Falmouth Fun Week Programme 2010
Click on FunWeekProgramme2009 to see what happened in 2009 and see the report below. The 2010 Fun Week will be from the 26th June to the 3rd July and the programme will be uploaded by Easter.
2009 FUN WEEK REPORT
This year there were 18 entries for Fun Week, a few less than last year. The event was held later but the committee thought that the change of date to 27th June - 4th July was not the reason for the reduced entry. We are not sure what was though.
The Week started on Saturday 27th June with some of us watching the Falmouth Working Boat Championships in Carrick Roads while taking care not to get in their way. These are impressive boats, heavy to sail and very powerful. The history of these boats is that they were oyster dredgers which, early last century, were chartered by visiting ‘gentlefolk’ in the Summer for racing. These days they are locally owned and sailed almost exclusively for racing although oysters are still dredged under sail only in Falmouth. Some Shrimper sailors have experience in these boats and a few St Mawes Shrimper owners have an interest in FLORENCE or the other St Mawes Working Boats EVELYN and DEMELZA.
On Saturday afternoon the Peter Keeling Memorial Race was held in the Northern End of Carrick Roads. The sight of Shrimpers arriving from all directions and assembling for the start of this annual race typified the social and community feel to this race and to the whole of Fun Week.
We all want to win the Peter Keeling Race. Many of us bought our boats directly from Peter and all of us who knew him liked and respected him too. Apart from being an all round good man he was also a very good sailor. He raced Mk1 and then Mk11 Crabbers and then Shrimpers in Falmouth Week every year and while acknowledging that this was something of a sales exercise, he was always welcome as a genuine competitor.
This year there were thirteen entries. The venue for this race is on Mylor Yacht Club’s ‘home’ ground between Greatwood and the Roseland. This Race is always held in that area because it is usually calmer up there and this makes for a more competitive race for everyone and we tend to have the place to ourselves. This year we raced in a pleasant South Westerly, Force 3 in sunny weather.
The race was shortened, to allow time for the tea, and the results were
1st Julian Wolfram, 262, HENRIETTA, Mylor S C
2nd Mark Osborne, 245, BOYERS SHRIMPER, St Mawes S C
3rd John Benge, 433, GRACE of St JUST, Mylor S C
4th Simon Sugrue, 355, VAGABOND, Helford River S C
5th Derek Holman, 842, REWARD, St Mawes S C
And the other eight boats following on.
After the race we met for a cream tea in Mylor and Julian was awarded the Trophy.
Some of us chose to sleep aboard for much of the Week. Why? ‘Because we could’ seems to be the most sensible answer. This may indicate the questionable mentality of some participants. It may be best that those who did sleep aboard simply do not comment.
On Sunday, 28th June, some of us sailed, motored actually, up to Truro on the tide and tied up to the railings of the Tesco Car Park and went in for a good, if slightly rushed, breakfast. The water doesn’t stay up there long.
Lunch was to have been at anchor off Turnaware Point but the breeze was not really suitable for a long stay there and the little fleet disbursed to meet again at St Mawes Sailing Club so that we could meet and brief Bob Warren who was to give us all some Sailing Tips on the water the next day. Bob is a respected local sailor and instructor, these sessions with him were started last year after some of the mass starts we had at Falmouth Week Regatta in 2007 revealed some poor skill levels in congested waters. Of course we all think we know enough to keep not just out of trouble but to conduct ourselves with capability and responsibility, and we probably do, but last year, and this year we found the day spent with Bob Warren very instructive, thought provoking and beneficial.
So we met at St Mawes that evening with Bob where he established what we wanted to do the next day. We voted for Starts and Sail Setting. We got plenty of starts and a chat about sail setting as well as much that Bob thought was worth his while passing on.
We had supper at St Mawes Sailing Club before going back aboard or home for the night.
The day’s session with Bob on the water was on Monday 29th June. Ten boats participated and we started with a ‘follow the leader’ sail round a very short triangular course with Bob videoing each boat for analysis and discussion over lunch later. This would reveal some sail setting ideas but nothing as dramatic as last year when one boat’s jib was seen to be smaller than all the others. HOGWASH, Roger Haggett, has done considerably better in races since that was discovered. Bob was also able to comment on various people’s method of gybing and setting windward courses after rounding a leeward mark. All this was very useful and not just for racing.
