Results 2004, Regattas and other events

Skippers Race

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Holm Sailing Club held the annual Skippers Races on Sunday 5th September in perfect sailing conditions - a steady NW wind and warm sunshine. In this series of short races each skipper with his crew sails a different boat for each race. The boats taking part were Cobra, Fleetwing, Haasfang, Siesta and Snoopy. The course was a short beat to number five buoy, a run to number 6 and a very close reach to finish. The experienced team of Fred and Jim won with a near perfect score and thus Fred retained the Skippers trophy for yet another year.

P&O Tankard

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On Thursday 22nd July 12 boats took to the water for the annual P&O tankard competition in Stromness. Two races were sailed, the first on the outer course, the second on the harbour course.

Race 1

Race 2

Port to Port

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Holm Gala Day

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Holm Gala Day was held on Saturday 12th June. The event included veterans races, an under 21s races series as well as a cake stall.

The under 21 years cup was sailed for by three young skippers, and was won by Lee Corse.

A veterans race was sailed on Saturday 12th June (Holm Gala Day) when seven of the older snipe sailors took part. Three races were sailed in ideal weather conditions.

Overall Results
John and Deborah Love (Cheshire) 20
Jack Foubister and Jackie Rendall (Holm) 15
Jim MacDonald and Tim Deakin (Holm) 14
Fred Johnston and Jack Macintosh (Holm) 12
Fred Johnston and Hamish Doull (Stromness) 9
Davie Harcus and Lee Corse (Stromness) 9
Alfie Flett and Fraser Corse (Holm) 5

Thanks to all the members for providing Baking for the Stall at the Gala.

Lena, new safety boat for Holm Sailing Club

On 18th March Lena, Holm Sailing Club's new safety boat was launched. The wet, windy evening of 18^th March 2004 attracted various spectators to watch Norman Johnston launch Holm Sailing Club's new rescue boat, Lena. In 1949 Norman was one of the founding members of Holm Sailing Club, a one class-club that sails Snipe dinghies. Thirty or forty past and present club members braved the elements to witness the event as did Capt. David Thomson and his wife from Orkney Towage Co. Ltd.

The boat was named Lena after Lena Flett as grateful acknowledgement for all the fund raising Lena has done for the club over the years.

The purchase of the new boat was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Orkney Towage Co Ltd, Orkney Islands Council, Orkney Enterprise Ltd and Awards for All. The 4.7 metre RIB was bought from Orkney Tool Hire, who gave the club a generous discount, as did Eric Kemp Sport & Outdoor Centre, who supplied the dry suits and life jackets for the crew.

Up until this year, Alfie Flett in Rosebud, with Billy Sinclair as crew, have provided rescue support for more years than the memory of most current members. A conservative estimate is that they have served the club for well over 20 years. Thank you.

With the transition from wooden to mainly fibre glass Snipes over the last 3 years and having more junior members now sailing with the club, a faster rescue capability was needed. Last year the club was grateful to Hazel Weaver and her crew Marlene Thompson who provided safety boat support with Hazel's RIB.

In April this year, Bruce Johnston, Robert Ashcroft, John Petrie, Richard Wylie and Alan Donaldson all undertook training with Kirkwall Sailing Club to ensure adequate crew for Lena.

Blue Circle Open

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On the 9th and 10th May the Blue Circle Open was held, North Kent; Snipes at Blue Circle, thanks to Richard Lambert for this report.

Forty-two years of unbroken Snipe Opens at the North Kent club came to an end on the weekend of 8-9 May. The Club has been given notice to quit the site which is owned by Brett Paving Ltd in January 2005. The facility was formed for employees of Blue Circle Cement in 1956, and is now enjoyed by racing and non- racing members; and is used as a training establishment by Medway Council.

In it´s heyday, over forty Snipes competed at the 140 acre lake near Cliffe Marshes, the event this year attracted twelve teams from the home club, from Maldon and from Budworth Snipe fleets.

Fittingly the title went to Peter Wolstenholme, one of Blue Circle’s finest protégé´s, who honed his skills in Cadets and has gone on to win Snipe National Championships in the UK, Belgium and France, as well as the European Cup. His record makes him unarguably the greatest Englishman ever to race this International Class which was designed in 1931. Five counting scores of first place gave him a 12 point cushion over second placed Ian Knight and David Bently from Maldon YC. The only other race winner was third overall Alan Williams and Liz Crouch of Budworth SC.

Some fine close and tactical racing was enjoyed by the competitors, all of whom will miss this unique and much loved venue when the eviction is served next year.

Final Results
1st GBR 29611 Peter Wolstenholme/A Hunt/D Jones (Wilsonian SC) 3.75pts
2nd GBR 29164 Ian Knight/David Bentley (Maldon YC) 16
3rd GBR 29834 Alan Williams/Liz Crouch (Budworth SC) 17.75
4th GBR 29677 Mark Antonelli/Susan Robertson (Budworth SC) 20
5th GBR 28385 Jon Simpson/Guy Welch (Maldon YC) 27
6th GBR 28451 Ian Gregory/Brian Gregory (Blue Circle SC) 27
7th GBR 29501 Iain/Richard Marshall (Maldon YC) 28
8th GBR 29411 Richard Lambert/Henryk Sadzik (Blue Circle SC) 31
9th GBR 27098 John love/Chris Surridge (Budworth SC) 33
10th GBR 29408 Alan/Graham Hoy (Maldon YC) 38
11th H25 John White/Ian Varney (Maldon YC) 53
12th GBR24705 Hugh/Joan Passingham 57

Spring Onion Series

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The Spring Onion Series was sponsored by the Wellpark Garden Centre

4th April

The Orkney Sailing Season started in Kirkwall on Sunday 4th April. Three wayfarers took part in two races, P. Mills in Ey Up, L. Venables in Hrönn and D Sinclair in Eclipse. The racing will continue through April, starting at 2.00pm. on Sundays.

