Harley Cup

The Harley Cup was presented by Chris and Maggie Eade at the Laying Up Supper in 2003 and first raced for on November 14 2004 when Chris, sailing with Martin Dixon, managed to win it straight back!

Chris and Maggie added some interesting instructions for the competitors wanting to win this cup. To compete for the trophy each participating boat had to be sailed by one Offshore and one Dinghy sailor.

 

 

Sunday June 10 2007

Nice weather for ducks was the greeting given with a smile and a shrug at the unseasonably wet summer meeting of the Harley Cup. Sailors, though, are a hardy lot, and some wisely turned up with their offshore foulies, to contest the cup, which will now be held twice a year.

The cup was donated by former club manager Chris Eade and his wife Maggie to encourage dinghy and offshore sailors to come and compete together on the river. The format is simple - a dinghy sailor and an offshore sailor are matched together (names drawn from a hat) and are then given an Enterprise to sail in two races. The first race is helmed by the dinghy sailor, the second by the offshore sailor. Best combined result wins - easy! Well, yes, in theory, but when you are looking for wind on a soggy day and the tide seems to be moving faster than a jumbo jet taking off there was a little hesitancy on the part of a couple of the offshore contingent.

Given the light southwesterly, a simple course for the eight competing boats was set: a tight beat up to No 5 mark off the tip of Eyot and back down to No 1 near the race box, twice. There was a force 2 around No 5 but no wind at No 1, so there was a bit of a pile up getting around that. The first two got around in the whiff of breeze, but then the wind dropped and every crew did what comes naturally - tried to steal the wind off each other. The first race ended with John Chick (dinghy) and Nigel Hadaway (offshore) in front on Veloce closely followed by Beverley Beech (dinghy) and Martin Richmond-Coggan (offshore) on Maverick.

In the second race, the tide had turned. The offshore sailors took the helm and the excuses started, notably from the Commodore and former Commodore (Martin and Beverley) who were so busy chatting away and enjoying themselves they thought the two-minute gun was the four-minute gun and, stuck down near the barges, couldn’t see the flags. They then had a major contretemps with a Thames barge that arrogantly assumed it had right of way (driving through the middle of the fleet) and obviously fancied Maverick as a trophy to set amongst their pot plants. Ben Young (offshore) with Tuck Loke (dinghy) went for a picnic on Eyot and the rest of the crews struggled to get home. In fact one boat gave up and was brought back in by the safety boat, while MaryAnn Richmond-Coggan (offshore) and Chris Crosland (dinghy) abandoned the cause earlier with MaryAnn shaking her head and sighing: “I need dinghy lessons.”

Meanwhile, the three members who turned up with their umbrellas to watch the race and doggy sit the Commodore’s dog (I have to say it went beyond the call of duty) decided it was too wet to hang around so retired to the pub to watch some serious big boat stuff - the America’s Cup on Sky.

1st: John Chick and Nigel Hadaway (1st in races 1 and 2)
2nd: Chris Hart and Trudie Netherwood (3rd in race 1 and race 2)
3rd: Beverley Beech and Martin Richmond-Coggan (2nd in race 1 and 5th in race 2)

Thank you to Andre Gareh and Ed Best for organising the crews, Robbie as race officer and Charlotte Rich and Alan O’Doherty on the safety boat.

by Francesca Fearon

Sunday December 17 2006

The first sailors to turn up were offshore sailors and the dinghy sailors, as usual, drifted in later. All the available club dinghies were wheeled out and rigged while the race officer, Chris Crosland, assisted by Emma Ashcroft sorted out the course and Charles Frater and Ben Young gathered the buoys, Nos 5, 3 and 1 and set off to lay them.

The start was delayed because of the lack of wind but as the dinghies were launched the wind picked up. It was a glorious frosty morning with bright and clear winter sunshine, but warming quickly. The dinghies got off to a smooth start with a long beat to No 5 buoy, rounded to starboard. Steve Gear-Evans helming an Enterprise for the first time in 20 years (!) with Alan Beaney got off to a good start with Robin Johnson and Neil Palmer in hot pursuit, apart from Jeremy Whiting and Richard Bailey who was over the line and immediately returned to re-start. As the helms developed ‘tack-itis’ on the headers and playing the lifts Steve suddenly found himself in the lead.

The dinghies were then faced with a choice, sail down the side of the Eyot taking advantage of the eddy; sail down the middle of the river where there was more wind and, because of the flood water, very little tide; or head for the Surrey bank. The fleet split. Maveric, helmed by Beverley Beech and Mike Ridley, gained at least four places by taking the usually fatal route of sailing down the middle of the river and joined the crush around No 3 buoy - Maveric’s decision to hold the middle of the river vindincated! Having claimed an overlap on Chris Winnington-Ingram, the dinghies touched and Chris did his 360 immediately after rounding. Back on the beat to No5 and then the fleet had a run back to the finish chasing Robin Johnson and Steve Gere-Evans fighting for lead position.

Race 2 had an even tighter start and another beat down to No 5. The fickle wind shifts did not allow for any inattention, despite the light winds. On Guardian, developing helm, Claire Willis, bravely took the tiller for this race. After a good start in the middle of the fleet she helmed confidently until the wind, howling up to a gusty 10 knots, caught them out on a tack and Guardian capsized. Although Jon barely got his feet wet, they were quickly up and on their way beating down to No 5 to catch up the rest of the fleet. Wet and cold, helm and crew battled back to the finishing line and made up for their lack of race success with a strong showing in the club bar afterwards.

