I bumped into Peter this morning at a well known DIY shop and despite bemoaning his low score on the WSC quiz and commenting that he was not the only one, he begged me to publish the answers. So here they are.......
1. What was the name of the fishing boat immortalised in the film The Perfect Storm? – Andrea Gail
2. Only one yacht has ever won as Overall Winner (IRC) in The Round the Island race back to back; Eeyore. What type of yacht was she? - Alacrity 18 Bilge Keel. And for an extra point what was the name of the skipper? - Jo Richards
3. Where would you find a ‘truck’? – At the top of the mast – traditionally oval it is fitted with small sheaves for flag halliards
4. In Moby Dick the author Herman Melville called the whaling ship the Pequod which sunk at the end of the book. What real ship was the Perquod based on? - The Essex
5. The USS Missouri was made famous because the surrender documents to end WW11 were signed on board in Tokyo Bay September 2 1945. What was the nickname of the Missouri? - Mighty Mo
6. Jolie Brise was the first winner of the Fastnet race in 1925; who was the Owner/Skipper? – Evelyn George Martin
7. On a traditional hand Lead line the first 5 fathoms are known as the drift the remaining 20 fathoms are divided into Marks and Deeps; what depth does the last Deep measure? – 19 fathoms
8. What was the name of the lady who is recognised as being the first woman to have sailed around the world and for an extra mark in which year? - Jeanne Baret, a French woman who, disguised as a man, sailed on the Etoile, one of the two ships on the French expedition led by Louis-Antoine de Bougainville. Baret was a herbalist and assisted in the identification of new species. The expedition left France in April 1768.
9. The Firefly was designed by Uffa Fox in 1946. What were the names of the first four built? One point for each – Fe, Fi, Fo Fum
10. The Squibb was designed in 1967 as a scaled down version of what type of boat? - Ajax 23
11. Laura Decker was the youngest person to circumnavigate the world; how old was she? – 16 Yrs 4 Mths
12. In 1851 the Americas Cup was held in the Solent. Queen Victoria asked an attendant to inform who was in second place; what was the response? Your Majesty, there is no second.
13. Who invented ‘One Design Racing’? - Thomas (Ben) Middleton. For an extra point each where? Killney Bay, Ireland and when? - 1886
14. When was the first Round the Island race? - 1931
15. The Route de Rhum starts in Saint Malo and finishes at which city? Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe.
16. The first Commodore of Weymouth Sailing Club owned two yachts; what were their names? one point for each - George and Ethel
17. What is thought to be the derivation of the word ‘Canvas’? – From the Latin word for Hemp, Cannabis.
18. On a traditional hand Lead Line what mark denotes ten fathoms? – Piece of leather with a hole in it
19. On what type of ship would you find a Maierform bow? – Ice Breaker
20. How far can you see at sea if your height of eye is 3 Metres? - 3.5 Nm
21. On a traditional Compass Card there are 32 points; how many ¼ points are there? – 96. For an extra mark what is the bearing in degrees of E. By S. ¼ S? – 110 degrees
22. In the early 19th century ‘rating’ measurements for racing were based on tonnage and there were four classes. Allowance was made based on distance that a class had to give another, lower, class. What year was distance handicapping changed to time handicapping? – 1834
23. What is the fastest sailing record recorded by the World Sailing Speed Record Council and for another mark each the name of the boat and year? 65.45Kn by Vestas Sailrocket 2 in 2012 over 500 Metres
24. Naomi James was the first woman to sail single handed around the world via Cape Horn; how many days did it take? – 272 days 2 less than Francis Chichester
25. What distance would you sail at XMAS? - WSC race marks - 15.8 Nm
Maximum Score 36
30 or more– Smart arse 20 – 29 – Not bad, just trim the barber hauler 10 – 19 – Could do better, clean your hull 9 or less – That took the wind out of your sails
Submitted on 16th January 2022