Castaways place third at Imperial Icicle
- Maryn Wilkes
- Feb 24
- 4 min read
Written by Maryn Wilkes
Off the back of their success at the Brummy Boom, CLART ventured beyond the perceived safety of the M25 to the “faraway” Queen Mary Sailing Club for the Imperial Icicle — a staple of the Castaways calendar and, thanks to some persuasive lobbying from the Imperial commodore, an event not to be missed.
Maryn’s campaign began, as ever, Friday morning at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, enjoying a leisurely 90-minute delay before finally making it to Alec’s place as dusk fell. Soon joined by Josh and Sam, the group undertook the arduous journey (two whole streets) to Henry Hollingworth’s residence to assist in relieving him of a bottle of bubbly. Two bottles later, the newly formed group set off for Fulham to join the wider fleet on a pub crawl, catching up with many friends along the way.
Despite some hesitation, given mixed reviews from the previous year, the group once again found themselves drawn to Putney’s Le Fez and its lavish interior for the final stop of the night. The gamble paid early dividends: the entry ticket could be exchanged for a double, and Maryn somehow secured two additional free beers soon after. While some were quick to attribute this to his charisma, he maintains it was merely a faulty payment terminal. Unfortunately, neither complimentary alcohol nor a surprise saxophone cameo could disguise the fact that the club was, generously put, quiet. Disillusioned (seemingly to be becoming a trend on nights out now that the team are no longer students), Sam, Maryn and Alec thus embarked on the long journey home — supposedly two night buses. A tactical stop at the culinary institution known as Chicken Hub, however, caused them to miss the second bus, not helped by Maryn momentarily forgetting that British traffic does not, in fact, drive on the right. An Uber eventually restored order and dignity, safely dropping the trio off at Alec's.
After a surprisingly respectable seven hours of sleep, the team headed to Queen Mary Reservoir for the small matter of sailing. Advance notice finally allowed Maryn to reunite with Saskia, after at least five previously unsuccessful last-minute invitations. The pair hoped to draw on their storied London Purple partnership, when Maryn was still a wide-eyed fresher, but admittedly had not raced together in well over two years. With Saturday numbers tight, the team was further strengthened by Lilli — yes, the Imperial commodore — who, having admirably handled the event organisation beforehand, elected to leave race-day logistics to others while she enjoyed racing the fresh Ovington Fireflies. Overall, a solid team that should be capable of performing well.
Saturday delivered highly patchy conditions. The breeze faded steadily, leaving shifty and testing racing (and at times, drifting). CLART spectacularly threw a race against the QM team led by friend Sam, converting a commanding 1–2 off the line into QM’s only victory of the weekend. Aside from an entirely unnecessary wobble against Durham Purple — which briefly threatened to rekindle the Eighty Years’ War — the remainder of day passed relatively drama-free, with CLART finishing inside the top five.
The team then sped home to get changed in thoroughly uninspired "green eggs and ham" outfits, many not able to muster more than a single green article of clothing. The start of the evening took the sailors to Taste of India, where a promising sign outside announced a “UCL party downstairs”. What followed was a true Icicle curry, albeit with food arriving two hours after the announced sit down time. By this point adequately inebriated, the Southampton sailors chose not so much to eat their food as to redistribute it across the venue. Unfortunately, CLART found themselves seated right next to them, and thus well in the firing range. Maryn sought neutral ground at the Brunel table, trusting their Cindy Lou Who capes to provide adequate cover should matters escalate. His jacket, sadly left behind on the battlefield, has yet to recover. The curry-based hostilities saw the entire contingent ejected at the early hour of 21:30, leaving Imperial’s social secretaries with the logistical headache of having to waste two hours before the club entry.
The executive decision was made to kill time at The Montagu Pyke, a spiritual home for many UCL sailors and students alike. The venue proved too comfortable: the hosts from Imperial opted to remain rather than proceed to Roxy for their own club social, leaving the Brunel sailors — who had successfully navigated to the club — lamenting their abandonment in the group chat. The same fate befell CLART. A valiant last-minute attempt was made to enter Roxy well after midnight; however, after advancing approximately five metres in half an hour of queueing, the sailors elected to cut their losses and head home.
Sunday saw the definitive CLART line-up emerge. Matt, fresh from the GB Team Racing qualifiers, and Josh, liberated from the commercial spectacle of Valentine’s Day, stepped in as helms. Racing began in stronger winds, necessitating cut-down sails. As the breeze steadily faded and the reservoir turned glassy, this decision became increasingly questionable. Fortunately, swift action from Imperial’s volunteers ensured full-sized sails were used for the knockout stages, for which CLART qualified in third place after a commanding set of wins in the dying morning breeze.
A pair of poor starts proved costly in the semi-final against Southampton Green. In both races Matt and Alec held convincing 1s, but found their teammates in a regrettable 5–6 combination. Two losses therefore sent CLART to the petit final. There, the team delivered emphatic 1–2 combinations in both races against Northern RoyalT to secure third overall and first alumni team — a result rewarded with three artfully painted bailers.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend combining solid racing with the usual social chaos. Many thanks to Imperial for hosting a fantastic event — we look forward to returning next year.
The team
Helms – Maryn Wilkes, Josh Waha, Alec Orr Prosper, Matt Wright, Angel Baeza Gutierrez, Yinglai Wu
Crews – Saskia Gaiger, Derek Lee, Lilli Topp, Alec Orr Prosper
