The blustery winds that were forecast did not come to fruition, resulting in good sailing conditions for the select few that raced, albeit in cooler conditions that in recent weekends.
Val/Ken in their GP led the races generally, giving Neil in a Laser a run for his money, making good use of the intermittent planing conditions. Neil finished first on the water in the first race, and though Val crossed the line first in the last race, she hit the mark, and had to re-round it, letting Neil get through in the meantime. New member Mathis had a tussle with the start mark, getting caught up in its mooring rope, giving the rest of the fleet a bit if a start!
On handicap, Val won both races on personal and fleet handicap basis, with Neil 2nd.
Sunday’s forecast was for light airs and the risk of rain, but with enough ripples on the water to get racing underway. However, the wind was swinging considerably, so a hopefully middling beat to mark 1 was set. With 1 relatively close to the shore, it was partly shadowed from the wind making the beat a little slow and challenging for some. Though the first lap was slow, it would have been too short to stop for lunch, so the fleet continued for another two thirds of a lap to finish at mark 0. Though it was fine for the leaders, led by Neil/Rory in a F15, the wind faded and the tail enders had a slow return home.
The breeze returned for the afternoon, but remained light. Neil led the fleet but it was a day for GPs, though Dave/Lynn had to work to pull back and win on a fleet handicap basis ahead of Joan/Jack. On personal handicap, Paul/Emily won the morning race, and Jim/Poppy had a better race winning the afternoon race.
Fortunately sunshine won the day and the rain did not appear, but the flies in the race office did!
Dave/Lynn presently lead both the fleet and personal handicap Sunday series