The forecast was for more wind than Sunday, but there was considerably less as the boats were rigged. By the time the boats were on the water the wind had filled in and looked considerably more promising but, as ever, there were some big shifts to contend with and as a result the fleets were all well intermingled at the windward mark.
The gusts kept coming through, and boats had to work hard to stay upright on the reaches. Rhonwen was caught out by a gust just at the stage when her rudder had lifted, so she ended up in the water (score of 5.2 for the back flip?!). Not content with 5.2 for artistic content Rhonwen tried even harder in the final race and achieved a 5.5 for her capsize. The fact that Sam was laughing at the time isn’t sufficient to raise the score any more!
The Mirror results may look like it was a done deal with Mik Chappell taking both races – what it doesn’t show is that Toddy was in front of him for quite some time. This is a great confidence booster and could be a sign of things to come.
As Ian Preston and Jess Roberts were sailing today, Mike Moore and Mark Rimmer did some pot hunting in the F15 fleet and it paid off with two firsts to take the Jack Pot Trophy.
The final results for the handicap fleet were all dependant on the last race with no less than four in contention for the May Holiday Trophy. Robbie D and Ethan remained in the frame until the final run when Ethan didn’t manage to hold the tiller straight for quite long enough and they capsized. Scumper and Toggle were first to the windward mark but lost the lead to William and Jonathan at the next gybe mark. The gusting tight reach was just too much and William had to recover from a near capsize allowing Shunty and Ruth to have their turn in the lead! But that wasn’t it, the three RS400s remained in close contention, with the lead changing a couple of times, until the final lap when Shunty broke away. When the handicaps were calculated Joan Hardie was first with Shunty second, more than enough for him to win the trophy.
The Graduates have now completed their championship and the final results are shown below