Nigel’s decree for Race direction was Port roundings and the start direction to be decided on the water prior to start sequence!

Race 1 the sequence was started but with the whole fleet going backwards OCS this was abandoned and some time taken to await more wind to fill in. Rex retired and 3 boats walked their boats along the shore due to lack of wind and tide taking us toward the public slip.

“Race 2” was a windward leeward course et in the opposite direction just a a gentle breeze started to fill in. It was deceptive at times though with some gusts being nearly 180° off the prevailing wind. Initially Jason managed to maintain a consistent movement across the water, closely followed by Robin. The “downwind” leg at times switched to close hauling leaving poor Trevor stuck without any consistent spinnaker legs to catch up and fighting the bulk of the tide.

Carmel then had a sneaky big catch up on the other two lasers, catching the breeze downwind first, but Jason having hugged the shore to pick up the back eddy just rounded the downwind mark and raced off in the new breeze to the finish line as Carmel and Robin rounded the mark at the same time and raced neck and neck to the finish, Robin just pulling ahead to finish With 7 seconds between Robin and Carmel and much close racing on the water, it was all about the tactics- to take on the tide and use more wind, or risk keeping in shore to avoid the worst of the tide and risk the wind dropping off completely.

Results

Robin Wilkinson wins the Gusty Trophy in the Club Cat. The first time it hasn’t gone to Andrew Evans since 2012!

No takers for the Tip Top T, unfortunately.

Results

Very good turnout today everyone – I wonder if the glorious conditions had anything to do with it. 11 boats started racing and three other were on the water too.

Thanks to all the volunteers and members for helping out on the novice evenings and today.

Lots of photos in the photo group.

Congratulations to today’s winners:

Novices – 1st Ethel, 2nd Andrew and 3rd Danny

Youth – 1st Emrys, 2nd Paolo, 3rd Dylan & Maila.

Thanks to Aztec Sails for their generous prizes.

Lovely food courtesy of Andy Fung and Jean Parr.

A good day had by all I hope.

Results

Race 1
Gary had the best start, close to the shore, with neil and me tussling towards the Island upwind of Gary. The cats were sailing towards the far side of the island before jybing in to chute the channel ahead of us two lasers, Jason chasing close behind stealing our wind. Neil pushed me up until he had to give a bit of room along the Island, but he wasn’t giving much, resulting in all 4 of us single hulls falling foul of the shadow as we rounded the island- Gary suffering first so Neil and I caught up & joined him going nowhere while Jason caught up and managed to carry a bit of speed to catch up to Gary. Trevor was dead in the water too despite flying his spinnaker but struggling to locate the wind direction.
Neil caught the wind first but was neck and neck with Gary, until choosing to tack and head upwind along the far side of the island. Here Gary went quite wide, Neil a good bit closer inland of the island, Jason in between and closing in on them both, me following by this point, with waves battering my progress. The Catamarans had taken much wider courses and so started to now pull ahead towards the line. Neil headed a straighter course towards the club, but it was Gary and Jason that had a right tussle to keep up- with all three crossing the line in close succession. I followed with a wind shift now aiding me to catch them up. A little distance but not too far behind me was Trev in the Vago, who had also got stuck in the islands wind shadow and turned around a bit, but unfortunately (for me) a brief swim in the choppy water the far side of the island left he and Corrado to bring up the tail. Corrado probably too the best line of everyone missing the wind shadow but not sure what happened towards the island rounding, as he then took some time to cross the line. The other cat (Sam) hadn’t been able to get back on the water with a repair until we were headed for the single lap finish so enjoyed some epic reaches towards the channel near the far side of the island and back to the club while waiting for us.

Results