Following a successful qualifying event in Cardiff, Marconi were invited to the Royal Southern Yacht Club for the British Keelboat League Finals. The team, consisting of (stern to bow) Dan Nickalls, Jack Wardell, David Nickalls and Hannah Bard were representing not only Marconi but also the Marconi Keelboat Academy. The MKA gives youth and adult sailors the opportunity to race at a high level at open events and experience close competition which they may not have done in the past. It is through the MKA that all four team members were first introduced to keelboat sailing.
The team were appearing at the BKL finals for the second time, having finished 5th in 2021. Qualification for the finals required a top three finish at a qualification event which Marconi achieved a few weeks prior in a ‘too close for comfort’ event in Cardiff. The team were keen to get on the water (ideally with some breeze) and see what they could achieve. The event consisted of 12 teams, competing in identical boats with 6 teams racing at any one time.
The event forecast was breezy (an exciting prospect) and this proved to be true as the team arrived early on Friday to take a boat out for a practice session and to re-learn what may have been forgotten over the past few weeks. Apart from a close encounter with a rather large ferry, the team were happy with their progress during practice and excited for the prospect of an afternoon of racing. However, on arrival back at the club the team was greeted by the disappointing news that the wind had built just enough for racing to be abandoned for the day!
Day 2 dawned with a gentle breeze and a forecast of building wind. The Marconi team awoke from the carpets of Catherine Wardell’s living room (thank you!), buoyed by the thought of the day’s sailing. Unfortunately, the confidence that had spread through the team over the previous 24 hours was shattered in the first pre-start when David (spinnaker trim) attempted to pull on the downhaul and achieved hauling down the sail in a rather more emphatic manner than intended. The end result was the boom resting on the hull and the sail halfway down the mast. With a quick re-hoist (as the rest of the competitors set off up the first beat) Marconi made their way to the start line and foolishly attempted another yank on the downhaul. Unsurprisingly the result of this was the same as moments before. With Marconi 100 metres behind the fleet before they had reached the starting line, it was not an ideal start. However, a good sign for the rest of the day was the speed the team were able to generate, gradually closing in on the opposition and even scraping back a place to finish fifth.
A little later Marconi suffered from some interesting pre-start tactics courtesy of Dan (helm) and ended up with a penalisation consisting of four 360 degree turns on the startline. A similar story to race 1 and the team finished 5th. Shortly after (having secured the main halyard), some more muscle from David resulted in the removal of a downhaul from its mainsail (no prizes for spotting a theme). So much for capitalising on the wind…
It was about this time that supporters (courtesy of Hannah, bow) turned up. It was this arrival that signalled a change in fortunes. Some top boat speed and sensible tactics saw Marconi string together a 2nd followed by four bullets. Proving particularly useful was Marconi’s tidal knowledge, upwind boat speed and downwind decision-making. Credit must be given to Jack (main trim) for his ceaseless work keeping the boat speed upwind and keeping eyes out the boat downwind. Closing the day with a total of five first places from 10 races was particularly satisfying and left Marconi in with a shout of competing for the top of the leaderboard on the title-deciding Sunday despite the tumultuous start to the day.
Day 3 dawned with quite different conditions: light wind and a drenching rain. The Marconi team dutifully rigged and sailed the boat (with some towing) out to the course where they were quickly welcomed by clear skies but no noticeable increase in wind. After an unsuccessful attempt at a first race, the boats tied up and the crews started to entertain themselves as best they could. For Marconi this consisted of song and dance – the team would like to take this chance to apologise to all those in Southampton who were affected by these endeavors. When the wind did come in, Southampton was blessed with only three or four knots and despite pulling a first out of their hats at the start of the day, Marconi found themselves struggling in these conditions. A combination of poor boat speed, poor decision-making and ending up on the wrong side of umpiring decisions proved to be a recipe for disaster for Marconi – the team collected a couple of 6th places as they struggled to deal with the on-off racing.
Marconi finished the event in third place, only a few points short of the boats ahead. Team consensus was that if there were any races on Friday, fewer breakages on Saturday or a slightly improved performance on Sunday then it could have been Marconi on the top of the podium. Looking back at it (over a pint) the team were ultimately happy with the weekend’s performance (particularly in the strong wind) and were happy to improve on the previous year’s 5th place finish. Massive congratulations goes to Royal Lymington Yacht Club, a local team who managed to sail consistently fast throughout the weekend and capitalised particularly effectively on the Sunday to take the well-deserved event victory.
The full results can be seen here.
The Marconi team would like to take the chance to thank individual MSC member donations and the John Merricks Sailing Trust, along with sponsors ‘DAB water Technology’ and ‘Micheal Taylor Architects’ for supporting the Marconi Keelboat Academy. Without their support Marconi wouldn’t have been able to enter four teams into the qualifying events. These teams were a ladies team, two youth teams and a mixed team (report subject).
The team would also like to thank the volunteers for the MKA, especially Peter Ward. Without them there would quite literally be no keelboat sailing for Marconi to enjoy, let alone the chance to represent the club at an event like the BKL Finals.
Editors note: Many thanks to David, Dan, Hannah & Jack for putting this report together.
