Seven skippers arrived at the club to be greeted by a grey sky with a bit of drizzle in the air, which soon stopped. On a brighter note there was a nice A+ rig wind blowing down the lake from the far end which had a bit of westerly in it, meaning it came through & over the houses to add some interest. On the downside, the algae was a problem with it sometimes building up on the foils to various degrees. This would prove a problem trying to tune the boat, a lot of weather helm was noticeable immediately, I can only put this down to the algae making it more difficult for the fins to cut through the water. This was even more evident on the run when all too easily the nose would disappear and the transom would raise up ending in the inevitable broach, although there were some gallant efforts to stop the broaching throughout the day.
Never the less, the course was set, windward mark to port straight back down to a gate and then to the finish half way back up the beat. It was decided to have a dedicated RO for each race with the skippers taking it in turn. Dave W took first duty and got us off on time.
Race 1 and Clive seemed to have a good set up and was out of the blocks quickly and led from start to finish but was pushed all the way Charles finishing second and James taking third.
Race 2 and James took the RO role, but it was Clive again who got a port end flyer crossing the fleet, and would remain ahead until the finish with Charles holding off Dave W to finish second. At this stage Alan who had struggled with boat setup decided enough was enough as the frustration got the better of him. As the number of skippers was diminishing it was decided to ditch the dedicated RO and the starts would be self monitored and first to finish would record the results. To make things fairer the 2 helms who had RO’d (Dave W and James) would have an average score used to complete the missing scores
Race 3 and once again Clive crossed the field on port with James in hot pursuit, leaving Dave W, Charles and David White to have a very close battle for third. Richard was struggling at this stage and decided enough was enough.
Race 4 and this time James who had a bit of advice from Clive on his set up, joined Clive in crossing, what was left of the fleet. on port tack from the start. The pair had a good battle to the finish with James taking line honours. There was also a good battle going on behind with Charles getting his revenge over Dave W for third
Race 5 and this was the race that nearly wasn’t. We had just decided we would call it a day, David W had packed up his chair when Richard, having decided enough was obviously not enough, wanted to try an A rig in the hope of better balance and performance, who were we to argue. So once again we set off, James and Clive were away quickly again but Clive soon slowed with algae build up, giving Charles and Dave W the chance to pass. James continued in the lead, and Dave wasn’t able to get past Charles despite a valiant effort. Richards trial didn’t produce the result he had hoped for and finished sixth.
It was decided that enough really did mean enough and we decided to retreat to the clubhouse, although the sun did start to come through the clouds. Thanks to Dave for a few photos from Race 1.
- Clive Warren 5pts (3wins)
- James Douglas 5.4pts (2wins)
- Charles Legg 9pts
- Dave Williams 12pts
- David White 17pts
- Richard Walker 22pts
- Alan Watkinson 27pts
After sailing Malcolm, assisted later by Richard and Clive replaced the damaged waste pipe from the gents sink. Hopefully this will help preserve the brickwork where the water was running down previously. Many thanks Malcolm.
