Exmouth Fairway Buoy

4.75 miles, Exmouth

On Sunday 1 June 2008 the Exmouth Swimming and Life Saving Society held the 45th annual 4.75 mile (7.6 km) Fairway Buoy Swim. Four of us from the SLSC made our way out west from London for the race - Tom Hudson, Margy Sullivan, Nancy Shaw and myself. Tom and Margy made it down in good time the morning of the swim driving down in Tom's new plaything, the 'Kracken', while Nancy and I spent the a glorious weekend with friends in a nearby village before making our way over to Exmouth for the big race on the Sunday morning.

After registering and being covered in the obligatory black marker war paint on our shoulders, we received the race instructions and were teamed up with our kayakers. Due to shifting sandbanks, for the first time in the swim's history a different course had to be swum. The new route began further up into the mouth of the river, as close to the docks and Mamhead Slipway as possible, then using the new Swash Way channel to get swimmers and support vessels through Pole Sands and out to open sea where we swam a circuit before rounding a newly positioned turn buoy and back to the start position.

Alas, the swim did not involve rounding the actual Fairway Buoy after which it is named, however on reflection this was probably a good idea - in last year's swim some parts were so shallow that some of us actually even had to get up and run to make progress!

The day held only a gentle breeze and the seas remained calm for most parts. The water temperature was about 13C (55.4F) and was fairly consistent throughout the swim. This was welcomed by Margy, Nancy and myself, as it was a little warmer than the chilly 11-12 C (52-54F) that we experienced in last year. On the other hand, Tom 'Ice Man' Hudson, having already spent numerous weekends down at Dover harbour since May, was probably in danger of overheating in the tropical temperature.

The gun went off at 9.45am and 33 swimmers took to the water. In her first major race as Nancy Shaw, my new bride swam as beautifully as always (I would say that wouldn't I!) and came in 3rd overall and 2nd female in the time of 1:38:35, behind winner Caroline Ball of Kelly College. Having been as far up as 7th place halfway through the swim, I managed to get swamped by fitter swimmers in the second half, finishing equal 10th overall and 6th male in 1:44:17.

Tom Hudson had a sprint finish among his pack of swimmers to beat them to the post, finishing 13th overall and 8th male in 1:46:33, and Margy Sullivan was 11th female and 29th overall in a time of 2:10:50. On checking our second half times, 'Pocket Rocket' Margy had actually negative split her race and was the fastest of us all from the turn-boat to the finishing line. Some say that the current might have picked up in the later stage of the race, but hey, you can't argue with the timekeeper!

It was great to see that all 33 swimmers completed a hard swum race, following which we made our way to the presentations at the local Rugby club, where we feverishly devoured the well-deserved buffet that was put on for us.

On behalf of the four of us, I would like to thank the Exmouth Swimming and Life Saving Society for a well-organised event and for making us feel welcome during and after the swim. A good hard and rewarding endurance swim in cold water, and a great way to start the summer.

Postscript: However the events of the day were not over when we got out of the water. One of us (Tom) had accidentally locked his keys in the boot of his car while getting changed after the race. With the car alarm going off every 30 seconds and to the bemusement of passers-by, Tom, myself and the AA man spent the rest of the morning trying to break into the vehicle. Meanwhile, Nance and Margy, no doubt realising that our efforts were in vain, spent the time chatting away about SLSC and other important matters as only they know how. Despite all our efforts, including what can only be described as the spare-key-mobile-phone-remote-unlocking-trick (it's a long story...), this automobile, with the latest mod-cons in security, was not going to surrender to its master. No, we could not 'Release the Kracken this time. Leaving the car in Exmouth, Ice Man, the Pocket Rocket and Mr & Mrs Shaw all drove home to London together in the other car (at a pace somewhat slower than Tom was expecting to get home...)

Jason Shaw

Photo:

Sunday 07 June 2009

Exmouth Fairway Buoy

Four go for a Westcountry Paddle

Sunday 7th June was the date for the annual Exmouth Fairway Buoy swim. Being the first sea swim of the year in the British Long Distance Swimming Association calander, Exmouth is considered a gruelling test.

The usual course is 5 miles (8km) starting in the warmer waters of the estuary and heading out into the open sea where the surf is up and the temperature down. The goal is to round the "buoy" before the tide turns and then sprint back to warmer waters and the comforting sight of Exmouth's white stuccoed esplanade and the orange finishing buoy.

The field is restricted to 40 hardy 'lunatics' and the SLSC had 4 entrants this year. It's a long drive to Exmouth so we were all up early to get there in time for the 10.30am de-brief. The weather forecast wasn't good and we were expecting a challenging swim. A glance at the list of participants confirmed there was plenty of solid competition - a roll call of Channel swimmers and regular open water "seeds".

The good news was that to our surprise, the sun was shining in Exmouth and although the wind was up a bit, conditions looked good.

But the organisers were nervous and telling tales of 6 to 8 feet waves out past the sand banks. We felt encouraged by this news - nothing better than a bit of 'chop' to sort the men out from the boys ! Vasseline was applied (under the arms in case you were wondering!) and goggles in place. But it wasn't to be. The health and safety mafia stepped in and insisted the course was too dangerous and had to be changed. So a 30 minute delay followed and puzzled, we sat on the beach enjoying the sunshine on the self proclaimed "English Riviera".

In the meantime, the buoy was moved further inshore and we were then informed that the course would now be reduced to 2.5 miles. Feeling a bit short changed after such a long drive, we were now raring to get going. Brad Andersen had taken particular pains to "carb load" the previous night, witnesses marvelling at the numbers of potatoes which were put to the sword. On the starter gun, Brad 'smoked it' off the beach disappearing in a haze of sea spray to lead the peloton of flaling arms and legs up the estuary away from the town. Brad was in fact the first swimmer to reach the turn buoy but like a Bugatti Veyron (which can be driven for 12.5 minutes at top speed before it runs out of fuel) Brad clearly didn't have enough potatoes in the tank and was caught by the chasing pack on the homeward stretch.

The baton was taken up by Ben Pennington and Giles Meyer who were both vying with Caroline Ball (a multiple winner of Exmouth and many other open water events). Ben has trained hard this year and is in his best form for some time. It was a titanic effort, Ben out-swimming Caroline who came 3rd but being pipped to the winners podium by seconds by another male swimmer. Giles wasn't far behind.

So a great effort all round (see results below). The Exmouth swimming secretary made up for the shortened race by considerably lengthening his address at the presentation. Brad was gutted that there was no silver wear for being 1st to the buoy but consoled himself with a pint of Fosters and some further carb loading.

It's the third time we have had a SLSC swimmer take 2nd place at Exmouth so we'll be back - and it's getting personal!

Tom Hudson

Exmouth Fairway Buoy - 2.5 miles "rough" weather course - SLSC Entrants Results:

Ben Pennington - 2nd Man, 2nd overall - 55.21 mins

Giles Meyer - 4th Man, 5th overall - 56.40 mins

Brad Andersen - 6th Man, 7th overall- 59.06 mins

Tom Hudson - 10th Man, 13th overall - 62.03 mins