St George's Cup 2019

The annual Herne Bay St George Cup competition against Hampton Pier Yacht Club this year took place on the 19th August with the racing hosted by Herne Bay Sailing Club with a lovely tea hosted by Hampton Pier. 

Despite poor visibility and heavy rain at noon, six Hampton Pier boats rigged and began the sail to the other end of Herne Bay to be met by seven Herne Bay boats. Richard, RO, set two handicap 45-minute races. The marks were set in a parallelogram shape, but to spice up the racing the competitors were to race from the start to mark 1 to 3 to 2 to 4 and then back past the start line.  The additional challenge, however, turned out to be the wind (and perhaps the waves) as it swung between the pier and the clocktower. 

The first race was particularly close with exciting racing and all the fleet finishing within 10 minutes, despite the odd capsize or two. There was only 14 seconds separating first and second place on corrected time and the 
First place: Harry N (Hampton)
Second place: Laurie Dengate and Jo Norrington (HBSC)
Third place: Olaf Throndsen (HBSC).

A couple of marks were moved for race 2 to compensate (partially) for the wind shifts, and then the racers were off again.  

First place: Laurie Dengate and Jo Norrington (HBSC) 
Second place: Harry N (Hampton)
Third place: Olaf Throndsen (HBSC).

The overall cup results were based on the top six boats from each fleet. Hampton won race 1 on low points and HBSC won race 2 on low points. Combining the results led to the St Georg'es Cup being awarded to Herne Bay SC. Harry N won the Youth Cup for the third year in a row. 



Everyone at HBSC enjoyed their afternoon sail, the camaraderie and excellent tea at Hampton Pier and many HBSC members finished a great day by attending the Herne Bay Jazz and Swing Fest. We look forward to next year's Cup. 

Quotes from the competitors:
`Combined age of 94 beats 16 year old in endurance test'.