Charity race at Bexhill Sailing Club
Bexhill Sailing Club started the weekend of 18th/19th April with a Charity Race in aid of Cancer Research, a charity close to many of our hearts having lost some lovely Club members in recent years to this tragic disease.
The sun, light winds and the good cause brought a large turnout of boats for the Charity Race on Saturday morning. The Bft 2-3 wind was northerly and gusty, twisting and spinning, giving the safety boats some work attending capsizes. Novice Pete Bennett lost a shoe during his capsize which made landing on the shingle beach later an 'ouch' moment! Two Comet Xtra dinghies got tangled in the dash for the finish line, resulting in a capsize for Roger Norman and a 720 penalty turn for Rachel Wynn, losing them a couple of places in the race results.
The Charity Race was a 'single fleet' race, meaning all boats started at the same time and there is just 1 set of results. Richard Eagleton with crew Cristina Terrazas won the race. Colin Coard was second and Tony Witham third.
Saturday afternoons race was the first in the 2026 Saturday Series. The wind had picked up to a Bft 4-5. Half the boats that had signed on decided not to launch. Chris Heath capsized his Devoti D-Zero before the race, took a while to get going again, and ended up returning to shore a lot sooner than he would have liked. Hugh Stephenson in his Laser also capsized and returned to shore leaving no Fast fleet boats on the water.
Four catamarans had a blast! At least, it was a blast for Tony Lane with crew Amy Hinz until an unexpected gybe when trying and failing to make it around a buoy saw them capsize. The waves pushed them quickly towards shore. They only got their catamaran righted by the time they could both stand up, so they walked the boat to the beach. Unfortunately not the Sailing Club beach! So they had to launch again to sail back to the Club. Of the 3 remaining catamarans, Ken Edwards with crew Malcolm Brookes won, with Flo Wright and Abi Wright 2nd, Dave Baldwin and Wendy Watkins 3rd. The race was exciting to watch, very enjoyable from the comfort of the Club balcony.
The only Slow fleet boat to launch was James Tod in a Topaz. He did capsize, but astoundingly, given the very rough conditions, finished the race, taking the well deserved win. James said "After an enjoyable morning charity race in light wind conditions, the wind speed picked up over lunch and exceeded the limit for the use of Club boats. This left me with no sailing option, other than to commandeer my child’s little pink Topaz dinghy and slowly battle the wind and waves around the course!"
Sunday 19th April was another day of 2-halves, weatherwise. The morning saw a large fleet set out, including Novices. The gusty and changeable northerly wind was tricky. Setting out on a triangular course towards Eastbourne meant the beat was towards shore, in line with Brassey Road, creating a wind tunnel to help or hinder!
Fast fleet 1st place goes to Richard Eagleton in his Europe dinghy, Bob Palmer was second in his Laser Radial, Eve Fifield and Hana Bolton tied third. Pete Bennet won Novice fleet, having kept his shoes on today. Neil Smith won Slow fleet in his Comet Xtra ahead of Cristina Terrazas in her Comet Xtra, with Rick Parker third (Laser 4.7). Wendy Watkins with crew Dave Baldwin won Catamaran fleet unchallenged.
The wind suddenly swung around to a southerly after lunch with a strong gust, knocking a couple of boats over on the beach. No Novices or Club boats allowed out in the new strong conditions which were completely contrary to the forecast! The triangular course was reversed, so boats set out towards Hastings and the beat leg went out to sea.
Tony Lane and crew Amy Hinz kept their catamaran upright to take the Catamaran win unchallenged. Eve Fifield (Laser Radial) won Fast fleet ahead of Richard Eagleton (Europe) 2nd and Bob Palmer (Laser Radial) 3rd. Rick Parker took 1st in Slow fleet ahead of Cristina Terrazas (Comet Xtra).
A full weekend schedule was sailed. Well done everyone who took part. This week sees the Club commence it's 2026 Cadet programme on Thursday (23rd). The Social Committee will be hosting a members quiz night on Friday (24th). The training team will run the Learn To Sail induction day on Saturday (25th), followed by Race 2 in the Saturday Evening Series, and the Club Bar will be open on Sunday. For more information please visit www.bexhillsailing.club