Diary of a 49er

Mark Asquith's account of the 49er weekend at Hayling Island

Thirty-three 49ers turned out for the second open meeting of the season at Hayling Island, more than the nationals last year.
The racing was pretty cold with a light breeze around 8-10 kts. The first race was under way on time with an impressive amount of boats lined up and going fast. The only way up the beat was going left out the tide and looking for that lay line in. Thirty minutes of awesome racing proceeded with several near misses and places changing the whole way through. Paul Brotherton eventually took the bullet with Jason Belben and Peter Greenhalgh second, followed by Andy Rice then Chris Draper and then myself with team mate Matt Howard.

In fact the first race set up the final results as Paul Brotherton set a precedent to last the whole weekend, counting all firsts and discarding an OCS ( on course side, over start line). That's not to say Paul didn't have to fight for it, he was pushed in every race. The race he could have 'lost' he won by careful reading of the sailing destructions. Jason Belben came on the scene with Peter Greenhalgh, showing that he hasn't quite lost his ability counting all second placings and one first. Racing was close the whole weekend throughout the fleet.

The second race caused some confusion as the wind gave a big left. The windward mark could be almost fetched to from the pin end and became a procession. Tobart looked good all the way round with myself and Matt Howard in Team Tacktick coming in second, with Brotherton and Belben chasing hard. Tobart went for the finish followed by several sheep, the only problem being it was one lap too early. Brotherton continued for glory with Jason chasing closely and Andy Rice third followed by the rest of us that thought we had finished, realised the blunder and fought to get a finish. Team Tacktick came in fourth with Geoff Carveth just behind. Hiscocks then proceeded to sail around proving to everyone he can count to four, which was a shock to the rest of the fleet.

The wind flicked back for race three and saw some new people towards the front. Carveth managed third , with Martin Frary taking fourth and Brotherton and Belben still first and second. A little more breeze for the fourth race and same pattern appeared with Brotherton, Belben then Rice and so on.

Sunday brought more wind, colder weather and a few sore heads. The 49ers were started after the 29ers had finished playing which gave the 49er fleet a chance to have a few laughs at the 29ers' expense. Their masts dropping, some wicked wiped-outs and some great entertainment. When our fleet eventually got out there, the wind had dropped a little to 12-15kts and a topping tide was running. It was a little less eventful than the 29ers experienced, but it was close racing in the harbour, "a little like Sydney, eh Hiscocks?"

The first race saw the lead swap hands several times including us in Team Tacktick with our nose out in front once, only for Matt to clip onto his elastic instead of his hoop. Brotherton then took first again , Rice second and then Team Tacktick in third. The weather still produced some interesting mark roundings around the course, as further back in the fleet we witnessed some interesting aerobatics with entertaining results for any onlookers.

The final race of the weekend had Brotherton OCS, giving Belben a first for his score sheet, some tricky shifts kept everyone on their toes and made for an interesting weekend, but consistency from Brotherton and Hiscocks reflected in the results, well done to them. But watch out as we're young ,dumb and hot on your heels and we've got time on our side. Team Tacktick will have their day.


Final results

1 Paul Brotherton, Simon Hiscocks
2 Jason Belben, Peter Greenhalgh
3 Andy Rice, Harvey Hillary
4 Chris Draper, Jon Noonan
5 Mark Asquith, Matt Howard