Oops – Can you tell who it is yet?Click on the following link to see more photos of the event by Scumper

Saturday

0900    There’s a multitude of keen sailors that arrived last night queuing up for bacon and egg baps. The weather is overcast, but the breeze is from the south west, and is due to freshen as the morning moves on

1200    The entries are still coming in, and the fleet list has reached 51 boats. The weather is not as sunny as expected, but at least there seems to be wind under the black clouds 🙂 The wind is in the forecast direction and forecast to increase slightly as the afternoon goes on. The OD is considering holding three races today in what is expected to be the better conditions

1300    The entries have closed at 51 boats. The competitors are preparing for the first ‘decent length’ race (as the OD put it). The fleet will come ashore and venture out again with a view to having a further two races back to back

1345    The competitors have all launched, at least two have capsized, and one has returned to shore! What will follow?

1400    There was a good clean start and a fleet of 50 boats set off for the first race. Perhaps the ODs promise of black flagging was taken heed of!?

1455    The winner of the first race crosses the line – Nick Craig of Frensham Pond

1600    The fleet are preparing to go out for race 2. One helm looking for a replacement crew was, sadly, not inundated with offers from stand-ins!

1615    Race 2 gets under way – another clear start

1705    Nick Craig wins race 2

1735    No peace for the wicked – Race 3 gets underway – another clear start!

1820    The wind having eased slightly for the last race (not that the sailors would feel the benefit after three long races), did not alter the position of the strongest competitor of the day – it was Nick Craig that again led the way and take his third win of the day

All that’s left is for the competitors to come ashore, pack away their boats and get ready for their Christmas dinner! You think we’re joking!

A protest relating to an incident in race 2 led to the non discardable disqualification of Steve Blackburn – will he take out on the revellers in the disco?

Sunday

Three windy races, a Christmas dinner and a quiz were enough to tire out most of the visitors and they had a relatively early night with most having gone to bed by midnight.

0800    There are only occasional zephyrs breaking up the mirror like water. The forecast is for light winds gusting 15-19mph. It seems unlikely that it will come to fruition in just two hours, but we hope it does! There’s not much activity on site at the moment (a bit like the wind I suppose)….

1040    The start time for race 3 has passed, but the wind has not settled in yet. Until the direction settles down into a NW direction the prospect of a good race is poor. The galley had some brisk business with bacon/ bacon & egg baps. Head chef Elaine said to some of the late night revellers that service would be available until 930. Little did she know that 930 would be the time when the food stocks ran out! Unfortunately there were a few disappointed sailors still in the queue at that time. Ah well, there’s always lunch!

1110    The wind is settling down to the forecast WNW, the course is set, and the fleet’s lining up for the start. Now that the wind is in the right direction, the breeze should strengthen a little

1325    Race 4 got underway at 1135 after several general recalls. The wind held out, but didn’t freshen as expected, or hoped! Nick Craig failed to make it four in a row, coming in 2nd but with an unassailable position that means he has won the championship even before the final race gets underway. Over lunch the wind has continued to ease, and has swung to the north. Hopefully the final race will get underway shortly

1415    After quite a while hanging around, and a general recall, the final race has been underway for about 5 mins, but the wind is continuing to swing significantly. Fortuitously, the wind pattern matches the route of the course (or did the OD set the course within the wind?). The general recall resulted in the use of the black flag rule being applied – three boats fell foul of it and it meant they were to come ashore early and pack their boat away.

1505    The final race is coming to and end. The wind did hold out till the end, but only just!

 

The Commodore thanked all the competitors for travelling so far and wished them a safe journey home. Prizes were presented by his wife Elaine