A decent entry of 11 boats for today, but in the end only nine competed. Neil couldn’t solve his electrical problems and both Martin W-J and Steve M opted not to sail on what was a very marginal B rig and mostly C rig day and they were lacking the right rig’s. At least we had Bill C to swell the numbers by an extra one. Dave W decided not to sail and run the racing instead, now with help from Neil and Steve M. This allowed Andy Mearns to sail by borrowing Dave’s C rig.
We do not get many days like this at Birkenhead with the wind nearly straight down the lake although as normal a few shifts (including false one’s) to test the sailors and allow for gains and losses around the course. The gusts were short lived and hardly ever over powered the C rig, but the B rig’s did suffer especially early on in the session. At least the sun was out for the first half which helped keep the sailors warm enough without jackets.
Peter set out his stall for the afternoon by winning races 1 and 2, although was a close run thing with Clive, Bill and Duncan hard on his heels. Bill then took Race 3 from John P who gamely raced with his B rig and after a few tweaks by Peter was going a lot better to lead round the first mark and pick up second. Peter then took races 4 and 5 with Clive close behind in both with a third each for John P and Bill. In the final race before the break, Clive got well away after a cracking start and neither Peter nor Bill could catch him for a deserved win.
For the second half, the wind had eased very slightly, but not enough to allow the B rigs to dominate, although those in C rigs were frustrated when the wind died away on the run and the B rigs powered through. Fortunately (for those in C rig), the gusts came back and the B rigs suffered upwind with John Pritchard picking up some decent results, but not enough to catch Bill overall. Peter continued on winning form with four of the six races in the afternoon, although Clive did take two wins and a couple of seconds.
As for the rest of the fleet, Duncan was having a problem with consistency and then had to pull out two races from the end with a broken mainsheet having picked up a number of third places. Andy and Stuart M continued with the sibling rivalry, with Andy (and his borrowed rig) edging out brother Stuart to beat him on countback. Dave Worron managed a second in Race 8, but struggled to get the best out of his B rig even after a few adjustments by Peter to help him on his way. Bill seemed to be a target for hook-ups, with a long hug of the windward mark and two incidents in the pre-start with boats trying to inadvertently take him out. Dave W fortunately stopped the clock both time and once untangled, racing continued with no damage caused.
A great afternoon’s racing in C rig which we only use occasionally at Birkenhead. Good practice for those windier days at more open waters. Peter took the day, with Clive in second and Bill in third. John Pritchard in a B rig ended up a creditable fourth, hopefully picking up a few setup tips along the way. Dave Worron captured this Race 2 start giving an idea of conditions.
Thanks to Dave W, Neil and Steve for running the racing and Dave for taking a few photos and working out the results.
