It was a murky windy day, but warmer than of late, and 5 sailors opted to sail once the tide had come in off the mud. It was a challenging launch and Chris H decided to opt out after being swept in by the waves for a second time. Trevor and Helen did a stirling job in the surf and the other 4 got through the waves into the choppy water beyond.
Andrew and Steve fought it out on the first beat until Andrew hit the mark in the strong tide, capsized doing a turn and let Steve get away. Jason caught up while Andrew was sorting himself out but also came a cropper in the tide. Meanwhile Trevor was finding it easier to jump out to turn the Topaz through a tack despite the waves on the shore.
Meanwhile the second mark was heading for Sully Island and in the low visibility Steve wouldn’t have found it if it hadn’t been in the direction of the best screaming reach. After two laps though, Patrick in the race office decided the buoy was not going to stay in Sully Bay so finished the race to allow Mark B and Danny C in the tiny Jeanneau to laboriously haul up the anchor and chain, re-lay it and then everyone (except Steve) decided that they had had enough.
So, another win for Steve, with Andrew 2nd ahead of Jason, and Trevor a lap behind in 4th, but heading for the shore to help everyone to recover their boats. Many thanks to the volunteers, especially Mark and Danny freezing and hauling up anchors in the Jeanneau in quite a choppy sea, and Helen helping Trevor recover the boats in 5 foot waves.
Results overall stay the same, with Steve 1st, Neil 2nd and Lawrence 3rd. There was only one other qualifier, Danny C, who finished a creditable 4th.