The day started with Neil, Mike & Jim teaching some of our younger and keener members in Mirrors and Toppers. It was great to see those who had come along for “Push the Boat Out” last weekend returning to learn and take part.
The wind was blowing from the West at speeds of 20-30mph shifting up to 90 degrees which made sailing interesting. The Club sailors on the veranda, sheltered by the clubhouse, couldn’t make their minds up whether to sail or not. The younger ones were keen to go.
We had a Scratch Race Management Crew as the Official Starter and his Apprentice had gone AWOL, Herb at a wedding and William up the Khyber (Fjords), the OD having previously won the Fastnet Race, equivalent to winning a pursuit race at Bass Week!!, was ready.
The first race started with the Flying Fifteens who were led by Mike & Kayla from start to finish. The committee boat tried its best to confuse competitors by drifting towards the shore but a rapid response from the crew rectified the situation. Dave & Lynn in their GP joined Hugh in his Vareo to make up the handicap fleet, positions changed throughout but Dave and Lynn won on the water and handicap. The Toppers were joined by Jim and James in his Hartley 12, the Topper sailors decided to reduce to 4.2 sail size due to the conditions only to find Mike Fairlamb and Steve Hunt, both well over 40.2 had rigged fully sails and came out to take on the kids. We also had 2 new members Sol & Seb White who just joined last weekend taking part.
They all had a great race with many capsizes and stories to tell. Hazel sailed a fantastic race finishing just behind Steve and winning on handicap, Izzie capsized just before the finishing line and persevered in howling winds despite a number of further dunkings to finish. Jamie showed great skill in finding the finishing line despite the committee boat moving position. They all did fantastically well.
Race 2 saw a reduced number of competitors. 3 Flying Fifteens took part, Mike & Kayla saw their Jib fall down just before the start and retired, Alan and Sue made a fantastic Port on Port start only to later retire leaving Tim and Ian to win the race. The Toppers were the only others to take part, 4 started and Hazel was the only one to finish making it 2 out of 2. More wind forecast tomorrow!