Old Gaffers’ Rally 3 May 2009

It wasn’t just the usual Dragons, RCODs, Elites etc that started from the RCYC Racing Line on Sunday 3rd May, Bruce and his team provided the start signals for around 15 Old Gaffers as they held their Crouch Rally. In recent years we have had around five to eight boats attend the rally but this year the promise of fair weather brought out around 20 boats ranging in size from a 19ft Shrimper to a 50ft Colin Archer!

Not all the boats raced and not all finished, but the sight of the old rigs was a picture. The gusting wind took a few casualties to broken gear, the shallows also accounted for a few groundings and at least one skipper who wasn’t listening to the briefing went to the wrong mark (the Outer Crouch isn’t much further than the Crouch buoy) and when one goes it plants the seed of doubt into others’ minds!

The Gaffer Race was won by Charm, an Albert Strange Yawl, and the Bermudan Race by Owendo, a Vertue.

Ella Rose as usual, messed up the start, caught up with the fleet and passed some boats, and we managed to not come last.

Bring on the East Coast Race in June.