Sheppey Open

Welcome back dear readers to the penultimate event in the Cherub Travellers Series. After a windy and wavy nationals, our competitors could have been forgiven for wanting a more relaxing event, no such luck. Instead, a very challenging shifty on shore breeze and lumpy waves, even made launching a high skill manoeuvre.

Day 1

Race 1 Eleanor and Green Bananas broke clear of Poppy and EJ. Eleanor took the lead until the final tack, when disaster struck and Eleanor's crew inspected the boom a little too closely. This let Green through for their first win, while Eleanor limped home in second.

Race 2 saw close racing between all the boats with place changes a plenty. Eleanor managed to find a path through the Ospreys (great fleet to share an event with by the way) to claim the win from Green.

Race 3 had EJ finally put her obvious boat speed to good use and lead Green home to a much-deserved win.

Day 2 welcomed our fine competitors with slightly less wind.

Races 4 and 5 proved that a good night's sleep and a T total lifestyle is definitely not required for Poppy's crew, who finally showed the skills they had been showing all year to challenge the Green Bananas. The only problem was those Bananas are slippery and found a way through to win the first two races of the day.

With the event won, Green slowed down enough to let Poppy through for a much-awaited win, followed by Eleanor.

Yet another event with close friendly racing, with four winners from six races.

Well done to Green Bananas who showed strong pace to win on their return, with Poppy coming a close second. A special mention should go to Ronin's new crew for learning new skills in conditions not ideally suited to a new team.

Overall Results:

Pos Boat name Sail No Club Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts Net Pts
1 Green Bananas 3217 Netley SC Nick Pratt Jamie Taylor 1 2 2 1 1 (3) 107
2 Poppy 3216 Grafham Water SC Jamie Pearson Martyn Denchfield 4 3 (DNF) 2 2 1 1912
3 Eleanor 3208 Poole YC David Ching Oliver Goolden 2 1 (DNS) 3 4 2 1912
4 EJ 3206 Stokes Bay SC Jimmy Ruddiman Oliver Morrell 3 4 1 4 3 (DNF) 2215
5 Anitdote 2699 IOSSC Dean Ralph Simon Jones (DNC) DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 4235
6 Ronin 2698 Poole Yacht Club Nathan McGrory George Bender (DNC) DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 4235
 

UK Cherub National Championship at Mumbles Yacht Club 2022

A tale to last the ages of mighty winds, wild waves and some pretty little Cherubs.

Day 1

Started with a forecast of 12 knots and calm waters. Little did they know what was to meet those plucky Cherubs. Race 1 started with 20 knots and lumpy waves. This would build over the next three days. Oh do I need to mention the rain? That's enough of the weather report, on to race 1.

Race 1 - EJ and Eleanor spent the first lap trading places, while Marmite and Usagi recovered from bad starts. Marmite finally went on to win while the others fought it out for second. Eleanor managed to knot a halyard on the last hoist gifting a close fought second to EJ with Usagi in third.

Race 2 - A & E stopped wobbling long enough to claim her first victory of the week. Eleanor ran out of excuses to gain 2nd. Behind, Usagi held off the rapid Ducks for 3rd.

Day 2

Race 3 - EJ took an early lead but was soon overtaken by the close duelling A & E won out from Marmite and EJ came in a close third.

Race 4 - A & E were locked in such an intense battle with Marmite that Dan's Boat slipped through unnoticed for the win from A & E and Marmite.

Race 5 - A & E stretched out an early lead to be convincing winners. Marmite second and Eleanor held on for third.

Race 6 - Your intrepid reporter decided that starting a fourth race in the fifth hour of sailing wasn't as inviting as ice cream. It was good ice cream. A & E won from Marmite and Ducks Third. If you feel this kind of reporting isn't good enough then I suggest you try and come to the events. Trust me, if you don't, you are missing out on much more than results.

Day 3

The class took advantage of the local tourist spots, as the wind increased and waiting for the slower fleet to finish for an hour. After 40 min races felt less appealing.

