FOWEY CLASSICS 2012 Jul 31st - Aug 3rd
The 21st Anniversary RallyFOWEY CLASSICS SPRING NEWSLETTER 2010
May 2010
By now I hope that you have all seen Martin Smith’s splendid article in Classic Boat (Feb 2010) headed “Fabulous Fowey”. The same edition profiled “Concord”, winner of our “Most ‘ansome Transom” Concours trophy last year. She was beautifully restored by Peter Williams at Bodinnick Boatyard.
The 2010 Fowey Classics calendar was once again a sell out and, thanks to your support, this will keep the website afloat for another year. Uploading the 2010 details to the web follows shortly but meanwhile you have the advantage of this privileged preview before the information goes into the public domain.
The judges had a difficult time choosing the best submission for the Classics Calendar Caption Competition. If you haven’t spotted this yet...well it’s too late now I’m afraid but do look at the back cover of your calendar.
The eventual winner was Gordon Coombs, who many of you will have met on our Welcome Desk team in recent years. More senior classics sailors may recall that back in 1998 Gordon was the Chairman of the Classics organising committee. Well now he has some real gold braid – at the beginning of March he was elected Commodore of the RFYC when Gerry Williams stood down, as the rules require, having given tremendous support to the Classics during his watch. Two other captions were worthy of note: the Runner Up and the Highly Commended category – these will all be on the FC website soon.
The Market Research department has carefully analysed the responses to the Organisers request for feedback on the structure of the Classics (vide penultimate para of August Newsletter). Thank you to all those who took the trouble to reply.
The 2010 programme incorporates the best of your suggestions for a slightly less frenetic schedule. So this year we will offer a Buffet style supper, to follow immediately after the Welcome Cocktail Party at the Royal Fowey YC on Tuesday evening. Hopefully this will enable most of the fleet to stay together and finish the first evening on a more inclusive note. It might even put an end to the lemming-like rush at 2059 hours when a couple of hundred sailors quit the Club terrace en masse to try to squeeze into already bursting Fowey restaurants, before last orders are called.
You may need to brush up on your command of the French language: I am reliably informed that we will be invaded (surely that should be
“supported” ? Ed) by a number of French yachts this August.
The port of Fowey has been accorded a remarkable accolade: it has been chosen as one of the two simultaneous start points for the ”once in every ten years” cross-Channel and French Atlantic coast sailing race “Le Coupe des Trois Phares” (C3P). The other start will be from Cork. On Saturday 7th August a fleet of British, Irish and French yachts will depart Fowey and Cork respectively for a race to La Rochelle and Brest.
Some of the C3P participants will join Fowey Classics as entrants for the whole of our programme and others will arrive on Thursday or Friday just for the C3P. Any French non-FC entrants who arrive by Thursday will be invited to join the Old Pulteney Picnic and Passage Pursuit Race on Friday...so the sailing performance may improve and the culinary standards of the Picnic are bound to go up....again!
In fact C3P Organiser Olivier Beau told me in a recent email “I've seen in the extract of the newsletter that there is kind of a culinary emulation at the
Friday picnic. Hope that French crews will defend honourably the French cooking reputation ! I will select my own crew with this new criteria !”
So don’t be too surprised if you bump into a hastily recruited “Michelin inspecteur” on the beach with a boxful of “etoiles”.... but who will of course be incognito except for a deafening, luminous yellow whistle and a clipboard.
Be prepared for a shortage of driftwood....and please remember Rule 3 which prohibits cooking on the beach using any heat source other than wood. It is a picnic.
The Coupe des Trois Phares fleet could add between 50 and 100 sailors to the Classics Cocktail Party on Friday night. There will be a C3P crews supper at the Royal Fowey YC after the Farewell Cocktail party and Prize Giving. The Classics fleet will proceed, as usual, to Fowey Gallants for our traditional Summer Supper and some music.
Unfortunately there is nowhere close to the waterfront in Fowey which can accommodate nearly 200 diners so regrettably we have to split the fleets. Au revoir nos amis....et bon appétit.
Those of you intending to have a more sumptuous (and eye-wateringly expensive) meal at the Marina Hotel during Classics need to rethink your dining strategy - the Marina is no more..... it has been sold and is now a private house once again.
Martin Smith accurately noted our emphasis on gastronomy. This year the Escape Committee have organised a special evening exeat for a select group of classics sailors.... we are offering you the opportunity to leave Fowey behind (well...just for an evening) to enjoy the delights of a supper on the beach.
Not just any old beach though. To be absolutely accurate, supper at “Sam’s on the Beach”.
