10 boats took to the water in a F3-4 northeasterly; another gusty day with a beat up the shore. Those who worked out early that keeping inshore paid off took the honours with Nigel in a Topper finishing first ahead of Danny and Robin.

The wind increased a bit for the second race, or at least there were more sustained gusts further out. Steve pulled out a commanding lead on the water in his 29er with Andrew in his cat following, but frustrated by the holes in the wind. Steve’s lead was not enough to catch Danny on handicap. Danny won with Steve second and Andrew third.

In the Slow Fleet Lawrence Tulip finished ahead of Dan Patterson in both races, but Dan held onto 2nd place in the series ahead of Chris Batho in 3rd but behind Nick Speller who wins the Slow Fleet series. Danny Powell with 8 straight wins finishes first in the Fast Fleet series ahead of Neil Brookes, with Andrew Evans in 3rd.

Results

A beautiful sunny day, with a light southwesterly wind and a huge course, and 17 competitors. Perfect for a pursuit race. Steve and Jean in Jean’s Mirror set off first and were quickly overhauled by Rex (Mirror) and Nigel (Topper), then after a disastrous tactic to beat the tide turned a reach into a beat, by most of the rest of the fleet. It didn’t take Danny in his Laser long to slice through the field, but Nigel held out for nearly an hour until passed by Danny, followed by Neil (Laser).

The wind increased for the second race and Steve made a quick switch to a Topaz, so quick that he sat out, missed the toestraps and fell in, snapping the tiller extension. The Topaz was incredibly quick with a piece of string attached to the tiller and he was up with the Lasers at the first mark. Pete in his large yellow cat got in the mix, holding up Danny before finally sailing away, followed by Danny and Neil – as Steve did a neat 360 when the rudder came up (how do Topaz sailors cope with that rudder?). Steve however held on for the win on handicap, with Danny and Neil in second and third. Positions behind were incredibly close with 4 boats finishing within 11 seconds on handicap in places 5 to 8. Pete finished last, nearly 10 minutes back on a handicap which is now under review.

Results

Another good turnout – 14 boats racing, including 5 new members, and a flukey northeasterly with outgoing tide making for tricky conditions. Neil made a blistering start in the first race and sailed off into the distance but had a close battle with Robin in the second race which Robin narrowly won.

Elsewhere Danny C tried to sail off with one mark, while another was almost left high and dry by the ebbing tide making rounding tricky for some. Csaba had a good first couple of laps in a Laser Radial and was up with the full rigs until led the wrong side of yellow by Andy.

Overall, a first and second helped Neil move into 2nd position, behind Danny. Andrew in his cat is holding onto 3rd but with his first and second Robin, on the same points, is breathing down his neck. Nick with two excellent third places has cemented his position at the front of the slow fleet with Dan P in second and Chris in third.

There are four races left in the series, including the Pursuit Race next week.

Results