Over the April 23/24 weekend, 36 Wanderers and their crews attended the annual Training Weekend hosted this year, for the first time, by Silverwing (British Airways) SC at Wraysbury. On the second day, three races formed the second event of the 2005 racing season.

The Training session for the first day was led by Andy Whitelock – a Wanderer Owner, a past Racing Secretary of WCOA, a past Wanderer National Champion, and now proprietor of Dynamic Adventures. Few Wanderers could be more qualified than Andy.

There was a lot of attention given in the off-water briefing to rigging the boat to optimise its performance in various wind conditions and the point of sailing. On the water, Andy reviewed each crew’s performance – mercifully the video camera was not used this year.
Playback during the evening can raise a few laughs. Two very short practice races were held mainly to acquaint new owners with the mysteries of the starting sequence.

In the evening, there was another tasty supper from the High Wycombe
catering firm who are becoming firm favourites for Wanderer suppers. Afterwards, as is now a ritual at events organised by Brigitte Philbey and Jack Mann, we had another of Brigitte’s fiendish quizzes. Five teams battled it out for The Nerd of the Night title and I will not embarrass the winners by naming them. Runner-up was the team, bizarrely named MENSA, led by Gavin Barr.

On the second day,
Race Officer Paul Engleman got the fleet away for the first race in a gentle southerly F2 and not unexpectedly the boats helmed by Jack Mann, Gavin Barr and Mike Clayton led the fleet in that order. However, Mike Powell crewed again by Vicky King began to make his presence felt, particularly after Jack Mann and his crew Adam Wickenden fell into one of the holes which began to appear on the running legs. As the gentlest of breezes veered turning two of the beats into fetches, and one of the fetches into a beat, Phil Jackson, (nice to see you back in a Wanderer) and Sarah Tozer read the change better than Jack Mann and crept past him to secure fourth place. Meanwhile, Mike Clayton and his son James had moved serenely into top spot which they held to the end with Gavin Barr and crew Mark Skipper coming second a hair’s breadth ahead of Mike Powell and Vicky King.

Race 2 required a change of course to take account of the change in wind direction. A kerfuffle on the line at the leeward end forced Jack Mann over the line and with the Claytons in determined mode pulling clear early, Mann could only claw back to fourth place, since Phil Jackson come home in second place followed by Gavin Barr.

Race 3 saw the Claytons successfully cross the line on a port tack at the leeward end of the line inches ahead of Mann and the rest of the fleet . Barr joined the effort to catch the Claytons but, despite a 720 for a collision at one of the three gybe marks on the course, Mann recovered to take second place ahead of Barr. It is customary in many racing events for the crew to helm prior to the starting procedures; but Jack Mann and Adam Wickenden got their digitals in a twist and mistimed the start and their handover and therefore retired at the end of the race.

Further down the fleet there were some memorable tussles on the gentle beats between Mike Hamilton/David Oates, David & Jill Davies, and Andy & Hazel Chignell (sailing in their first Wanderer racing event). Host club members David Keeler (good, indeed, to see you back in a Wanderer) crewed by Steve Pearce and Ken Baker/ Viv Scally, and
the Wendlands pere et fils gave Philip & Jill Meadowcroft a hard time. Dave Keeler got the nod, overall, from the Meadowcrofts on better discard.

The Training Weekend is the best attended event of the season – and justifiably so given the amount of preparation which it deserves and certainly got from Brigitte and Jack to
whom the Association is hugely grateful.

So…….three races and three first for the Claytons to add to their overall win last month at Crawley Mariners YC. Will they run away with the Inland Championships at South Cerney SC next month ?

OVERALL RESULTS:
1st. Mike & James Clayton W1134 Castaways SC
2nd Gavin Barr & Mark Skipper W1282 Whitstable SC
3rd Mike Powell & Vicky King W878 Crawley Mariners YC
4th Phil Jackson & Sarah Tozer W1105 Silverwing SC
5th Jack Mann & Adam Wickenden W1087 Silverwing SC
6th Mike Hamilton & David Oates W992 CSSA
7th David & Jill Davies W318 Salcombe YC
8th Andy & Hazel Chignell W1147 Crawley Mariners YC
9th Dave Keeler & Steve Pearce W1102 Silverwing SC
10th Philip & Jill Meadowcroft W1541 SalcombeYC/Henley SC
11th Ken Baker & Viv Scally W1288 Silverwing SC
12th Tim & Richard Wendland W839 Bristol Avon SC
13th John Talbot & Jean Whittaker W602 Wilsonian SC
14th David & Andrew Hamilton W826 Grafham SC
15th Douglas & Alan Bowen W1534 Fishers Green SC
16th Chris & Hazel Jellis W108 Ogston SC
17th Sue & Alan Laight W1400 Marlow SC

Report submitted by Philip Meadowcroft April 28th 2005