Gillette Series 16 – 27th July

The forecast was for a WNW wind of about 8 mph, but as usual the wind kept changing direction and strength. For all that it was a very pleasant evening for a sail and Curtis used an Island Start with a first beat to X (between 4 and 5 on the buoy line) then 4p, 9s, 2s,1p and back through the start. Obviously not playing to the gallery in the clubhouse!
 
There were 17 starters plus 3 juniors.
 
Seniors (some more than others!)
Mark (Laser) was first back through the line followed by the usual suspects of Karen (Laser) and Newton (Solo). Roland & Ryan (National12) came through in 4th place with Simon (Laser) 5th and Monica (Europe) 6th.
 
By the end of the second lap Karen had taken over the lead and Monica had moved up to 5th and Hadey (Radial) was up to 6th (Here come the girls – again!). Behind these a terrific mid-fleet battle had developed with Simon, Mike A (Lightning) and the Solos of Chris A, Julian W and  Bob swapping places at every mark. Further back Mike T (Laser) was trying to hold off Dave & Ann (Leader), Paul H (Supernova), Rod (Laser), Sally & Stuart (Leader) and Richard H (Laser).
 
On the third lap the leaders remained in the same positions, but Hadey had moved up another place to 5th and Julian W had gained four places to 6th. Bob and Rod had also gained one place and Richard H two places.
 
By the end of the fourth lap Hadey had moved up again to take 4th spot and Bob had gained three places to move up to 7th. Richard H had gained another two places and Paul H had passed Sally & Stuart and these and Mike T received the finish gun at the end of the lap.
 
At the end of the fifth and final lap the only change in the leading nine boats was Roland & Ryan regaining 4th place from Hadey. Chris A had passed Monica to take 10th and the only other mover was Rod who had gained another two places.
 
The final positions on the water were – 1st Karen; 2nd Newton; 3rd Mark; 4th Roland & Ryan; 5th Hadey; 6th Julian W
 
On handicap Newton will snatch victory from Karen with Mike A moving up to 4th with Hadey and Julian keeping 5th and 6th places.
 
This means that in the Gillette Series, Newton and Karen currently lead with exactly the same number of points but Karen’s first discard is a 2nd place whereas Newton has a 3rd.    
 
Juniors
At the end of the first lap Joe (Topper) led Edward (Topper) with Jemima (Oppie) in 3rd place and these positions were maintained through the whole of the race.
Jemima received the gun after two laps and Joe and Edward after four laps.
 
In the Junior and Youth Series Jemima actually leads the table (on discard) – more girl power at RSC

 
Thanks to Curtis and the OOD Team of Hugh, Ian S, Andy B and Chris M.