2008

In the last two years I have taken part in the Three Rivers race with Graeme, the owner of the River Cruiser “Wandering Rose” This year was to be no different, but there was a catch.

Last year Wandering Rose had been out of the water with structural problems and we had raced in a hired Javelin from Martham. This year Graeme had got somebody booked to do the repair, but it was not certain to be done in time. This left us with a question – do we take a risk and assume WR will be ready or cover our options and book a hire boat in case? An exchange of emails between the three confirmed crew members (Graeme, David and myself) and we decided to risk it. Nothing for it, Wandering Rose would have to be ready.

To add to the complications, Graeme works offshore and would only be returning on the Thursday night before the race, but the good news was that WR was ready for Graeme’s previous spell ashore and he and David were able to get her rigged for basic sailing and move her from the boatyard on Oulton Broad to her moorings at Thurne Mouth.

So we come to the weekend of the race. I had planned to take Friday off and go down early to help with the preparations. My 05:30 start was delayed when Cath and John went to the cinema in Harrogate on Thursday and left late enough for the car to be locked in the car park overnight. Cath objected to being dropped off in Harrogate at 06:00 to wait for the car park to open at 07:30. In the end I dropped her off at about 06:45, which was a reasonable compromise.

The journey to Norfolk was straightforward enough, although with the early start I had to forgo breakfast at the Friendly Farmer as they weren’t open. Arriving in Ludham I misread Graeme’s instructions for getting to the moorings and ended up at St Benet’s Abbey, but this was soon sorted and I was parked on the bank ready to walk down the dyke to the EACC moorings. Graeme suggested waterproof trousers for the wet grass, but I thought as was wearing shorts, I wouldn’t bother. A mistake, the wet grass was waist high and nettles abounded. It seemed daft to battle through it so I hailed the first passing private boat and hitched a lift!

Dropped off at the EACC I joined Graeme in preparing as much of the boat as possible, fitting the guys and downhaul for the whisker pole and dropping the mast to fit the block and halyard for the topsail.

With everything done that could be done, we lunched on pies from the butcher in Ludham and beer from Hambleton Brewery before setting off for a lively sail to Horning. With just two of us it was the small jib. A breeze like this would be great tomorrow, but the forecast was suggesting it would be a bit lighter.

Once in Horning we carried on with jobs that needed doing and were joined by David. His car became the storage shed for unwanted stuff, the outboard, awning supports petrol cans etc were all piled in. A trip up to Graeme’s to collect the whisker pole and topsail jackyard and we were in a position to complete most jobs. With everything done that could be done, we retired to the Swan for food and beer. Here we were joined by John, a family friend of Graeme’s and seasoned sailor, who was joining the crew. Ale consumption continued and we were the last to leave the pub.

Shortly after leaving the pub we had the most bizarre occurrence. Walking across the car park a small hatchback came through the village at speed, sped through the car park and out of the other end, unfortunately clipping John’s hand with his wing mirror. A few moments later the car came back, stopped in the car park with the wing mirror hanging off and the driver said. “I’m sure I hit something.” Yes,” replied John. “You hit me.” Fortunately John had suffered less damage than the car and was unhurt.

Next morning David, John and I who had slept aboard WR headed for the New Inn for breakfast. Here we bumped in to Mike and Sally and others of their crew who had raced Camellia last year and this year were racing Myrtle the Turtle. We also filled up the water containers – cups of tea under way were a real possibility.

Back at the boat, we found Graeme already hard at work, and with him our fifth crew member, Paul. This was to be Paul’s first Three Rivers Race and only his second sailing experience. A bit later our final crew member, Phil arrived. So the last minute jobs were done, the only problem being the new gas cylinder. It was the wrong fitting, so no tea after all. All that remained was the briefing and getting up river ready for the start. The crux of Colin’s briefing is always the location of the lower Bure mark. Its position is dependent on the forecast and the tides. As Colin came to the end of his briefing he told us: “We’re going to surprise you.” He said it would be below Acle, probably below Stokesby and possibly below Stracey Arms. Oh well, take it as it comes like so much of the race.

Quanting out of the dyke for the start we were briefly stuck on the bottom. Better than being stuck in the overhanging willows and quickly sorted so we were out and hoisted sail to get above the X zone. We were quickly moored off a bungalow until it was time to rig everything and get ready to start.

Now it was a final chance to have a bite to eat before the action and then it was time to hoist and away. The topsail went up perfectly and set as well as I’ve ever seen it.

