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RNLI 24 Hour Race at Ferry Meadows 19th -20th June On the weekend of 18th and 19th of June Welland yacht club entered two teams in to the 14th annual RNLI 24 hour race at lakeside sailing club, ferry meadows, Peterborough. Welland members sailed the clubs Topper magno and a Laser, generously on loan for the weekend by Andy Prior. As the teams were preparing their camp for the night, and rigging boats, a large squall blew through with hefty gusts that threatened half erected tents and Martin and Vanessa’s gazebo. This storm was to set the tone for the following race, fortunately that was the heaviest rain for the weekend. The race began at 3 O’clock, and once out on the water competitors were greeted with sunshine interspersed with clouds and a strong and steady breeze. For the 2 Welland teams, Adam Wilson and Charlotte Prior began the race in the Magno and Andy Prior in the laser, the Magno had an excellent start beating all boats on the water to the first mark of the course, the laser also started well and was only a few yards behind. As the race progressed through its first few laps both welland boats were going well, however 2 wayfarers and a comet (all 3 sailed by members of lakeside sailing) were also being sailed very fast. About an hour into the race the Magno was struck by a very large gust whilst flying its spinnaker and was sent for a very early bath, however the team recovered quickly and progress was only impeded slightly. Welland’s teams consisted of 4 sailors for the Laser and 8 sailors for the Magno, the boats were sailed in shifts of 2 hours each. Shift changes involve wading out from the beach to roughly waist deep, catching the boat and then jumping in as the previous crew jump out. Crew changes are unfortunately a wet process, but it is quick,
As the sun started to fade a real party atmosphere started to develop around the lake, in the bar a BBQ had been lit and 2 different bands were lined up to keep the sailors fed and entertained. In the Welland team’s campsite the fire was lit and the ingenious lighting arrangement (supplied by Richard Thacker) was erected and switched on. The drinks and conversation flowed until those who were sailing in the small hours of the morning decided that at least a couple of hours of sleep were required.  As the race progressed deep into the night the gusts died down and the wind eased slightly, and then at about 1 O’clock the skies started to clear and the wind steadily dropped until the lake was becalmed. Andy Agar at one point commenting that the reflections from the lake were still enough to use to shave!! At this point the sailability team had stopped for the darkest few hours, mainly because they struggle to gain any momentum in their challenger trimarans in light winds. The pedalo team of the lakeside café had  also stopped for the hours of darkness, on safety grounds due to their limited manoeuvrability.
By the 7 am shift change it was becoming evident that the day was going to provide some very exciting sailing, as the wind was now starting to gust into force 6 and was consistently blowing a force 5. What was also becoming evident from the news being related back from our volunteer time keepers (thanks to Vanessa Cook and Jane Thacker) was that both of our boats were performing competitively, but especially the laser which was currently in a battle for the lead with the Green wayfarer 7328 of lakeside sailing.
All sailors continued to perform extremely well despite the strong winds, however fatigue was starting to take effect, the lack of sleep and tiring conditions now taking their toll. The decision was taken to scrap the carefully planned rota for the weekend and adopt hourly shift changes in the, now physically demanding, laser to keep the boat sailing as fast as possible. The Magno was proving tricky to sail in the large gusts, particularly at the gybe mark which did cause quite a few capsizes, however with fellow competitors also suffering in the heavy weather not too much ground was lost. As the finish was approaching the team realised that if the laser could be kept at its current pace we would win. With that Robin Wilson, who had sailed better than anybody else all weekend, was placed in the boat for the final hour and 15 minutes of the race. Tom Bell and Steven O’Prey were sailing the Magno for its last 2 hour stint and kept the boat going nice and quickly for the whole session ending the race with a very strongly. After the finish, as the results were being calculated using the Portsmouth handicap system, and the boats were packed away ready for their journey back to Spalding, all the competitors were feeling satisfied and quietly confident that the results would be very good. Overall 11 boats competed in the race, including the pedalo, 3 of which were teams from Kings school Peterborough sailing team who showed great promise. Welland yacht club Magno came in 4th place and the Laser took 1st, completing over 120 laps which by my rough calculations is well over 90 miles during the course of the race. Welland yacht club would like to thank all those at lakeside sailing that made the race possible, particularly Andy Belson who had no sleep at all to ensure the race ran smoothly, we would also like to thank all those who attended to support the club and helped off the water, we believe at one point we had over 25 club members and non-members enjoying the weekends activities.
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© Welland Yacht Club 2004 hosted by Johnston Press |
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3 O’clock the start of the race
Andy Prior swapping with Adam Wilson
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