, and Simon was the worthy winner.

In the opinion of all those that took part, both the 'professionals' and the 'amateurs', it had been a very good meeting. It had been well organized by Dick. The local club members had made us very welcome, and the Good Lord had blessed us with some fine weather and good winds. What more could you want ? It was a great pity that more policemen had not taken the opportunity to shake the coal-dust off their boots and joined us in the sunshine and fresh air.

LANCASHIRE POLICE REGATTA - 1984

1st	Derek Westall	S Wales	Laser 113421	3	2	ľ	=	2ľ
2nd	Kevin Johnson	W Yorkshire	Laser 85256	5	ľ	3	=	3ľ
3rd	Don Acklam	W Yorkshire	Nat 12 3226	ľ	8	4	=	4ľ
4th	Gooch/Bishop	Metropolitan	Albacore 1852	8	3	4	=	7
5th	Christine Parkinson	Cumbria	Graduate 2828	2	5	7	=	7
6th	Tony Critchley	Lancashire	GP14 6043	7	6	2	=	8
7th	Dick Aneley	W Yorkshire	Laser 88776	6	4	6	=	10
8th	Rod Bramhall	Gtr Manchester	Ent 10932	4	9	9	=	13
9th	Ian Smith	W Yorkshire	Ent 17762	9	7	8	=	15
10th	Geoff Squires	W Yorkshire	Laser 32649	10	10	dns	=	20
11th	K Childe	S Yorkshire	Ent 18073	11	11	10	=	21
12th	John Humber	Lancashire	GP14 11088	13	12	11	=	23
13th	M Savage	S Yorkshire	Topper 22783	12	13	12.5	=	24.5

This year's Lancashire Police Open Meeting was held on Thursday 4th October at Rossendale Sailing Club, Dunnockshaw, which is on the A56, between Rawtenstall and Burnley. The sailing was on a reservoir, measuring about ľ mile by about ˝ mile. Although the water level was well down, there was plenty of room for the 13 boats that entered. As you can see from the list above, 7 different police forces were represented. The most distant travellers were from the Met and South Wales.

Contrary to the long range forecast, the weather turned out to be fine and sunny, with light winds between force 1 and 2 from the south-east. The local team, led by Ian Corner, made us all very welcome. With typical northern hospitality, refreshments were included in the entry fee. For lunch there was locally made meat pie and mushy peas, followed by piles of sandwiches and cakes, and all the tea and coffee you could drink. No one went hungry that day. Ian not only organized the meeting, but acted as the race officer and managed to serve behind the bar as well. He is obviously a man of many parts. Well done Ian !

The racing was close and competitive, with the first three finalists each winning one race. Don Acklam showed great promise after his win in the first race in his very smart National 12, complete with his smart young lady crew. But he faded in the second race to 8th, and in the last race was unable to make up on the handicap the lead that the leading pair of Lasers had over him.

Rod Bramhall was another helmsman that did well in the first race. But he too was unable to keep his Enterprise up with the front runners in the other two races.

Gooch and Bishop, in the Albacore, were a bit rusty after an inactive sailing season, and it showed in the first race. Not only were they late for the start, but they also were involved in a 'port and starboard' collision in which they were in the wrong, and had to do a '720'. That put them well down the fleet. They did manage to pick up a few places, but they had to be satisfied with an 8th place. They did better later in the day, but could not get past the two leading Lasers.

The leaders of the pack were of course the Lasers of Derek Westall and Kevin Johnson. They had a ding dong battle with each other in all the races. In the last race it was Kevin that led for most of the time, but Derek managed to creep through on the last lap, and then covered his adversary to the finish. It was only the good performance of Tony Critchley in his GP14 that robbed Kevin of an equal first place overall.

There follows a number of pages given to publicity from outside organisations..

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

Commodore:	Assistant Commissioner J A Dellow, O.B.E.
Hon. Secretary:	PC 907 TD Len Gooch	(TDV)
Asst. Secretary:	Inspector David Thomson	(XS)
Press Secretary:	PC 480 Q Clive Bishop	(QD)

Rear Commodore: (Dinghies)	PC 295 Q Ross Elliston	(QH)
Secretary:	Ch Inspector Peter Moore	(CO.B2)
Committee:	PC 480 Q Clive Bishop	(QD)
	DC Roger Glass	(CD)
	DS John Pierce	(GN)

Rear Commodore: (Offshore)	PC 425 AD John Stickland	(IW)
Secretary:	Insp. Dave Thomson	(XS)
Crewing Sec.:	Det Inspector Stuart Douglas	(D9)
Committee:	PC 439B Tim Bewicke	(BH)
	WPC 273 X Lesley Lambert	(XU)
	DS John Williams	(C11)

