What the forecast said and what we got were miles apart, a decent 5mph wind from the NW-N-NE was what settled in by the 1pm, on the dot, start, not the 15mph Easterly that was expected.
Another good turn out of 12 boats, with Martin, Graham, John and Dave all hoping to take full advantage of the fact that series leader Paul Allen was busy eating escargot and sipping the finest Moet in Paris for Jude’s 40th, must have been a difficult decision for the lad to take.
Sailing was challenging all afternoon with the starboard shifts coming as often as Martin buys a round, so when one was sniffed out, it had to be taken.
Graham and Martin, both sailing their Widgets, traded blows for 8 of the 9 races completed, the other was a TKO as Martin forgot to switch the boat on before launching, lessons to be learnt even after 40 years of radio sailing at the top. The sailing was very close at times as the shifts and gusts compressed the fleet in many races and nothing was to be taken for granted as Dave Williams found out in race 6, rounding the final mark 5 lengths clear after leading the entire race he was cruelly left in 4th position at the finish, as Dave does, a smile and a shrug, most would of resorted to gutter mutterings and kicking the coffee table, not Dave though.
Of the 9 races completed there were race wins for 4 skippers, Emelio, Dave Potter, Martin and Graham. Bill also showed a bit of the old spark in races 4 and 9 with two solid second places that left him just off the podium in 4th as it was Graham, Martin and Dave Potter that took the top three positions for the day and turning the temperature up to gas mark 9 for Paul and the final 2 races of the series.
Thanks again must go to Jack, Bernie and Joyce, without you, we couldn’t go racing.
- Graham Elliott 9 Pts
- Martin Roberts 17
- Dave Potter 23
- Bill Culshaw 27
- John Brierley 31
- Emilio Gonzalez 36
- Neil Westbrook 39
- Alan Watkinson 47
- Dave Williams 56
- Gary Benson 58
- Chris Chatfield 64
- Sally Collings 72
9 races sailed.
