You will have noticed, I’m sure, that we have had some fairly impressive moons this month. I wonder, though, if you knew you were looking at the Beaver Moon when it was full, so named because apparently that’s when Native Americans would set their beaver traps before the rivers froze over. Of more concern to us is the effect that the moon has upon our tides, and we have had our share of good and bad ones this November, which is only right and proper since, at this time of year the Diwali festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Let’s see the extent to which tides were good or bad.
The first race of the month gave the race officer a headache; a tide that was rapidly disappearing from the harbour limited her options for course setting: this was to be something of a recurring theme for the next few weeks. Launching proved to be problematic for team Keates, and we spent quite some time extricating 3974 from the shallows just to the north-west of the F15 pontoon. Although we achieved this without outside assistance, it still earned us the award of the Rasputin Cup. Compared to events later on in the month, more of which anon, our pit stop was considerably more brief than some others – I’m just saying! I’m not suggesting that a raft of Flying Fifteens is a good collective noun, but it was quite appropriate for the start of this race where several boats found themselves in close company with others and the platform – to mis-quote Flanders and Swan, “it all makes work for Alan Baker to do!” None of this bothered Patrick Keats though; he sailed to victory with Chris Whalley, who was deputising for Aly.
For the first few races of the month, particularly on Saturdays, either the wind or the tide weren’t in the mood to help the Race Officer, and several reports wrote about ‘hunting for wind’ or most appropriately, a gaggle of us standing around the interceptor discussing the pros and cons of going sailing, which led to the spot being memorably christened, ‘the procrastination station’ (kudos to Mike B). But, that was about to change.
On the 13th, although the tide wasn’t helpful, the wind began to blow again, and the sun made an appearance. We were set a course that was restricted by the lack of water, but it did give us the chance to make a fairly rare visit to Amy Group. Unusually, this was the first mark of the course; this gave us a degree of latitude which several of our brethren were later to regret. Cast your mind back to my comments regarding the length of time spent going nowhere. Graham Scroggie and Jack put in a valiant effort to take the prize of being stationary the longest but, although their stays were frequent, they were never long enough to outdo Richard and Alan. Watching Richard’s video of the event will prove my point - that’s 15 minutes of life that Richard, Alan and I will never get back! Ben McGrane gave us a lesson (apart from 3922 and 4027, it was quite a distant one); he sailed serenely around the shallows despite not knowing the harbour as well as us, and won by quite a way. His ‘luck’ ran out on the way in though, but his skill saved the day and his halt was brief!
By the 20th, things had improved markedly, and one reporter was tempted to describe conditions as champagne, but reporting accuracy won the day with a request for more wind – maybe flat champagne conditions Ian? I began this letter referring to good and bad tides and the struggle for good over evil. Maybe Geof Gibbons has got the right idea. Whilst most of us were mired in confusion over where the good and bad tide was, Geof chose to ignore it! Coming 2nd in the race is a pretty strong argument for his case, don’t you think? Geof carried on in this vein, winning the race on the 27th and coming fourth in the last race of the month – who needs tide tables?!
As I write this, both the Autumn series are coming nicely to the boil. Roberta and John are looking well placed in the Wednesday series but Roberta is going to have to do a better job of covering Crispin and Steve if they are going to hold off their challenge! Of great interest to this writer is the battle developing for the third step of the podium between 3936 and 3922. I agree with the Kaiser Chiefs, things might get ‘lairy’. However, unlike them, I don’t predict a riot: the Flying Fireballs are far too cultured for that. In case you don’t know, the Kaiser chiefs are a rock band, but I agree that me quoting them is as bad as Gordon Brown claiming that his favourite band was the Arctic Monkeys! If anything, the Saturday series is shaping up to be an even closer run thing. Richard Whitworth and his younger version of Trefor, (sorry Trefor), are, at the end of November, on equal points with Andy Brewer and Chewey with whoever sails 3922 most frequently breathing down their neck. In fact, the top five places are only separated by 5 points so Geof and his crews, and Chris and Nadia are all in with a good shout, provided we don’t get too many more visits from the likes of storms Bert and Darragh.
As usual, my final job is to inform you of our trophy winners this month. Each time we have to judge the reporter of the month, it is increasingly difficult, and impossible not to notice how the standard of reporting remains so high. We had some splendid entries from our regular contributors (you know who you are!). However, pride of place this month goes to a first-timer: Mike Clapp. Saturday Sailors of the Month for November was foreshortened by inclement weather, but, because of high turnouts, Geof Gibbons and his entourage won the award with an impressive tally of 34 boats beaten, narrowly pushing Andy Brewer and Chewey into second place. Wednesday’s competition was a lengthier affair. Pete and Jo Allam were victorious with a total of 45 boats dispatched. The Flying Fifteen Fireball Syndicate (to give them their full title!) tied in second place with a total of 43 boats beaten – like I said, things could get lairy! Last but not least is the award we all love to avoid – the Rasputin Cup. The latest recipients of this coveted award are Dick Linford and Peter Traves. I’m not entirely sure whether Peter left the boat without permission or was forced out by the actions of his helm. Either way, Dick joins the exclusive club of those of us who have won the thing twice (yes, I am a member!). There’s not much time for someone to excel by being awarded the cup three times in a season is there? – watch this space!
Well that’s it for November, and as Perry Como or Bing Crosby might have sung (if only they’d been vice captain of the fleet), it’s getting to look a lot like Christmas with every newsletter I write.
JK