OM Sailing Club

Pictured: Will Steward, Ed Gregg, James, Charlie Kendrick, Dan, Mike Dana, Roger Kendrick

In the spirit of the adventures of Sir Francis Chichester KBE, surely the most adventurous and successful OM yachtsman, an Old Marlburian Sailing Association crew took to the Solent in October for the Arrow Trophy, an annual sailing competition for independent schools.

The Sunsail F40 racing yacht was collected from Port Solent on Friday morning for a great days practice sailing over to the Isle of Wight. The crew were allocated their positions and eventually we had our spinnaker jibes running smoothly. An early broach proved to be a baptism by fire for some of the more novice crew members!

Returning OMSA stalwarts, Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003) and James Meredith (B2 1988-93) managed the cockpit, with foredeck maestros Edward Gregg (C2 1988-93) and Will Steward (C3 2007*12). Will Sheard (LI 1997-2002) was on mainsail, Mike Dana (B3 1959-63) was navigator, master tactician and loblolly boy. Returning from an eight-year sailing sabbatical, Roger Kendrick (OM Father) drew on his vast experience to take the helm.  Dan Wilson, James and Alex were guests 'ringers' to made up the complement of 10 crew.

Cowes was reached in the afternoon, and after some mooring and accommodation admin, it was onto the bustling town for dinner and the exciting build up to the regatta. On Saturday a hearty breakfast was rustled up by the acting quartermasters James and Ed, and we made it bright and early to the skippers briefing.

After some final preparations and the receipt of a replacement spinnaker sheet (lost overboard in Fridays practice!) it was onto the racing. Morning squalls delayed the first race slightly, and gave the OM crew an exhilarating start to the day.  The storm eventually passed but some firm wind remained.  A cautious beginning to the races gave OMSA lots to do, however, some skilful decisions and swift execution meant we climbed up several places. The starts improved as did the teamwork over the course of four varied races and a mid-fleet overall finish was an admirable end against some class opponents.  The day was not without its drama. One of the squalls that came through caught many of the fleet off guard. Fortunately the OM boat was in good shape with a reef in the main. However a couple of the boats were still flying their spinnakers only to be hit by gusts of up to 37 knots. This caused one of the boats to broach and the spinnaker filled with water pinning the boat onto its side. The unusual forces became too much causing catastrophic failure and the mast to snap! The boat and crew limped back to port courtesy of a tow provided by one of the committee boats.

As we docked in the Yacht Haven, it was serendipitous that we should find ourselves mooring alongside Gipsy Moth, Chichester’s famous yacht.

An evening return to Cowes left just enough time for Captain's Cocktails in the pleasant crew house digs, before the traditional Arrow Trophy dinner at the Royal Corinthian Sailing club – a highlight of the weekend.  The day's events were recounted over a fine three course meal and there was light revelry with the other crews. 

Further fleet racing began on Sunday morning, before the wind dropped and it was time to enjoy a smooth return sail to Port Solent on a sunny autumnal day.  We now look forward to returning next year and encourage any OMs who would like to join to contact Charlie Kendrick on 07946641136. Experienced sailors and novices are welcome.

The OMSA would like to thank The Marlburian Club for their continued support.

Edward Gregg (C2 1988-93)
October 2016

The Arrow Trophy is yearly a sailing competition between independent schools which takes place every October in the Solent. The 2015 Old Marlburian Sailing Association (OMSA) team saw many faces returning from the previous year to create our most experienced crew to date! The range in crew age spanned an epic 49 years giving us a wonderful mix of youth and experience.

The 2015 race weekend began early on the Friday when we collected our Sunsail F40 from Port Solent and headed out to begin our yearly training session. Our collective experience from previous competitions meant we were quickly pulling on the right ropes and managed to sail our way through numerous spinnaker jibes without tearing the sails on our way to Cowes. Feeling confident we disembarked in Cowes and made our way to the curry house for a couple of ales and hearty feed prior to the real competition.

A communication breakdown meant we made an inauspicious start to proceedings by missing the crew briefing on Saturday morning. However, this was quickly forgotten and before long we were out in the Solent ready for the first race. Throughout the day the team demonstrated some of the best boat handling, manoeuvring and yacht racing that we have ever achieved. The foredeck crew consisted of William Steward (C3 2007-12), Ed Gregg (C2 1988-1993) and Alex Quinan (C1 2004-09) who worked brilliantly together without a single error all weekend. The cockpit crew with Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003), James Meredith (B2 1988-1993), Hannah Sauer, Rob Barnes and Will Sheard demonstrated great skill under some intense pressure at times. Richard White (LI 1987-1992) and Mike Dana (B3 1959-63) on helm and tactics also did a fine job in keeping the Marlborough boat in the thick of the action. Overall the team worked really well together with very few errors over the weekend. Our best mid fleet results left us somewhat surprised because we felt that our sailing had been excellent. This is in no small part down the very strong competition from other schools who demonstrated their world class sailing skills.

