Sun and a steady SSW breeze greeted sailors on Saturday – though rain was scheduled to move in late afternoon!
The breeze held, was relatively steady, and the rain held off. The beat was relatively steady and there were some good gusts for planing at times. The conditions led to some close racing by the RS400s and the F15s.
Scumper and Big E sailed well to secure a first and a second, and Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith, with no competition in the GPs sailed well to finish 1st and 3rd, giving them 2nd overall overnight. Neil and Judith had to retire after Neil sat on, and broke, his extension during a gybe.
Tim and Ian shared the winning honours with Mike and Sally in the F15s, leaving Mike as overnight leader.
Similarly in the Mirrors, Mik and Toddy each shared a 1st and 2nd, leaving Mik as overnight leader
Would the rain pass through overnight, and would the wind blow on Sunday?
Sunday arrived, and with no chance of Sunday Sun, even though it was a muggy morning, the waterproofs were on – just as well as the rain moved in as the fleet launched, and then came back again with a vengeance as the racing finished!!
Things were a bit crowded before the handicap start and three port boats passing through a narrowing gap of two starboard boats preparing to start was not going to be a struggle. Unfortunately, Mike Fairlamb ended up with a hole in his port side in the melee.
The course took the fleets partly under the shade of Sale Fell which, together with the varying gusts passing through, meant a lot of ground could be won and lost on that leg. Bean and Naomi were able to use that to their advantage and won the race from Steve and Ruth who had been having a good battle with Robbie D and Big E. Toggle fell foul of the changeable winds and fell out to windward at one stage when the wind dropped, but was quickly back in the boat and racing again. William and Elaine had been having some close racing with the other 400s but were left standing in light airs when the other two planed away from the windward mark.
In the afternoon, the gusts freshened, and they proved challenging with mega shifts as well! Three boats were squeezed off the line and had to return – Steve, William and Tony/Rosi Flinn in their Martin 16. Bean got off to a flying start and led the fleet for the first two laps, although he was eventually passed by William after a big shift during the beat, he stayed close enough to win the race on handicap. Robbie D and Steve thought better of trying to catch Bean on the tight offwind legs and retired early. Scumper sailed his laser and had to work hard to pass Sam Hall, but they finished 2nd and 3rd, with William 4th. Bean’s win gave him the series from Scumper.
In the GPs, Mike Fairlamb sailed on despite the damage to his boat, and won both races and the series. Ginge and Jose sailed the first race but that was enough for them. Jose said one race was enjoy, two would be endure! She did mention some other things but there would be too many red faces!
Mike and Sally won both F15 races from Tim and Ian with some close racing, winning the series overall.
The Mirrors did not race, leaving Mik the winner