Old Whitgiftian Sailing Club

The inaugural Old Whits entry into the Arrow Trophy on the first weekend of October went swimmingly, fortunately not literally. Our team made an impressive display in terms of spanning many decades of experience, although special thanks must go to our youngest colleague who also happened to be the organiser, James Wilkie.

Blessed with glorious sunshine, but sadly cursed with not quite enough wind to keep the sails full, our aim quickly became to simply make the best of what we had – despite the cancellation of one race on the Sunday morning due to the fact that the tide was pushing everyone backward faster than the wind was moving us forward, the competitiveness between the schools taking part was evident in the number of close shaves (and occasional impacts – there must have been more than one damage deposit forfeited) and mostly good-natured shouting from one boat to another.

Our motto quickly became “It’s not the winning that’s important, it’s the not coming last” – on which we delivered 100%. James’s valiant efforts as a tactician and experienced racing hand, and everyone else in the team’s clear willingness to muck in and take on different tasks, kept us going and in a better position than many for most of the racing; but the Solent tides and unpredictable winds meant that at one point, we were actually gaining by having our anchor out and standing still!

Consensus at the end of the weekend was that it was an excellent learning experience and had been a pleasant way to meet fellow OWs, and we’re hoping to better our performance and come back with a stronger entry for next year’s Arrow Trophy.

For further details please contact:

James Wilkie on wilkie_j@hotmail.com or 01342 834853.