Ne’er cast a clout till the May is out – so true! The forecast wall to wall sunshine was nowhere to be seen, and the light winds were cold.
With the Catapult fleet having their open meeting with us again, there was a great turnout of boats. The winds eased as the afternoon progressed.
Tog coaxed Joanie out in the RS200 again, and despite his frustrations seeping through, she was still smiling at the end! It was Robbie D that built up a good lead, but when the handicaps were applied, Banter, newcomer Ian Hall, and Alastair were hot on his heels finishing within 29secs of his corrected time. In the 2nd race, Robbie D again took the honours, with Jim C 2nd, and Mik, with no comps torus in the Mirror/Topper fleet, finishing a few secs later in 3rd place.
Mike/Kayla won the 1st F15 race but in the 2nd race, Ian/Lezli-Ann kept the wind to take the lead, and advantage of the shortened course (though they were hoping it would have been shortened earlier). Dave/Lynn won both GP races from Mike/Eric
There could be a bit of hot air this evening with entertainment comprising Chilli followed by a rules talk/discussion by Eddie Ramsden. Will everyone be fired up to protest on the water tomorrow?
Sunday offered slightly milder, but much stronger and gustier winds. Although there were various capsizes, and several near misses, the good reaching conditions and close racing made it an enjoyable race for many. For some reason sheep syndrome took over and several boats went around the leeward mark the wrong direction (consistently) and so were giving DNF.
Lucy was crewing for Alastair, but not amused that they capsized on their way ashore. Perhaps they’d let their guard down…
After lunch there were another two races that were certain to tire many out, especially as the wind continued to blow with some wild gusts at times.
Alastair/Lucy crossed the finish line only to be flattened by one of the gusts – did it blow Alastair’s hat off too?
Izzy (or is it Hazel?) and Harry put in gutsy performances in their Toppers coping with several capsizes, finishing two of the races, and retiring in the final one of the day. Despite some close racing, Harry took two firsts and currently leads the series.
Scumper/Zefer kept Robbie D/Banter at bay taking 3 wins and the overnight lead in the handicap fleet, while Paul is in 3rd place. Dave/Lynn recovered from their mark rounding mistake in the first race to win the next two races and overnight lead ahead of Alan/Sue.
The F15s had some close racing, sharing the wins between Mike/Kayla, Simon/Jon and Neil/Tog meaning everything was to sail for on Monday for which the forecast was more of the same, though with the wind from the SSE. Indeed there was a good SSE wind on Monday, but it wasn’t as gusty. The wind direction suited some courses that made use of the southern end of the lake. Birthday boy Simon sailed with his sensible head to win both races and the F15 series with Mike/Sally and Neil/Tog each getting second to finish 2nd and 3rd overall respectively.
Despite some strengthening competition from Val/Ken who are quickly getting to grips with their new boat, Dave/Lynn took another couple of firsts (and the Lyne Tankard), with Val and John each taking a 2nd place, but AJ’s first on Sunday secured him 2nd overall ahead of Val.
Whether it was the less gusty conditions, or the longer beats, John Reekie mastered his Musto Skiff to win both races in the handicap fleet. Robbie D and Shunty each had a second position, but Scumper’s 3rd place was more than enough to win him the May Holiday trophy when combined with his three wins from Sunday.
Commodore Andy sailed, and won, one race each with daughters Lily and Katia, but it was Harry’s consistent performance over the two days that earned him the Peel Pot ahead of Hazel.
There was more consistent results from Gareth Ede giving him a clear lead in the Catapult open, but some more close racing led to there being only 3 points separating 2nd to 4th places, with John Terry securing 2nd overall.
All in all another great sailing weekend!
Final results – Club racing / Catapult Open
