The Westerly Owners' Association - South Coast Group

Nab Tower Race for the Nab Trophy

White Magic, Dart, Brassed Off, Jampot and Lazybones [L to R], crossing the start line

Scallie II – First on Handicap

Following a very convivial evening at Hornet Sailing Club after the Ladies Race, the sound of the early morning alarm was not met with much enthusiasm on board Busiris. But it all seemed a lot better after a cup of tea, and so Busiris left Hornet Sailing Club and anchored off No Mans Land Fort, for the start of the race, shortly after nine o’clock.

The weather was gloomy with complete overcast, but the same fresh SW 4/5 winds as the day before. With this wind, it was decided that the intermediate-length Course Two would best fit the prevailing conditions. This comprised a long reach down to the Nab Tower, followed by another to the Winner Buoy, then a shorter tack back down to Nab East before beating back the finish off No Mans Land Fort again – a total distance of about 18.5 miles.

There was a little less fetch at the anchorage than on the previous day, and this made conditions a little less choppy, allowing Busiris to remain on station throughout the race.

Nine boats - including a couple of last minute entries - assembled at the start line. The flags came down to signal the start at 10.00 am, and once again, Scallie II was first across the line, making an excellent start, followed quickly by the main body of the fleet, with a few of the late arrivals, crossing a few minutes later.

It transpired that the late arrivals had not seen the course pendant (which had been lowered with the start signal); we only became aware of this on hearing exchanges on the VHF, as they reached a consensus that it was Course Two!

As the fleet disappeared towards the south-eastern horizon, we settled down to lunch and await their return. Although the Nab Tower itself was visible, we lost sight of the boats some time before they rounded it. As time wore on, we were just about able to make out some of the more distinctive sails on the eastern horizon, as they reached northward to the Winner Buoy and then back southward to the Nab East.

There were many boats out for the Bank Holiday, and it was not easy to be sure which boats were the Westerly fleet, but at about 1245, we saw a likely-looking candidate, close hauled, beating up purposefully towards us from the direction of the Nab Channel. She turned out to be White Magic, and she made an impressive sight as she flew past us to take the Line Honours, just a shade over three hours from starting.
By now, the next boat – Jampot - was just about in sight, but it was nearly twenty minutes later before she reached us and the finish line. Two more boats were now in sight; they turned out to be Scallie II and Brassed Off, and they crossed the line within seconds of each other. There was a longish gap then before the last three boats came in, with the two centaurs, August Blue II and Lazybones within two minutes of each other.

Once again, when the handicaps were applied it was an amazingly close finish at the top end, with Scallie II again just pipping White Magic (by 19 seconds) at the post:-

Following the race, most of the competitors gathered at Hornet Sailing Club in Gosport, where we enjoyed an excellent meal, followed by the prizegiving, for both the Nab Tower Race and the East Solent Ladies Challenge Race.

Presentation glasses and certificates were awarded to the Skippers of the boat taking Line Honours and to the First, Second and Third placed boats on handicap. It was reported that a good days sailing was had by all. Well done to all who took part.

We would also particularly like to thank Judith and David Symonds for organising the meals and moorings, and to the Hornet Sailing Club, of which David is Commodore, for the use of their facilities on the Saturday and Sunday evenings.