The Guy Fawkes Regatta

by Jonathan Winterton

 

A race may just be a good excuse for a drink with friends, but to drive to Hull in November . . .? There must be more to racing than that!

Saturday the 6th of November 1982 was a rather bleak day here in the County of Humberside. It was extremely dull, rain was threatening and there was a biting south easterly wind blowing straight up the River Humber from the North Sea to Hull. The scene inside the 'The King William' public house (known locally simply as 'The King Billy') was markedly different however, for today was the date set for Hull Sailing Club’s annual Autumn event . . . the Guy Fawkes Regatta. 'The King Billy', as some of you will know also serves, as Hull Sailing Club’s headquarters, and on this day was being put to good use with both bars full of the crews intending to take part in the race that afternoon. A number of Green  Wyvern members also partake of the sailing and social scene on the River Humber, and today, apart from myself, sailing on Henry Irving’s Venture, Dave Snutch was honoured to take the helm for the first time of Keith Smithson’s  Rowan, a recently reconditioned Scottish sailing vessel which Keith brought down from Scotland several years ago.

The theory behind this regatta is similar, in some respects, to the Yare Navigation Race, in that the general idea is to take the last of the ebb tide down the Humber to a light vessel known as North  Holme, round the light vessel at low water and return on the flood tide to Hull. The round trip is about fifteen miles or so, with skippers being allowed to select their own starts every quarter of an hour. This is where the similarities with the Yare Race end as, although the Humber race is in fact shorter in terms of mileage, it can be a very demanding race owing to the vigilance required when navigating the Humber, not only in deciding how far out of the buoyed channel one dare venture in order to gain time, but  also in coping with the more demanding tidal and weather conditions that seem to prevail on the Humber.
Back at 'The King  Bill' the scene was like that before any yacht race; friendly rivalry aided by many pints of beer. Although a choice of starting times was available, 2.30  and 2.45 p.m. seemed to be favourites (links with licensing  hours purely coincidental).
The first leg of the race was a stiff tack downstream to North Holme lightfloat. It transpired that there were in fact thirteen of us on Venture; eight adults and five youngsters, which made things somewhat crowded on deck. Rosie and Joe retired to the foc’sle in an attempt to rest which was not easy with Venture doing an impression of the latest switchback ride at Hull fair. Several of the crew confined themselves to the cabin and wedged themselves in amongst sleeping bags, old wellies, Henry’s shoes and all the other items that had been deposited inside.

On deck the situation was in expert hands. Tony Knights and his mainsheet man James, both of whom are usually found on Ladybird,  had been drafted in to form the basis of the crew. With Tony on the helm calmly guiding the boat through some rather short and steep seas, James on the  mainsheet, Barry Speakman and Dennis (rigger off the William Mc Cann) on jib and backstays, and Henry generally keeping an eye on things, we all felt quietly confident about our chances of victory. Rumour has it that after the race Henry looks at the results and then does the handicaps anyway, so we were not too concerned about progress . . . but that’s only a rumour.

We rounded North Holme at 4.40p.m., nearly two hours after we had started. It was now almost dark and as soon as the sails had been trimmed for the downwind homeward run, we lit the sidelights and put the kettle on. A dizzy gybe soon put paid to any thoughts of tea however, so we abandoned that one and elected to wait for some beer back in the pub. The return journey was one of those tremendous trips that makes you realise what a joy sailing is. We now had a following wind and tide so the river was a little calmer, and Venture  seemed to be surging forward at what felt like at least fifteen knots. The tide was not yet high enough for any shipping to be about (which  was just as well as we had nowhere to fix the sternlight), so we had the  river to ourselves. Hull’s dockland and waterfront, grey and depressing by day, are transformed by night into an ever-changing panorama of bright yellow and orange lights. We had all too little time to enjoy this spectacle, however, as 5.20 p.m. found us crossing the finishing line and by 6.00 exactly the entire company was back in the 'King Billy' downing yet more pints of Hull Brewery bitter.

The race had not been without its mishaps. Dave Towle, skipper of Towmas (a glassfibre racing machine from a local yacht club) had put his boat aground again
 . . . although in a different spot from the last regatta, he was at pains to explain . . . and Pete Tomlinson of Temptress  had been unfortunate enough to have his mainsail blow out. Other than these two incidents, the events of the afternoon seemed to have passed off successfully.
By the time the results were announced around eight o’ clock, they didn’t really seem to matter. The ladies of  Hull Sailing Club had once again excelled themselves by producing a superb buffet, and Flash Flanagan, landlord of the pub must have renewed the barrels twice at least. For those of you who have remained sufficiently interested to read this far and wish to know the results, Venture didn’t win, Rowan  did, ably skippered by Dave Snutch  and crewed by Pete Garton and Robert Smithson. But, as Henry pointed out after presenting the Fanny George Cup, the same boat is never allowed to win twice. Why not come along to find out whose turn it is next year? There  aren’t many better ways of spending a Saturday afternoon.

 

JW
1982

 

Venture rounding North Holme float.