MPSC Yachting Championships '08
9th October - 10th October

In The Solent...

This year’s MPSC Offshore Championships was won by a Met Police team skippered by Roger Glass, sailing Sunsail yacht, sail number 20. Out of the 4-race event they won race 2, came 3rd in races 3 and 4, and were able to discard the 5th place they got in race one. The runner up was the very competitive team, led by lady skipper Jo Lloyd. in yacht sail number 15. They came 2nd in races 2 and 3, and 4th in race 1, and were 8th in race 4. The third team overall came from Air Wave Solutions, and was led by Bill Andrews. They came first in race 3, 3rd in race 2, 5th in race 4, and 7th in race 1. Their sail number was 2.

The racing was very competitive over the two days, with a different team winning each of the 4 races. At the end there were only two points separating the first five overall scores. The starts were closely fought, but well disciplined, with no recalls by the race officer. And there were many ‘photo finishes’ at the end of each race. The racing was exciting to watch, but it was a long time before it got going on Thursday.

In 2007 the MPSC Offshore Championships will be remembered for the very light wind conditions and the agony of yachts hardly able to stem the strength of the tides. It looked as if there was going to be a repeat of those conditions this year when the fleet of 20 Sunsail Jeaneau 37s yachts left Gunwharf Quay at first light on Thursday morning. As the boats motored away from the beautiful lines of the Millennium Tower, and then across the Spit Sands past Haslar Royal Naval Hospital towards Gilkicker Point, the water was as smooth as a millpond. There was not a breath of wind. The sky was clear of cloud, and the forecast was for a sunny day with very little wind. At the skippers' briefing on Wednesday night, David Nicholls, the race officer, had asked the fleet to meet the committee boat at the navigation mark Browndown at 0800 on Thursday for a possible start of race 1. But it was obvious to the race officer as he rounded Gilkicker Point and motored across Stokes Bay towards Browndown that there would be no racing at 8 o’clock. There was still no wind. Instead, the Met Police fleet were treated to a most beautiful sunrise, with the sun slowly rising above the eastern horizon like a disc of red-hot metal. The sunlight lit up the white sky-trails criss-crossing the pale blue sky. There was hardly a ripple to be seen on the slowly undulating surface of the sea. As resplendent as this was, it was not what the all those keen sailors wanted to see. For the organisers, it was a race officer’s nightmare.

At Browndown there was still no sign of any wind, so Dave Nicholls made the decision to move on further west to Hill Head, where, if the wind did fill in, he would have more options for setting a suitable course. He had the committee boat (MPSC yacht Sovereign of Broadway) anchored in the vicinity of navigation mark Hill Head and sat back waiting for the promised light winds. He waited and waited and waited. Now and again there would be a cat’s paw of wind rippling the surface of the sea, but it would not last for long, or be strong enough for the fleet to stem the tide. It was a real exercise in patience for both the race committee and the competitors.

This year the fleet was made up of 20 yachts crewed by teams of 7 or 8 sailors. They included 7 teams from the Metropolitan Police (one of those was a team of girl cadets from Hackney), 7 teams from visiting police forces (City of London, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands), and 3 Fire and Rescue teams (2 from London and one from the Isle of Wight).

It was not until about 1345hrs that a steady sailing breeze filled in from the south west. At that time the race officer had the committee boat moved and set up a start line in the vicinity of mark HW Corporate Finance. The course was announced as mark 1 = William to port; mark 2 = HW Corporate Finance to port; mark 3 = William to port; mark 4 = HW Corporate Finance; and so on until the race officer stopped them. The fleet got off to a clean start at 1401 with the wind between force 2 and 3. Sunsail 2 led the fleet on a beat towards William. But, at the end of the spinnaker run back to HW Corporate Finance, it was Sunsail 18, followed by Sunsail 12 and Sunsail 14 that were out in front. Those three yachts still held the lead when they rounded mark 4. The race officer had the “S” flag (shortened course) flown and finished the race at mark 6 (HW Corporate Finance). By that time the Met team led by Stuart Jenkins, in Sunsail 18, had stretched its lead to 70 seconds over Bill Andrews visiting team in Sunsail 12. They in turn finished 90 seconds ahead of another Met team led by Dean Ingledew, in Sunsail 14. The 4th yacht to cross the finish line was Sunsail 15 (Jo Lloyd). Only 2 seconds behind her, in 5th place, was Sunsail 20 with Roger Glass at the helm. The Warwickshire team in Sunsail 32 distinguished themselves by finishing 8th in spite of flying a wineglass shaped spinnaker down the last leg of the course.