So we started tacking down towards Swan Corner and the X zone. Our progress being much frustrated by a couple of large hire cruisers crewed by people in pirate hats who insisted on trying to edge their way through. WR is not easy to windward in light airs and the problems caused by this led to us firstly having an unfortunate coming together with Slantendicular. (Steve was very good about it), and then missing our start. We eventually crossed the line about 10 minutes late.ON a broad reach down the Street we were passing plenty of boats, but that’s hardly surprising – they were the slower boats from the later starts.

I settled in to the role of doing the foredeck, which, as we came further off the wind, included looking after the whisker pole downhaul. Passing the ferry we had our first sighting of Griff in Broad Ambition, fulfilling his intention of being around to watch.

With a reasonable northerly breeze it seemed a good idea to tick off the dykes and then go for the lower Bure. All was going smoothly and, although the Ant was crowded we were lucky enough to avoid the worst crushes and rounded unscathed. So on to South Walsham which equally went quite smoothly. Things were looking good so far, but the bridges were yet to come. Thurne Mouth and there was Griff again with a cheery wave. Then it was down to Acle and the first bridge.

The approach to bridges varies. Which tack are we on? Is the wind behind us? Is the tide behind us? Approaching Acle with wind and tide and on starboard tack, we could drop the topsail first, then the main and finally the job at the last minute. Then it was down with the mast and on through in fine style, marred only by giving the jib a brief wash. Everything went back up smoothly, and we were fairly moving on in search of the mark. By now there were quite a few boats coming back, but many of these would not have done the dykes.

The mark turned out to be at Stracey Arms, which was reached quickly with the wind and tide. We were actually at Stracey fairly close to low water. It couldn’t have been better. Coming back up we were hailed from Myrtle the Turtle. “Where is the mark?” The answer – “That way!”

The return through Acle bridge started off well, but before everything was sorted we were pushed briefly on to the lee shore above Bridgecraft. We quickly extracted ourselves, but the hull took a bit of a knock on the piling just below the gunwhale. Sorted and under way, the topsail went up. Unfortunately it didn’t look right. The lashing securing it to the jackyard had worked loose. I landed the job of redoing the lacing, which kept me busy as far as Upton Dyke.

Back at Thurne mouth and it was time to head for Hickling, the last mark of the race. It made an interesting contrast with the last two years. Last year we’d retired at Acle Bridge at 8am. Two years ago we’d been here at a similar sort of time but with South Walsham still to do.

Potter bridge was looking good until the mast wouldn’t come all the way down. The problem was the gaff jaws still in the way. Nothing that gaffer tape wouldn’t fix, but underway again we spotted a split in the boom  where the gooseneck was bolted on. David and I lashed it together and it looked as if it would serve the race out.

Candle Dyke and Heigham Sound passed with only a brief encounter with the bottom and it was on to Hickling. The token went in the basket and it was all out for home.

Potter Bridge went better this time. Generally it was the best race I’ve had for bridges. On to Thurne Mouth and it was still daylight. What a contrast to previous years! We also had the last vestiges of the flood with us as we turned up the Bure.

As we steadily tacked our way up the Bure a midnight finish seemed possible. However the wind was dropping as the darkness gathered, but not as much as we expected. Near Horning Hall we ran aground a couple of times. This delayed us briefly, but we were soon on our way until finally the ebb tide and failing wind brought us to a standstill by the New Inn.

WR suffers from a tendency to fall off the wind when tacking in light airs and this was what was holding us back. Most tacks we were losing ground. Changing to the small jib helped but it still took us a good hour to clear the boats.

So it was that we finally drifted across the finish line at about 1:20, ready for breakfast and a few hours sleep.

Looking back we finished 41st, Graeme’s best result so far. A few minor mistakes cost us around 20 minutes at the time, but they were magnified later. If we’d been at the New Inn 20 minutes earlier we may have gone straight through. However nothing is certain in this race. With a crew who only got together on the day and a boat that was only fully rigged on the day as well it was a very satisfying result. More importantly it was loads of fun.

Many thanks to all the people who make this race such a great occasion. Colin and his team for their wonderful organisation; Graeme for the opportunity to race on his boat; David, Paul, Phil and John, who along with the skipper made a great racing team; the other competitors, especially those who are so understanding when rammed by our bowsprit; and to all those enthusiastic spectators encouraging us on our way.

© Robin Sermon, June 2008