29 March Spring Series 4
This was a really windy morning, 24 -28 mph Westerly with gusts of up to 50 mph which restricted the starters to only 10 boats. Peter S set a long beat down to 4 and then across to 9, down to 3 then back to 1, up to 5 on the buoy line, along to 6 and finally 7.
Dave L decided to team up with Hugh in his Leader and others decided to watch from the bank !
At the end of the first lap Steve P led Hadey, both in 4.7s, with Newton & Ellen (Laser 2000) in 3rd with high wind ace Jon 4th, Curtis 5th, Adrian 6th and James P 7th all in Lasers. Hugh & Dave L had come to grief in the Leader and impaled the mast, unfortunately bending it in the process. William managed the first two marks before capsizing his Topper and retiring and Ken P also decided to call it a day before the end of the lap.
On the second lap Newton & Ellen also embedded their mast in the mud and that was the end of their race. When Ellen was exhausted and sitting on the centreboard for the third time she looked down the lake and every single boat was capsized ! James even managed to get from 4 to 9 with his Laser upside down and that was the end of his race ! Steve P was still in the lead but Jon had come through to 2nd with Hadey 3rd and Curtis and Adrian 4th and 5th.
Only three boats actually completed the third lap and at the gun Jon took the victory with Steve 2nd and Hadey 3rd with Curtis and Adrian still 4th and 5th
Well done to all the brave souls who ventured out, especially young William and Hadey and a big thank you to the OOD team who did a good job in difficult and arduous conditions.
This was actually more of a duathlon with sailing and swimming in place of the usual cycling and running! Perhaps we should put this forward as an event for Rio in 2016.