I got to the Club with plenty of time to spare, for a change. I was amazed at the activity! Ivan, having sustained an injury whilst we were sailing yesterday (I hope John has got lots of photos of me sailing the Topper), had decided to man the Patrol Boat, he's already on the list, are you?
Ivan at the controls
Giles Alison and Peter were all out in their dayboats:
Alison, Jamie & Jamie's friend
Peter, I didn't manage to get a photo of Giles
We selected a course, in the old terms, open line - Bs - Gs - Ap - 18s - Ts; 3 laps for the fast boats and 2 for the slower ones.
Seven, yes seven, dinghies started Jack & Glen, Iso; Robin, OK; the Martins, GP14; Owen, GP14; Ian & John, Bosun; Stephen, Mirror & Chris, Mirror.
Jostling for positions at the start we had an incident where the Bosun rammed a GP14! For the first time I can remember the race started exactly on time, a good sign for things to come.
The wind was westerly blowing Force 3 occasionally 4. Robin led from the start, the lead keenly contested by Jack & Glen. For some reason Jack and Glen decided to rinse the boat out and wash the sails
From the looks on their faces they seem to be enjoying it.
Because of the the strong winds the race was soon over so we had a discussion on whether to have two more short races but, as opinons we were somewhat unsure I eventually decide we'd have one more race, the same course but four and three laps.
A good start by all, the two fast boats away at the front, Chris is just out of the picture on the ringht. As the race progressed Jack and Glen built up a few boat lengths lead but again the pushed too hard and ended up swimming. By now they were getting practiced at recovering and they were soon up and on their way again
Owen, again with only the mainsail - Owen's considering a single-hander. Ivan wants him to get a Laser, Robin would like him to get an OK
John, crew - it's John's boat, a Bosun, Ian helming. These two were having a good contest with the Martins in the GP14 but they eventually barged past the Martins, literally. On two occasions the Bosun rammed the GP14! As they didn't do their 360 degree turns they were disqualified, which was sad because had they kept to cardinal rule - a collision should be avoided at all costs - in between times they were sailing very well. I think if it happens again they will have to be banned from racing.
Robin won both races so was the overall winner. Stephen was second overall, coming second in the first race and third in the second race. The Martins were third overall with a third and fourth narrowly beating Jack & Glen, who had a poor first race - first time they had been on the water in the Iso since last year, but came third in the second race. The surpise of the day, well two surpises, was Ian & John. They sailed really but John is left with the task of repairing two boats - the Bosun, a well built Services boat, was undamaged.
Norman and Robin with Trophy. As Norman was presenting the Trophy he said how heartened he'd been as he came over the rise to the top of the hill when he was greeted by the sight of ten dinghies and dayboats on the water - just like old times he said. He thanked myself, Ivan, Dave-launcher and John-house for their efforts in getting the marks out and organising the racing. He later promised to support our request for new racing marks.