|
Poole is one of our
local testing areas and it's where I started racing a few years
ago. So it feels like home ground for us. A regular and popular
venue for many competitors, most of the usual teams turned up for
some good racing in the sunshine (we thought!).
For the main national
race, the famous Needles Trophy was to be presented to the overall
winning boat. A highly sought after trophy, the 4 F1 RIB’s of Max
Walker, Martin Lai, John O Lindsay and ourselves, were all going
to be contenders.
The course consisted of
two 22nm laps out to the Needles with legs of 7 and 10 miles
respectively followed by some smaller inshore laps for the
spectators.
Although racing on Sunday,
we got up early on Saturday to do some testing. It was a gorgeous
day, the sea was flat and the boat was running very well, so we
looked forward to Sunday’s racing. However, it was not to be…..up
early at 6am we looked out of the window to be greeted to a very
overcast, wet and dull morning which was not going to get better.
With the boats
launched, 22 teams headed off to the muster area just west of
Bournemouth pier. As we came out of the harbour, my first comment
was ‘are we really going to race in this?’ After the harbour
entrance there was a thick grey mist with heavy drizzle which was
completely obscuring the view to the pier. Our visors were also
misting up as we crept down to the start, this was certainly going
to be a challenging race.
We always have the VHF
radio on at the start, just so we can hear when they are planning
to start and anything else interesting (believe me some of the
time it is interesting!). The safety control asked all the safety
boats what the visibility was like. Answers varied from 3 miles to
200 yards! At one point they asked the start boat if we were
ready to go. The response was ‘yes, but they couldn't see the pier
from there!’. You honestly could not see where you were headed
which was a little disconcerting especially when you're travelling
at 80mph+!
10 minutes later we had
started and through the mist we could see the pier looming up. It
must have been entertaining for the spectators who must have only
been able to hear us all to start with!
So we were off , myself
and Max Walker (R69) head to head with the rest of the field
following behind. The sea was difficult to read, the waves not
high but what there was, was steep, mixed and threw the boats all
over the place. Within minutes we were reminded of Max Walker
(R69) ’s antics when racing, as on the leg just after Boscombe
pier he lost his way briefly and nearly took us out as he veered
violently to the left just missing the bow of our boat by a
fraction. If Mike had not seen him and yelled ‘watch Max on your
right ’ then I am convinced we would have been hit. Thank goodness
I didn't get my lefts and rights mixed up!!!
The first of the large
laps took all of the RIBs past Bournemouth and Boscombe piers and
out to the Needles. This leg was much better than had been
expected and whilst there was definitely the odd lump waiting to
catch us out, it was a good and challenging sea. Unfortunately one
such lump did catch us and the boat was jettisoned high into the
air (well it wouldn't be right to have a race without at least one
airborne moment) then dived nose down. All I could see was the
nose of the boat sloping away from me at a steep angle about to
hit the water. Split seconds seemed like minutes and I braced
myself for the worst, hoping Mike had as well. But we stayed
upright, the boat didn't hook and we had only lost a few
seconds……wow!
Max Walker (R69) was a
little way in front and we were now playing strategy games, as Max
Walker (R69) veered one way and then the other to put us off our
line and I decided to do the same to confuse him. It certainly did
the trick and it became as much a race of strategy as it was
speed, particularly with the boats being very similar in
capability.
A few minutes later we
were at the large red Fairway buoy by the Needles and turning
sharply to the right to come back on to the 10 mile leg back to
Poole Bay. Here we came across my favourite (NOT!) beam sea which
was very mixed just to add to the challenge. However, keeping Max
Walker (R69) firmly in our sights we followed him, both boats
doing 75mph+. We then reached Lightwave, a very small and
difficult to see yellow buoy. The misty, drizzly conditions just
seemed to make it invisible.
The weather by the Needles
was clear, even the sun was breaking through. However on the way
past Lightwave, we hit the rain and mist of Poole Bay and that
little yellow buoy became almost invisible in the mist and
drizzle. Mike’s excellent pin point navigation got us to the mark
and we turned back towards Bournemouth.
Max Walker (R69) was
keeping a good steady lead at this time and was about 8 seconds
ahead of us. A little more than I would have liked but it was
important to achieve a finish and look after the boat before the
onslaught of next weeks racing in Cowes.
We hurtled along the
northerly leg towards Bournemouth but suddenly had to throttle off
very quickly as a spectator boat decided to cross our line right
in front of us. The air was blue in the boat for a moment! I had
to back off the throttle quickly to avoid him then the foot went
down and off we went again.
