Beautiful spring weather greeted this year’s privateers gathering at Parkstone to rampage across Poole Harbour in the 2025 Arripaye charity race, (with apologies to Anne-Laure for some appalling historical behaviour by our fore-bearers I am embarrassed to even mention).
  
Henry Paye, who died in 1419, was also known as Harry Page or Arripaye (to the Spanish). He was a privateer and smuggler from Poole in the late 14th and early 15th century.  He intercepted hundreds of French ships for gold, wine, exotic fruits and brought it back to the people of Poole.  Paye led many naval raids along the coast of France and Spain from Normandy through to the Bay of Biscay and Cape Finistere.
 
 In 1405, a combined fleet of French and Spanish ships attacked Paye's native town of Poole in retaliation for Paye's raids. The attackers looted arms and stores and set fire to a warehouse before they were driven back to their ships by the townspeople.  Paye, who died in 1419 and was buried in the parish church at Faversham in Kent, is celebrated in the annual Harry Paye Charity Fun Day parade held in Poole every June and by the annual charity fund raising “Arripaye” pursuit race at Parkstone organised and run by the Clubs ILCA fleet.
 
Course: X, U, L, WH5, WH14, WH5, W,
Wind: SSE / variable 4 to 8 Knots.
Tide high but still incoming.
 
With the strongly biased start line we decided to start away from what was going to be a very busy pin end and positioned ourselves relatively near the committee boat and immediately tacked onto Port after the starting signal. A large bundle of boats including 3 over the line at the pin end sorted themselves out whilst, with good boat speed off the line in clean wind, we stole a march on most of the fleet up the first beat to Chris Somner. Apparently we were lucky to get away without a general recall with so much flying fifteen fleet malarkey on the start line!
  
After a long spell on port tack sailing away from the line and a couple of short tacks as we neared the first mark, we came into X on starboard with several boats headed by Ian and Kim lining up on the port tack layline attempting to pillage the fleet at the first mark. Privateers Chris & Nadia rounded first followed by the Corsair Bob & guest crew pirate Phil Angrave just ahead us .
  
A relatively calm Run down toward Morris Lane saw the fifteen fleet close down on the RS200s. We managed to creep past Bob and Phil and rounded in second.
  
On the fetch across to “Balls” Lake (where Harry probably spent time practicing firing his canons and depositing many cannonballs there) we outpaced the RS200s, the lightish 5 to 8 knot wind giving the displacement Fifteen a slight speed advantage over the 200s without enough wind to plane.  Chris and Nadia, who were leeward of us and sailing slightly deeper across the fetch, rounded inside us with Bob and Phil coming up fast behind.
  
The Fleet then ran down towards WH5, which we couldn’t see from so far away and had to trust that the Dophins and Wayfarers knew where it was. (It is always further over and further up the harbour than we think it is). Bob & Phil had got back ahead of us approaching WH5. Running towards the mark we expected to gybe and round up onto a three sail reach, but ahead of us, as we looked up the Wareham channel, we noticed that the Wayfarers had all dropped their spinnakers and were beating up as the wind there had veered substantially to the South West.
  
We dropped the spinnaker just before the mark and started the trickiest part of the race up the newly coined “Wareham Loop” with the wind shifting and disappearing altogether at times, tide running in over the river current and us needing to keep in deep water, wherever that was.
  
Behind us, the Buccaneering Flying Fifteen fleet caused mayhem at WH5, rampaging through several Poole Dolphins and pillaging the mark to take advantage of whatever water was available.
 
 Calmly, Chris and Nadia manage to keep their boat moving through all the holes in the patchy & shifty wind, keeping to the right side of the channel whilst we looked left, right and left again for wind. Meanwhile Bob and Phil kept left also seemed to find favourable wind.
 
As the conditions played with our nerves, the rest of the Flying Fifteen fleet led by Richard W and Chris Jermyn, Tim and Edith, Mike Clapp & David Wells and David and Frances closed up on us as we crept up towards WH14.
 
Somehow we reached and rounded WH14 quite a time behind Chris and Nadia, who were now well ahead of us having earned Harry Paye’s blessing to secure a good lead.
 
At this point in the race there were still several Wayfarers and a few Dolphins ahead of us as we ran under spinnaker back down the Wareham channel and we could see the chasing RS400’s, Steve and Katie Tylers Merlin Rocket and even a couple of Darts.
 
With Privateers Tim and Edith and David and Frances looking to steal our wind, Lisa worked hard to keep our spinnaker flying in clear wind and we managed to reach WH5 in second place with Richard and Chris just behind.
 
As we approached the mark, a Poole Dolphin just ahead, rounded up at the mark sharply squeezing the gap we had just entered . We almost made it cleanly round the mark but just kissed it as we passed the Dolphin. Lisa’s safe advice came calmly from the front of the boat : “No worry, don’t get wound up, just do the 720 and move on,” which is what we did as soon as soon as we were in clear water. (thanks to Mervyn for the helpful reminder, pre-race)
 
Amazingly we didn’t lose too much ground, but we did let Richard W and Chris J through to leeward of us and Bob and Phil closed right up on us directly behind.
 
I then asked hawkeye Lisa where Wych mark was and we headed across the top triangle in a light SSE breeze, by now with just three suits of sails ahead of us: Richard W & Chris J, Chris and Nadia and a Wayfarer.
  
Captain Jack, the Wayfarer, was being rapidly closed down by Chris and Nadia (who, for the day had changed 4025 into The Flying Fifteen Dutchman (the Most Famous Pirate Ship in History) maintaining their inexplicable speed in the tricky light wind conditions.
 
With the 16:30 time limit rapidly approaching, we could see the Customs Officers on the Golden Dolphin and the Rib starting to position themselves to form the finishing line. Jackie Dobson and Mike Wood sailing Captain Jack just managed to reach the ‘moving finish line’ ahead of the charging Flying Fifteen Dutchman with Richard W & Chis J keeping us at bay, soundly found their finishing in third, just ahead of us in fourth.
  
Behind us came Bob and Phil, then Tim and Edith in a very credible 6th place given their lack of Poole Harbour local knowledge, this being their first full season at Parkstone. (Note to Mervyn: just when do we stop telling new members where the marks are, once they start doing well in the racing?). Andy and Simon, having soundly ‘found their feet’ in the Flying Fifteen sailed well again to come home in 7th place with David and Frances also proving they have mastered Fifteen sailing finishing in 8th. Great to see recent new additions to the fleet doing so well.
 
An enjoyable afternoon spent sailing the Arripaye in great sunny but testing weather conditions. The race, appropriately won by Captain Jack the Wayfarer, was very well organised and run by the ILCA Fleet. Many thanks to everyone on the race team and the ribs who endured a very long afternoon on the water.
  
Harry must have been proud of the trouble caused by the tricky conditions he had ordered for the day!

Results:

1   4025 Chris G & Nadia
2   4114 Richard W & Chris J
3   4019 Steve R & Lisa
4   3536 Bob & Phil
5   4119 Time & Edith
6   4054 Andrew Cu & Simon
7   3971 David W & Frances
8   4088 Geof & Nick
9   3966 Richard L & Alan
10 4115 Ian L & Kim
11 3936 Martin & Andrew Cl
12 4027 Mike C & Dave W
13 4111 Mervyn & Ron
14 4101 Crispin & Steve B
15 3901 Peter B & Yung
Rtd 3821 Patrick & Aly
Rtd 3922 Ian Z & Mike B
Dnc 4020 Graham S & Ben