Chichester Yacht Club and a gathering at the RAF Yacht Club on the Hamble on Saturday 15 September. Our Arrow Trophy team again won silverware on the Solent in October. Skipper Alastair Capon and his crew deserve our heartiest congratulations. Please see the separate report. 2012 will see a number of changes to our committee. I shall be standing down as secretary and treasurer. My place as secretary will be taken by Anthony Frankford and treasurer by Jerry Saville. Both deserve great support from everyone. We also have two new members: Dr Alex Langley and Tom Tidbury – some much needed young blood. Arrow Trophy 2011 The Charterhouse Bowl is a splendid object but it speaks volumes when Dulwich are disappointed with only winning this particular trophy, won at October’s annual Arrow Trophy sailing regatta for independent schools in Cowes. The Charterhouse Bowl is awarded to the winner of the fleet racing conducted over the Saturday and Sunday. As holders of the actual Arrow Trophy our expectations are such that we feel we should be getting into the match racing every time. This year we sailed Sunsail F40s, specifically set up for racing with powerful mainsails and spinnakers of 128 square metres. They require a minimum crew of ten and as we were sailing in force six winds most of the weekend there were more thrills and spills than usual! Fortunately, we had the excellent Chris Savage on the helm, a guest appearance by Anthony Frankford – returning to the event he first organised for us in 1995 – and welcomed aboard for the first time Will Davidson and Rahim Kheraj. Our aim is to sail consistently and finish in the top ten – preferably in the top five – to assure a match racing place after Saturday’s racing. The first three races went well but with a fleet of 21 it is likely that there will always be at least one race where something goes wrong, and race four was our bête-noir. On the downwind leg we were considering when to drop the spinnaker, when Chris announced calmly that the helm had jammed! We yelled warnings at the boats gybing around the mark ahead of us and continued downwind at over ten knots, with the spinnaker and sheet trimmers controlling our direction. As we radioed in our retirement the helm freed itself, but by then we were more than half a mile beyond the mark. In the last race of the day we led the fleet but a simple navigation error took us to the wrong leeward mark – a reminder that complacency has no place in a winning crew. A fine dinner and marvellous hospitality at the Royal Corinthian, along with the formal presentation Geoffrey Dove (38-44)
of the Arrow Trophy for 2010’s win, tempered our disappointment at missing out on Sunday’s match racing. Sunday morning found us determined to do better and not allow Charterhouse to beat us by more than two places, as they started only one point behind. We sailed an excellent race one, putting Charterhouse under such pressure that they actually bumped the final downwind mark, giving themselves a penalty and allowing us to nip through inside and open up a four point lead. In race two we had a fantastic start and were leading when the Race Committee declared a general recall and suspension of racing after being rammed amidships by one of our competitors. A premature end to our morning left us clear winners of the Fleet Racing. This was another exciting Arrow campaign with great sailing, good company and marvellous hospitality from the Royal Corinthian and Oliver Light’s parents, who allowed us use of their house in Cowes. We take pride in representing the College in a very competitive regatta and beating more established sailing schools, enjoy meeting and sailing with an expanding and talented group of OAs, and much appreciate the continuing support of the Alleynian Sailing Society. Thanks go to our retiring Secretary, Geoff Dove, whose unfailing patience and support have been invaluable for so long. 2011 crew: Alastair Capon, Chris Savage, Anthony Lindley, Campbell Flynn, Anthony Frankford, Charlie Lowe, Jason Proctor, Tom Tidbury, Rahim Kheraj and Will Davidson. Dulwich College has produced consistently strong cricket sides in recent years under the expert guidance of former England batsman and Worcestershire CCC coach Bill Athey. These sides have been greatly strengthened by the Cricketing Scholars from Barbados as Dulwich has actively mined the rich seam of talent that extends back through Haynes, Garner and Sobers to Worrall, Weekes and Walcott. This means that for the first time since our only Final appearance in 1974, Old Alleynians now have the potential players to win the Cricketer Cup. We also reached the semi-finals in 1984, 1993, 1999 and 2008 without really having the depth of quality required to win the Cup. The most famous OA to have played has been Trevor Bailey (37-42) who appeared in the 1974 Final 15 years after the last of his 61 England Test Matches. Alastair Capon (73-80) Old Alleynians in the Cricketer Cup (1969–2011)
14 Clubs & Societies
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