The forecasts for today looked promising with 8-9mph ENE breeze and sunny periods. However as the eight sailors arrived, although there was a little sun, there was little evidence of any breeze, which from the forecast was likely to be over the trees.
Peter donned the waders and helped to retrieve the latest debris (a footstool!) from the lake assisted by Stuart. This was in addition to two trolleys removed yesterday, by the Clubhouse update crew! He then moved a few marks around with the hope that we might get a breeze to race with.
With Neil acting as RO, we started soon after 11:00, but should not have attempted to sail a course using the full length of the lake. The wind (when it existed), swirled around the boats, with small bursts of speed followed by stationary periods, plus tacking and gybing without moving the tiller. It eventually took around 25 minutes to do the course as set, with Peter taking line honours, with Stuart and Charles passing Clive on the last leg as the breeze swung temporarily to the West and most boats finished within 10 seconds or so. At this point Dave called it a day, even though we decided to shorten the course significantly and only use half the length of the lake.
A further four “races” were sailed with the gusts increasing slightly, but never for very long and always from a different direction, with beats becoming a run and vice versa.
Peter continued to dominate the front of the fleet, until the last race, when Clive’s persistence paid off and rewarded him with a deserved win. A number of sailors were close to the front of the chasing bunch and lady luck often determined who might get to the finish line first. Andrew came out just ahead of Clive to take second spot, although third to fifth were all in close contention and the final result may have been different with additional races sailed.
Well done to those who continued racing under what were trying conditions today. Thanks to Neil for acting as RO and Dave for the results and a few photos of the conditions just so you know what you missed if you weren’t there to experience it.
