The Salopian no. 157 - Winter 2015

OLD SALOPIAN NEWS 61
Old Salopian Yacht Club
L-R: Mark Telfer, Matthias Borstell, Will Collins, Johnny Moulsdale, John Newton, Tim Becker, Kurt de Freitas, George Hall, James Pitt, Rupert Tildesley - and
photographer James Heaven (out of shot)
Once again, the highlight of the
OSYC’s year was participation
in the annual Boarding Schools Arrow
Trophy regatta at Cowes in October.
Always a popular event, both on and
off the water, Shrewsbury has entered
at least one crew for the past ten
years and will take over running the
event in 2019.
The weekend started as usual with
a late evening passage from Port
Solent to Cowes, and an impressive
but futile effort to leave Tim Becker
on the dockside, followed by dinner
in a local curry house allowing crew
members ranging in age from their
early twenties to an undisclosed
upper limit to form close bonds
ahead of the next day’s racing. We
hand over at this point to our matchday
commentator and enthusiastic
crew member, James Heaven, to
report on the weekend’s racing.
“This year saw the return of Rupert
Tildesley to the helm, alongside James
Pitt as Skipper and Tactician, the
dream team that had delivered the
Charterhouse Trophy in recent years.
With only one boat entered into the
competition this year, consolidating
experienced crew drawn from previous
years’ racing, as well as a number of
new members, confidence was high
going into the weekend. In the first
race, despite a disastrous start, a gamble
to the opposite side of the course saw
us fight back from last place up to 8th.
large picnic and full fridge of cold beer
may not have helped, but it did soothe
our concerns, along with the excellent
company and glorious sunshine we
enjoyed for the whole weekend.
Relaxing later that evening, we
observed the leading crews frantically
polishing their hulls of weed and
considered how distasteful it was
to be seen to be taking these things
too seriously, whilst at the same time
plotting to do the same next year. It
seems things are getting quite serious
and we came away this year agreed
that it was far more amusing being in
the top 5 rather the bottom 5 at the end
of the day. Your old school needs you!
Please contact David Richards and join
us next year, when we will try to enter
two boats and make at least one of
these quietly, distastefully, competitive.
All welcome.”
James modestly declines to
acknowledge his lead contribution in
the stocking of the beer fridge, and
neglects to mention the enjoyable
Saturday evening dinner in the
RORC’s Royal Corinthian Yacht Club,
enthusiastically supported by our
crew, but we echo his exhortation
to Salopians who would like to take
part next year to contact the Secretary
(david.richards@trinity.oxon.org).
Experienced racing yachties are of
course especially welcome but we have
room for enthusiastic sailors with any
level of experience. As ever, a cheery
spirit, well-formed winch-grinding
muscles, and an ability to hold a steady
glass are the core qualifications for
Salopian yachting.
Beyond the Arrow, we continue to
encourage yacht-owning Salopians
to offer cruising and racing places
on their boats to our members. Will
Collins deserves special mention for
his generosity in offering crew places
on his yacht Dogmatix in the JOG
racing series. Several club members
have joined Will during the season,
even including the Secretary who took
part in a bruising but enjoyable race to
Alderney in June.
We remain very grateful to the Salopian
Club for their financial support,
enabling us to sponsor participation
by our younger members to a very
considerable extent.
Unfortunately this impressive recovery
turned out to be our best result of the
series. Despite determined teamwork
and some superb starts, we found
ourselves simply overhauled on boat
speed, despite our best efforts to rectify
the situation. We suspected that the
L- R: James Pitt, Rupert Tildesley, Johnny Moulsdale, Tim Becker, Kurt de Freitas, David Richards