All of you know about Sam’s in Fowey but few may realise that owner Sam Sixton expanded his empire last year when he took over and converted the original (1859) Fowey RNLI Lifeboat station at Polkerris harbour on the far side of the Gribbin peninsular.
It is now an iconic beachfront restaurant offering a superb cuisine (no other description will do) of modern and Mediterranean inspired dishes in a striking and contemporary environment...right on the beach. The cooking is done on a wood fire and the pizzas are out of this world ! (....and no I don’t get a free meal for writing this). The location offers an exceptional view of any impending Sou’Westerly gale...or beautiful sunset over St Austell Bay.
“Sam’s on the Beach” is a must book venue and we have persuaded Sam to forego his wall-to-wall table reservations on Thursday 5th August to accommodate a maximum of 44 Classics sailors. He will be feeding the well heeled August emmets (oops...I mean visitors) until 8.00 pm but after that the place is ours. A mini-bus will convey you in style from Fowey to Polkerris...and back again. The transportation (Australia anybody?) is included in your pre-payment and part of this cost is subsidised by Fowey Classics. Just for your information Sam’s have supported the annual Classics RNLI Quiz with a very generous prize ever since I launched this in 2004.
The menu is attached: you are asked to confirm your choices in advance and pre-pay as shown on our entry form. The only extras on the night will be your drinks and a tip.
Sam's on the Beach is now fully booked, as of June 4, but we will start a Wait List. If you wish to add your name to this list please send a separate cheque with your entry to cover the meal cost, This will be returned to you if no places become available.
Anybody not quite quick enough to get on to the 44 name list will find excellent alternative dining available at both RFYC and FGSC, as well as in the town of Fowey. However early August is peak visitor time so the town restaurants will all be very full.
As usual all entries received by June 10 will be entered into a Prize Draw and you’ll make a helpful cost saving too.
When you arrive in Fowey please remember that you must present your boat insurance papers when registering at the Welcome Desk.
Minimum requirements : valid £2 million Third Party cover plus Racing Risks cover. (For French C3P boats Third Party minimum €2 million plus Racing Risks cover).
Behind the smiles and the warm greetings the Welcome Desk team are a steely bunch and you won’t sweet talk your way into getting your information pack and tickets unless you show valid insurance papers for your boat. This is a condition of entry....so no whingeing and no exceptions. (Boats entered by Friends of Fowey Classics which are not in any case eligible to race do not need to prove Racing Risk cover but must show valid Third Party insurance).
Any entrant with an otherwise eligible classic boat with Third Party cover but who does not have (and does not propose to obtain), Racing Risk cover, may not race but will be eligible for Concours trophies.
The good news is that the Classics mooring area in the harbour is covered by WiFi so you’ll be able to email your insurers immediately if you have left your papers at home or need extra cover. If you don’t have a printer onboard then ask your insurers to email your documents c/o the Hon Sec at RFYC at
honsec@rfyc-fowey.org.uk
The office is open from 0930 to 1230 weekdays....which is when you should either be at a briefing or sailing.
The old adage “Nothing makes a skipper look so good as a fast boat” has some veracity. But there is fast...and another type of “fast” which is not quite so smart. We’re talking handicaps.
If you need an OGA handicap for your boat (mandatory if you are going to race) the Hon. Handicap Officer has asked me to remind entrants who are supplying boat measurement details (see OGA Handicap Form page 2 of the Entry document) that the software programme which crunches these numbers only functions with data entered in FEET AND TENTHS of a foot.
To avoid the challenge of being rated faster than the fastest boat in the fleet, please don’t expect the handicapper to do your job converting feet and inches into feet and tenths – he won’t – nor will he convert metric data into OGA speak.
Also don’t be tempted to try and save yourself some time by sending in any other type of measurement form or certificate in lieu of completing any of the required Fowey Classics details....unless you wish to be excluded from the annual “Who’s Who” listing and simultaneously confer on your boat the sort of jaw-dropping handicap figure one might normally associate with a 12 metre yacht or maxi-racer.
So the message from the Department of Plain Speaking is “Please use our form and complete it fully and correctly, as applicable to your entry”.
If you’ve raced in Fowey Classics between 2005 and 2009 then we already have an OGA figure for your boat. However if you have made any changes to your hull or rig – since you last sailed in FC – you will need to re-submit your measurements.
It may be stretching a point but boats are, arguably, part of our culture. So the Cultural Classics 2010 will feature the first ever FC “Open Boat” afternoon.
Sailors are – mostly – proud of their own boat and simultaneously often curious about other classic boats. Well – now’s your chance to have a look at them. “Open Boat” afternoon is intended to offer a relaxed couple of hours on the Classics moorings having a yarn and showing off your boat to fellow Classics sailors who would like to have a look. And vice versa.
