Another event that had been in the radar for a couple of years can now be ticked off the list.
Hosted by Red Wharf Bay Sailing and Watersports Club the Anglesey Offshore Dinghy Race offers great sailing around the coast. Starting in Beaumaris on the Menai Straight and finishing at the host club in Treath Bychan. There’s a light house to sail around, a bay to cross, and a short return sprint from just off the Coast Guard ramp at Moelfre. What more could you want?
In the week leading up to race day we had experienced beautiful weather and stormy weather, but what would greet us on Sunday morning?
The forecast held true and after an early start to position vehicles and trailers at the finish line followed by a shuttle back to the start at Beaumaris it was time to rig in a fresh 12-15knots with gusts around the low twenties.
The pre-race briefing was kindly hosted by Royal Anglesey Yacht Club in Beaumaris, and it was their flagstaff which served as the start line.
With no general recall on offer it was critical not to be over the start line early. The penalty if you were - 20 minutes added to your finish time. Everyone had a good breeze behind them as the gun went and with the start coinciding with the ebb of the tide everyone got away cleanly.
Holding back wasn’t a bad thing as sailing across the line 30 seconds late meant I had clear air and could weave my way down through the fleet and look to position myself to pick up gusts without too much interference. Almost 4 miles later it was time to furl the gennaker and make the turn between Tywyn Du Lighthouse and Puffin Island.
At this stage the fleet had spread out - behind were a mix of dinghies including Enterprises, ILCA (Lasers if you’re old school), RS Aeros and others. Ahead there were a group of RS400s and a 29er, all who simply flew on the downwind leg, along with a 505 and some Dart 18s.
As I sailed through the passage between the lighthouse and Puffin Island the sea state became much lumpier and heading further out to sea to in search of undisturbed breeze coming off the land also meant bigger waves with occasional cresting. However, the Wētā had slipped in to a groove and was relishing the challenge and easily keeping up with a couple of the faster Dart18 catamarans, while also pointing higher.
From here there were two marks acting like gates that needed to be passed on the shore side - one just before crossing Red Wharf Bay and the second off Benllech Beach, before heading to the final mark off the Moelfre Lifeboat Station and a short sail back to Treath Bychan for the finish.This windward leg was going to be almost 9.5miles in distance not including all the tacking.
At some point I realised I needed to head inshore again to pass between the shore and the second mark before heading across Red Wharf Bay. I have to admit that by luck I judged this reasonably close and approached the ‘gate’ only a couple of hundred metres down wind from where i needed to be, but more surprisingly I had clawed back some time from of the RS400s who had stayed closer to shore and appeared to be having a nice little battle between themselves, so a couple of short tacks to get around the mark and work out a route across the bay to Benllech.
Should I loosely follow the RS400s or that 505 I can see in the distance? I chose the latter option, staying on Port tack and heading out into more open water. Although the 505 was pointing higher I was carrying more boat speed and not long before changing direction and heading in towards the next mark I managed to pick up a couple of good shifts which had me sailing across their bow and looking not just ahead at the immediate mark rounding but also that 29er which was still going well and a foiling moth which I’d forgotten was out there but could now be seen.
Rounding the mark at Benllech I chose to unfurl the gennaker again and sail a bit deeper in the hope that heading out from the shore would present me with a bit more breeze. For a short time the wind angle allowed a good 3 sail blast back out of the bay before settling in to a tight ‘fetch’ all the way to Moelfre. With no further chance to really go out from shore I resigned myself to simply try and get the best time possible.
Upon rounding the mark at the Lifeboat Station I again unfurled the gennaker, but this was short lived as some of the gusts coming down off the gullies and off the shore proved to be slightly to tight tricky to really offer any benefit, and after stuffing the bow on one of the bigger gusts I thought better of it and simply two sail blasted to the finish line.
Line honours went to the 29er helmed by Jac Bailey in a time of 1hr 41mins 35 secs, followed by a Foiling Moth sailed by Jonny O’Connor with a time of 1hr 46mis 20secs.
I managed to bring the Wētā across the line in third with a time of 1hr 53min and there was a flurry of boats including the ever present RS400s and the 505 not far behind.
But as this was a handicap race we would have to wait for prize giving to see how those finish times related to final finishing positions on corrected time.
Once back to shore I was met by the clubs shore team who kindly brought my trolley down from where I’d left it earlier in the day (thank you ladies) and it was nice to see Steve T and Heather also there to help retrieve the boat up the beach. The legs were tired, the back ached, the arms were sore and the hands were on the verge of cramp, but the mind…. the mind loved it!
The pain has now gone but the memories will last forever - sailing down Menai Straight with a plethora of other dinghies, rounding a landmark like the lighthouse as part of the course, the wind offshore, the Wētā powering off waves only to porpoise through the next one without to much issue, even that long windward beat doesn’t hurt that much anymore.
In the end boats were packed away, chats were had, smiles were shared and this Wētā sailor managed to secure 2nd overall on corrected time.
I’d like to thank all the organisers and helpers that made this event happen. A special thanks must also go to Liz and anyone else that responded to my many questions on the entrants WhatsApp group in the lead up to the event - it has it’s own special logistical requirements and some arranging of where’s and whats - but get that worked out and the Anglesey Offshore Dinghy Race really is something special.
See you next year!! And maybe some more Wētā will join me………
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