1993 Declared Top Pandora Vintage?
One of the all time high points in Pandora racing must have been the 1993 Tom Buoy Race, which featured Owat and Blue Tack battling it out in 28 mph winds during an electrifying run from the West Island to the Tom Buoy. We recorded 14 mph. surfing down waves during which time the lead changed a dozen times. The beat back was almost as horrific. Owat took the lead for most of it but in a wind reduced to 20 mph. Blue Tack caught up at NWG. There was a boat length in it at the finish!
Thirteen boats took part in the Championships in August which began with a brisk force 6 race on Monday 2nd Aug. Our Fleet Captain John Rose in Dee Kay took the lead early On and sailed superbly to win the first race with Mike Colclough in Owat a close second. In more moderate conditions in which we were able to consume copious quantities of Belgium beer Blue Tack won the next four races closely followed by Owat and Richard Hulme in Pandi (using an ex "Elysia" spinnaker). It was not to be a happy time for Dee Kay.
John experienced some difficulty finishing without a rudder and was definitely slowed down by the loss of a shroud pin. John is moving on to campaign his Sigma 33 next season. The new mast (the old one fell off during Keelboat Week) should definitely improve the chances of finishing some races! The final results were 1st Blue Tack. 2nd Owat and 3rd Pandi.
After all this practice, the fleet got the bit between its teeth and the season ended with a major scrap for the Pandora's Box. The first race passed off without serious incident but the second was subject to fog. How seven Pandora's arrived (from completely different directions!) within seconds of each other at SWG has never been satisfactorily explained. I dedicate the third race to our President Robert Cooke in Panjandrum. Despite being sent back to restart (by me) unnecessarily, he sailed through the fleet to lead for much of the race. We were all so close that one recent newcomer and resident enthusiast John Bolton in Cougar was leading on handicap. Guy Rose (having relieved John of command) kept Dee Kay in contention for much of the race. Pandi snagged another buoy and Andy Barr put in a much-appreciated appearance with Colin and Paula in New Tack, sales of spare winch handles promptly doubled overnight! Owat was finally up in second place, as Mike managed this time to keep all his crew on board and Blue Tack eventually got their act together to win it.
© Kelvin Kellond