While Alan Beaney and Steve were having another battle with Robin Johnson and Neil at the head of the fleet, the two following groups were having their own battles. After two laps the race officer finished the race before the fleet reached No 1 buoy and shortly afterwards the tide changed.

Sadly Chris Eade was not able to attend to reclaim his trophy, having won it two years ago; so Martin Dixon sailed with Vian, and this was the first time that Vian had helmed an Enterprise, and the first time too that Claire Willis had helmed in a race.

The prizes were presented by our President, John Herbert, who remarked at the remarkable sight of 14 dinghies on the river, helmed in one of the two races by 14 offshore sailors who had been encouraged onto the water by an ex paratrooper (Chris Eade) and a dog (Harley) after whom the cup is named. Particular thanks go to Chris Crosland and Martin Richmond Coggan for all the hard work they put into organising the event.

The wind conditions were ideal for so many ‘novices’ and the sailors enjoyed themselves so much that most of them were already plotting to sail in the next Harley Trophy on the 30th June 2007

by Beverley Beech

 

Sunday December 18 2005

It’s been 20 years or so since I last sailed on the Thames as a young Sea Scout, so the prospect of being able to re-live some of my first sailing experiences racing in the Harley Cup was too good an opportunity to miss. I wasn’t to be disappointed.

Having been solely big boat racing in recent years I had to re-adjust my thinking somewhat - a tiller instead of a wheel, no winches and worst of all no on-board tea making facilities. However, the lifting keel I thought may prove useful if we ran aground.

I was a late entrant on to Martin Dixon’s boat, with Chris Eade unfortunately having to retire at the last minute. Having quickly changed into my wet suit – not easy considering the last time I tried it on I was on the other side of 30 (both age and waist size) - we motored to the start line with the rest of the fleet using our outboard Volvo Penta Paddle, battling with the strong spring tide to make sure we got there on time.

The wind was light which was going to make racing interesting later around some of the leeward marks, but thankfully reduced the risk of capsizing as the temperature was a chilly 5 °C.

No time was available for practice as the race started with us near the back of the fleet. Some excellent helming and tacking tips from Martin meant we quickly moved up – rounding the windward mark in fifth.

As we sailed downwind I was introduced to the favourable eddy upstream of the Eyot which, needless to say, all the regulars in front were already taking advantage of. Key (I was informed) was to get close – but not too close as running aground was possible as Jeremy Whiting/Ed Hopkins demonstrated for our benefit enabling us to gain a place – which unfortunately they gained back shortly after.

After some interesting times at the leeward mark, as the boats bunched up, we managed to pull away to complete the second and final lap finishing an admirable 4th.

Now it was my turn at the helm! This time we did have some practice opportunity - which was a good thing as I had to quickly re-learn how to tack without making a cats cradle out of the main sheet, the tiller extension and various limbs.

More out of luck than judgement I suspect, we had a good start. Martin provided directional tips throughout the race to make sure we made the best of the wind and current. The first leeward mark near the Eyot provided much of the same entertainment as in the previous race, with lots of calls for room as the fleet bunched up. Unfortunately we touched the mark. We thought we could argue that we were forced on to it from not being given enough room, but decided that we’ll take the penalty turn anyway.

After a quick upwind beat we began the slow downwind leg to the finish at the club house. Maximum concentration was required to ensure we made the best of the various eddies, whilst trying to avoid the rubbish littering the water. Fortunately we had a very good leg, managing to overtake Jeremy Whiting and Ed Hopkins once again. With the wind starting to die as the sun set we completed the short beat to the finish – managing a surprising 3rd place.

Overall, it was a great afternoon and encouraging that there was more than a full compliment of both dinghy and offshore members wanting to sail, which was unfortunately not possible due to limits with the number of boats.

My re-introduction to sailing on the Thames has certainly whetted my appetite to do more in 2006 and I would recommend it to other off-shore members.

Many thanks go to Martin for inviting me on his boat and his excellent coaching, to Chris Crosland for organising the racing and to Julie Varcoe-Cocks for organising the crews before hand.

11 boats entered with the final results:

1. Peter Hopps/Fergus Kemlo
2. Terry Dawson/Hilary Cook
3. (Joint): Martin Dixon/John Kewley and Jeremy Whiting/Ed Hopkins

by John Kewley

 

Sunday November 14 2004

With bright blue skies and the occasional “puff” of wind, Linden House saw the gathering of 22 offshore and dinghy sailors competing, for the first time, for the Harley Cup!

Each off-shore sailor was paired up with a dinghy sailor, and over two heats each received a turn at the helm, although some off-shore sailors appeared to know their dinghies better than expected!

The first heat saw many of the blue-sailed Enterprises disappearing upstream with the tide. For an unfortunate few, by the time they managed to tack their way back to the 1st mark, the thought of keeping the mark to starboard somehow slipped their mind! We wondered which dinghy was keeping such a tactical eye on proceedings?

With the knowledge and experience of the first heat in place, the second heat commenced with a charge to the 1st mark, a meander to the 2nd and a fantastically close finish between Enterprises 17636 and 22437.

Congratulations to:

1st Place: Chris Eade and Martin Dixon in Independent

2nd Place: Chris Hart and James Sinclair-Taylor in Damson

3rd Place: Catherine Baudinette and Jeremy R. Whiting in Competitor

Many thanks to:

Julie Varcoe-Cocks & Simon Ashenden for organising; Chris Winnington-Ingram for manning the safety boat with Julie; and Alex Key for assisting Simon with race control on the day.

Looking forward to racing for the Harley Cup again in 2005!

by Tara McCabe

Copyright © London Corinthian Sailing Club, 12 Jan 2005