The highlight of the weekend is the dinner on Saturday night at the Corinthian Yacht Club. They even managed to find enough televisions to play the England rugby match although sadly that ended in disappointment. All in all an excellent weekend of sailing was had by all in a genuinely fiercely competitive competition.

Join The Club!

The club is always keen to welcome sailors of any ability, particularly since this is a social club rather than a serious sailing club! There are various opportunity to learn to race yachts in London and South Coast over the next year.

Any information please contact commodore Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003) on 07946 641136.

2014’s Arrow Trophy was off to a flying start this year. The group welcomed a few new members to the team for the largest race fleet so far - at 25 Beneteau 40.7’s.

The 2014 team was as follows:

1. Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003) - Pitman
2. Richard White (LI 1987-1992) - Helm
3. James Meredith (B2 1988-1993) – Cockpit
4. Ed Gregg (C2 1988-1993) -  Mastman
5. Alex Quinan (C1 2004-09) - Cockpit
6. Mike Dana (B3 1959-63) - Spinnaker trim
7. Tom Ouvry - Tactican
8. Robert Barnes - Cockpit/mast.
9. Will Sheard (LI 1997-02) - Main/Spinnaker
10. William Steward (C3 2007-12) - Jib Trim, bowman.

Click here for a full report from 2014.

Last year's results represented the continued determination of all crew members over the last 3 years with a 1st and 3rd in 2 out of 7 of the weekend's races. 

Full report

The Annual OM Sailing Club Dinner took place on Thursday 21st February at the Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge and was a great success.

You can judge for yourself by viewing the slideshow!

This year’s Arrow Trophy, held on Saturday 6th October, not only matched the fun of previous years but delivered two fantastic results. The crew consisted of Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-03) co-ordinating the crew and operations from the pit, Edward Gregg (C2 1988-93) and James Meredith (B2 1988-93) running The Foredeck (no spinnaker wraps all weekend!), Lucy Campbell, Andrew Jackson and Neil Jeffries making a formidable grinding team on the headsail and spinnaker,  Mark Wright (C3 1998-03) on the traveller and Jo Gillespie looking after the mainsail and spinnaker trim. Bob Milner (C1 1956-61) who stepped in to Helm at short notice was integral in securing the race victory.

REPORT:
We collected the boat at Port Solent and embarked on a crossing to the Isle of Wight on a damp and dark Friday evening. After some tricky navigation, the welcome lights of the Cowes curry houses were soon guiding us to our berth.

Saturday started with the morning briefing from the Race Committee. This is an attempt to weed out the crews that lacked nerves of steel by using Napoleonic naval terminology that only sea dogs pretend to understand.

By the time our spinnaker had been checked and repacked, there was no time for a practice hoist and we were into the first race! It was a frantic day of 5 competitive short races. The crew were delighted with their best finish in a number of years taking 3rd place in one of the races and this set the celebratory tone for the evening ahead.

We were lucky to be invited for ‘Captains Cocktails’ in the home of a local resident before attending the Regatta Dinner. After the formalities our crew were quick to retire to the bar and instigate the now annual Iguana Wrestling competition…

Sunday was a slow start with races delayed due to lack of wind. Once we were underway the conditions made race tactics particularly important. This played strongly into our hands with our helmsman Bob knowing where to chase the wind on his ‘home turf’ of the Solent and our skipper Charlie Kendrick enthusiastically ushering the crew around on wind shifts. For the first time in recent history, the OM boat achieved their first race victory and this was by a significant margin. After the initial shock of the win there was huge excitement on board as we crossed the line.

As we returned to port the Sunsail reps, who have eyes like hawks, were quick to spot the evidence of a ‘altercation’ with another boat. This incident will be discussed for years to come but certainly added some drama and excitement to the weekend.  Some fibreglass repairs were required to another boat!

Next year, the Regatta is scheduled for October 2013. Any interest in becoming involved is encouraged and welcome. Please contact Charlie Kendrick on charlie.kendrick@rbc.com