The race officer set up another start line at HW Corporate Finance for race 2, although he did cancel the start sequence after 2 minutes when he thought the bulk of the fleet was too congested and dangerously near the committee boat. He then altered the angle of the start line and started the sequence again. This time, at 1553hrs, 19 yachts got away to a clean start in 2 to 3 knots of wind and went off on a beat towards the windward mark at William. Once across the line the fleet split into two groups, with the majority of the yachts favouring the starboard tack, but with three brave souls choosing the port tack. Unfortunately for Sunsail 21 (Leicestershire Police), it ran aground to the north of the committee boat just before the start, and took some time to wriggle free from the clinging mud. So they were the last of the yachts to start. In fact, Sunsail 17 (Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue) also ran aground, but managed to get free in time to start on time.
The course for this race was mark 1 = William to port; mark 2 = Fastnet Insurance to starboard; mark 3 = Air Canada to port; with the finish between the committee boat and Daks.
After sailing for 83 minutes Sunsail 20 (Roger Glass) crossed the finish line 63 seconds ahead of the rest of the fleet. It could not quite hold its spinnaker reach right to the committee boat, but had to lower their kite and bear away to the finish. Then came a close tussle between the second and third yachts, with Sunsail 15 (Jo Lloyd) crossing the line just 7 seconds ahead of Sunsail 2 (Bill Andrews). The Met Police teams in Sunsail 18 (Stuart Jenkins) and Sunsail 14 (Dean Ingledew) finished 4th and 5th. Another Met Police team, led by Mason King, in Sunsail 7, was 7th, beaten to the line by the London Fire and Rescue team, led by Chris Knight, in Sunsail 3.
The last yacht finished at 1736hrs, so there was no more racing that day. The competitors made their way into Cowes for a wash and brush-up before making their way up the Medina River to the Folly Inn for an evening of food and entertainment.

Friday dawned bright and clear. At about 0800hrs the committee boat motored away from ‘the Folly’ and back up to Cowes and then out into The Solent to the mark Air Canada. The race officer was not happy with the wind conditions there, and moved further north to East Knoll and then B & G. When he considered that the wind had settled down sufficiently, he set up a start line there for race 3. The course was announced as mark 1 = East Knoll to port; mark 2 = RYA Yachmaster to starboard; mark 3 = Flying Fish to port; mark 4 = Fastnet Insurance to starboard; with the finish to be between the committee boat and Universal Marina.
The class flag was lowered at 0945hrs and the race was on. It was a very competitive start with most of the fleet at the committee boat end of the line. There was lots of shouting and some very near misses, but all the yachts made a clean start. They then split into two groups, with half the fleet beating off on a starboard tack, and the other half on a port tack, heading for the windward mark in about 11 knots of wind from the south west.

Sunsail 5 (Stan Thingsaker) and Sunsail 2 (Bill Andrews) were the first to round mark 1, with the Hertfordshire Police team hoisting their spinnaker almost immediately to head east for RYA Yachmaster. It took much longer for the Air Wave Solutions team to hoist their ‘kite’, and when they did, it took even longer to get it to set properly. But having done so, Sunsail 2 shot ahead of its rival. Roger Glass’s team in Sunsail 20 got balked at the start, but it was not long before their white spinnaker could be seen pulling rapidly through the fleet. By the time they reached mark 2 they were lying second. By mark 3 Sunsail 2 had extended its lead over Sunsails 15 and 20. Bill Andrews’ team held its lead right to the finish. They crossed the line after 63 minutes of racing, 78 seconds clear of the rest of the fleet. Only 7 seconds separated Sunsail 15 and Sunsail 20, in 2nd and 3rd places. 13 seconds later Sunsail 14 crossed the line in 4th place, with Sunsail 6 in 5th place 11 seconds further back. In 6th place was another Met Police team led by Stuart Jenkins, in Sunsail 18. Such was the standard of racing that the 20 yachts all finished within just over11 minutes of each other.

For race 4 the race officer moved to Burgess Salmon and set up a start line there. With 16 knots of wind blowing across the deck, he set a longer course this time, with mark 1 = Daks to port; mark 2 = Burgess Salmon to port; mark 3 = Daks to port; mark 4 Mother Bank to port; mark 5 = Burgess Salmon to port; mark 6 = Daks to port; with the finish between the committee boat and Gilkicker.

The fleet got away to another clean start at 1151hrs, with most of the yachts favouring the starboard tack as they started the long beat towards the windward mark. It took 32 minutes for the first team to round Daks and hoist its spinnaker. At 1245hrs Sunsail 7 (Mason King) reached mark 2 in the vanguard of the MPSC fleet, just 15 seconds ahead of Sunsail 6 (Richard Lett). They were followed closely by Sunsails 14, 2, 18, 5 and 20.

This race was taking longer than Dave Nicholls had anticipated, so he decided to shorten the race at mark 5 (Burgess Salmon). After 121 minutes of racing, it was the Met Police team led by Mason King, in Sunsail 7, that stormed over the finish line over two minutes ahead of the rest of the fleet. Two other ‘Met’ teams, in Sunsail 14 and Sunsail 20 finished only 10 seconds apart in 2nd and 3rd place. 26 seconds later Stuart Jenkins led his ‘Met’ team across the line in Sunsail 18. Sunsail 2 (Bill Andrews) was 5th. Further down the field there was some very close racing, with Sunsail 29 (Northamptonshire Police) and Sunsail 13 (Warwickshire Police) finishing just one second apart in 13th and 14th place. And only one second separated the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue team, in Sunsail 17, and the Leicester Police team, in Sunsail 21, in 15th and 16th place. There was not enough time to hold another race, and so the 2008 MPSC Offshore Championships came to an end. The Sunsail fleet headed for Portsmouth Harbour and their base at Port Solent.

The prize-giving ceremony was held at Port Solent later that day.

L.G.         

 Click here to view a small selection of pictures

taken by Len Gooch
(Using Mozilla? - F11 to enlarge viewing space)

Organiser, 2008:
Edward Piggin
18 Meadow Lane, Hamble, Hants. SO31 4RD
Home: 02380 454862
Mobile: 0771-223-2690
Email:- E.piggin@sky.com