Dry conditions with a cool north westerly breeze greeted the 5 sailors who began preparing their boats for races 15 & 16 of the Spring series. 4 Lasers & a Topaz (being sailed by Trevor) made up the fast & slow fleets. OD Nigel set a course for the purists, opting for beat & run legs which would quickly sort out the wheat from the chaff.

All 5 boats jostled for position at the start of the first race with the 4 Lasers getting off to a close start but Robin pushed his luck a bit too much and got called back for being over the line. Steve went back in sympathy whilst the others sailed on. It was Andrew who made it to the windward mark first closely followed by Jason, Robin, Steve and Trevor.

The gusty conditions made the downwind legs interesting, especially as it was against an outgoing tide increasing in strength. After 3 laps (2 for the Topaz) a mistake by Robin allowed Jason to sneak through as the final mark was rounded & the finishing order was decided with Andrew winning, closely followed by Steve, Jason, Robin with Trevor already finished.

With the tide & wind gradually increasing in strength from a Force 3-4 to Force 4-5, the second race saw further fighting for position on the start line & with at least 3 boats judged to be over the line when the starting claxon went, the race committee volunteers of Nigel & Danny (in the rescue boat), Bob & Alun (in race HQ) decided a general recall was necessary.

The second time round saw the 4 Lasers getting off to another close start and it was Steve & Andrew leading the way to the first mark. Jason grappled with his boat, the wind & the tide and fell behind the others and after 3 eventful (for some) laps, Steve showed his superiority in the stronger wind & tide conditions and crossed the line first ahead of Andrew, Robin, Jason with Trevor managing to stay in contention in the Topaz, having completed the required 2 laps for the slow fleet.

Thanks to all the Duty volunteers, inc ODD Nigel with his camera & Jean on the slipway for another enjoyable Sunday morning of sailing at SCC.

Another couple of races dominated by Lasers, but we seem to get a different selection of sailors out each week and all but 3 out of the 20 boats entered so far need more races to qualify.

Steve leads the Fast fleet with Jason in second. Carmel leads the Slow fleet.

Results

Two afternoon races in a breeze which played games. Slow from the North increasing and turning north east eventually settling to the east and dropping off.

First race saw the fast fleet go to four laps and the slow boats to three. Danny had the best start and maintained himself ahead of the other lasers all race.

By the second race the wind was more easterly. Laurie almost missed the start. There was a good deal of shouting on the line as everyone jostled for position. The first leg was a good beat for this race and the first three lasers had very close racing. The wind eased with the race going to three laps for the fast boats and two for the slow fleet.

On handicap, Nigel finished ahead of the Lasers but with most of the fleet out for the first time this year there’s no change to the overall positions except for Jake moving up to 4th in the Fast fleet.

Its still only April and although the sun was about there was still a chill when afloat.

Results

With last week being cancelled due to excessive wind today’s race was on the cusp of being cancelled due to the lack of it. The wind started coming in from the west. It then turned south and by the end of the second race was a good force 4. The sun also graced us with an appearance.

Four boats were out, two lasers, one laser radial and a topaz. A triangular course was set by the OOD Teilo Richardson. Andrew physically lead each race from the start, but Carmel snuck ahead in the second on handicap. Both races went to five laps.

Results