Event
Creeks Race
Results
Latest update
18th September 2023
Reports
The Creeks Race 2020
28th August 2020
Well done Chris Ashby and Ian Parris on a well sailed Creeks Race beating 2nd place John Goudie and Brian Lamb, in a Wayfarer, into 2nd place by almost 10 minutes on corrected time. It was light stuff from the east that only got lighter towards the end. In fact, the course was shortened at 26 so that everybody could just simply find the best way back to the club because by then the tide was beginning to ebb which means a battle to get back.
The course utilised 3 creeks and started a half-hour before high tide for the slower boats. The faster boats start a half-hour after the slower ones thus the theory is that all the boats sail in the same conditions of tide and wind and it is supposed to be a fair competition between all the boats in the club rather than fleet racing where we can never gauge the skill of the slower and faster fleets together. There were 5 Blazes but it was mostly light wind beating and running which does not suit a Blaze but Andy Gibbs managed a 5th and myself a 9th.
It’s sad that there were no more than 21 boats in the race in total but hartening to see a good mix in the first few places with Streakers showing well and a Miracle finishing in the middle of the results. Well done to all who participated and perhaps next year we will get more. I’d like to encourage more to try it, you literally do not have to go all the way around to enjoy a safe exploration of the creeks of the Medway. Try it next year and if you want to get home just turn around or hail a tow.
Go here for a course diagram
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9wFAI3tnRDDSjWalV5S9uEXsB_Ar6FL/view?usp=sharing
18th March 2020
The Creeks Race - 2019
Whew, that was a tough one. I was lamenting that not many people were around and thus attendance was down. Little did I know that the weather forecast I was looking at was incorrect. I was expecting 17mph which I know is windy, but it's OK for racing and in a Blaze actually feels a bit light downwind and upwind is very manageable.
It was gusty of course, isn’t it always around the club in a southerly, that’s those high flats on St Mary’s Island. As it turned out it was doubly gusty because there were grey clouds scudding across the sky and every dark one brought strong winds from above.
Full marks to Gordon who set the course. That was well thought out for a Creeks Race and he even had laminated photos of the significant buoys. Now if I can remember correctly it went through Hoo Creek to H1 (starboard), SY4(s), Otterham Fairway Buoy (p), Booz, then into Otterham Creek, back to Otterham Fairway Buoy, Rainham Fairway Buoy, Mariner Buoy, back to Otterham Fairway Buoy again and then some route back to the club along Gillingham Reach. I retired on our first visit to Otterham FB.
It was much windier than I anticipated. Later I looked at Windguru and it said 30 mph - well the gusts might have been. I must learn how to use Windguru because the BBC forecast was hopeless. It was too windy to go through Hoo Creek safely in a fast asymmetric but at the start, we didn’t realise so I’m sure Gordon didn’t.
I milled around the start waiting for the gun and with the boat set up for beating. I took it too casually and gybed with loads of kicker and loads of board and just before a gust and so I went in. Chris Saunders did the same almost on the gun and so I got away ahead of him. It was a reach directly to Hoo Creek. Chris soon got past me as you can in a Blaze if you are more prepared to commit to the racks (it's risky because in a lull you have to get back in the boat quickly). Across Hoo Bay it was up a force compared to around the club but being less gusty I was out on the rack and pounding along behind Chris at warp speed.
