A total of six boats turned up for what initially look like it was going to be afloat about, but in the run-up to the start, just enough of a breeze swept in for a decent start.
The fast fleet was a battle of the laser sailors, Jason testing out his brand-new purchase Csaba jury rigging a club boat with a full rig for the light conditions. Neil struck off first, with Rex and his mirror in the slow fleet the only boat to start on port. We had some wide angles to the first Windward mark but Neil’s roll racks paid off and he stuck off ahead, with Jason rounding next.

In the slow fleet Rex came unstuck with his port tack, and was drifting with the tide, meanwhile, Kaia and Pete, sharing a topper made a tenacious effort towards the Windward mark, but it was Jean who made it round in 2nd and building confidence he was soon leading the slow fleet until the end, when Rex caught and passed him on the last lap.

Race 2 began with a good start by all boats, and a bigger triangular course was set, as the breeze that filled in at the start of race 1 was now holding. Pete having swapped helming duties with his daughter struck off with the lasers to leave the mirrors in a race of their own, but it was Neil who rounded the windward mark in first, with Jason and Csaba in a close battle for second place, the topper bringing in 4th, Rex 5th and Jean not too far behind in 6th.

Results

14 Boats competed for the two trophies on offer today: The Watler Cup for the Fast fleet and the Centripump for the slow. A record turnout for the year-to-date on the windiest day of the year-to-date. So windy that some of the older members of the Laser fleet decided to race with Radial rigs! It was blowing from the north-east 20 knots, gusting to 27 knots at Nells Point.

The 2 leading Lasers (Danny and Neil – Fast Fleet) and Radials (Aran and Steve – Slow Fleet) set off in a tight knit group and stayed close for the first 2 laps while Robin and Lawrence in the Dart 18 sailed off into the distance and Nigel and Jake in Toppers stayed too close for comfort. By the third lap Danny was tiring and Neil capsized and got stuck in irons (head to wind) for several minutes allowing Danny to get ahead. Steve finished first of the group of Lasers and with an advantage of 3 seconds on handicap beat Nigel to the Centripump Cup, with Arun in third. First in the Fast Fleet and winner of the Watler Cup, was Robin in the Dart 18 – fourth overall.

Half the boats stayed to sail the second race. Steve and Neil fought it out at the front with Neil pulling ahead and finishing first on the water but behind Nigel and Steve on handicap. This time Nigel beat Steve by 3 seconds and takes the lead in the series on account of the results of the last race taking precedence if points and places are equal.

Results