Sailors =	John Stickland (skipper)
	Tim Bewicke
	Andy Hewett

Runners =	Peter Hodgekinson
	Adam Richardson

Support Team =	John Peck
	Graham Jones
	Trog Royle
	Len Gooch
	(Christine Gooch)

1st	Laser 108993	G Owen	Merseyside	ľ	ľ	2	=	1˝
2nd	Phantom 799	C Jordan	Kent	3	2	ľ	=	2ľ
3rd	Laser 113346	R Glass	Metro	2	5	3	=	5
4th	Laser 113421	D Westall	S Wales	5	6	4	=	9
5th	Enterprise 10932	R Bramhall	GMP	6	4	7	=	10
6th	Laser 102717	D Abbott	Metro	4	9	6	=	10
7th	Laser 5	R Sivers	Northants	8	3	8	=	11
8th	Lightning 94	D Davies	Wiltshire	9	15	5	=	14
9th	Fireball 11651	E Frith	W Midlands	7	7	24	=	14
10th	GP 14 9952	D Thursfield	W Midlands	10	12	11	=	21
11th	Enterprise 7451	M Wood	GMP	12	13	9	=	21
12th	Laser 56240	J Nelson	GMP	17	8	13	=	21
13th	GP 14 11088	J Humber	Lancs	11	11	16	=	22
14th	Laser 46242	M Hudson	GMP	16	10	17	=	26
15th	Enterprise 18073	K Childe	S Yorks	13	14	15	=	27
16th	Solo 245	M Sparks	Metro	22	17	10	=	27
17th	Laser 112431	C Emmerson	S Yorks	14	16	14	=	28
18th	Wayfarer 6182	A Lowe	W Midlands	19	19	12	=	31
19th	Enterprise 19342	M Coreless	GMP	15	18	19	=	33
20th	Laser 75370	S Proffitt	Metro	18	24	20	=	38
21st	Lark 534	P Nordquist	D & Cornwall	20	21	22	=	41
22nd	Laser 112417	M Donnelly	Metro	23	20	21	=	41
23rd	MM 2403	M Cannon	Lancs	24	24	28	=	42
24th	Laser 65022	R Hollis	W Midlands	21	22	24	=	43

1st	G Owen	Laser	Merseyside
2nd	R Glass	Laser	Metropolitan
3rd	K Johnson	Laser	West Yorkshire
4th	R Bramhall	Enterprise	Greater Manchester
5th	R Sivers	Laser	Northamptonshire
6th	J Sturdy	Fireball	West Midlands
7th	J Nelson	Laser	Greater Manchester
8th	B Selby	Laser	North Yorkshire
9th	M Wood	Enterprise	Greater Manchester
10th	S Outhwaite	Enterprise	North Yorkshire
11th	M Corless	Enterprise	Greater Manchester
12th	D Issott	Solo	West Yorkshire
12th	R Aneley	Laser	West Yorkshire
14th	I Smith	Topper	West Yorkshire
14th	G Squire	Laser	West Yorkshire
16th	M Hudson	Laser	Greater Manchester
17th	J Humber	GP14	Lancashire
18th	R Jenkinson	Enterprise	Greater Manchester
19th	M Savage	Topper	South Yorkshire
20th	D Morton	Mirror	South Yorkshire
21st	B Davies	Enterprise	Greater Manchester

Place	Name	Force	1st Race	2nd Race	3rd Race		Points
1st	Simon Hawkes	Avon & Somerset	ľ	4	ľ	=	1˝
2nd	Roger Glass	Metropolitan	dsq	ľ	2	=	2ľ
3rd	Dick Sivers	Northamptonshire	2	2	4	=	4
4th	Kevin Johnson	West Yorkshire	3	3	3	=	6
5th	Nigel Tinkler	Metropolitan	4	5	6	=	9
6th	Steve Proffitt	Metropolitan	6	6	rtd	=	12
7th	Len Gooch	Metropolitan	8	8	5	=	13
8th	Dick Aneley	West Yorkshire	10	7	7	=	14
9th	Rod Bramhall	Gtr Manchester	11	9	8	=	17
10th	Mike Hudson	Gtr Manchester	7	11	10	=	17
11th	Jim Sturdy	West Midlands	9	10	9	=	18
12th	Mark Cam	Metropolitan	5	rtd	dns	=	19
13th	Andy Hewitt	Metropolitan	rtd	12	11	=	23