I don’t know what happened in the racing except that the wind was all over the place. Two new boats made an appearance: Nicolas Dirr in a Laser and Robin Wilkinson sailing his Dart 18 and letting Neil get a clear lead for 3rd Laser in the series.

Overall things are closing in. 4 more races to sail and Danny is now only one point behind Steve for the lead in the Fast Fleet. No one can catch them but Robin, Aran and Jake could take 3rd place away from Neil. The latter 2 would need to sail all the remaining races with good results. Carmel is currently the only qualifier in the Slow Fleet (just) but Teilo and Lawrence could be in for a prize, even first, if they sail all four races.

Results

No time for a write-up but everyone went the wrong way in both races except for the slow fleet in the second race, who have been given a first and second place overall. Nigel the OOD relented and allowed the other results to stand so Danny is closing the gap.

Results

From Matt in the Commentary Box: “Calm sailing conditions today as the first race commenced. Charles didn’t have the best of starts but made up for this on the first leg. A close race between Jake and Danny, with Jake pulling out all the stops at the end to take the win”.

Danny takes over the story: “I started inshore on starboard but the wind had backed to the south & everyone crossed ahead of me on port. I managed to catch & pass everyone, but just after mark 2 the wind the wind dropped to nothing, I followed Steve out into the tide looking for wind on the leg back across the bay, but suffered in the tide and Aran & Jake inshore were getting ahead. Then I got the wind and came together with them at mark 3, then I screwed up the gybe & missed the mark, had to back around it, was then quite far behind. I kept chasing through the next lap until at the same point leg before finishing leg, Aran got hit by a gust/wave & capsized. Jake went on to win with me 2nd”.

Back to Matt: “Danny had a false start in Race 2 and had to return to the beginning but despite this he still managed to pass everyone and regain pole position on the first lap. An increasing wind was to Aran’s advantage allowing him to take the win. Charles had a great first leg but capsized on the second, filled his boat with water and was forced to retire”.

Danny again: “Nigel called me over so I went back to restart, so again started behind. I caught up and passed everyone again and got ahead with Jake 2nd. I think Aran capsized on the 2nd gybe mark but later Aran caught back up taking advantage of his size & power both upwind and on the reach. I stayed ahead, although he was catching up, until mark 2, the inshore gybe of the last lap. I got the main caught and capsized after the gybe. Aran sailed past to win, I got 2nd about 40 seconds behind”.

The safety boat was kept busy with the official count of eight capsizes in total.

Overall, Steve is still ahead with Danny in second and Neil third in the fast fleet. We now do have qualifiers in the slow fleet with Carmel leading Teilo, but these two, Pete and Robin need to sail next week to keep their places or fall out of qualifying. Aran and Jake have great results but need more races. With 8 races left in the series and 10 to count everything is still up for grabs.

Results

There was no wind as the 5 Lasers launched and even less at the start. Nevertheless most were on or over the start line when the hooter went. Jake and Steve stormed off to the first mark leaving the others trailing, especially Danny who went back over the line to restart. The wind then went vague and the second leg became a beat. This allowed Danny to move into 3rd while Jake and Steve fought it out at the front. Steve had the edge until a huge lump of weed on his mainsheet caused his race to falter and Jake crept ahead for the win.

The easterly wind which had set in increased slightly so a second race went ahead with a reversed and much smaller course with a huge tide effect. I can’t remember the positions at the end of the first lap, but by the end of the first leg of the second lap they had reversed and Danny had taken the lead with Neil in hot pursuit. Neil hit a Mark and had to do a turn, letting Steve and Jake through and that was the way things stood going into the 3rd lap (Yes, a third lap!). Things remained close in positions 2 to 4 but Steve held on to take 2nd with Jake third and Danny well in front in first.

The series is between Steve and Danny in the fast fleet with a tight race for 3rd. The slow fleet haven’t been turning up (except to take videos).

Results

Results

Pleasant weather for the time of year. A good F4 north-easterly at the start of the first race promised some exciting racing.

And so it was for the first race. Danny, Steve and Neil fought it out for the lead over the whole 4 laps of the race. Jake, in the family Topaz Race X, would have been in the mix if he hadn’t capsized on the third leg leaving him with too much catching up to do. The three leading Lasers swapped positions several times with Steve and Danny swapping the lead each lap. Steve led at the start of the last leg, but Danny got the better of the shifts and squeezed him out at the finish.

Andrew Evans in his catamaran and Andy Townsend (Laser) both sailing for the first time this year were able to shake off the winter blues but not trouble the leaders.

Just as the the second race started the wind died to a force 2-3 and swung to the east removing the beat, which turned into a fetch, so there was no close racing and Danny pulled well clear of Neil who pulled well clear of Steve. Jake didn’t capsize, stayed not far behind and got 2nd place on handicap. Laurence held off the Andrews to finish in 5th.

The discards have kicked in with a vengeance. Steve is now only just in the lead in the fast fleet series with Danny close behind and Robin in 3rd. Teilo leads the slow fleet with Laurence 2nd and Jake 3rd.

Results

A north-easterly wind, plus 45 degree wind shifts; force 2 inshore, gusting to force 4 further out with a highish high tide 20 minutes after the start made for some interesting racing.

Race 1: Danny set a reaching start and the fleet was split about where to start. Aran started by the yellow mark, Steve in the middle of the line and Neil and Pete near the shore with the Teilo and Pietro just behind. Steve was first to the first mark closely followed by Aran, Neil and Pete. Neil fell out and capsized at the second mark and then had a job to pass Pete on the beat before setting off to catch the leaders.

Teilo was suffering on the beats getting a lot of weather-helm with two in the boat. However, downwind with the spinnaker up the boat was flying.

