A very, very soggy Gautby Road for the four sailors today with lots of puddles but, on the upside, a chunky N.West breeze blowing straight down the lake from the far end which was just about right for A rig..
There were enough marks in the right places, so sailing was able to get started without any wading. There was no bottom gate, but with so few boats it was agreed to use one mark as a leeward mark.
Despite the rather dismal conditions a very entertaining set of races ensued with some very close racing, and crowded mark roundings despite the small fleet. All the skippers did some rig tuning during the morning with slightly mixed results. Richard’s boat ended up looking much better balanced after some input, while Paul had a more frustrating day with a boat which didn’t quite look happy with the conditions.
It seemed at some points that it might be better to change to A+, but in the end A was probably the best compromise, but the forecast increased wind didn’t materialise.
The small fleet made it interesting to compare upwind v.m.g. with pointing fractionally higher vs. footing quicker.
It was agreed that eight races were enough as we were all soaking wet by then. Starting and scoring was a team effort, with thanks for Paul for bringing the keys so we could get into the clubhouse.
- Mike de St Paer 8 pts 4 wins
- John Carlin 10 pts 3 wins
- Paul Plested 17 pts 1 win
- Richard Walker 18 pts
