Masters News

@ Lotte Johnson

After a very successful event at Queen Mary Sailing Club (see below), the Masters fleet is looking forward to its final to qualifiers of the season:

3-4 Oct at WPNSA - mixed with the main qualifier. Come and mix with the young hot shots.

16-17 Oct Inland Nationals at Grafham Water Sailing Club. Our final event of the season. Grafham always hosts an amazing event. Remember there is the possibility of winning a holiday to Minorca Sailing at the Saturday night meal. Your final chance to qualify for the 2022 Masters Worlds in Mexico! - ENTRY OPENS 10 September

QMSC Video click here

QMSC REPORT by Rupert Bedell

The Greatest Show on Earth 

Back in October 2020, when news first broke of a potential vaccine at the height of the pandemic and there appeared to be light at the end of the tunnel, I made a commitment to get back to doing things I enjoy in 2021. I had dropped out of sailing 2 years previously and sold up my boat due to the usual life pressures and lack of sailing time, but lockdown brought this back into sharp focus, and the urgency to enjoy life now felt suddenly greater. At the top of my list was getting a boat again and returning to Laser Sailing, and in particular competing in the Laser Masters Nationals.

Fast forward 8 months, I finally ticked this off on the start line of the Nationals at Pevensey. But once the regatta was over, the bug had set in, and I was soon looking for the next Masters event.

Thankfully, the opportunity to race Masters at my home club Queen Mary came about in September at the oddly named ‘Spring’ qualifier. To alert my wife of my plans, I made the official entry on the kitchen calendar in tiny writing and sent her an email at 4am in July, so I could be absolved of not giving appropriate notice.

I rocked up to QMSC on Saturday Sept 4th along with 50 other UK Masters with a not-exactly-inspiring forecast, only to be met with a solid easterly breeze of 10-15 knots that promised good racing. Local hotshot Roger O’Gorman was the bookies pre-regatta favourite, after a blistering run of form through the late season which saw him unbeaten in 6 weeks, provided of course, that he could keep a cool head. More on that later.

Race Officer Andrew Craig had the trapezoid course beautifully set with a square line, and the ILCA 7s were away at the first attempt. Before anyone had a chance to settle, unfancied Neil Peters of Pevensey Bay (aka Stick Daring of Round-UK-in-a-Crap-Laser-Fame) had grabbed the lead with an audacious left hander on the first beat, and hared off down the reach with Orlando Gledhill in pursuit. I found myself in the next group with Mike Hicks, Alan Davis & Chris Ellyatt. Stick then made several navigational errors, heading for lighthouses, local caves etc, and Gledhill took advantage with a smart choice on the final beat to establish an unassailable lead. I sportingly declined to point out to Stick that he was heading the wrong way and picked up a few places to round 2nd down the final run, only for Stick and Mike Hicks to re-overtake me on the final leg. Still, 4th felt like a good result to kick off.

However, the real pyrotechnics began in race 2. The wind was a steady 12 knots, with the top 8 very tight and the lead switching several times. Perhaps inevitably with such close competitive combat, conflict was never far off, and at the end of the 2nd beat, the powder keg was finally lit. As I approached the windward mark, the air was suddenly pierced by the sound of fibreglass on fibreglass, and the bellowing of aggrieved middle-aged men in wetsuits. O’Gorman & Gledhill had simultaneously exploded, with both boats marooned together and attached to the windward mark. An entertaining exchange of verbals followed, which began with rules, quickly moving on to personal insults, and finally references to relative size of manhood. I was delighted with this diversion, not least because one of them was clearly going to have to do turns and I would directly benefit.  However, no turns were forth-coming and I was left to scrap it out by traditional means i.e. actual sailing tactics.

In the melee, Tony ‘Jazz Lips’ Woods took advantage and established a solid lead to take the win. Roger got his head together quickly, and he and I both made good gains down the final run to slip through in 2nd & 3rd, passing Gledhill, Hicks and Davis in the process. Special mention for Chris Ellyatt, who made a perfect pin end start, did everything by the textbook on the 1stbeat, and managed to round mark 1 in 22ndplace.