Chris Ashby and Ian Parris in their Alto started with us as there were no other Fast Fleet boats and were soon swimming in Hoo Bay. Emerging from the narrows to H1 Chris was in front and the Alto just behind me. It was much windier than I had anticipated and the waves were a problem going across Pinup Reach to SY4. It was too tight for the Alto to carry a gennaker and so I actually pulled away from them. Believe it or not I actually caught Chris Saunders on the reach to Otterham FB but then he thought it was a bit to the north and had to make a mid-course correction. We are talking big distances, it must be well over a mile to Otterham FB from SY4 (I’ve just measured it on the map - its nearly 2 miles). It was hard work because apart from sitting out but being able to get in quickly the mainsheet required lots of big adjustments so my arm was going in and out like fiddlers elbow. I was beginning to think what the consequences of something going wrong would mean. We all got to Otterham FB together, Chris on the inside who promptly bore away and rolled into windward, the Alto who went for a gennaker set and myself who bore away only a little. I eased the sail and looked around. With high tide there was a huge fetch for waves to build, wind of well over 20 mph and we were miles from anywhere. Then the noise from the sail caught my attention, I’d never heard it shake like that before - this was seriously windy. I was well beyond any hope of self-rescue. Even a minor breakage such as kicker of downhaul would leave me unable to sail the boat home. If I had gone in for a swim, would I have been able to pull the boat upright, I doubted it. Safety was now a priority and so I tacked around and sailed for home. If it had been a points race, in the main body of the river with the chance of a safety boat spotting me it might have been different, but here in the wilds of the Medway salt marshes, it's different.
So I turned for home, which was a beat, a one-sided beat which is just as well because a tack in those conditions is a tricky manoeuvre. On a beat, of course, you are at your safest. As long as you don’t pinch and go slowly you can parry any gusts and in the lulls, you can bear away which gives you time to get in off the racks. Nice and safe, except not being part of the race and out in these wilds there was no safety boat for me and certainly no passing traffic either. A lonely sail back where I had to be particularly careful to not make a mistake.
The Blaze is a safe boat considering its performance. It still makes progress even if you don’t sit out hard and so I progressed up South Yantlet Creek. There were moments where I was nearly blown flat by the gusts and there were several moments where a header nearly had me in backwards. I also couldn’t quite make it around Folly Point so I had to put in a couple of tacks up Pinup Reach, but I wasn’t racing so I could take my time and get them right. I got back to the club without a single capsize. I wasn’t going fast I was just demonstrating to myself good seamanship. Talking of speed, when I turned back I looked at my watch and noticed we had been racing just half an hour yet we were at 5 miles away. Not a huge average speed of about 10 mph but I can assure you some of the peak speeds were staggering. Coming off some of those waves felt almost airborne, landing so as not to continue down under water was a skill in itself. There were certainly some moments.
Those who got around the course can feel proud. They raced and showed good seamanship, for me, I just feel relieved to have got back without anything broken and without a capsise.
Whew, that was a tough one
18th March 2020
18th March 2020
The Creeks Race - 2019
Whew, that was a tough one. I was lamenting that not many people were around and thus attendance was down. Little did I know that the weather forecast I was looking at was incorrect. I was expecting 17mph which I know is windy, but it's OK for racing and in a Blaze actually feels a bit light downwind and upwind is very manageable.
It was gusty of course, isn’t it always around the club in a southerly, that’s those high flats on St Mary’s Island. As it turned out it was doubly gusty because there were grey clouds scudding across the sky and every dark one brought strong winds from above.
Full marks to Gordon who set the course. That was well thought out for a Creeks Race and he even had laminated photos of the significant buoys. Now if I can remember correctly it went through Hoo Creek to H1 (starboard), SY4(s), Otterham Fairway Buoy (p), Booz, then into Otterham Creek, back to Otterham Fairway Buoy, Rainham Fairway Buoy, Mariner Buoy, back to Otterham Fairway Buoy again and then some route back to the club along Gillingham Reach. I retired on our first visit to Otterham FB.
It was much windier than I anticipated. Later I looked at Windguru and it said 30 mph - well the gusts might have been. I must learn how to use Windguru because the BBC forecast was hopeless. It was too windy to go through Hoo Creek safely in a fast asymmetric but at the start, we didn’t realise so I’m sure Gordon didn’t.
I milled around the start waiting for the gun and with the boat set up for beating. I took it too casually and gybed with loads of kicker and loads of board and just before a gust and so I went in. Chris Saunders did the same almost on the gun and so I got away ahead of him. It was a reach directly to Hoo Creek. Chris soon got past me as you can in a Blaze if you are more prepared to commit to the racks (it's risky because in a lull you have to get back in the boat quickly). Across Hoo Bay it was up a force compared to around the club but being less gusty I was out on the rack and pounding along behind Chris at warp speed.