Aran and Steve split on the beats with Aran going left, staying further out in the stronger wind but against the tide, and caught Steve on the beats but with Steve gaining a few metres downwind. On the second lap Aran passed ahead of Steve and tacked to cover but Steve managed to get the inside line at the windward mark and re-passed Aran with the help of the tide. On the third beat both boats headed right, tacking on the wind shifts with Aran gaining and then losing the lead, but both ending up way off course not noticing that Neil, sailing the fastest course inshore, had caught up. There was then a frantic dash for the finishing line with Steve, Aran and Neil finishing in that order, less than one boat length apart.

Pietro finished a creditable last in the slowest boat, and suffering from the cold decided to call it a day.

Race 2 started the same: again Aran started at the yellow but with significantly stronger tide, Steve in the middle and Neil, Pete and Teilo near the shore in less wind . Steve again got to the first mark first, ahead of Neil, followed by Pete with Aran trailing, struggling against the tide

Teilo and Jake struggled even more to get to the mark, taking 14 minutes by which time the faster boats were coming round a second time.

Aran passed Pete on the reach and was the first to tack off on the beat. Steve and Neil ended up in a hole in the wind allowing Aran to get the lead at the end on the first lap, with Steve and Neil in very close pursuit.

Pete had dropped back on the beat and Teilo was finished after one lap to save him from having the ordeal to the first mark for a second time.

Aran, Steve and Neil were close for the whole of the second lap but positions didn’t change until the third lap reach when Steve got a gust before Aran and sailed past, starting the last beat in the lead. From then on it was tactical with Steve covering Aran but making sure that Neil didn’t get past and the three finished again within seconds in the same order.

In the series, with two discards added for effect, Steve is clear ahead but things are close over the next 4 places.

Race report with thanks to Danny with his copious notes on the back of the race sheets.

Results

Andy’s forecast was partially right. We had glorious sunshine, at least initially, but the light breeze was replaced by a force 4-5 westerly which made things tricky for some.

In the first race Steve and Danny were close up the beat until Steve’s extra weight allowed him to pull ahead. Danny surged back on the run and was just behind at mark 2 but his traveller block kinked and jammed on the gybe allowing Steve to get away enough to stay away for first place. Behind, all sorts of things were happening. Jake and Teilo in Teilo’s new Topaz Race X were fast upwind but short spinnaker sheets prevented them from flying the spinnaker downwind (well that was their story!).

On lap three Pete somehow passed Robin on the beat to the first mark. Although Robin came back on the run he couldn’t quite get an overlap before Pete shut the door at the gybe mark in a move reminiscent of Max Verstappen. Unlike Max he was still trying to gather in his main sheet once round the mark which left Robin, who had much better cornering speed, nowhere to go and there was (allegedly) contact between bow and rudder.

Having been brake checked, things went from bad to worse for Robin as he capsized a lap later he finished 5th, behind Teilo in 3rd and Pete 4th.

In second race, Pete obviously felt bad for Robin so decided to give him a head start by wrapping his tiller extension in the mainsheet and capsizing seconds before the start. Although Pete managed to overhaul Jake and Teilo, Robin stubbornly refused to repeat his capsize and stayed ahead to finish 3rd with Teilo in 4th and Pete 5th. Lawrence’s dogged determination earned him a sixth place

Things are going Steve’s way in the series but it’s much too early to call and anything could happen.

Finally thanks to Jean and Neil who helped with our trolleys in their dry clothes, as we were short of a slipway volunteer, and got wet feet. Your dedication saved our day.

Results

It must have been the warmest day of the year so far but the wind was not so great. The promised south-westerly force 4-5 was dying as the 5 boats launched and faded to Force 2-3 for most of the morning, dropping to nothing as Carmel tried in vain to finish her second lap of the second race.

The course was set large in anticipation of a good breeze. The first race saw Steve, Neil and Robin in Lasers and Charles in his Scorpion fighting for the lead in close racing dominated by the strong tide which varied across the long legs. Steve pulled ahead but it was all to play for for the other 3 until the last mark in very strong tide. Robin ended 2nd with Neil close behind in 3rd. Carmel put on a late charge to finish 4th.

The wind swung more southerly for the second race and Charles pulled into the lead. As the wind started to veer he misjudged the racing line letting Steve past for another first place. Robin and Neil fought a close battle for 3rd with Robin finishing in front.

Steve leads the series with Robin 2nd and Charles in 3rd.

Results

The Final races of the Transom series were sailed in gentle North easterly but bitterly cold breeze. Bob set the courses for an easterly approach but with the wind abeam for a flying start. Three participants braved the conditions, Nick Speller in a Topaz, Carmel Roston in the Laser radial and Steve in the Laser standard.

Race one saw all three off to a good start with Carmel first off the line, but then strangely slowing to allow Nick and Steve through. Carmel caught up and over took Nick but could not catch Steve enough to make her handicap advantage count. On handicap a relatively close three and a half minutes separated the three boats.

Race two was a good start by all three again, this time Carmel hanging on to her lead, and holding off Steve for the best part of three laps on the water and even more so on handicap.

Carmel then went wide at the windward mark allowing Steve to capitalise and sneak through. Meanwhile Nick was serenely sailing around with his unique reclining/hiking style yet still managing to close the gap between himself and Steve to just one and half minutes on handicap.

Carmel beat Steve by just six seconds on handicap which ironically was same amount of time she now beat Robin into second in the slow fleet and…..up to third in the overall series, with just 0.5 points separating 3^rd 4^th and fifth places overall. Nick clinched third place in the slow fleet pushing flu-smitten Danny C into fourth. Well done all – good racing. and thanks to Carmel for the mince pies and to Bob for shortening the course and letting the freezing Safety boat crew in a bit earlier.

Results