The winds were a reasonably steady force 2, but the direction was unusual and very variable! The OD set an excellent windward leg towards buoy 2 from the middle of the lake – at least it was excellent until about 5 seconds before the start gun when it turned into a fetch. Fortunately, half way up the leg, it turned into a beat again. Richard and Philip are still trying to suss out their new RS 400 and for some reason seemed to be tacking all over the place about 10 yards over the start line. Jose and Ginge took an early lead, but were soon overtaken by John and Islay Crosbie in their flying fifteen. Once the boats were within about 50 yards of buoy 2, it was anyone’s guess as to who would get round first or where the wind was coming from. Richard and Philip began to pull away, but seemed to put in twice as many gybes as anyone else on the downwind legs.
Further down the fleet, Tim Knowles was sailing his old boat, with its new owner, Des Wright, in the front. Des has only been sailing for two months, but was given a quick crash course in spinnaker handling and roll tacking. They were rather late over the start line, but were soon making their way through the fleet.
Another new combination was Roy and Michaela in a GP rather than their lark. It turns out that Roy isn’t too keen on a spinnaker pole stored in the boat – Michaela tried to store it in his face! There were also a few toppers out with Sam Hall leading the way. On the last lap, a couple of gentle gusts came through – they registered ‘one shriek’ on the gustometer scale in the front of Ginge’s boat.
After handicaps were calculated, Tim and Des were first with Ginge and Jose second.