6 hr endurance

6 hour Bank holiday Monday race

ENDURANCE RACE 2011

Well the great British Bank Holiday struck again as campers at the club woke up to drizzly rain !! On the morning of Notts County’s first 6 hour endurance race it felt like the weather had dampened down the alcohol fuelled enthusiasm and bravado of the night before ! We all sat around breakfast wondering how many boats (if any) would enter and if last minute crew replacements could be found. Or indeed a crew at all !

Then the inspiration that everyone needed materialised. Cameron and Emily had dragged themselves out of their beds at some ungodly hour to appear on the balcony and announce that the windurfers were going to whip ass!!!

A frenzy of rule negotiations ensued that stoked the competitive edge of the dingy crews and the race was on!! albeit half an hour late – it seems like 10.00am was a little optimistic. Kathryn H-S was galvanised into action and in a flurry of activity the course was set and a white board materialised all set up for lap counting !

Team entries were as follows :

Team Ryan Ross’s Hareem ( Laser Radial )

Team Rear Commodore Sandfire ( Wayfarer )

Team Adams Rock and Rollers ( Laser Radial )

Team Sam Helicopter Sam (Wayfarer)

Team Windsurfer The Prima Donna’s (windsurfer – assortment of!)

The obligatory algae check was carried out and 4 crews assembled on the shore in front of the clubhouse for a le-mans style start – well to be honest it was more of a mele. Team Helicopter Sam were, for some reason, sailing over the far side of the lake ???

The race started in a gentle but shifty off-shore breeze. Frustration grew in the Prima Donna camp as the windurfers couldn’t get their boards skimming over the surface. The wind did however favour the Wayfarers and they were holding their own against the Lasers.

At the first crew change-over differing tactics were employed. As you would expect the Lasers were slick with their in-and-out approach. The Wayfarers in team Sandfire adopted a “Roll on – Roll off” tactic on the pontoon in front of the club-house and the windsurfers just plain cheated !

The event settled down and the teams started to rack up the laps, apart from Helicopter Sam who needed a rest and a new crew after an hour ! As the breeze increased to a gusty blow the windsurfers got their act together and managed to get a few laps ahead. Team Rock and Roll were hot on their heels, very glad that they had got their rig selection right, and the Wayfarers kept rolling on and rolling off. Each Sandfire change-over was impressive as the crews hopped on and off as the boat gently kissed the pontoon. This tactic was saving valuable seconds until Rachel “rolled off” a little too far and ended up in the water!

At about the half-way point the transfer window opened and a flurry of activity ensued to recruit additional crew or replacements. The windsurfers were spectacularly successful and signed Ian Pilkington, Russ Towns and Steve Payne (you don’t see that calibre of substitute on Man City’s bench !) Ross’s Hareem was diluted by additional males Jack Clay and Mark Sears and the team was re-named Kathryn’s Boy Band!! In all 25 sailors took part in the race.

The hours slipped by amazingly quickly and as 4 o’clock approached the teams pitted for their last change-overs. At 4.30 pm the croaky claxon signalled the end of the race. The laps were counted and picture quizzes were marked. Most teams managed between 50 and 60 laps and suspense mounted at the results committee pondered what PY to apply to the windsurfers! Eventually the door of the race office opened and ex-officianardo Steve Payne kindly announced the winners and presented the Trophy (well half a trophy really) to the deserving winners TEAM ROCK AND ROLL ( Rebecca Ogden, Kevin Spencer and Mark Adams).

After a damp miserable start the day had brightened up and the event turned out to be hugely enjoyable, great fun and not surprisingly quite competitive ! Thanks to everyone who took part, to Lisa for helping with lap counting and to Pauline and Colin for keeping the galley going. Rock and Roll will be back to defend the trophy next year !

Mark Adams

Photos from August Bank Holiday