12 April Spring Series 5
This was another windy Sunday with a SSW rising from about 12 mph to plus 20 with some strong gusts coming through.
Mike A set a beat down to 2, then on to 3, back along the buoy line to 4 then across to a gybe at 8, back up to 5 on the buoy line with another gybe, then toward the clubhouse and No 7 and back through the start line.
Before the start Peter S and Jon C got entangled and at one point Jon had Peter captured underneath the sail of his Laser ! Fortunately they sorted things out before Peter was due to start.
Most of the Laser sailors had opted for the radial rig and some were wishing they could opt for a 4.7 ! Mike C decided to team up with Hugh in the Leader.
There were 13 starters and William was first away as usual in his Topper followed nine minutes later by Peter S (Byte), then Hugh & Mike C three minutes later.
Alistair (Laser – full rig) came to grief on the first lap and eventually had to leave his boat to be retrieved later – the first but not the last !
William still led by quite a distance at the end of the first lap with Steve S in 2nd and Newton & Ellen (Laser 2000) 3rd. About two minutes later Hugh & Mike crossed the line closely followed by a pack of Lasers, David C, Richard S, Curtis, Jon C, then the late starters Paul R (Aero) and Ian C (Supernova) and finally Dave L (Laser) and Peter S.
On the second lap the wind really started to get up and there were numerous capsizes all over the lake. Steve S looked as if he would cross the line in first place, but he capsized round 5 and the cleats on his foredeck pulled out so he toured in (quite quickly !) to retire. Newton & Ellen who were not far behind Steve then crossed the line 1st with David C 2nd and Paul R 3rd.
At this point there were more boats over than upright and the two Safety Boats were struggling to cope. Mike A as SOOD reluctantly made the decision to abandon the race.
Steve S, Jon C and Hugh set out in a third Safety Boat to help retrieve helms and boats.
James P & Steve P in one Safety Boat and Ross B & Issy in the other Safety Boat did a great job all morning and many thanks to them for their great efforts.
Once all the helms were safely ashore the Safety Boats set out again to retrieve all the boats that had been abandoned around the lake.
Quite an eventful morning !