The appropriate signal to show that you are aboard – and participating – is to fly the Fowey Classics flag (what else) within your foretriangle (to distinguish it from your dressing overall flags), when you are ready to receive visitors. When you disembark to go and visit another boat then haul the Classics flag down...unless you trust your crew to give a competent guided tour. There is no need to offer tea or even G & T (unless you want to).
”Open Boat” provides a rare chance to look at another beautiful or interesting boat. The Judges may visit but will not be doing so in an official capacity, awarding points, so you don’t have to spend time polishing brightwork or neatly coiling ropes...the Judges are just curious like the rest of us.
“Open Boat” afternoon embraces all entrants including dinghies and dayboats, so a suitably perfect example of an Axe OD, Burnham 12ft, Goat Island Skiff), smart Swallow boat, Gorran Haven Crabber or even an outrageous faux classic centreboard gaff yawl are all invited to berth alongside one of the larger boats for a couple of hours.
There is a tantalising chance we may see the stunning 50ft pilot cutter “Cornubia” now afloat again after a massive restoration programme. She is better known to many sailors as “Herta” but has now reverted to her original name, as launched from Slades Yard in Polruan in 1911 for Barry Pilot Morrice. New owner Tony Winter has just completed sailing and shake-down trials and will be developing a special sailing programme for handicapped children aboard “Cornubia”, based on Plymouth.
Despite a very tough trading year for many companies I am delighted to report that our major sponsors are all back on board for FC 2010. Most particularly I should mention Stephens Scown who in the best interests of entente cordiale have generously agreed to invite the crews of all the C3P boats to join us at the Farewell Cocktail party.
Visitors to Fowey frequently comment favourably on the friendly and efficient welcome and the service provided by the Fowey Harbour Commissioners’ teams – the Reception office staff and the crews of the Harbour patrols. Of course this ethos starts at the very top of the organisation. Captain Mike Sutherland M.B.E. has been Fowey’s Harbourmaster since 1986 but he is due to retire in June 2011, just before we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Fowey Classics.
As a former Classics participant in a Troy –
(other Troy owners please note – your boats ARE eligible to enter Fowey Classics) – and always a keen observer of the event, Mike has very generously offered a new perpetual trophy to the Classics. It will be known as “Sutherland’s Salute” and is intended to be a “fun” prize. It will be awarded to the boat, which in the opinion of our Judges, is best dressed overall (daytime only) and/or has the most original or creatively attired – or uniformed – crew. This trophy will be presented for the first time this year (2010).
The Harbour Master has given me some very good news: the special Classics mooring rates (set annually by FHC) have been frozen at the 2009 level. So boats up to 23 ft overall will be £34 for four nights and boats 23 ft and over £41 for four nights. Please note that the FHC definition of LOA includes bowsprit and bumkin.
2011 is indeed the 20th anniversary of Fowey Classics and we will need to mark the occasion properly. A glance at previous editions of FC “Who’s Who” highlights the fact that 2011 is, notably, the 100th birthday of “Fiara”, who has the unique record of having attended every Classics since 1991. So there’s at least one good excuse for a party if the old lady makes it to Fowey again.
You may like to start thinking how we should celebrate and mark the 20th anniversary: What about “The Fowey Classics cookbook”?
This could encompass your favourite shipboard recipes presented logically to reflect the varied galley facilities typically available in classic boats.
So that means meals which can be cooked on a single burner, on a burner and grill and even – for those of you at the more comfortable end of the fleet – dishes which need an oven. Sub-divided of course into starters, main dishes and desserts. Even more nuanced might be a ranking of practicality for preparation of a dish either under way (obviously while beating to windward in Force 6, wind against tide) or at anchor in a peaceful harbour....!
If we can get this idea off the ground and afloat it would provide a practical, attractive and lasting memento. We could probably whistle up a local celebrity chef to judge the recipes. Perhaps even prizes for the best recipe in each category?
Comments please....and your suggestions too as what we might consider an appropriate 20th anniversary item or activity.
We hope your boat has survived the Polar winter (down here we experienced temperatures between -5 and -8 C every night for a month, accompanied by a penetrating seam-opening ENE daytime wind). The summer is coming but you will notice that we didn’t include any mention of a barbeque in our programme this year.
The Fowey Classics crew look forward, as always, to welcoming you all to the harbour in August.
Nous vous souhaitons un tres bon debut d’ete et bonne voile.* (Just practicing!)
*Loosely translated apparently this means something like us wishing you a very good start to the summer and good sailing.