There may not have been any boats on the foreshore after they had all been moved to safety in the morning, but it didn’t stop 10 boats venturing out to race in the squally conditions. Two F15s, a GP and 7 single handers took part in the first race in the last long series of the season.
Alan and Sue opted to split up and crew for Mike Fairlamb and Graham Kirkpatrick respectively. Alan would have an early exit after Mike capsized a couple of times. Not sure whether anyone survived without a capsize (though Jim Christie might have!), and even Scumper found the gybes challenging. Hard work but some exhilarating sailing to reward their efforts. Scumper won the first race with 3 mins to spare, followed by Toggle and Joe Watkins.
Numbers were slightly depleted for the 2nd race, the capsizes continued and all but Hugh finished. Scumper again won with a 3 min lead from Jim Christie and Toggle.
In the F15s, Mike/Kayla retired after breaking their gooseneck – unlike Mike to stick it in the wrong hole! That left Graham/Sue to complete the course and come ashore as overnight leaders. How many years is it since Graham has been able to celebrate that?!