Day 4

Lighter winds at last, with a mild 10 to 18 knots and with flatter, almost soothing waves.

Race 10 - A & E bolted off again, while the battle between Marmite, Usagi and Eleanor carried on as before. Usagi came out on top with Marmite leading Eleanor across the line.

Race 11 - It was much the same, but this time Eleanor led the chasing pack after another epic battle with Marmite and Usagi. Yet again only seconds between them.

Race 12 - A & E bored of winning, went in for the famous ice-cream. This left first up for grabs. Dan's boat took advantage of a great start to lead Eleanor around the course, followed by Marmite. So much happened at this event I could write a book. I didn't even mention the “Captain's hat” or the “If not duffers will not drown” incidents. If you want the full Cherub experience you could use the class Cherub at an event, or jump straight in and buy new from £12k (class assisted) to £15k fully professional. Special mention this year goes to Poppy's crew, who after showing great speed all year, caught Covid the night before. Better luck next time.

Overall Results:

Pos Boat name Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R10 R11 R12 Pts Net Pts
1st A&E 3215 Jonny O'Connor Alex Harris Dee Sailing Club (5) 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 (DNC) 357
2nd Marmite 3212 Paul Croote Andy Whapshott Chew Valley Sailing Club 1 (DNC) 2 3 2 2 3 (4) 3 4216
3rd Eleanor 3208 Dave Ching Oliver Goolden Poole Yacht Club 4 2 (DNC) (DNC) 3 DNC 4 2 2 6143
4th Usagi Yojimbo 3202 Andrew Peters Jill Peters Queen Mary Sailing Club 3 3 4 4 (DNC) (DNC) 2 3 DNC 6345
5th Duck wars 3209 Guy Rivington Joseph White Mount Batten Centre (DNC) 4 (RET) DNC 4 3 6 8 4 7355
6th Dan's Boat 2700 Luke Hartley Oliver Morrell Stokes Bay Sailing Club (DNC) (DNC) 5 1 RET DNC DNC 7 1 8062
7th EJ 3206 James Ruddiman Chris Haslam Stokes Bay Sailing Club 2 (DNC) 3 (DNC) DNC DNC 5 6 DNC 8264
8th Poppy 3216 Jamie Pearson George Bender Grafham Water Sailing Club (DNC) (DNC) 6 DNC DNC DNC 7 5 DNC 9577
9th Rossa 3219 Roland Trim Kevin Robert Jausseran Monaco Yacht Club / Club de voile de Roq (DNC) (DNC) DNF DNC DNC DNC 8 9 5 9981
10th Slippery When Wet 2657 Nick Hankins Sophie Hankins Cardiff Bay Yacht Club (DNC) (DNC) DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 11092
 

Rivera Cherub

Riviera Cherub, a simple concept. Collect boats that were great to sail in 2005. Refurbish and fit all with similar sail plans. Sail them against each other somewhere warm. No T-Foils, twin wire, big rigs, bigger grins. Four of the UK fleet travelled out to the first Riviera Cherub blast in the sunny bays of Monaco and Menton. Blasting does not normally have racing and lasts a day. The competition below was devised to ensure a bit of competitive edge was maintained.

Day 1 - Permission for Fly-by First launch was in 10 knots, flat water. The aim was to collect as many flybys of the parked yachts sunbathing in the bay. Oliver partnered with local Kevin Jausseran and tagged two unsuspecting tenders before even understanding the rules. Other Oliver and Martyn got distracted by a good gust and found no boats after twinning into the distance. Jamie - single handing Pocket Rocket - racked up the highest score. His ability to get fully over a boat single handed, whilst looking vertically downwards, sadly not captured on film. Hot and thirsty the party moved to Rascasse for a gentle evening of socialising. After missing the team leaving, Oliver M proved to all that it is possible to sleep a night on the streets of Monaco and avoid the Police cells.

