Course: Ap Es Ds Cp Bs Ap Es 

Race Officer – Ginna Gayner, Platform – Gerry Marling-Roberts, Safety – Peter Bettridge & Lucy Markby, Refreshments – Hicky Taylor

Report by Al Fothergill

It was one of those beautiful English days – summer/autumnal light – with not much wind and the odd scattered breeze over the water. There was going to be a split fleet. I wrote down the course with a pencil on the back of an envelope which I stuck in my back pocket. An intricate yet simple course set by Ginna Gayner which took us neatly up and down the river and crossing from bank to bank.

Beep…‘One minute’ called from the jetty… Beep. We all had a slow steady start towards Palace House, gently tacking and then round Ap and downstream on a run to Es. I was busy with my centre plate but when I looked up I was somewhere in the mix – about five boats in.

I did manage to hold one long tack upstream from E to Ds where I gained a place or two and had to ‘luff in the puff’ – using a timely wind shift. I mainly saw Karl and Zoey Liebat and Mary Scott with her cousin Isabella Weston from Texas ahead of me.  There had been early jostlings with the Cow Scow with Ben and Polly Savage – Polly helming her first race. Sam van Holthe and Victoria Bonham Carter with Sophie Smith were vying with each other and were catching me all the time on the final close reach. There was the occasional spirited wave and a friendly word from Kristen Branford and Darren Firth across the water as they gave chase.

Once we crossed the line, the extra high tide meant a few us had to row ashore, bringing the trees close alongside our scows. Simon Gibbs who was a defeated by the light airs and sudden gusts, retired and was there to kindly help us ashore in the extremely high tide.  Kristen jumped out of his boat to get the trolley and found himself up to his middle. Many congratulations to Zoey helming with Karl on a fine race.  

I think we all find, in our own way, that these few hours are hard to beat.  Thank you to those that keep this timeless snapshot on the Beaulieu River so alive.

Thank you very much to the starting platform, Ginna and Gerry Marling-Roberts and Hicky Gibbs for a much enjoyed mug of tea with cake afterwards and to Lucy and Peter on safety duty.

1. 421 Zoey and Karl Leibat
2. 600 Mary Scott and Isabella Weston
3. 454 Al Fothergill
4. 499 Sam van Holthe
5. 510 Victoria Bonham Carter and Sophie Smith
6. 449 Polly and Ben Savage
7. 598 Darren Firth
8. 595 Kristen Branford

252 Simon Gibbs RETIRED

Course: Fp Ep Pp Ds Pp – line
Wind: S 2-3

Race Officer – Ginna Gayner
Starter – Gerry Marling Roberts
Safety: Ben and Polly Savage
Shore support: Peter Bettridge and Jay Devonshire

1. 589 Red Johnson
2. 598 Darren Firth
3. 421 Karl Liebat
4. 530 Tim Robinson
5. 595 Kristen Branford

By Darren Firth

Course: Fp Ep Pp Ds Pp – line
Wind: Southerly, force 2-3

6th October 2024

I arrived early at Rope Factory field to check things out regarding the wind conditions in the hope that enough racing members would show up on such a dismal day to allow racing to take place. The forecast said to expect possible lively gusts but by the time all 5 scows were gathered on the water predictably the wind became light.

All scows had a good start except Karl who was unfortunately recalled. Upon reaching ‘F’ the wind was virtually non-existent in the shelter of the large trees. It then became a struggle to reach ‘E’ but once that was achieved there was a very gentle run down to P.

This exposed me to a totally new experience – I found myself at the front!

At P, showing my inexperience of the river and it’s tricky ways, I sailed downriver along the Western bank and got caught in the shelter of the trees. Red Johnson of course made the right decision and chose to proceed along the Eastern side of the river leaving me to tack again and follow along behind him.

I made steady progress to D and was hoping to pass ahead of Red, whilst on port tack but there came a lull in the wind so I had to give way to Red’s starboard tack to avoid him. Unfortunately I left my avoiding tack too late and caused Red to alter course. This resulted in my taking the 360 degree penalty and once again I took pursuit of Red and chased him on to the finish crossing in second place ahead of Karl Liebat, Tim Robinson and Kristen Branford.

Thank you to the team for making it possible to have our fun. To Ginna Gayner, Gerry and Peter Marling-Roberts on the Platform. Also to Ben & Polly Savage in the safety boat and to Jay Devonshire and Peter Bettridge for shore support.

Looking forward to next time !