After recent rain, and stormy weather, the temperature has dipped again, and cloud moved in for a damp afternoon’s sailing to start the Saturday Autumn series.

The wind enabled sailors to enjoy some exciting planing early in the first race which was led by Scumper/Matty in a RS400, followed by James/Jenny in a GP, and Mike/Jack in a Graduate. The wind eased slightly, but not the rain, as the afternoon went on so Scumper called it a day after the first race.

Julie in a F15 led the next race with Mike/Jack 2nd on the water, and James/Jenny 3rd.

Sunday was drier, milder, and nowhere near as gusty as forecast.

With the stand in OD sleeping in, it was down to the official starter to manage proceedings from a fixed line start between the Bates and 0 for the fleet of four boats.

The start for the first race was very orderly, and processional with no passing – Neil/Archie led in their RS200, followed by AJ/Sue.

For the next race Neil and AJ both opted to fly their kites on the start line. AJ was very close to being OCS but tucked back just in time. The lead order remained the same but, having been trailing, Paul came back to beat Neil on the line by 1 sec. Barbara was the only person to capsize, albeit after she had finished!

Latest results (to follow)

With the schools back, the weather has perked up for a brief Indian summer and providing champagne sailing conditions. The Tinker Association had a smaller fleet than usual for their open meeting, while club boats were racing� in a weekend series for the Tinker Trophy.

Fortunately the light westerly was enhanced by the effects of a sea breeze, though, as ever, there were some regular swings in direction enabling gains for those on the right shifts! Paul/Vicki were generally leading the fleet on the water, but when Val/Ken chose to fly their kite on a tight reach they broke through to lead the race to the end.

As forecast, the wind was lighter on Sunday so there was a slight delay to the start waiting for the wind to fill back in which just about held for the morning race which Neil led on the water. To avoid the heavy rain forecast for early afternoon, it was proposed to sail the races back to back, but boats headed ashore due to the light wind. After lunch the wind came in from the south with gusto tempting Banter to take out his RS300, but it was the first reach before he took the lead and broke away. The offwind legs had some exciting planing conditions when some gusts came through (together with some more persistent rain), and there was at least one capsize.

Final results (when available)

Good luck to all those members taking part in the Great North Run on Sunday.