With many members racing away at open meetings including The Lord Birkett at Ullswater, the fleet was reduced on Saturday. Although the wind was from the north east, unusually this season it was mild and not too strong!
Neil/Judith, in their RS400, built up a strong lead in the first race, winning by more than 5 mins on handicap. However, there was only a matter of 30 secs separating the next three boats. The main battle seemed to be between Mike/Alan and Hugh/Rachel in the GPs whose positions swapped on a regular basis. Mike didn’t help his cause when he belatedly noticed that he was going to miss out YZ, and had to back track enough that Hugh passed him again. Similarly, rounding 4 the wrong way lost him many secs as he unwound his error. The final outturn was Hugh finished 2nd, Mike 3rd and Alan 3rd in his Mirror.
In the 2nd race, Neil again pulled clear from the fleet, but the variable wind strength, partly brought on by a passing rain shower, lost him vital minutes such that, on handicap, he was 6 mins behind the leader, finishing 5th. Despite racing for more than 70 mins four boats finished in close succession – Mike/Alan sandwiched between F15s of Ian/Elaine and Tim/Martin (newly bought), and then Jim in his Supanova. On handicap, Mike was 1st, Jim 2nd, and Hugh 3rd, winning Mike the series with 5 points, with Hugh 2nd.