It’s strange how rain puts us off sailing, but the weekend’s forecast was covered in blue dots as well as a reasonable wind. As it turned out, Saturday was somewhat changeable between sunny spells and drizzle, with a limited turnout in each fleet to enjoy the breeze.
Normally racing against each other, Harry joined forces with Izzy getting to grips with a Mirror for the day. Andy/Lily took an early lead but the cool weather didn’t suit Lily and they soon retired. In the F15s Ian/Lezli-Ann fought to recover from missing the shore lift on the main beat but, despite closing the gap, finished 2nd to Tim/Ian. They did hold it together in the 2nd race in which positions were reversed. Mike/Eric in their GP had two straight wins against AJ who was busily adjusting his toestraps at the end of racing (clearly a key aspect of his performance!). Although Hugh won both handicap races from David, only 14 secs separated them in the first race.
Sunday was more of the same ie more wind strength and more rain (than drizzle!). There were a few capsizes early on, but the wind did ease for some good racing with a stronger fleet of boats. Mik was keeping an eye on the BatesCam and was delighted at some of the shots (especially of Lezli-Ann!)
The two Ians battled it out in the F15s, with Ian/Tim taking the advantage on the final beat! It was Jim C’s turn to take the honours in the handicap fleet with Newcomer Ian Hall 2nd. After a bit of encouragement from the committee boat, David Rodger in a Topper moved closer to the start line, got the best start, and held on to be the only finisher despite a capsize just short of the finish line.
The afternoon pennant race was held as a fleet pursuit, with David in his Topper starting first. However, the onslaught of a heavy downpour (much to the dismay of those in the committee boat without waterproof over trousers!) zapped the wind of its energy as the shower passed through, and the course down to 10 seemed to be wishful thinking with many calm patches appearing. As the last boat started, the wind came back but it meant the distance between first and last boats was much less than it was planned to be. It wasn’t too long before Dave/Lynn took a lead that wouldn’t be given up, and won them the Albert Bates Retirement Trophy. Ian/Lezli-Ann took 2nd place