Nine sailors turned out this week for a gusty afternoons racing with a wind forecast to be WSW and so diagonally down the lake from the far end. Peter donned the waders to move marks around to form a course for the forecast wind, but the gusts could shift the wind by up to 40 degrees and back again within seconds making the beat a fetch or even close reach at times. B or low aspect A rigs were favoured today, with those on “A’s” hoping to survive the gusts whilst gaining in the lulls.
In the end, only 7 sailors made it through the day, with gear failure or difficulties coping with the gusts causing a couple of dropouts.
After establishing a good lead in Race 1, Peter lost his jib tie down on the last beat and narrowly lost the win to John. John then went onto win the next three races as well, until Graham won his first race followed by a good start to end win for Alan in Race 6 and a short break for refreshments.
After the break, Alan had another win, before Peter had a run of three consecutive race wins, with Graham taking the final, Race 11 win. During the day, everyone struggled for consistency in the gusty conditions, with places won and lost depending on whether you were in the right place to make the best of any gust and associated shift. The conditions did, however, allow most of the fleet time at the front and vie for the win. The last race being one where the first 5 boats all crossed the finish line within about 5 seconds.
John took the day with his 4 wins, Peter was second on three and Graham just pipped Martin to take third on countback based upon his two wins. Thanks go to Dave, Bill and John Carlin for helping to run the races over the afternoon.
- John Brierley Uno 84 19pts (4 wins)
- Peter Baldwin Uno 63 22pts (3 wins)
- Graham Elliott Argon 09 25pts (2 wins)
- Martin Roberts Pocket Rocket 133 25pts
- Alan Watkinson Uno 23 34pts
- Neil Westbrook Uno 03 41pts
- Dave Williams Uno 33 59pts
