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

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.

Results

Neil won the Laser Cup in exciting conditions

Results

A tale of two halves. Jason and Robin fighting it out at the front and Andy and Lawrence fighting it out at the back. The gusty wind inshore and the strengthening tide further out made for tricky decisions about where to head on the beat. Positions swung back and forth but in both races the same result. Jason ahead at the front and Lawrence ahead at the rear.

The series is now sewn up with two races next week to go. Only the first 3 (Steve, Jason and Robin – in that order) can qualify. Again, despite 25 boats taking part, the small number who have sailed enough races has been disappointing. Hats off to Robin who, despite returning to Wales half way through the series, has sailed every race since to finish in the prizes.

Results

An Afternoon In The Life Of A Sully OOD

Sully Sailing Club is an impossible place for a Race Officer!. You try to set a course with a beat but the wind is offshore, so you compromise with a reaching start, which isn’t bad as the tide is out so it’s a short line. You lay this course and the wind swings 180 degrees, so you rush around all the boats and tell them that we will go the opposite way round to the diagram. This may explain why Danny went the wrong way around the second mark but with the tide running I can understand his frustration and why he gave up at that point.

This is fine except everyone is now beating into the tide which makes for a very strung out race. Then the wind swings back to the south giving the Mirror an advantage as he doesn’t have to beat against the tide (but he will still be stuffed by the tide anyway) but at least he finishes relatively quickly. 

So for the second race you move the mark to try and get a beat but the wind swings even further making all legs fetches. You now have to decide whether everyone is enjoying an afternoon sail (and let it run) or whether with no beat there is no skill and they would rather stop. You decide that it is a nice day and they will enjoy another lap and besides, the wind has come up a little so you let them go round again. The Lasers will do three laps and pass the Mirror who should manage two. Only then the wind dies and the Mirror is making no progress.

At this stage I gave up. I tell the Mirror that we will give him his time from the first lap and go to pick up the buoys, only to find that one of them is snagged in the rocks so we miss getting photos of everyone finishing as we drag the anchor clear of the bottom.

Like I said, Sully is impossible

Results

Results

Race 1 started with a SW force 3 and a strong incoming tide. The strength of the tide caught out most of the leading Lasers with Steve and Jason both doing turns but with Steve just holding onto the lead ahead of Bob; Bob showing that his time out of sailing had not reduced his ability. The race settled down with Steve leading from Bob closely followed by Jason and Robin. The second lap now had more fun and games at the windward mark with Jason overhauling Bob, who now realised that he was sailing without battens. Steve extended his lead for a comfortable win over Jason in second, with Bob and Robin battling hard for third with Robin prevailing at the line.

Race 2 saw a drop in wind strength although the tide was still strong a and catching sailors out at the windward mark. Jason got the tide right and sailed clear. Steve fought back from fourth to second with Bob (now with two out of three battens) overtaking Robin who had a second lap to forget! Jason extended his lead to win from Steve in second. It was again nip and tuck between Robin and Bob with Bob missing out again in fourth.

Thanks to Sam on Rescue with Corrado stepping in for a no-show and Helen on slipway.

Results

Results

The start was delayed. The OOD showed up late—blindsided by the start of BST. He got the course sorted eventually, with the sun beating down hard enough to scorch his forehead. Forecast said clouds. It lied. Blue skies, gusty winds, and the water glinting like glass. Perfect for racing.

Six boats launched for the Early Bird series. Jake, sharp off the line on a port tack, looked good near the yellow buoy. But it didn’t last. The Lasers and the Solution powered past, cutting him off like sharks in the shallows. Key’s Wayfarer trailed. At the horn, he was miles behind. Water to make up. Plenty of it.

First mark. The pack formed. Steve, Andrew, Jason, Garry, Jake, then Key. Andrew flipped, tumbling into the drink and clearing the way for Jason. Key clawed ahead of Jake on lap two. The final stretch was a showdown. Andrew pushed hard, gaining on Steve, nearly stealing second back from Jason. But Jason held him. Eight seconds. That’s all it took.

The wind teased during the break, fading before surging back just as the horn screamed for the second race. Gusts hit hard and fast, keeping everyone sharp. The tide wasn’t helping. Logs drifted toward Penarth like ghosts, messing with the beat near the yellow buoy. The start? Tight. Calls of “starboard” probably flew, but I couldn’t hear them from where I was.

First mark again. Steve in the lead. Andrew, Jason, Garry chasing. Jason made his move, pulling even with Andrew on the run. But Andrew wasn’t giving up. He regained control on the next reach. Steve? He didn’t falter. He took the win. Andrew and Jason followed. Key wrestled with his reefed sail and dropped behind Jake.

Will and Charles cleaned up the buoys. Boats docked. The clubhouse doors swung open. Race done.

Results

Only three boats -wind conditions NE force 1 so small course set. Both races Jason crossed the line first followed closely by Gary. These positions were maintained throughout both races. Trevor came down to rig his boat but failed to launch.

Results