Edith May Blogs

Only a week on from Southend, the final match of the season was held on the River Colne, with the hotly contested Barge Championship now at stake.

Following Melissa’s win at Southend, Edith May found herself in 3rd place with Repertor right behind. Edme was leading and needing only to finish the match in the top three to secure her place. Points are awarded for starting first in class and fastest start overall, first to outer mark and for seamanship, as well as 3 points for a win, two for second and one point for third.

With this in mind, extra effort was put in so that the barge had every chance. Earlier in the week the sides were scrubbed (although the bottom remained festooned in barnacles) and the staysail halyard that had parted on the Blackwater was replaced to enable us to fly two staysails (something that would have helped at Southend!). Rick Cardy, who used to be the Edith May’s racing skipper during her glory years, was also aboard for the first time.

The smacks were the first to start at 0730hrs, in a light SW wind and the barges followed at 0800hrs. With the crew sharpened following a season of matches Edith May sailed to the line where Decima and Edme were manoeuvering. Having forward momentum paid dividends as she nudged ahead of Decima by half a barge length.

The rest of the fleet were a minute or two behind, with Reminder, Phoenician, Marjorie and Repertor all with work to do to catch up. Unfortunately, Marjorie went aground soon after the start and as it was a falling tide, she remained there.

Edme soon found a way past and Decima also went ahead as the barges tacked back and forth across the narrow Colne. Fickle breezes meant that the leading fleet soon fell back to the chasing pack, with Repertor somehow managing to point higher than any other barge and still nip along faster than anyone. As the barges approached the Colne Bar, she passed to leeward of the Edith May and chased Decima.

Once around the mark, running sails were set as the fleet headed toward Clacton. In past matches, Edith May has been the faster barge when running against the two leading staysails. However, a tactical decision to leave the leeboard down backfired, as it became apparent the drag of the board was slowing her down.

Edme was first around the mark, followed by Decima with Repertor not far behind. The barges all sharpened up to head for the spitways and the wind picked up to force 4-5. The Edith May clearly enjoyed this strength breeze more than the fickle breezes of earlier and she surged in speed, catching the leaders. Decima had pulled out time on Repertor by this point and was clear in the lead of the staysails.

However, having caught Repertor on the windward leg, the run home saw the wind steadily drop and the iron pot stepped up a gear and began catching Decima, pulling away from Edith May. With the Championship being so close, all aboard were watching the battle ahead, willing the Decima to hold on to her lead. The barges drew closer and closer together and on the last corner it still appeared it could be anyones. Decima was to prevail, however, beating the Repertor by about half a barge length.

Edith May finished shortly after with Pheonician beating the Reminder into 5th.

The rather brief prizegiving was held in the Brightlingsea Yacht Club, followed by a hearty meal.

Having obtained 2nd place in the Championship behind Edme in our first year of racing, we can look forward to next year where we hope to go one better… (Full Championship listings can be found here – CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE)

Thank you to all who have crewed the Edith May over the summer and have made the racing experience a thoroughly enjoyable and successful affair.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 5th, 2011 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Barge Matches, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.