30 July Gillette Series Race 15
A lovely evening with a light NW wind and 28 starters, the most this year, which kept Steve S and his team very busy.
It was great to see so many young sailors joining us for the fifteenth race in the Gillette series and before the start Karen duly warned all the adult sailors not to bully the youngsters !
The start line was quite crowded with a short beat up to X near the orange buoy line.
Ian C (Supernova) got away well and had pulled out a small gap at the end of the first lap, followed by Karen, Newton, Dave L, all in Lasers, then Julian (Solo) and then Rod Barber in his Laser. Rod was hotly pursued by Nev & Paul R (Leader) in close company with Curtis (Laser).
In the middle of the fleet there was a close battle between Chris A (Solo), Mike T (Laser), Sally & Stuart (Leader), Tracey & Craig (Leader), Dean and Paul H, both in Lasers and Mike A (Lightning). It was good to see Chris & Carol (Sport 14) and Ian Stewart (RS Vision) back on the water and enjoying a tussle with Hugh (Byte) and Hadey (4.7).
The first of the Toppers was Joe followed by William P, then Jess (Laser), Rhys and Edward in Oppies and Holly in another Topper. Tangled up with them and enjoying their company was Chris S (Laser), Paul B (Laser 2) and John H (Comet).
Ian C kept his lead throughout the race and the five boats behind him also retained their positions. Nev & Paul R kept swopping places with Curtis and they crossed the finish line together. Mike T managed to pull away from the middle of the fleet pack and Sally & Stuart came out top of that midfield pack. Hugh won the battle of the next group with Hadey and Ian S finishing virtually together with Chris & Carol not far behind.
The leading Topper at the end of the race was William followed by Joe, but Steve S had sensibly finished Holly and the Oppies of Rhys and Edward a lap earlier.
The final placings were 1st Ian C, 2nd Karen, 3rd Newton, 4th Dave L, but Julian will push Dave out of 4th on handicap.
Well done to all the young sailors who joined in the race. Come along again it’s really good to have you with us.