FOWEY CLASSICS 2012 Jul 31st - Aug 3rd
The 21st Anniversary RallyFOWEY CLASSICS AUGUST NEWSLETTER 2007
Thank you for coming to the Classics – you helped create a memorable event. A special thank you to whoever brought the (long awaited) summery weather. What perfect sailing conditions.
2007 gave us some new initiatives, some records and of course the star attraction of the Crabber launch – “Elizabeth Ann” in the full glare of live television coverage:
BBC Spotlight SW enjoyed themselves as much as you all did and turned quite a few of you into TV stars for the evening. Don’t let it go to your heads. Did you realise that Spotlight devoted 10 minutes of a 30 minute programme to Fowey Classics sailing and the launch? And they received more emails and phone calls congratulating them on the broadcast than for any other topic they have ever covered!
It was a pleasure to welcome 24 “first time” skippers and their boats to the Classics and to welcome back so many old Fowey hands, including some in new old boats or even in new new boats. The “Friends of Fowey Classics” who braved the tripper clogged roads to reach Fowey by car deserve special commendation.
Demand exceeded supply for all the “official” catered events so we are already looking at ways to expand the accessibility next year, especially for the Prize Giving supper and this will hopefully also allow us to reduce the ticket cost as well.
A popular innovation was the real lamb-roast BBQ at RFYC, masterfully prepared by Richard Kittow the butcher and Steve the Club Chef. Classics sailor David Courtenay-Clack gave the evening a significant boost when he lightened his Twister by four cases of wine to provide a very interesting impromptu tasting (and for some of you..gulping!) of award winning Tamar Ridge Tasmanian wines. A rare chance – for those of us whose corporate or leisure travel budgets don’t quite stretch to the most comfortable end of BA’s long haul flights – to share the same memorable wine experience that First Class passengers enjoy at 36,000ft, but for us at a mere 10ft above sea level….and with fellow sailors for company rather than supermodels, badly behaved pop stars and leaders of government or industry.
The more ardent wine connoisseurs amongst the Classics fleet might like to add a case or two to their boats’ movable ballast or even their cellars at home. You can contact David at
vinusvita@aol.com or
david.courtenay-clack@tamarridge.com.au.
Twenty three boats entered the first ever Old Pulteney Passage Picnic and Pursuit Race and the idea got the thumbs-up from everybody who participated. The Axe OD fleet gained a lot of Brownie points when Janet and I stepped ashore from “Surprise” as they greeted us with the immortal Jeeves line
“Would you care for a glass of Pimms, Sir?”
I understand that the glasses, jug, mint, cucumber, borage, lemonade and the liquor itself had been shared out amongst the three boats so that their performance would remain equal!
Intrepid former Concorde captain Jeff Rooney got a big cheer from everyone on the beach for his historic crossing of St Austell Bay in a 9ft Limpet dinghy – at rather less than supersonic speed – and collected a well deserved bottle of Old Pulteney Malt for his achievement. On the return leg we noticed that except for the very peak of its sail the Limpet completely disappeared from view in the swelly seas off Cannis.
The demonstrably empirical starting procedure for the “Race” back to Fowey actually resulted in some very close finishes (which was lucky), with William Collinson’s stunning modern pilot cutter “Hesper” (big, black and beautiful), adroitly helmed by guest skipper John Ungley (more frequently seen in his own black boat “Tar Baby”) duly taking line honours…but what else would you expect from a helm who spent his formative sailing years in National 12 dinghies?
Many people ashore in Fowey – non Classics sailors – observing the moored fleet, told me that they ”Liked the big varnished one”. So did we – especially after owner Charles Hunter Pease valiantly returned in “Varen” (41ft) to act as a “shepherd” for the diminutive Limpet dinghy on the outbound leg to Silvermine beach. By good fortune I happened to have a very special bottle of Old Pulteney Malt to reward this courteous and seamanlike gesture.
Disappointment of the week was the poor showing of brainpower (should I have been surprised?) for the Old Pulteney Nautical Puzzler I now realise that you actually had no free time at all to do it. Congratulations to “Fiara” for their winning submission.
Next year I’ll send out the Puzzlers with your entry forms so you’ll have yet another incentive to enter early (thanks to the 50 boats who did return their entries before June 30th this year) as this will give you
- Lots more time to bend your brain to the same wavelength as the author’s
- When you fail item a) then you’ll have the opportunity to Google the answers and improve your chances of getting it right (Some hope! Ed.)
Upside of the thin showing in 2007 was being able to “divert” a number of bottles of OP Malt from the Puzzler prizes to share amongst OPPPPR participants.