Chris Ashby and Ian Parris in their Alto started with us as there were no other Fast Fleet boats and were soon swimming in Hoo Bay. Emerging from the narrows to H1 Chris was in front and the Alto just behind me. It was much windier than I had anticipated and the waves were a problem going across Pinup Reach to SY4. It was too tight for the Alto to carry a gennaker and so I actually pulled away from them. Believe it or not I actually caught Chris Saunders on the reach to Otterham FB but then he thought it was a bit to the north and had to make a mid-course correction. We are talking big distances, it must be well over a mile to Otterham FB from SY4 (I’ve just measured it on the map - its nearly 2 miles). It was hard work because apart from sitting out but being able to get in quickly the mainsheet required lots of big adjustments so my arm was going in and out like fiddlers elbow. I was beginning to think what the consequences of something going wrong would mean. We all got to Otterham FB together, Chris on the inside who promptly bore away and rolled into windward, the Alto who went for a gennaker set and myself who bore away only a little. I eased the sail and looked around. With high tide there was a huge fetch for waves to build, wind of well over 20 mph and we were miles from anywhere. Then the noise from the sail caught my attention, I’d never heard it shake like that before - this was seriously windy. I was well beyond any hope of self-rescue. Even a minor breakage such as kicker of downhaul would leave me unable to sail the boat home. If I had gone in for a swim, would I have been able to pull the boat upright, I doubted it. Safety was now a priority and so I tacked around and sailed for home. If it had been a points race, in the main body of the river with the chance of a safety boat spotting me it might have been different, but here in the wilds of the Medway salt marshes, it's different.
So I turned for home, which was a beat, a one-sided beat which is just as well because a tack in those conditions is a tricky manoeuvre. On a beat, of course, you are at your safest. As long as you don’t pinch and go slowly you can parry any gusts and in the lulls, you can bear away which gives you time to get in off the racks. Nice and safe, except not being part of the race and out in these wilds there was no safety boat for me and certainly no passing traffic either. A lonely sail back where I had to be particularly careful to not make a mistake.
The Blaze is a safe boat considering its performance. It still makes progress even if you don’t sit out hard and so I progressed up South Yantlet Creek. There were moments where I was nearly blown flat by the gusts and there were several moments where a header nearly had me in backwards. I also couldn’t quite make it around Folly Point so I had to put in a couple of tacks up Pinup Reach, but I wasn’t racing so I could take my time and get them right. I got back to the club without a single capsize. I wasn’t going fast I was just demonstrating to myself good seamanship. Talking of speed, when I turned back I looked at my watch and noticed we had been racing just half an hour yet we were at 5 miles away. Not a huge average speed of about 10 mph but I can assure you some of the peak speeds were staggering. Coming off some of those waves felt almost airborne, landing so as not to continue down under water was a skill in itself. There were certainly some moments.
Those who got around the course can feel proud. They raced and showed good seamanship, for me, I just feel relieved to have got back without anything broken and without a capsise.
18th March 2020
I Loved it. I was feeling a bit under
the weather and nearly didn't go but although threatening rain it felt so warm.
We started about an hour before high water and the course took us, unusually,
up the river to Whitewall Creek which is opposite the famous Chatham Dockyard.
That meant going along the reach to Medway Yacht Club which has very messy wind
but after MYC a true beat to the buoy. Chris Saunders showed real pace along
the reach and up the beat while I fought it out with Alastair. It was quite
windy with a decent chop as it was wind against tide. By the mark Chris was
well away and Alastair had me beaten and in fact the Wayfarer just rounded
ahead.
The next mark was 30A which is just off the Wilsonians but on the south shore. The run down to MYC was
neck and neck planing with the Wayfarer, except I
could just get the occasional beneficial surf. This tempted me to gybe and
broad reach across the corner, meaning I would get more adverse tide but I'd be
in the chop and surf a lot more waves. That worked and then I gybed again to
head for the north shore where there was more wind and I could dodge the tide.
