Saturday started bright and windy, but as the fleet headed to the start the heavens opened, and hardly eased for the rest of the afternoon. The gusty winds caused a few capsizes even before racing started but everyone made the race. During the second lap the wind started to swing, and ease to almost drifting conditions by the time all boats had finished.
With the wind having swung through 180 degrees, it wasn’t looking promising for a second race, but the original westerly quickly returned, though slightly lighter, so the line was quickly reset, and another short race got underway (there’s only so much rain the committee boat team can cope with!)
Ethan led both races in his RS100, and by taking advantage of the better winds he secured two wins. John/Jack in their GP took 2nd in the first race, but fearing the wind had gone headed straight ashore. Dave in a Laser Radial had a 3rd and a 2nd, so is 2nd overall overnight.
Those that returned on Sunday found it was raining as much as Saturday (perhaps its had rained all night?), and the wind had disappeared. However, this did not totally dampen everyone’s enthusiasm as there was an interest in racing if possible. By 11.30 there was a hint that the rain was passing through, with some wind appearing from the SE, so the OD opted to test the sailor’s mettle, and arranged for the rescue boats to be launched before heading out to set a start. With the wind failing to settle from a given direction, it was after 1pm before racing got underway for five contenders, despite it being in the lightest of conditions, and a reaching start.
The wind filled in from the forecast NW direction, AJ/Sue reached the windward mark first ahead of Ethan in his RS100, and things looked promising. In fact they were sailing so well the race continued into the 2nd lap, only for the wind to ease yet again, so the race was shortened at the next mark. There would be no more racing, but at least it was a sunny afternoon, such a change from the morning.
Although AJ beat Ethan on handicap by a matter of seconds, Ethan won the Tinker Trophy series overall, with AJ 2nd, and Nigel/Glenys 3rd