After a turnout of 20 boats on Thursday evening, was it the lack of one of AJ’s meals on offer, or the long term forecast of 40kt gusts that put sailors off on Saturday as there were only 4 helms turned up, of which only two decided to race (and neither were Asymmetrics)?
The weather was a little showery at times, but the winds were perfectly sailable at force 2-3, and less than the updated forecast. Steve/Ruth in a Merlin, and Zefer in a Laser, both had clean starts. Steve led the racing, there were no capsizes, but on handicap Zefer secured two wins to lead the series.
Sunday morning was clear with a slightly milder light breeze from the west. 17 boats raced over the four fleets. In the Slow Handicap fleet Mik was recalled for being OCS at the start, but Phil/Oliver took no chances and returned as well, not that it did Phil much harm as he started again on a good shift that had him in front of wife Naomi within a couple of mins!
Although the windward mark was slightly shadowed by the shoreline, despite being moved further into the lake, the lead boats completed the first lap in just over 15 mins. However, the wind shadow around 4 quickly expanded, and the rate of progress eased dramatically such that the race was shortened before the next lap was completed, with the gap between first and last boats to finish being more than 35 mins.
The wind didn’t settle down after lunch, and although an attempt was made to set a course, the shifting and fickle airs were not steady enough to put on another race, so racing was cancelled for the day.