Dorchester Vintage Meeting 2004
Dorchester Sailing Club – described on the website as "a 40 acre lagoon".
Oxford dictionary definition of lagoon is:
1) A stretch of salt water separated from the sea by a low sandbank or coral reef etc.
2) The enclosed water of an atoll.
3) A small freshwater lake, near a larger lake or river.
4) An artificial pool for the treatment of effluent.
As it's in Oxfordshire, it couldn't be 1 or 2, and we sincerely hoped it wouldn't be
4.
We arrived to a warm welcome, at a picturesque lake, rich in water fowl, bathed
in sunshine, and surrounded by trees which made for very interesting wind.
The sailing instructions included a
note that 'the trees were out of
bounds'. This caused some
amusement until we realised that
behind the island in the middle of
the lake there was an area of
partially submerged dead trees,
which reminded us of a Mangrove
swamp, but which the locals
apparently knew a route through.
1 Vintage, 4 Classic Merlins and
'Kate' took part in the first race.
The wind was light and variable
with frequent shifts, which meant the positions of the boats were constantly
changing. 'Kate' No1 helmed by Mervyn of course, won with the help of a local
crew, Chris, closely followed by 'Squirrel' No235, helmed by Mike Liggett and
crewed by Viv Wild. These were the 2 oldest boats at the meeting, and both had
wooden masts. Who needs carbon fibre when there's a nice piece of spruce!
After a fairly good start, placed second after the first lap, 'Ten-Sixty-Six' No1066
fell foul of the "interesting" wind and wound up a close last!
Angela, Louise, and Sarah in the galley produced an excellent lunch, which we
felt might slow us down dramatically.
Late arrival 'Chippyninebee' No2046 helmed by Dave, and crewed by Andy
Nickson, joined us for the second race. Due to loosing out before lunch, we
started first together with 'Les Sable' No2120, helmed by Peter Russell and
crewed by his daughter Katy, as apparently it was to be a pursuit race. Poor
'Kate' started 4 ½ minutes later!
We lead round every mark of the
course. The wind was stronger
than in the morning, which suited
us, and we were starting to learn
the pattern of some of the shifts.
The final result of this race was
'Ten-Sixty-Six' No1066, helmed by
Tim Bury and crewed by Pat
Kuenzler, was 1st, 'Sprite Full'
No507, helmed by Chris Barlow
and crewed by Lois Barlow, came
2nd with local helm Jeremy Wright a
close 3rd in 'Carefree' No990.
We were treated to an air display by 16 gliders riding the thermals above us
before being summoned to the prize giving. Prizes were presented to the 1st and
2nd in each race, after which we settled down to a delicious cream tea.
A big thank you to Dorchester Sailing Club for their generous hospitality, it was a
most enjoyable day.
Tim Bury and Pat Kuenzler, 1066