Riviera Cherub blast in Monaco - photo © Roland Trim

Day 2 - Raid to Monaco The advantage of no host rescue team or race committee wanting to go home for tea became clear on day 2. There was no wind before 1600, but that gave the visitors a chance to re-hydrate, sleep and sunbathe. When the gentle thermal filled in at 1700, 4 boats launched. The course was simple. Pass the headland and into Monaco Harbour. The wind built to a steady 12 knots over flat water. Born Slippy was concerned about the wind dropping and headed for home. Pocket Rocket missed them behind a yacht, but did see Magic Monkey turning and twinning home. With the assumption that the Magic crew's blood alcohol levels had fallen to critical, Pocket took the outer lane and went on to Monaco Harbour. On arrival in Monaco Harbour, Pocket was a bit lonely, but not for long. Even with the dropping wind Pocket clocked a 14.5kt average speed 8km leg back to the beach. Thanks to Coralie Trim for a zero notice Anti-Pasta Aperitif, conjured from nothing, with no warning at 2000 whilst everyone had a shower before dinner in Menton.

Riviera Cherub blast in Monaco - photo © Roland Trim

Day 3 - Raid Repeat The weather pattern established, a full day of sightseeing was enjoyed by all, including the Grand Prix at the YCM bar and the all important tour of Cap D'Ail beach (confirming that launching Cherubs there would be good, but sadly still is not possible). At 1700 the evening thermal arrived, but none of the locals. The latter sensibly believing the no wind forecast and having work the next day. Jamie and Oliver M made the critical tactical mistake of enjoying a Magic Monkey kite run to the stronger outer wind. Only to find the wind line was an illusion and that Martyn and Oliver G had cut inside the headland in Born Slippy. They kept and extended the lead to about 2 miles, before turning and hoisting to ensure all arrived at the harbour together. Landing after the YCM bar was closed was the only error. A whip around found enough to buy the most expensive bottle of Duval from the Wine Palace (split 4 ways, still €5 a head). After helping a classic schooner moor up, the boats were carried back into the water and had hoisted before the harbour mouth. A champagne downwind leg took everyone home - Magic Monkey proving that twinning these rigs really does result in deeper and faster.

Riviera Cherub blast in Monaco - photo © Roland Trim

Day 4 - Home time Coming into the last day the series points were close and the wind forecast light. The competition was to be decided using a local 70ft motor yacht, kindly anchored with its charter sunbathers by Gary P. Points were awarded by the Bikini clad guests on-board. They chose based on style, approach and retrieval of beer cans from the stern. Here Jamie pulled out all the stops, earning a bonus point for returning to collect Martyn's can and the impressive distance of the subsequent launch. Martyn gained a point for the following catch, managing to not fall overboard and then saving a somewhat surprised Ollie from what was, by then, an almost inevitable capsize. Sadly, the Perching had to depart during the approach for the final round, missing “Cherub salutes”. They radioed in their scores over a crackly radio. Descriptions included “the hairy one”, “the small one who is pretty”, “the small one who is big and handsome”, “the one with the metal”, “the one with the long hair” and “the one who looks like Harry Potter”. Queue arguments over who was who, except Oliver,. The latter even had a wand in his hand. There followed a moment of suspense adding up the scores. After working out who was who, we discovered we had arrived at 4 way split of the prize.

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Riviera Cherub blast in Monaco - photo © Roland Trim

Overall Results:

HelmSurprise SurpriseMonaco RaidMonaco Re-Run UpwindMonaco Re-Run DownwindPerching ControlPts
Martyn Denchfield1441212
Oliver Goolden2441112
Oliver Morrell2412312
Jamie Pearson4112412

Summary

The boats are great to sail and solid. The Rigs are demanding, but not beyond a novice. Next year will see 6 boats, the roll out of more of the Zaoli Sails and hopefully the same Maffioli colours for all control lines. The format will be 6 race series, with crews swapping boats between each race. Massive thanks to Yacht Club Monaco, Centre de Voile de Roquebrune (especially Herve Nicot, Gwenael Eliot and not forgetting Ludo) and for rescue cover and infinite logistics support Jermain Jervis

 

UK Cherub 70th Anniversary Nationals at the WPNSA

Between the 6th and 9th of July the UK Cherub class travelled to WPNSA for it’s 70th Anniversary Nationals supported by Rooster suppliers of high performance technical clothing for sailing, and Allen suppliers of performance sailing hardware. 12 boats made the trip ready for some close racing and find out which team would be fastest in 2021.