11th April, Easter Sunday

The Spring Onion series continued on Easter Sunday with a fine but cool NE breeze, force 3-4. Four Wayfarers competed in the first race, and were joined by the Snipe 'Moonstone' for the second and third races. Layton Venables sailed well to win all three races.

18th April

The Spring Onion series continued on a wet breezy day. The wind was fresh SW, blowing F5 gusting 6 later.

Four Wayfarers showed up; Hrönn, Andante and Ey-up as well as one snipe, Moonstone.

Moonstone won the first two races, but in the third race capsized to let Hrönn and Ey-up past. Hrönn came second in the first two races and won the third.

Course 4 was chosen, which gave a very biased broad reach start (you don't want to be too early (Andante!) followed by two reaches, then two short legs to mark 1 and back to the finish. With the breeze the races were quite quick with place changes on mark roundings and the beat to Weyland.

Holm Regatta 2004

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Sponsored by Orkney Tool Hire

The Orkney Tool Hire Holm Regatta was held on 21 August 2004 with strong North Westerly winds making sailing challenging. After many capsizes the mornings racing was abandoned. After a break for sandwiches it was decided to sail the class races followed immediately by the Allcomers which was shortened to one leg. The wind turned slightly to the west but failed to moderate significantly resulting in an ever decreasing fleet taking part.

Thanks to the starters,the ladies that prepared an excellent meal, Longhope veteran Lifeboat Thomas McGunn and all the safety boats that were kept very busy all day.

Westray Regatta

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The ferry left Kirkwall in fog on Saturday 31st July. It was packed full of dingies hoping to race in Westray Regatta, although the poor visibility and lack of breeze did not look promising. Five Holm Snipes were onboard the Earl Sigurd; Cobra, sailed by Magnus Bain and his brother Robert, Fiddlesticks, sailed by Neil Foubister and Eddy Flett, Nijord sailed by Charlie Sidderfen and his son Jack, Fleetwing sailed by Jim MacDonald, and Moonstone sailed by Andrew Leslie and Robin MacArthur.

A few boats launched in the morning, when the mist seemed to clear for a period. The visibility then deteriorated, racing was postponed till 1.00 p.m. All the sailors were treated to some tea and very tasty sandwiches and cakes before setting up for a race. The Snipes were grouped in a class 'slow handicap' along with wayfarers. The course was set to a single lap of a triangular course. They set off in a light South Easterly breeze.

Fiddlesticks (sailed by Neil Foubister) set off to a good start and managed to retain her lead. Moonstone seemed to be catching Fiddlesticks on the first leg, but lost out when the breeze died during the second leg. On the third leg the breeze was very light, but eventually changed to a light but steady westerly. During this time Cobra caught up with Moonstone, but near the third mark Cobra had to do turns for a Port/Starboard incident. Cobra followed this up by luffing Moonstone, who then had to do turns.

During this time Vendetta managed to get past Cobra and Moonstone, finishing second out of the snipes. Cobra finished third.

After one race it was decided to abandon the Allcomers race; boats were packed up. An outstanding meal was provided in a marquee at the Pierowall Hotel, following the prizegiving. The cats had other ideas, and set off for a second race during which the breeze died again.

Despite frustrating weather conditions, Westray Regatta was a great event with a good turnout of boats. A good number of local Skiffs, Merlin Rockets and Mirrors were present, nine snipes competed. Due to the weather conditions the race officers had a very difficult job, but still managed to get a successful race started for all the boats. The patchy fickle breeze made for very tricky sailing. The meal at Westray Regatta was (as always) a gasranomic extravaganza, a seriously good feed. Many sailors stay overnight in Westray to take part in the dance.

Stromness Regatta 2004: Wild Goose Chase

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Stromness Regatta was held on the 17th July 2004.

Wild Goose, sailed by Mark Taylor won the Allcomers race at Stromess Regatta, Malcolm Gordon won the Snipe class race on Lynn Foubister's boat Fiddlesticks.

Race 1. Snipes were the third start after Yoles and Toppers. The wind was SW force 2-3. The toppers had a shorter course than the other boats. Fiddlesticks, Hassfang and Moonstone led the way to the first mark. There was a strong ebb tide at this mark. Fiddlesticks squeezed past to lead the fleet for the rest of the race, Hassfang got into trouble at the mark and was not able to recover.

Fiddlesticks' win is a good result for Malcolm Gordon and Lindy Birse, their first regatta trophy.

The snipes race was followed by Wayfarers, then mixed centreboards. Mixed centreboards included one of the Toppers, which had a very long race.

Race 2. The wind shifted 180 degrees immediately before the start of the second race, giving a shifty NE force 1-2. The allcomers race was dominated by Snipes, but included a National 12, four Wayfarers and two Merlin Rockets.

The light winds and strong tide made the choice of direction in the first leg crucial, and difficult to call. Mark Taylor on Wild Goose made the correct decision, keeping to the West of the rumb line. The fleet had to follow Wild Goose round the rest of the course, Ella, a Merlin Rocket skippered by Harcus Hutchison got past Wild Goose, but was beaten on handicap. The only beat in the race was the last leg, making few opportunities for place changes.

Despite the rain, and having to wait for a ferry between races, it was a very successful event.

Rousay Regatta

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For the first time in many years Rousay Regatta was held on Saturday 10th July 2004.

Top Sailing News

Kirkwall Regatta 2004

Snipe

Wayfarer

Mixed Centreboards

Allcomers

Hobbie Catamaran

Yachts