The barest minimum of two brave souls set forth in race 1. Steve opting for caution with a Radial sail and Neil in a standard rig. Thanks to a late sounding of the 1 minute warning neither boat troubled the OOD for any recalls.
Nip and tuck to the first mark, but Neil misjudged the tide and needed an extra tack. Despite Neil making up some ground downwind, Steve completed the lap in the lead on the water. On lap 2 Neil made more inroads on Steve’s lead, catching up at the gybe mark, before taking a rest while Steve extended his lead.
Lap 3 saw Neil pushing hard to catch up. Too hard!. Capsize!! By the time he had righted the boat (twice), fallen out and finally made the windward mark, Steve was gybing again. Three capsizes for Neil on the next downwind leg put the result in no doubt, unless Steve were to break something. But no breakage occurred to save Neil.
Race 2 was largely a repeat of race 1, with the downwind leg again proving to be Neil’s bane.