With Max Walker
(R69) ahead the pressure was on. It was very easy to get
comfortable at this stage and go for a second and some reliable
points for the National race. However I remembered that beautiful
Needles Trophy sitting at the Royal Motor and remembered that we
really were racing for a lot more than National points.
So the foot went down a
little harder and I drove the boat a little harder and we started
to very slowly creep up on Max Walker (R69).
Unfortunately, we had a
fair way to go and whilst the race was not horrifically long, the
course was hard work as the boats were pounded this way and that
and I was surprised at how exhausting it was! Anyway, enough of
that distraction, we had to push on hard.
We flew past the lap gate
and onto another long lap to the Needles. By now we were all
getting into the rhythm of the race and the boats were going well
even in the drab sea mist. After the long lap we progressed to the
smaller ones and had a very good idea where we were quicker than
Max Walker (R69) and vice versa, taking advantage of those legs
where we could catch him. The gap was certainly reducing but not
quickly enough.
Having gone through the
lap line for a third time, we were going to have to work hard to
catch him, but it was possible.
By now, my throttle foot
had pins and needles where I was pressing down so hard. My arms
were aching and every muscle in me was aching from holding myself
in the boat. It was a very challenging race. Mike’s navigation was
superb as usual and he made sure we took the shortest route to
every marker, helping us to gain on Max.
By now we were certainly
catching up with him and becoming a real threat. We were putting
the pressure on and this is where mistakes can be made for both
teams.
I made sure my turns were
as fast as possible (nearly completely losing it at one point when
I overcooked it and put it totally up on the tube, my heart was in
my mouth at that stage!!). By now I was willing the boat to go
faster, screaming at it to travel faster. It was so frustrating
when the boat would go out of shape due to a rogue wave or too
much trim and my voice was hoarse from screaming at it (this
strangely did the trick though!).
We were now on the last
couple of legs and it was absolutely foot to the floor, nothing
else counted, just foot to the floor and who cared about the
consequences.
Never had I tried so hard
to keep that speed up but it was paying off and we were catching
him fast with only a 2 or 3 second gap. We turned the last buoy
and my heart sank, I just knew that those last few yards did not
give us the room to catch him; then a stroke of luck for us and a
disaster for Max. A few hundred yards from the line, one of his
props had broken, he came off the plane not realising what had
happened and he had stopped. As we flew by I realised that we had
won the class and The Needles Trophy. It was bad luck on Max but a
great stroke of luck for us!
The race was pretty
successful and whilst we had lost some ground to R69, we were able
to catch him fast which was a great booster for us. Our average
speed over the course was 72.35 mph which wasn't bad, particularly
as we were being pounded by the confused conditions. Overall, I
was very happy with the result and so was Mike.
Whilst the course was
fairly complex in terms of navigation, not one boat made a mistake
and no one was disqualified. However, one of the batboats in the
Class III 2 litre class (the husband and wife team of Brian and
Pat Peadell), had suffered a nasty accident when their steering
broke at 70mph. The boat turned over and knocked Brian unconscious
in the boat. They were both airlifted to hospital but are said to
be fine now, but it certainly makes you realise how fortunate you
are sometimes.
We now rushed back to the
pits to refuel for the next race. A basic race which formed the
third race of the a 3 race ‘Club Classic’ championships. We were
level with Max on this one, with us both winning a race each, the
pressure would have been on for an overall win. However Max’s
breakdown meant he could not start which was very sad for us as
there were no other F1 RIBs to race against.
We did a quick refuel,
changed the props and headed off to the start again. By now we
were both tired but we were to use this race for fitness for the
up coming Harmsworth and we also had to complete to win the Club
Classic.
The conditions had changed
slightly and though still misty, the visibility was better than
before (well we could at least see the pier at the
start!) Fortunately we did at least have a V24 to run with. These
little canopy boats run at about 72mph in all conditions as they
run with an inboard which is great in mixed or rougher seas. We
knew that whilst we could beat them for top speed, they would
press us on the rougher stretches with their higher average
speed.
To cut a long story short,
we kept a good lead on the V24 to win this race as well. This left
us with the Unlimited Club Classic win, The Needles Trophy and a 1st
in the National. Not a bad day’s work according to Mike!
We now have to prepare for the 450 miles plus
of racing for the Harmsworth in Cowes next week. No rest for the
wicked!
|