Sorry that we didn’t manage to display the full race results for the Triangulation and Trafalgar Cup. These were won, respectively, by the outrageously overcanvassed Falmouth OD “Magpie” (she has about 500sq.ft on an 18ft hull) and “Fiara”. In 2008 there will definitely be further tweaking of the courses/classes/group combinations in an effort to achieve even closer finishes for those of you who have an irrepressibly competitive nature.
I was upbraided by one skipper who found, to his consternation, that the start line for the Triangulation had been cunningly laid in an area of virtual – or should I say – actual(?) calm and he was downtide, downwind (downcalm perhaps) and more than five minutes adrift on his start time… and wondering where those 20 kt squalls were.
Why didn’t we have more time between starts he wanted to know.
The old adage
“Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted” quite definitely applies to sussing out start conditions. There are also the two golden rules for light airs sailing which had obviously been ignored:
“Keep your boat moving at all times” and
“Keep your wind clear”. I believe these mantras are inscribed into the thwarts of the Axe and Falmouth OD’s. Others could obviously follow suit, with advantage.
A team of three anti-fouling experts, headed by Martin Ingram from the Technical Division of Blakes Paints, explained the mysteries of the chemistry and the best solutions to fouling problems to an attentive audience of skippers on Thursday morning. We expect to see clean bottoms all round next summer.
Another record this year was the amount raised for the RNLI at the Classics RNLI Quiz evening. Beth Rigg and her team gave us all a splendid supper and your support for my “impossible” quiz – won by the Class Axe, in a closely contested battle, enabled a donation of £730 to be given to the RNLI. Thank you all. Should we aim for a grand next year as this will be the fifth anniversary of this special evening?
A very sincere thank you to the special sponsors of the annual Quiz evening.
I hope the various lucky prizewinners will enjoy their Ile de Re Cognac from Camus and the appropriately named Mariner single malt Islay Scotch whisky from Morrison Bowmore, FHC’s traditionally generous offering of a ”night’s free mooring in Fowey” should serve to bring “Fiara” back into harbour; I hope that “Viking’s” crew will be comfortable on the startling orange lifejacket/cushion from Upper Deck and that “Friendly Spirit” won’t let the Sams Voucher lapse….I have posted the autographed copy of Robert Simper’s specially signed copy of “Forgotten Coast” to David and Jean Monks, thanks to David Willimore of the Fowey two bookshops Bookends. Well worth a visit as their antiquarian shop (by the church) has some wonderful old sailing books.
Now – pay attention at the back.
Our very own local snapper Rosanna Shakerley took nearly 500 photos during the event and she has some absolutely stunning images. Portrait quality pics of many boats are available.. If we have a good shot of your boat we will email you a “thumbnail” specimen version which, if you like it, can then be ordered directly from Rosanna at A4 format printed on top quality paper for £10 incl p&p.and £1 towards our website fund. (Yes – a website – next year hopefully. We are inching our way towards the 21st century).
A new Fowey initiative; We have so many superb images we are going to produce the first ever Fowey Classics Calendar. It will be a marvellous memento of a great week and an excellent Christmas gift to give to your crew or even friends. We have already produced the first “dummy” print and it looks brilliant. Costings are a bit hazy right now but a ballpark figure should be around £16 incl p&p. We already have the first confirmed order. Make yours the second (and third!).
Finally – it was a pleasure to meet the team who contribute so much to Fowey Classics – the law firm Stephens & Scown. Just in case you haven’t got the message they sponsor the Welcome goodie bag (“The Sun Over the Yardarm” kit), the Welcome Cocktail Party and this year the scrummy pre-launch traditional Cream Tea as well. We all owe Andy Steele and his team a serious vote of thanks. I’m glad that so many of these normally landlocked lawyers came to see what Fowey Classics is all about. I hope that they saw it is a lot of fun….and significantly richer because of their support.
Nor should we forget another local law firm, Jane and French, who gallantly picked up the tab for the Farewell Cocktail party so a round of applause for them too.
A lot of fun. I hope that’s how you saw it too. Thanks for your participation and we all look forward to welcoming you to the Classics next year which will be August 5 – 8 inclusive. Entries will be limited to about 65 nice boats so do make sure yours is one of them.
Good sailing
Roy (Organiser) and Janet (Organiser’s Organiser)
PS. From the Organiser’s Organiser:
Sorry I failed to reduce his message by ¾ – I tried but he rejected all my suggestions. But, thank you for taking part in Fowey Classics, we loved having you here, we miss you now you’re gone and it would be lovely if you came back next year. In the meantime, we will be sailing “Surprise” across St Austell bay for picnics or wherever the wind takes us. If you are anywhere near give us a call (Landline: 01726 870627 Mob: 07966 639180 ) and join us for a pasty ,,,, or whatever. J
Roy Downes
Organiser – Fowey Classics 2007
Tel 01726 870 627
Email downes@trethake.freeserve.co.uk