Sun and wind, albeit shifty, tempted 22 boats on to the water for another two races in a championship long series.
The day started with two sets of opposing views from two ‘vocal locals’ as to how and why the anchor warp ended up wrapped around the prop of the Bates last weekend. Was it Tog’s dereliction of duty as he stopped pulling in the warp to lift the front weight, or was it Herb ‘reversing at 100mph’?
While setting the start line there seemed to be two opposing winds – one from the south west, and another from the north. The OD did make allowance for this in the course, but ultimately the SW breeze provided the lion’s share of the wind. The leg that allowed for beating into a northerly wind becoming a fetch that frustrated the Sailing Sec (and others, no doubt!).
In the first race in the F15s Simon/Jon led with a temporary challenge from Graham/Elaine. In the 2nd race, Neil/Judith took an early lead from Simon, but later retired, so Graham secured another 2nd to Simon.
The GPs were eager pushing the start line resulting in a recall signal for which Paul and Mike/Eric returned. The big question is – did they both need to?! Paul worked his way to the front and won, followed by Dave/Sarah. Paul led the 2nd race too, but sailed the wrong course, leading AJ/Sue astray, and losing a lot of ground to Mike (who went on to win) while they corrected their errors.
Tog and Hugh had some close racing in their Vareos, with Tog grasping the lead at the start of the final leg, and finish 1st on handicap. Tog won the 2nd race too, with Ian in his Solo 2nd, and Banter, despite an appalling start after getting into irons, finishing 3rd.
The Mirrors/Toppers were led by Vice-Commodore Scumper crewed by son Cameron. Pam took 2nd, and Hazel. Mik having retired with gear failure in the first race, had some close racing with Scumper/Cameron, and nervously led the way across the finish line. Sarah sailed her first race in a Topper but doesn’t want anyone to know. Word is that she won’t talk [to me] again!
The sunny weather continued on Sunday with a forecast of next to no wind, but there was sufficient to get racing underway. By the time the leaders reached the windward mark the wind was fading and they were all but drifting. Fortunately the few zephyrs that passed through filled the course again, and the breeze held for the rest of the race.
Ian was on form again in his Solo beating Tog by more than a minute on handicap, with Jim in his Supernova 3rd. Mike/Eric led the GPs home with Joan/Jack 2nd, while Pam built a strong lead in the Mirrors/Toppers with Jenny 2nd in her Topper.
The wind over lunchtime was light and not conducive to racing around the lake for the pennant race, so the course kept the fleet in the main bay. The wind freshened slightly, and Robbie D made the most of clear airs in a RS400 to lead the fleet and win on handicap by less than 15 secs ahead of Paul, Mike and Joan in GPs.