Frostbite 12 – 26th February
There was a brisk 14 mph SW wind this morning which was forecast to increase to 16 mph with 30 mph gusts, something to look forward to then!
Mike A set a first beat down to 4, then 2, 5, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.
There were 16 starters today and Steve S (Aero) was first back through the line followed by Jon and James in Lasers. Then there was a slight gap before another gaggle of Lasers led by Richard S then Mark, Curtis, Ken, Franz, Dave L and Adrian. Next through came Hadey and William in 4.7s (strictly speaking also Lasers, but it breaks up the Laser monopoly a bit to call them 4.7s!). There was a slight gap before Rick came through with a radial rig followed by Chris (Comet) and Dean & Nick in the Vago with Ralph some way behind after a coup[le of capsizes.
By the end of the second lap the strong wind maestro JC had taken the lead with Steve in 2nd place and James 3rd. Curtis (who was also flying a radial) had moved up two places to 4th getting past Richard and Mark. Dave L had gained a place to move to 8th and Hadey had also moved up one place to 10th. Dean & Nick had gained two places by passing Chris and Rick. Ralph came in to retire at the end of the lap after another capsize, which injured his shoulder.
Jon had increased his lead on the third lap, but even he managed to capsize after crossing the line.
He was not alone as a number of others had come to grief, in particular Steve had disappeared from 2nd spot after impaling his mast in a capsize! James was now 2nd and Dave L, Franz and Hadey had all moved up five places to 3rd, 4th and 5th. Curtis was now 6th with William who had also gained five places up to 7th. Richard and Ken who had been 6th and 7th came in to retire and Mark disappeared from the leader board, presumably capsized. There were quite a number of boats going over and it was difficult to tell who was who, as upturned hulls look pretty much the same!
Adrian had moved up three places to 8th and a recovering Mark came through in 9th with Dean & Nick
up three places to 10th. Steve had finally got going again and came through in 11th with Chris 12th and Rick was lost at sea!
Most of the fleet was well spaced out by the end of the fourth and last lap and Jon finished well ahead. The only movers on this last lap were Adrian up four places to 4th and Steve up five places to 6th. Rick made a welcome reappearance and looked as if he would get a finish, but then unfortunately capsized on the way to 6 and eventually had to retire.
Final positions on the water were –
1st Jon; 2nd James; 3rd Dave L; 4th Adrian; 5th Hadey; 6th Steve
On handicap Jon should keep his victory, but Hadey and William will move up to 2nd and 3rd pushing James, Dave L and Adrian down to 4th, 5th and 6th.
Well done to everyone who sailed, but especially to Hadey and William (one over on the old man !)
Thanks to Mike and the OOD Team of Claire D, Paul H, Bob L, Gary S and Paul W.
Claire had a baptism of fire in one of the rescue boats and she does not actually sail, so well done to her as well.