Crouch Yacht Club Squib Trophy, 22-23 May 2022
Fourteen Squibs entered the Crouch Yacht Club Squib Trophy, hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. This trophy has been lost for 20 years or so and was recently found on the Class Captain’s mantlepiece! Racing was scheduled to be three races on Saturday afternoon and three on Sunday morning, overseen by the Race Officers David Osborne and Andy Wise, supported by Russ Cashell on ‘Havana Papa’ and various previous members of the Crouch Yacht Club.
Sunny weather and a shifty, unsettled breeze greeted the fleet out by Fairway 1. Given the light wind forecast for Sunday, David managed to get four races in on Saturday afternoon, all of which were won by Jono and Chris’ “Moist Gusset”, with Micky and Mel in “Spoof” taking three second places. The other second place was taken by Phil and Dave in “Guy Fawkes” after benefitting from a huge wind shift on the last lap of race two, which Kate and Brian’s “Magic Roundabout” also got, to finish fourth behind “Spoof”.
Keen to celebrate their birthdays, Dave and Scarlett got the first round in, delivering beers via the mark layers (Clifton & Jack) to the boats as they returned to their moorings. The fleet enjoyed a superb curry upstairs at the Club followed by a disco and dancing until late.
Sunday morning brought sunshine and more breeze than expected and racing got under way on time, much to the disappointment of the many with tired, sore heads after the hot tub after party!
“Spoof” won race five, followed by Duncan and Julia in “Surprise”, but “Moist Gusset” came in third, enough to go home early with a race to spare. Jason and Carl pulled off a port tack flyer in race six to be first to the windward mark, but were eventually chased down by Dave and Scarlett in “Sophie”, “Spoof” and “Surprise”, with “Spoof” just pipping “Sophie” on the line to take the win, with “Surprise” third.
The Crouch Yacht Club Trophy was won by “Moist Gusset” followed by “Spoof, “Guy Fawkes” and “Sophie”. Many thanks go to the Race Committee who did an excellent job in shifty wind conditions to get in six races, helped by the fact that there was not a single recall all weekend after the “black flag” warning at the briefing. Thanks also to Dave for organising the event & the hot tub! We are now looking forward to the Squib East Coasts over the Jubilee Weekend, 3rd and 4th June.

Ian Scott