Allen Logo Rooster Logo

Blowing Dogs off Chains

The scheduled first day was a bit of a blow out, the forecast was for a lot of wind and the reality was white horses within the marina and gusts of up to 35kts. Not many wanted to go out racing. After checking the boats were properly tied down in the dinghy park the sailors left WPNSA for some sightseeing.

Dogs still on Chains but getting blown about a bit.

There was still plenty of wind left for day 2 and with an extra race scheduled to catchup we all headed out for a long hard day of racing. Race 1 got away cleanly with Paul Croote and Andrew Whapshott in Marmite leading the way around the course, followed by Dean Ralph and Simon Jones in Eleanor. After two windy laps Marmite was well in the lead and went for a third lap, but Eleanor correctly went for the finish giving them the first race win. Special mention to siblings Oliver and Emily Goolden for finishing their first race together in Nautilus Pompilius and Emily’s first race in a Cherub in very challenging conditions.

Race 2 was lead by Marmite followed by Phil and Carol Alderson in Zero Gravitas then Andy and Jill Peters in Usagi Yojimbo. Dave Ching and James Hughes in Anatidaephobia had a good race finishing in 5th just after Eleanor. Dave puts this good result down to his Rooster race bib keeping his wayward buoyancy aid constrained and avoiding tangles and snags in this windy race.

3202  Usagi Yojimbo 3209 Anatidaephobia 3218 Zero Gravitas

The first three places in Race 3 were unchanged with the heavy weather speed of Marmite dominating. James Ruddiman and Chris Haslam in EJ had their best result of the event with a 4th followed by Ade and Sven White in the 97 rules+ Pocket Rocket finishing a good 5th. Race 4 was dominated again by Marmite but this time Usagi Yojimbo got ahead of Zero Gravitas. King Tubby the 97 rules boat of Martyn Denchfield and Ellie Craig showed determination to keep going for a best result of fourth place.

3202 Usagi Yojimbo 3206 EJ 2650 King Tubby

Dogs relaxing in a building breeze

Lighter winds greeted the fully restored fleet for race 5 with most boats only managing to single wire. Usagi Yojimbo was enjoying the conditions and pulled away to get their first race win. Closely followed by Marmite then Zero Gravitas. The wind had built slightly more for Race 6 which was again won by Usagi Yojimbo with Marmite close on their heels. Dan’s Boat was showing good pace in the conditions and were able to get a solid third ahead of Zero Gravitas. The two 97 rules boats King Tubby and Nautilus Pompilius were having a good race at the back with Nautilus Pompilius screaming downwind to edge ahead of King Tubby.

2700 Dan's Boat 3202 Marmite 3218 Zero Gravitas

Jamie Pearson and Digby Still on Poppy stunned the fleet with a perfectly executed port hand flier at the start of race 7 and had clear air out to the right side of the course. Everyone else had decided the left side of the course was the way to go and by the top mark this was also obvious to Poppy. Having had a reasonable first lap in the increasing wind Zero Gravitas capsized when Phil dropped the mainsheet letting Dan’s Boat and Poppy through. Although they were able to reel Poppy in quickly and just managed to sneak past Dan’s boat at the finish for a fourth place. However the race win went to Jonny O’Connor and Alex Harris in A&E who foiled their way to their first win of the series followed by Usagi

3202 Usagi Yojimbo Port hand flier 3215 A&E

The steadily increasing wind suited the foiling A&E giving them a second race win in race 8. followed by Marmite and Zero Gravitas. Usagi had a good first lap but on the second went too far left and lost out finishing in fourth on the last race of the day.

