Mini40 Open Event 2-3 April 2022

Gosport Model Yacht and Boat Club

Mini40 Open Event, April 2nd and 3rd 2022

Fast, Fun, Fantastic!

Sponsored by Argo Engineering Solutions

The forecast for the weekend was for cold, dry days with northerly breeze, 8mph gusting to 16, dropping a little for the Sunday. The old boatman’s adage warns ‘Never to trust a breeze with any north in it’, which proved by to be accurate before the end of the Saturday!

Ten boats were entered, with several Trimarans and a ‘Mini ‘oiler’ designed and built by Mike Cooke, and tri’s and cats from Mike Dann. Given the mainly reachy courses, most boats opted for large rigs, although the treacherous nature of offshore winds led to quite a few capsizes as boats sailed out of the wind shadow of the windward bank and the clubhouse. All competitors at one time or another had reason to be grateful to Eric Meighen’s capsized boat rescue service, operated by bike and by dinghy! Race Officer Jacque Cook, with technical support from Paul Edwards, set up the best courses possible with cross lake beats between long fast reaches. Fifteen races were completed on the Saturday which also counted as part of the club points series.

From the first, Paul Edward’s tri and Peter Fothergill’s cat were the class of the field, between them winning twelve of the fifteen Saturday races. By the lunchbreak Peter and Paul were tying for first place. In the afternoon, Tony Cleal’s cat also found form, winning three. The breeze was becoming increasingly boisterous, and during the final race of the day a severe and localised line-squall hit, decimating the fleet. The initial sign of its’ savagery was the sight of four inverted boats locked together and blocking the leeward mark. Within a few seconds, most of the remainder of the fleet followed suit, with the remarkable exception of Peter, who skilfully nursed his cat round the remainder of the course, only to capsize immediately after crossing the finishing line! Roger Paddey and Paul also completed the course, finishing second and third, the only other finishers. Well sailed to all three.

By the end of the Saturday Peter led overall from Paul, winning the club points Saturday series racing, with Tony in third.

The Sunday dawned sunny and frosty, with the forecast of lighter winds. Peter came out of the blocks at pace and scored wins in the first two races. Racing then became rather closer, and in one race the finishers had to deal with four boats crossing the line so close together that there wasn’t a boat length between them. In race 18, Roger Paddey‘s Mike Cooke tri scored the win, with Simon Walley in second. In race 19, Graham Allen’s Mike Dann tri got the best of the fleet followed by Tony Cleal. It had been a long wait for Graham, having bought his boat just before Covid struck, he’s been waiting nearly three years to join in with the Gosport Mini40’s again!

In race 20, and in race 21, Simon Walley came through to win both, followed by Peter in second. For the final four races of the event the wind dropped further. Peter found his winning ways again, winning races 22 and 23, with Tony and Paul in the respective second places. The final race was quite a drifter, and newcomer to the fleet Trevor Cartwright scored his first win with his borrowed cat, followed by Tony Cleal in second. Rob Walley did well to complete races gaining a fifth and a sixth in a very competitive field but electrical issues with his boat meant he had to retire from many of the races on Sunday.

It had been a really enjoyable weekend, with close racing and plenty of thrills and spills! Most of the fleet had enjoyed their own moments of glory. By close of play Peter Fothergill, sailing the three-year old Mike Dann designed ‘BGCat’, had won by a considerable margin. In second place was Paul Edwards, sailing his superb Dann trimaran, and in third place was Simon Walley’s Mike Cooke designed and built tri.

The Vets trophy went to Tony Cleal (much to everyone’s surprise as he doesn’t look old enough….). The All Round Good Egg (ARGE) trophy, was awarded to Mike Cooke. The weather conditions were too light

and did not suit his mini oiler, so he cheerfully used the opportunity to help others sort their boats and improve their sailing. Roger Paddey, in fifth place, demonstrated consistency with the least number of discarded points after the two leaders!

Firstly, an enormous thank you to our sponsor Argo Engineering Solutions for their continuing support of the Mini-40 annual open event. This enables Gosport Model Yacht and boat Club to hold the only multi hull event in the UK. Next, a big thank you to Race Officer Jacque Cook, who ran a tight ship over the weekend ensuring a mix of racing and recovery time. Also, thanks to everyone who helped with setting up and putting away. Lastly, more thanks to Simon Benson for his over 160 action photographs, illustrated below, that competitors have been sent. A great record of the event.

Photo Simon Benson