Dave Geldard and his mate, daughter, Amber (Sail No. 94) were winners of the prestigious Vane A Yachting Monthly Cup
Well, after the lake has fallen silent and the clubhouse is all locked up I felt it time to reflect on the F.S A class centenary national championships.
The week started on Saturday with the vintage boats, these beautifully presented yachts were both a feast for the eye on dry land but even better in action and whilst the conditions were not the best, the skippers made a good effort to have a race.
A display was also placed in the Gosport visitor centre and the library showing the class and our sport to a wider audience which included many skippers of full size yachts and I personally spoke with two round the world skippers who obviously showed great interest in the steering gear.
Sunday saw the race start in earnest with 22 boats covering almost half a century of A class design and build.
The weather was……mixed all week, we had 28knts to flat calm, dry and sunny to torrential downpours with hail however through all this the competition did not waiver with everybody fighting for every point.
The evenings were relaxed affairs with many de-briefs taking place in the pub or while barbecuing in the rain talking through the events of the day.
The O.O.D (RO) Jacque Cook had things under control when needed but didn’t exercise too tight a grip and the the racing by en-large flowed well.
The officials that supported the race also need a mention and one individual in particular spent so long warming up in the shower after been stood out in the rain all day his wife thought he would empty the hot water system in the hotel trying to warm himself up!
The race was a great success and had a worthy winner in Chris Harris and at the end of the race the fleet celebrated the centenary supported by the MYA in fine style with a 1920’s themed dinner dance where peaky blinders met straw boaters and blazers and the ladies looked lovely in flapper dresses and we all either watched a running video of sailing over the last thirty years or danced till our feet fell off, I did both.
It was great been with my extended family of sailors and I hope we can have further great events such as this in the future where we can sail our yachts to our rules however perfectly imperfect they may appear to some….!
Happy sailing
