Seven DF95 skippers turned up for the second extra Saturday morning social racing sessions that had been added to the sailing calendar and it would be fair to say, that most if not all, probably wished they’d found something else to do with their time. The forecast was for a stiff breeze from the SW moving to the West with boats on B rigs. Martin Wittingham-Jones even came ready to sail with his B rig with 10 minutes to the start, only to have to quickly swap up to A rig just in time to race in what was a very shifting lightish breeze coming from over the houses. This combined with the ever present algae, made it a challenge for all.
Races one and two saw Paul Plested and Peter Baldwin pull away from the pack early on, and both took the option of de-weeding on the run/reach from the the starboard rounded windward mark and spreader mark. Paul managed to hang on for two firsts, with Peter close behind in 2nd. Steve Miller, who had a good day, managed a 3rd in the first race and a 4th in the second.In race three Paul got away quickly rounded the top buoys first, again with Peter close behind. Paul opted to come close to the shore to clear the algae, whilst Peter stayed out in the better breeze. The latter paid off and Peter had a good lead at the leeward gate, which he held until the finish. Alan Watkinson scored a 3rd place, to go with his 3rd in race two.
As with earlier races, both Paul and Peter got away with Paul taking the win. Steve Miller bagged another 3rd just pipping Alan to the line. In race five both Phyl Fanning, who had finally got his boat going in the conditions, and Martin, who suffered with electrical problems all morning, had a good first beat and were both in contention as they approached the leeward mark, with Peter just ahead and Paul just behind. Peter took the win and Paul managed to get through to 2nd, with Martin taking 3rd.In the final race of the morning Paul got a good start and lead from start to finish. Both Peter and Alan were neck and neck towards the end of the run, when Alan misjudged his sailing line and, frustratingly for him, ended up snagged on one of the starting buoys. John Beech was the beneficiary of Alan’s misfortune scoring his best result of the day in 3rd.
Not the best conditions for racing, but all the skippers made the most of it. Thanks to Garry benson for acting as RO for the last few races and Paul for the few photos taken whilst racing.
