Sailors were greeted with a fresh north easterly breeze veering back and forth to northerly.

Nice flat waters and lovely sunshine with the tide having turned.

Race officer took the decision to set a course with beat off the start line with a short leg to the windward (ish) mark and then a reach, run reach and beat rectangular course.

Danny P was first off the mark being chased by Steve and Arran in the lasers  and Andrew in the Topaz Cat. Andrew was clear first to the first down wind mark flying his kite all the way but the pack of lasers caught up and overtook by the end of the windward leg.

Lap two saw Pete Wells capsize right in fron of the club house, and struggling to right the beast on his own.

Meanwhile at the back Carl and Aiden were battling it out with Danny C in the topazes. Difficult decision making for some …hug the shore and keep out the tide or seek wind further out, The Topazes did the former. Steve Danny and Arran had a close fought tussle but Steve got line honours,  with Danny 3 secs ahead of Arran….or so we thought but Danny P hit the finishing buoy and lost out , and was DSQ as he chose not to do the penalty turns !

In the slow fleet Danny C was ahead of Carl by just five seconds

Race two found the race officer regretting his decision to create a windward start and had to remove the Fisrt windward mark due to lack of water . The reaching start favour the cats and Andrew shot off the line ahead of the lasers. Not for long as the sea breeze started to counter the Northerly and soon all five lasers were nicely bunched together on the down wind leg.

This was another Laser duelling race, Steve, Danny and Arran in that order and after several lead changes. In the slow fleet a nail biting finish saw Carl and Aiden stall about ten feet from the finish line with Danny C bearing down on them ! They crawled across the line 15 seconds ahead of Danny. Nail biting stuff !

Overall Steve wins the Fast fleet ahead of Danny and Neil. Carmel in a Laser Radial finishes 4th overall and wins In the Slow Fleet. There were no other qualifiers who sailed the 10 races necessary (out of 22).

Results

It was blowing F4-5 from the west southwest and only 5 boats ventured out. The two race favourites in the Fast Fleet, Steve and Danny, and the two race favourites in the Slow Fleet, Carmel and Teilo, with Andrew in his Cat to make up the numbers.

Danny had the better start and first beat and led round the first mark. Steve was following closely, but couldn’t get past until the second lap beat when his superior weight got the better of Danny. Steve pulled away but Danny held on and closed the gap in the final lap.

In the second race Steve had a slight lead over Danny at the end of the first beat but lost it on the downwind leg and regained it on the next leg. Steve pulled well ahead on the second beat and Danny was about 100m behind at the windward mark, but as the wind dropped for Steve on the downwind leg Danny came flying on a huge gust and it was neck and neck round the next mark. As Danny took the faster line and edged past Steve on the inside, Steve took risks letting his sail right out on the run, but didn’t see the next huge gust which tipped him in to a windward capsize. With the finish at the end of that lap Steve was not able to catch Danny who finished in first.

So, one first each and the Fast Fleet results remain with Danny one point behind with two races to go. Steve needs one first to win the series but if Danny gets two next week, or one and beats Steve in the last race, he takes it! Neil appears safe in third, but Robin could get the place if he does well next week.

In the Slow Fleet Carmel has enough races and points to clinch first place. Teilo needs two more races to claim the second place prize.

Results

I don’t know what happened in the racing except that the wind was all over the place. Two new boats made an appearance: Nicolas Dirr in a Laser and Robin Wilkinson sailing his Dart 18 and letting Neil get a clear lead for 3rd Laser in the series.

Overall things are closing in. 4 more races to sail and Danny is now only one point behind Steve for the lead in the Fast Fleet. No one can catch them but Robin, Aran and Jake could take 3rd place away from Neil. The latter 2 would need to sail all the remaining races with good results. Carmel is currently the only qualifier in the Slow Fleet (just) but Teilo and Lawrence could be in for a prize, even first, if they sail all four races.

Results