beneteau cup in pwllheli this weekend and the ben 351 rocket!!

H

Heckler

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well what a weekend, pwllheli beneteau cup. have taken part for the last two years and last year retired with wounded pride. this year friends volunteered to come with us, well what a fantabulous time we had. my 351 is a big fat cruiser (caravan?) and looked upon with a degree of sceptisism by the 31.7 pocket rockets, anyway saturday, sun and plenty of wind in the straight race and we finished in the middle of the pack, quel surprise, in fact dead chuffed. sunday dawns cold and cloudy, muzzy head from the bash the night before, go to the briefing for the pursuit race and find we are starting + 11 mins, dont forget we have the likes of bene 473s, dehler 395s competing against us and of course the pocket rocket 31.7s. any way 8th off and away we go, right on the limit, first boat a 31.7 going from broaching to wandering, get past him safely, get the others in our sights and bloody hell we round the windward mark in the lead!! get to the down wind mark and still in the lead, the big boats are chasing us now but we are keeping them at bay, get to the windward mark 2nd time round and round it still in the lead, getting blase now and watch the serious ones trying to pop spinnakers and making a balls of it plus as they make a balls they hamper the big 473 which is starting to make inroads in to us, wha heyy, get to the down wind mark and still there!! the 473 is now the threat with 3 pocket rocket 31.7s snapping at or heels. get the big overlapping genny poled out and we are still holding them off. last mark now for the dash for the committee boat, damn one of the pocket rockets sneaks past, john on the helm go's for the inside line at the mark and shouts " my water" and gets a mouth back, i say what did you say john, "oh something ive heard racers shout" any way did the trick next thing the 47.3 comes whistling past, blast!! then another pocket rocket sneaks past and the third is tryng to come up on the windward side, spot the finsh buoy is nearer then the committee boat and head for it, the 31.7 trys to steal our wind but it doesnt matter cause we are nearer the line than him and bingo we got him by half a boats length!! havent had so much fun for years, (sorry david e)
what a superb day, our floating caravan beat some of the traditional winners!! cant wait tilll next year, who says bene 351s are slow!!
stu
 
From the bridge of a half pocket rocket

4 weeks before the start - hand in entry form & cheque to Mike at Dickes "Boats with spinnakers will be seriously handicapped" - so enter non spinnaker section as we are set up for cruising - furling, stack bag, 1/2 tonne equipment etc!!

Race day - wake up late, miss briefing - get bag of goodies & mini briefing from Mike - "get to start line for 10.30 and after lunch is a treasure hunt". Spot Jon Evans from 'Fun to Fondle' (the aforementioned caravan - Benny 36cc complete with double glazing /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)- thinks "thought he wasn't doing it, he must be a late entry"

Race 1 - 10 minute signal - hhmmm, 26 boats & line looks empty think, will meander down towards it and see what happens. No sign of of Fun to Fondle.

5 minute signal, trundling gently along past committee boat. "Where's the line" asks SWMBO? "Same place it always luv" replies d_e "up by that orange ball with a flag on it". Still no sign of Fun to Fondle.

3 minutes to go, half way up line, still looking good, heavy starboard bias as wind shifts a little, the serious boats starting to stack up on port - "who has right of way" asks SWMBO "we do" Fun to Fondle nowhere at all.

1 minute - getting busy, behind us is another 31.7 - all set up for serious racing, still he is to windward, so no problem - but bit of a concern is the fleet steaming down on Port tack /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. Too busy to start looking for Fun to Fondle.

10 seconds - "Starboard" screamed repeatedly and the port tackers get out of the way except for one 31.7 who nip through for a great start.

Bang - off we go good start - the racy 31.7's scream away faster and higher to windward - first time we have raced each other so interesting to see the difference. Drop the sprayhood quick, reduce drag /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Start plus 2 minutes - "have we started yet?" asks SWMBO. "Stay on the rail till we tack luv /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif"

The spinnaker lot zoom off into the distance - we round the windward mark just behind a 361 - off on the reach, down the run - he got his pole out - "shall we do that Dad?" asks no 1 crew - "no luv it's cheatin" (oh, and the poles' too long anyway /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif) Back along next reach - always 5m behind - can't get past. Up the next beat, he went right, we went left, tack, tack, tack, etc - get to windward mark still 5m behind the 361 - all the way to the line. Anyway, very pleased as 2nd non spinny boat and sure to get time against massive 361 and all the other very long boats. Still no sign of F2F.

Excellent socials - can't remember much. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Day 2 - pursuit race - given start plus - 22 minutes "What!!!, only 3 minutes ahead of the hot lot" Whatever happened to handicaps. Oh well it's only a fun race.

Away we go - good beat on both windward legs but get stuffed each time at the windward mark -by the time we rounded 2nd time and head off for downwing leg quite pleased as no sign of most of the long cruisers and last years winner (the 'must beat at all costs' Moon Monkey /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif)- but stop, who's that ahead in the distance - "Sonsy bloody Lass!!!" "They must have missed a mark out" shouts one of the crew "That's most unfair" I reply in usual 'good sport' mode. "Catch em Dad" - "Can't they are too far away". (Still no sign of Fun to Fondle)

Round the last mark and we are getting closer, wind is rising and shifting aft, ooohhh yippeee they are hardening up I notice, we start to close the gap more, they harden up more, lots of anxious looking back, line is closing, can't get below them, make a move to windward, speed increases, draw alongside, line is 30 metres away, more looking across, squealing excitement on both boats - cheer goes up as Sonsy Lass get it - but wait, who's that on the helm - only Jon Evans from Fun to Fondle!!! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif No wonder we couldn't see em - he's ditched the caravan and chosen the sports boat:-))

Well done Stu - great result for you. That you enjoyed it speaks volumes about how good the Beneteau regattas are, however I would like an explanation about the wherabouts of the trade mark dinghy from the last 2 years??? Is this you getting a bit keen? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Fantastic weekend, thanks to Dickies and all their staff.

Stu, next race the King Constantine Cup (long distance) - July 16, followed by a Pursuit race, July 17 - after this result you can't afford to miss that one /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: From the bridge of a half pocket rocket

david
not had so much fun since god knows when, and yes we beat the "one we all had to beat" moon monkey, even dare we say it that bloody dehler. we didnt miss any marks, cheeky buggers!! and then theres the what ifs, what if we hadnt gone over the line half a minute late, what if hadnt got the pole stuck on the genny coming round that mark but also what if that 31.7 hadnt flown his spinny too soon and nearly broached serious in front of cindy lou, who was it any way? didnt realise how quick my van could go,
stu
 
Re: From the bridge of a half pocket rocket

David, it's true

I was on the wall and heard this shout, I looked up and saw two sets of teeth, grinning ear to ear they were! Stu and his mrs, I swear you could see light between their feet and floor!

I also mentioned the dinghy on the back, weird that, Stu has become famous in the cruising / racing crossover world /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Well done Sonsy Lass!
 
Ifs & Gunnas

Life is full of ifs & gunnas. What if we hadn't been stuffed etc...and we were gunna (going to) start on time..

The broaching boat was Doctor Dave on Eclipse - 31.7 - admire him for attacking in windy conditions, thought he handled it well, no damage and back under way in a short time.

Great forecast this week-end, think will have a rest - off to the Health Farm on Monday for a couple of days
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
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