That worked too and I planed into the lead as we
rounded 30A. The other 2 Blazes must have wondered where I'd come from but once
we had worked our way out of the wind shadow of the buildings Chris moved into
the lead again. His boat is faster than mine at the best of times but I was
using an old sail. Alastair got past by the time we got onto Gillingham
Reach, where I got flattened by a gust. Alastair just managed to hold it and
bore away at high speed whilst I struggled to get the boat back on its feet.
Upright again Chris's lead was now enormous and Alastair was
a couple of hundred metres away. He wore around at Folly Point, when I got
there the wind was less and I gybed. At Hoo No. 2
Alastair gybed but I
wore around. Both Chris and Alastair headed high to get to the channel marker
by Nor Marsh. They actually went so high
they went over the rocky causeway it their quest to find Rainham
Fairway Buoy. I know the river better
and went to other side of the channel marker so stayed in relatively deeper
water. They also confused a red buoy called Mariners for the Rainham Fairway buoy and so didn't go the most direct
route. It was high tide by now and Nor Marsh was not a marsh at all, just a few
blades of grass sticking up to the north of our route.
So by now I was back on their tails as we ran towards SY1.
This was all very wobbly stuff. Quite windy, a dead run in a huge expanse of
water and I mean huge because nearly every island was underwater. A gybe at SY1
and off to a buoy called B Ooz. This
is a plastic can in the middle of this huge expanse. On the chart it's easy to
find, in spite of its tiny size, because it at the edge of a channel, however
when the tide is this high there is no channel! I remember thinking its water
all the way to Garrison point but knowing that underneath all that water there
is a huge mud bank, several islands and Stangate Creek. Chris couldn't
work out where he was and Alastair was following him. I took a deeper, more
northerly course reasoning if they found the buoy I'd see them round up and I
could harden up onto a faster reach and be up with them in no time. But if I
found it they would have to turn back and run deep and slow to get to me, and
that's just exactly what happened. As I approached the mark Alastair spotted it
too and we arrived together but Alastair had to go from a run around the mark
onto a beat and he dropped it. I just hardened up around him and was gone. Alastair
also didn't know where to go next and so drove off at high speed on a close
reach. I knew that we had to go up Otterham Creek and
around a couple of buoys up there. So I went hard on the wind until I could get
to Otterham Fairway Buoy which I reasoned would be
the entrance to the creek. I felt sorry for Alastair and so shouted as load as
I possibly could but he was about 300m away and couldn't hear me. It was a noisy
environment anyway, I was bashing into the waves and the bow was going through them
with the tops filling my boat. The Blaze does crash rather than cut through
waves so it was wet and noisy progress. I went up the creek, around the buoys
and back out and headed for Yantlet Creek. Yantlet Creek No. 3 had to be left to port. I know all the
buoys along this creek are /"safe water/" buoys (that's red and white
check). I could see some of them miles away and this was a close reach - not too
close a reach and so very fast. This is what the Blaze excels at and I spent
the next five to ten minutes fully extended at the back of the boat with
sometimes over a metre of the front out of the water. I was hoping to see the
safety boat here because I think it would have been hard pressed to keep up.
Chris had meanwhile been catching and was blasting along
behind me. At SY3 we hardened up to what was to be a one sided
beat, against the tide, for the next couple of miles to 29. Chris gradually
overhauled me and rounded 29 a minute or so ahead. That is where I noticed my
sail was poor. It was very difficult to modulate in the increasingly gusty conditions.
I either had no power or too much, looking up at it I could see the fullness
was too far back and if I pulled in the Cunningham (downhaul) it just didn't
point. I'm look forward to getting my proper sail back from the menders.
Chris actually got flattened by a gust on the reach back to
the club but I still didn't catch him. We finished with a huge time back to the
next boats but it was a long race of about 2 and half hours so when the
handicaps were calculated we were 3rd and 4th behind a couple of fast fleet
boat which had started 30 minutes behind us. Alastair finished well behind us
but still got 5th. The Wayfarer only came into sight whilst we were packing up,
that was nice. Chris certainly has a faster boat - he was able to come back
after so many navigational errors. He's much younger and fitter than I am too
and being tall that gives him great leverage. I'd like to think he may not have
found it so easy if I had used my good sail. But what is apparent is that it is
no good getting old if you don't also get clever!