Hextall Trophy Race 4 Sunday 19th July
- Race Officer: Oli Stanley
- Starter: Gerry Marling-Roberts and Ginna Gayner
- Safety: Sam van Holthe/Sophie Stanley/Mary Scott/Tove van Holthe
- Refreshments: RSYC
Feva Race
Course: Ns Pp Lepe p Np Ps
- 6680 Henry Nurton and Tom Mavor
- Rory and James Gayner
- 3105 Eliza Arvold and Charlie Mavor (disq. missed mark)
Scow Race
Course: Ns Ps Cs – Gins
- 421 Karl and Zoey Liebat
- 561 Camilla and Pippa Sellars
- 510 Edward and Victoria Bonham-Carter
- 599 John and Lindy Morgan
- 589 Red and Cleo Johnson
- 493 Charles Nicholson
- 595 Erica and Ned Neve
- 400 Miranda Knowles and Karen Rogers
- 323 Angela Hayward-Broomfield
- 550 Lizzie Anders and Claudia Downes
- 170 Nick Bentley-Buckle
- 152 Lucy Markby
- 598 Darren Firth
- 252 Simon Gibbs
- 588 Peter Hayward-Broomfield
- 358 Fiona Duncan
- Alexander Cowie -retired
Hextall Trophy Race 4 Sunday 19th July – Scow report by Camilla Sellars
This Sunday saw 17 scows rigged for racing at Needs Ore. Conditions were idyllic; warm and sunny with a gentle north/north-easterly breeze.
Race Officer Oli Stanley set a course that was short enough to deliver us all to the RSYC at Gins with plenty of time for refreshments in the sunshine – North Bank, Pigs and Clubhouse all to starboard, and then up the river to finish at Gins. This was my first sail of the year, so our younger daughter Pippa agreed to come with me as crew, to bolster my confidence. The onboard chat went something like this…
Me: “So, as it’s a north-easterly, we’re going to start the wrong way through the start line.”
Pippa: “You’re not making any sense.”
Me: “Nevermind. We’re starting the opposite way to how we usually do. I think we’ll likely start on port tack.”
Pippa: “That sounds like a bad idea.”
Me: “Well, on starboard tack we’re basically sailing along the start line close-hauled, so I think starting at the port end of the line on port tack will be the best bet. You know how your dinghy coaches always tell you never to stray too far from the start line? We’re going to hang about close to the line during the last minute so that we get a really good start. Now, ready about? Lee-ho!”
Pippa: “You don’t need to say that. You sound medieval. Just tell me we’re tacking.”
As planned, we were positioned a few metres from the port end of the line with 30 seconds to go, with Peter Hayward-Broomfield nearby, clearly with similar ideas. We put in one last tack onto port, planning to cruise through the line and possibly make North Bank in a single tack. Then the wind died.
Pippa: “We’re going to start last. Look, everyone in the middle of the river has already crossed the line.”
Me: “Don’t worry, we’re upwind of them.”
Pippa: “But we’re not moving.”
Me: “This is also true.”
Pippa: “We are literally going to start last.”
Eventually we got a puff of wind, along with the others at our end of the line, and we set off on our trajectory towards the first mark. All was not lost, as we were still just upwind of the bulk of the fleet.
Pippa: “Now we’re on port tack and everyone will be coming across on starboard.”
Me: “OK, we’ll tack. Ready about? Lee-ho!”
Pippa: “What did I say about that?”
John and Lindy Morgan had started well and gained a strong lead, rounding North Bank first, followed by Karl and Zoey Liebat, Cleo and Red Johnson, and then us. We crossed the river to gybe around Pigs, and chased the front three up past the club slipway and on towards Clubhouse.
Me: “I wonder if the tide would be more strongly against us in the middle of the river, and whether we should stay close to the bank all the way to Gins. We don’t actually have to round Clubhouse, we just need to leave it to starboard.”
Pippa: “We do have to round it.”
Me: “Well, we don’t actually have to sail around it, we just need to sail past making sure it’s on our starboard side.”
Pippa: “Rounding it, in other words.”
Me: “If you insist. My point being, we don’t need to be close to the mark – we could be in by the bank as we sail past it. Let’s give it a go.”
Pippa: “This is really slow. Also the others are sailing faster than us.”
Me: “Well, let’s try and catch them up! I think we could overtake one or two of them.”
Pippa: “Unlikely.”
Me: “Come on, some positivity is needed! And I can hear Victoria and Edward bearing down on us from behind – we mustn’t let them catch us.”
Pippa: “We’d be doing better if I was sailing with Daddy. By the way, we’ve run aground.”
Me: “Ah ok! Quickly get the centreboard up!”
Pippa: “I’m not an idiot, I’ve done that already.”
Me: “Let’s tack and head away from the bank. It looks like there might be a little more wind between the lines of moored boats. What do you think?”
Pippa: ”How would I know?”
Me: “Well, you can see it on the water, and Karl and Zoey look like they’ve got a bit more breeze than us. Shall we head in there too?
Pippa: “What would I know, you’re the helm.”
Meanwhile John and Lindy had stayed close to the bank (presumably without running aground), Cleo and Red were a little to starboard of them, with the Liebats also just ahead of us but now to our left. The front trio looked unstoppable… unless…
Me: “If we hold our course here between the moored boats, I think we might be able to make the finish line in one tack. Whereas the others are further downwind and will have to put in a couple of tacks to get outside the pontoon.”
Pippa: “Where is the finish line?”
Me: “I don’t know exactly. But I don’t think the others know either. And I think we’re on a better course than them.”
Pippa: “You’re not making any sense. Again.”
Me: “Trust me.”
Just then, the finish line came into sight – between a club RIB and the Gins pontoon – and we were on track! The Liebats who had been up ahead of us but over to the left tacked onto port, and tacked back onto starboard to meet us on the approach to the line. It was a nail-biting finish as we jostled for position (though Pippa was suitably unimpressed), with the Liebats keeping hold of their small lead and nosing their bow across the line in first, about a foot ahead of us. Edward and Victoria then crossed the line in third, just pipping the Johnsons and the Morgans who had taken the more inshore route and had to tack up to the finish.
Thank you to the race officials Oli Stanley, Gerry Marling-Roberts and Ginna Gayner and to the safety team of Sam and Tove van Holthe, Sophie Stanley and Mary Montagu Scott, and also to the Royal Southampton Yacht Club at Gins for hosting us as we moored up for post-race refreshments in the late afternoon sun.
See all photos in PHOTOS 2026