We then managed a series of practice starts. Communication was by VHF, which worked well. We all benefited from this session with useful tips such as finding a transit from the leeward end of the line to something on the shoreline so that we didn’t have to keep glancing over our shoulders to see if we were over the line or not. As these progressed, and there were at least a dozen starts, one of our number was asked to try to luff people up to squeeze them off the Start Line ‘legitimately’ just to show what could happen in a Race. There was a bit of a problem with this; Shrimper sailors are far too nice for this sort of thing. The first attempt failed and second attempt got the wrong ‘victim’ but did demonstrate the point Bob wanted to make.
After lunch and general comments on the videos of us all in the morning we went out to the boats again for a few short races round courses that made us sail in every direction and on every tack and in crowded conditions. We all enjoyed this and probably learned a lot about our boats and even about ourselves. After these races the session was over and we disbursed. Most went home, a few overnighted in the Percuil River where we enjoyed watching the egrets squabble before settling down in the trees for the night. The egrets settled in the trees, not us you understand.
The general consensus is that Bob Warren was worth his fee which was met out of the Fun Week fee paid by all entrants
Tuesday 30th June.
The programme was that we would lunch at Pandora, a pub in Restronguet Creek, but, such is the flexibility of Fun Week arrangements, that this was abandoned because of a lack of wind and because it was in the opposite direction to the Helford River where we were to have supper and an overnight stay on visitor’s moorings.
The wind was fickle at best and absent in reality, which meant that some of us decided to go home instead of motor-sailing to Helford. Your scribe was among these, at 6’3” he found that three consecutive nights on board was quite sufficient and even the lure of winning the SEA MUFFIN tiller trophy for a year wasn’t enough to keep him from his own bed and a shower.
Those who went to Helford had a convivial supper at the Helford River Sailing Club and a peaceful night sharing a visitor’s mooring.
Wednesday 1st July was a rest day for those who didn’t go to Helford. Those who did sailed there and into Gillan Creek before returning to Falmouth in the afternoon.
Thursday 2nd July was the day we had planned to go round to Portscatho for lunch but the weather wasn’t suitable for this so we ‘did our own thing’ until the evening Race in St Mawes. This is the routine twilight racing at the St Mawes Sailing Club and we were all welcome as guests for that race. This was followed by supper at the Club.
Friday 3rd July saw us back up the Fal River which we now have to share with a full compliment of laid up merchant shipping, mostly car carriers or German handy-size geared bulk carriers, each one more than 600 feet long. It is always a surprise to sail into this section of the river at Turnaware and as we turn the corner past the wooded area on both banks only about a hundred meters apart we see these huge ships. It is difficult to imagine how they get in there. We were to see just how during lunch on this day.
We had lunch at a well liked pub, Smugglers Cottage at Tolverne, six boatloads of Shrimpers appeared as well as quite a lot of people who came by car, a process nearly as intricate as arriving by boat for those who are strangers to the Roseland Peninsula. As usual, Peter Newman looked after us well. This pub has secure pontoon moorings and visitor’s mooring buoys for use by patrons.
After lunch one of the merchant ships was moved out to sea. Three Falmouth tugs and lots of hooting provided us with entertainment before we followed this ship down into Carrick Roads.
Saturday 4th July was the last day of the Week, and those of us who wanted to, participated in the St Mawes Village Regatta. This was started in ‘flukey’ weather which improved as the race progressed and saw Mark Osborn win, John Benge 2nd, Derek Holman 3rd, Roger Haggett 4th, Simon Sugrue 5th, Bob Morse 6th and Rob Horton in NEW MOON 7th. Simon got a truly terrible start; he obviously should have paid more attention to Bob Warren on Monday.
The purpose of Fun Week is to give Shrimper Owners an excuse to get out on the water, in company, and to provide an opportunity to those who may be unfamiliar with the many creeks and pubs around Falmouth Harbour and Carrick Roads to visit these with a more experienced Shrimper acting as a very informal ‘guide’. Shrimpers, like other boats from Peter Keeling’s factory in Rock, raft up very well together and the sharing of wine, cake and conversation is all part of the event. On at least one occasion we have been asked for ‘first choice of the pups’ by envious owners of other craft who fancied a baby Shrimper.