In the middle of the French revolution of the 18^th century, some opponents of the monarchy suggested that Marie Antoinette had offered the opinion that her impoverished subjects who could not afford bread should instead eat cake. This suggestion led to her making the acquaintance of ‘madame Guillotine’ herself. You might think then, that our fleet captains were taking a risk when they offered to repay our loyalty with the same substance! You needn’t have worried though, since the cake they were offering was delicious and was provided in proportions that were positively brobdingnagian (one for you Gayle)!

The weather and state of the tide was nigh on perfect. The wind was a little capricious both in terms of strength and direction, although it was never strong enough to turn the evening into one of mere survival, and the oscillations around the mean weren’t too vicious. There was however, a very pronounced wind funnel near the marina wall, and those boats that discovered this early were the main beneficiaries. The Gate-Boat was in an excellent position to benefit from this phenomenon, which seems only fair because both had to run the gauntlet of approximately thirty Ilcas approaching them on starboard with varying degrees of control!
Gate-boat starting is different from making a line start and it was immediately obvious that some of our visitors were new to this format. One poor Ilca seven was seen sailing in ever decreasing circles looking for the non-existent outer distance mark! The most exciting start of the evening as far as I was concerned (good word choice) was the second Ilca six start. Pete Taylor was a little tardy in opening the gate which meant the gap that an onrushing Alison Popper was aiming for was considerably less than both Pete, Alison and me would have liked. As it turned out, there was just enough room for Ali to pass Pete’s stern before putting in a crash tack onto port, thus avoiding a messy coming together with the committee boat. Richard, I suggest you check for rubber marks on the port side of the Ilca Ali used. I couldn’t see if we’d touched; I had my eyes closed!

I don’t know if you are familiar with the phrase, “It’s all sixes and sevens”, but as I was trying to write down the finishing positions of the Ilca 6s and 7s, its etymology, ‘being in a state of confusion’, became all too clear to me! It was particularly exciting when, in race two, the larger rigged boats were finishing on the run whilst their smaller rigged brothers and sisters were approaching the leeward mark at the end of their second reach. I’m not sure what is the nautical equivalent of Piccadilly Circus, just as I am uncertain how there were no collisions – well done to all concerned.

Gary Hind’s fantastic photos on Facebook brilliantly show what a wonderful sight it was to see in excess of sixty Ilcas spread over a stretch of water between the marina and the Parkstone Platform. Every picture tells a story and I bet there was a plethora of individual tales. I’d like to pick out three that I noticed. First of all, there is our resident kiwi, Courtenay, sailing in my old boat, irritatingly making it go twice as fast as it ever did for me! His results of 4^th and 5^th were excellent. It’s not unusual for Courtenay to have one good result on a Monday night, but to do well in both races is a slightly more unusual occurrence; he usually finds some way or another to muck up one race. Maybe it’s the magic of my old boat that’s made the difference. Secondly, I was really impressed with Roberta’s first race, not because she won it, but what struck me was how many Ilca 7s she beat in the process. She was penalised by her own success, having to negotiate her way through dirty air on many of the beats. It was definitely an exercise in making the most of the good fortune offered to her on the initial beat. Lastly, I should think that Gayle Moore’s heart rate must have been impressive, as she fought like mad to keep Ann Keates behind her throughout the second race. How much she enjoyed this is probably debatable, that is until the moment she crossed the line with Ann in the same position, i.e. behind her. It was a very close-run thing and, having to declare a personal interest, I was extremely glad to be performing the role of scribe rather than calling the result!

For the record, Arti, from EDSC won the 4.7s taking 1^st place in both races. Judith Liverman took second place. Pam Woodall finished in 3^rd. It doesn’t matter how many boats took part Pam; a podium finish is still a podium! In addition to this, it has been reported to me that there is, on Facebook, a picture showing Pam and Hywel both in hiking mode and it was very difficult to tell who was hiking the harder! Youth prevailed in the Ilca 6s with Tom taking hot spot, narrowly beating Roberta. Robert Penson is no stranger to podium finishes in Ilca series, having done so many times in the past. He will, I’m sure have been specially happy to finish in front of so many young hot shots! I’m old enough to remember Matt Reid when he was a young hot shot. His physique has changed out of all proportion to those days, but he has retained the knack of winning. Despite the efforts of Hywel and Chris, (2^ndand 3^rd respectively), his overall victory in the Ilca 7s never really seemed in doubt.

You may remember, I wrote about cake at the start of this article, so it seems fitting to finish on that subject. In an article written for Yachts and Yachting, Michael refers to the skill and speed of the Parkstone Youth Ilca sailors. Well, I have to report that these guys took this speed into the training room to launch their attack on the goodies on show. Some of them, I’m told didn’t bother to change first!

What a fantastic evening it was. The fleet needs to give a vote of thanks to our Fleet Captains for organising things and to the volunteers on the water, but also to everyone who took part and helped to set the record of sixty-six boats.
This is not the time or place to name the Ilca sailors who didn’t make it tonight, but suffice to say it was more than four. Using all my maths ability, I can confidently announce that we should be able to reach seventy boats in 2025. My advice to the future Fleet Captain(s?) is to ‘let them eat cake!’

Jk (Dog Robber rtd.)

Big Monday 2024 results

Gallery of photographs by Gary Hind