3215 A&E 2683 Pocket Rocket 3212 Marmite

Dogs fast asleep with their fur barely ruffled by the wind

Very light winds for the start of the final days racing, after a short postponement race 9 got going in marginal single wiring conditions. Having broken his previous helm Ade White found a light wind helm in Chris Halsam for Pocket Rocket getting them a good fifth place result. Usagi showed that they are light wind masters with another win. Also going well in the light wind was Dan’s Boat who scored second.

Another light wind race again suited Usagi and Dan’s boat, Marmite held onto third with Eleonor getting fourth place. There was a very tight finish between Poppy, Pocket Rocket and Zero Gravitas all finishing within seconds kites up twin wire reaching to get through the finish line. OK Technically Pocket Rocket were only single wiring but as a 97 Rules+ boat they only had one wire and were using it as much as they could. However, it is hard to write that bit concisely without breaking the flow of the story.

3216 Poppy 2683 Pocket Rocket 3218 Zero Gravitas

The wind was starting to build into twin wiring conditions for the final race where the championship could be decided depending on the order of Usagi and Marmite. In Dan’s Boat Luke Hartley and Oliver Morrell found their best pace to get there first race win. Followed closely by Usagi then Marmite giving Usagi the championship.

2700 Dans Boat 3202 Usagi 3212 Marmite

Many thanks to Rooster and Allen for sponsoring the event and to all at WPNSA for running an efficient and fun event despite the challenges of COVID restrictions. And Congratulations to Andy and Jill for a very closely fought nationals win.

3202 Usagi

The full results including details from each race can be seen on the Sailwave website a summary of the finishing positions is below:

Rank Sail No Boat Name Helm Crew Club Total Nett
1 3202 Usagi Yojimbo Andrew Peters Jill Peters Queen Mary SC 24 17
2 3212 Marmite Paul Croote Andrew Wapshott Hawley Lake SC 30 17
3 3218 Zero Gravitas Phil Alderson Carol Alderson Largs SC 37 26
4 2700 Dan's Boat Luke Hartley Oliver Morrell Stokes Bay SC 60 34
5 3208 Eleanor Dean Ralph Simon Jones Isle of Sheppey SC 75 49
6 2683 Pocket Rocket Ade White & Chris Haslam Sven White Mountbatten 87 64
7 3215 A&E Jonny O'Connor Alex Harris Dee SC 92 66
8 3209 Anatidaephobia Dave Ching James Hughes Poole YC 93 67
9 3216 Poppy Jamie Pearson Digby Still 96 70
10 3206 EJ James Ruddiman Chris Haslam Stokes Bay SC 97 71
11 2650 King Tubby Martyn Denchfield Ellie Craig 113 87
12 2680 Nautilus Pompilius Oliver Goolden Emily Goolden 121 95
  • Simpson Trophy
    • Andy and Jill Peters in Usagi Yojimbo
  • Rosebowl
    • Paul Croote and Andrew Wapshott in Marmite
  • LOSSC Plaque
    • Phil and Carol Alderson in Zero Gravitas
  • Ladies Teapot (First Lady)
    • Jill Peters
 

2020 Nationals cancelled

Unfortunately due to the on-going Covid-19 situation we have sadly agreed with Mumbles Yacht Club and the 4000 class to cancel this years nationals. We left it as late as we possibly could in the hope we could run but Mumbles have not yet returned to sailing and although they plan to do so for a small number of members soon they are not in a position to run a nationals. They will however run our Nationals in 2022 so some silver lining there.

The class committee realise this will be disappointing for Cherub sailors but please watch out for announcements soon as we build up to our 70th anniversary Nationals next year at Portland Harbour, arguably the best place to sail Cherubs in England.

We hope to have a bumper turn out of Cherubs for this event so please put the 6-9th of July 2021 in your diaries now. Even if you haven't done an event for a few years it will be great to see you again and we will have a few warm up weekends announced soon to get you and your Cherub Nationals ready.

Make a week of it in Weymouth by doing the always excellent dinghy regatta the weekend immediately before.

 

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