Thanks to the weekend entries, a larger fleet of 42 RS 800s left the beach (mostly) on time and headed out to the promised 9-11 knt NE breeze. However, on arriving at the committee boat the breeze had built to a steady 15 kts+. Pete Barton and Chris Feibusch quickly settled in to the increasing breeze and nailed the first race to take a 1st, closely followed by Tim Saxton and Fiona Hampshire, and Luke and Emma McEwen in 3rd.
With the breeze still up, the fleet were keen to get off to another race, perhaps a bit too keen which resulted in a general recall and the rest of the day being sailed under a black flag. James Hughes and Toby Wincer were off to a flying start and lead the fleet round the top mark. James will be the first to confess that in his new role as a helm, he was so proud at rounding the top mark first, he forgot to race the rest of the race! Andy and Alyson took the lead on the final lap to win the race. A last ditch attempt to gain the lead by Phil Walker and John Mather (aka “the Kids” – what cheek!) didn’t quite work but moved them up into second, closely followed by Pete and Chris.
Race three was started under a black flag, and after a general recall only caught two boats, many were seen on their hands and knees thanking whichever God they follow. After a restart, Luke and Emma were back to form and lead all the way round the course, closely followed by Andy and Allyson. Shout out must go to Tim Saxton and Fiona Hampshire for the most spectacular pitchpole on the first downwind.
The final race got underway in a dying breeze, but with the leftover sloppy chop made it a very tricky race course. Surprise surprise, Luke and Emma nailed it, followed by Phil and John and Tim and Fiona keen to show they can keep the boat upright in 8-10kts came in third!
I’m not sure who won the race home, I was knackered so gave my boat to one of the 29er guys and drove the RIB in!
Report: Phil Walker
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