I was beginning to think it was one of the most consistent breeze days I could remember on the reservoir, so it was no surprise whatsoever when a gigantic 40 degree left shift on the 1st beat completely shaped the final race.  Stick had rekindled his love affair with left, and this time she paid out big time, with a group of boats including Mac Courts and Tim Cook all rounding ahead of the pack. The established order were in a bit of bother generally, with Gledhill, Gorman, Woods and Davis all spread down the fleet. I was somewhere in the teens around the top, and couldn’t get much beyond the traffic finishing 12th. The others made better progress however, with Orlando doing a great job to pull up to 3rd, with Tony 6th and Roger 8th. Now that Stick had a vague idea of the course, he showed he did indeed have the minerals to do the job, and bagged a wire-to-wire win that he had been threatening all day, ahead of Mac Courts in 2nd.   

Back ashore, O’Gorman and Gledhill decided that they were in fact too angry to protest each other, and instead went home, much to the disappointment of the watching crowd. The overnight results had a slim lead for Orlando, ahead of Stick, Mike, Tony & Roger, with me in 6th. Post-race entertainment was provided by Tony ‘Jazz Lips’ Woods and his marvelous partner Netty on vocals, as the sun set on another great racing day on the reservoir. My decision to indulge in several pints of Whitstable Bay and a few helpings of chili-con-carne, proved unwise when I discovered my train was cancelled and I would have to cycle 15 miles back to Wimbledon to put my kids to bed.

Sunday dawned with a fair degree of belly ache, as a result of the pints + high octane workout. ‘At least I can relax on the train this morning’ I mused. However, my face was not a pleasant one when I discovered further engineering works ensured I would be cycling another 15 miles back to sailing. I arrived 55 minutes later sweating profusely, to discover racing postponed due to lack of wind, and quickly refueled with coffee and bacon. The fleet had been further bolstered by the arrival of El Jefe himself, the Godfather of QMSC, former Olympic hero Mark Lyttle, replacing the presence of Orlando Gledhill, who had to put in a family day and would not be defending his lead. This meant there were a group of 5 that could probably win overall, being Stick, Tony, Mike, Roger and myself. This is what I kept telling myself anyway.  

After a fair few horns and toots from the committee boat as the wind played silly buggers, we were underway. It was uncomfortably light airs and hot, and after a short tack right I found a little patch of breeze that I was able to cling to all the way up the first beat. After 21 minutes of trying not to move, I finally rounded the windward in 1st place with a very generous lead. As we drifted down the run, I started to entertain thoughts that even I might not mess this up, and that glory and fame was finally coming my way. 

However, Queen Mary can be a cruel mistress. As I rounded for the final beat, there was no sign of that helpful wind patch, as all traces of breeze had evaporated completely. I pointed towards the mark, and sat tight and hoped, and began to sweat. And then like zombies approaching a house in a horror movie, I started to notice boats creeping into my view. In an effort to execute an outstanding roll-tack, I promptly threw the boat on top of me and capsized in zero knots of wind, which on reflection, might not have been the greatest move. Guy Noble soon passed on the left, and rubbing salt into an already salty wound, Alan Davis and Tony Woods waltzed passed on the right.

Guy had now inherited the 30 boat length lead and inevitable race win, and I consoled myself in thinking that if anyone should win, Guy was a general good egg who hadn’t had much luck this weekend, and the win was due. Guy was then overtaken by both Alan and Tony within sight of the line, upstaging my earlier capitulation.

Many hours later, El Jefe and Laser Masters World Hero Mark Lyttle crossed the finish line, but by that stage the human race had evolved and departed planet earth, and no one cared too much. Race Officer Andrew Craig decided we’d had enough and sent everyone ashore for afternoon tea and lashings of ginger beer. Hurrah!

The overall results were super-tight with 4 points separating the top 6, but after much speculation and calculation (most of it incorrect) it was discovered that Orlando had managed to retain his overnight lead and win overall by a single point, despite not turning up for day 2. Tony and Stick were tied for 2nd (Tony winning on countback), followed by me in 4th, Alan in 5th and Mike Hicks 6th.

A great time was had by all, with particular recognition of outstanding race organisation by Queen Mary SC. We also welcomed several newbies to the Masters fleet, in Patrick Johnson, Zoe McCaig and Jacintha Hamilton-Love. Having served their debuts with distinction, hopefully they will agree that Lasers Masters is indeed, The Greatest Show on Earth. 

@ Lotte Johnson