14th September Cobley Pursuit 3
Nice to see Mark back on the water, but let’s hope we see him next in his Laser rather than in the Safety Boat. There was quite a good wind, 10-11 mph but it was in a slightly tricky ENE direction and Mark opted for a Tektona start coming down to X, then back up to 5, 1, 4 and 3.
There were 16 boats under starter’s orders and first away was young William P in his Topper followed 9 min later by Hadey in the 4.7, then 3 min after Hadey, Mike C (Solo) and Bob & Roland (Leader) set forth. Then 2 min later it was the turn of Newton & Ellen (Laser 2000) and Issy (Radial). Great to see Issy back on the water, another prodigal returning to us. Peter R & Colin H (Enterprise) started soon after followed by the Laser pack, with Paul H (Supernova) 1 min later. Adrian had to wait another minute before he could get away in his Vago and marking time for another 10 min were Steve & Lynn in the 505. Another welcome back, this time to Lynn who has had to stay away through an injury. It seemed to be a day for returning sailors !
After one lap Newton & Ellen had passed the boats ahead of them and came through in 1st place, Hadey was still hanging onto 2nd, but the Laser of David C was already ominously close in 3rd with Peter & Colin 4th, then the Lasers of Karen, Dave P, Curtis and James P closing in on the Enterprise. Obviously a good day to be in a Laser ! Mike C came through in 9th chased by Issy, Adrian and Paul H. Adrian was flying his kite when he could, but the runs were not long enough to make a significant difference, still it looked great. Next came the last starter, the 505, which had passed Bob & Roland, Mike T (Laser) and William P.
Newton & Ellen still led at two laps, but David C had moved to 2nd with Peter &Colin 3rd and the Lasers of Karen, Curtis, James P and Dave P in the next four places. The highest mover on this lap was Paul H who had gained three places.
At the end of the third lap David C and Karen had passed Newton &Ellen to take 1st and 2nd places respectively. James P had passed Curtis to move up to 5th and the other movers (upwards!) were Mike C and Paul H who each gained one place and Steve & Lynn who had gained two places.
On the final lap Curtis broke his tiller extension and had to retire before the finish gun.
At the gun the first three were the same, but the main mover was Dave P who had passed Peter & Colin and James P to take 4th place. Well done to William who persevered in his Topper to the end.
The final podium was 1st David C, 2nd Karen, 3rd Newton & Ellen