If you were unable to sail this week, then you missed out on a great sail with a good top suit breeze straight down the lake along with some sun to warm things up as the breeze was a bit cool.
Dave Williams got things started soon after 13:00 after giving Peter some time to get his boat on the water after the obligatory mark moving before we started. The line had been shortened for the small turnout of only 5 boats this week and proved to have a fair amount of port bias as the line set for the expected NW wind was more WNW or even W at times. At least we could get across the line on Starboard and there were a few occasions when it was nearly a Starboard end start.
Sailing his Post PUNK design Brad tended to dominate the results with a string of firsts in the first session of 5 races, before we had a slightly early break to allow Peter time to fix a minor electrical problem. Peter and Bill were usually fighting for second spot, although Alan was often in the mix as well, leading to some very close finishes. It was good to see Stan out for his first Saturday outing in the Widget and with some helpful setup tips from Brad getting the best from the boat and keeping him in contention.
In the second session, Brad continued to dominate proceedings with faster boat speed on most legs with the only chance of passing him by catching a good shift or a decent gust. Peter did take one win after a close port/starboard call left Brad feeling that he needed to do a turn allowing Peter enough distance to keep ahead to the finish.
Peter and Bill continued their battle for who took second place, although Alan was always in contention with one second secured in the afternoon session. Dave kept things moving well all afternoon and with the small fleet and only a few longer breaks for boat tweaking, we finished slightly early with 12 races completed. Many thanks to Dave once again for being the RO and keeping the scores plus taking a few photographs, so that you can see what you missed!
- Brad Gibson Post Punk 10pts
- Peter Baldwin Britpop! 21pts
- Bill Culshaw Britpop! 27pts
- Alan Watkinson Britpop! 35pts
- Stan Metcalfe Widget 48pts
