Another glorious, but cold, Saturday with clear skies, meant Sunday was to be bitterly cold, but some early morning cloud turned to drizzle, which left various roads, including the M6, like skating rinks due to black ice. Who would drive 120 miles in such conditions for a sail – you’re right none other than next week’s speaker at the annual dinner, Steve Hunt!
So was it worth it hold back the other two main contenders for the Winter Trophy? Surprisingly there was a reasonable breeze (in the middle of the lake at least), but the drizzle had turned to rain. It was so uninviting that Neil Currie opted out of sailing (before Judith changed her mind?). By the time racing started the rain had gone and the wind was doing most peculiar things in that it was seemingly coming from about three directions at once! The wind didn’t settle down during the race, resulting in some unexpectedly close racing, with only a couple of minutes between 1st RS400 and last GP after 50 mins of sailing. This gave another first to Malcolm Clayton, and kept him in the running for the trophy.
The wind picked up before the start of the next race, but suddenly stopped about 30 secs before the start signal. However, Steve Hunt was on the line and got well away with the course side breeze. In fact it was another 2 mins before the next boat even reached the start line! Steve continued to carry his luck and by the end of the 1st lap he had a 7 min lead. However, while Steve disappeared into the distance, William Carruthers and Lesley Braddock fought it out with Jim Christie up to the windward mark, with Malcolm still struggling to cross the line. Suddenly, within what seemed like a couple of mins, William was just rounding the mark when Malcolm seemed to be back in contention. Within 10 mins, William was 2nd and trying catch up with Steve, Jim had given up the ghost and retired, and Malcolm was still only 50 yards from the windward mark!
On the 2nd lap it seemed as if William was carrying the luck when with a good 2nd beat he reduced Steve’s lead by 2 mins. He continued to nibble away at the lead until he was within 4 mins of Steve. But the final leg opened up the gap by nearly 1 min which turned out to be crucial as when the results were calculated, Steve had won by 40 secs on corrected time.
So what does this all mean? Basically, Steve can get legless next Saturday (preferably after giving his speech) and not worry about having to venture out as he has bagged the first trophy for next years prize giving!
WINTER SERIES
PN Boat Helm Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts
1 1210 S HUNT RS 400 1 1 2 3 4 1 5
2 937 W CARRUTHERS RS400 3 2 1 2 2 2 7
3 13142 M CLAYTON GP 5 4 3 1 1 RTD 9
4 1140 J CHRISTIE VORTEX 6 5 7 DNS 3 RTD 19
5 13839 H GODFREY GP 4 3 DNS DNS DNS DNS 33
6 1148 N CURRIE RS400 DNS DNS 4 4 DNS DNS 34
7 1049 M SOMERVILLE RS400 DNS DNS 5 4 DNS DNS 35
8 13655 N LEWIS GP DNS DNS 6 6 DNS DNS 38
9 400 T KNOWLES RS300 2 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 41
10 3560 I CAMPBELL FF OD DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 42
11 103 A NICHOLSON VARIO DNS DNS RTD 7 DNS DNS 42
12 913789 A SMITH 49R DNS 6 DNS DNS DNS DNS 45
Points for RTD = 7 7 9 8 5 5
Points for DSQ = 7 7 9 8 5 5
Points for DNS = 13
4 races to count
The racing takes the form of a straightforward series, in which teams of three boats aggregate all their scores to give a team total. An adjustment for older boats (not older helms) has been introduced in recent years to help give teams sailing older boats a chance. This year it worked to the benefit of the idea’s author, FF president Ian Preston, whereby his team benefited from a weighting of eight points to win overall by a single point.
One of the reasons why the event is popular is the opportunity to make a fool of yourself in some way, hoping that no-one else has noticed, and be rewarded with the grotty potty! One of the regular winners, John Hardisty was in the driving seat this year (having won the potty last year) and was able to nominate this year’s recipient. Although John had a select list of nominees perhaps he had missed one key candidate who struggled to put on his drysuit due to not having removed the coat hanger – Mike Moore! However, obviously John was feeling in a benevolent mood when making his choice because it was at Loch Lomond last weekend that Steve Goacher had one half too many and let slip that he wondered what he had to do to win the coveted trophy – on this occasion, all he needed to do was get tipsy!
Back at the club, the Tinkers were out in force (to match the winds?). There were various capsizes, broken shrouds, and numerous retirements, but it didn’t stop them all having a good weekend. Overall winner was again David Warren, with Ray Young 2nd, and Malcolm and Elaine Ellwood 3rd (1st 2up)