Spring Series 4 Sunday 25th March 2018

It was quite a pleasant morning with a bit of sun and a light wind mostly from the North about 8 mph, although this did vary through the morning. Mike A used an Island start with a first beat to X (middle of the lake about level with No 5), then 5p, 9s, 4p, 2p and back through the start.

Pursuit Race
Mike A apologises for the delayed start, but only one of the allocated OODs turned up!
Fortunately Sally, Roland L and Bob W came to the rescue and we eventually got under way about 10.45.
There were 16 starters and first back through the line was Ron & lad (Mirror) who were well ahead of Chris H (Comet). Unfortunately Ron had started early, which is a pity because he went well for the duration of the race. Nev in the second Comet came through in 3rd place with Hadey 4th and Peter R (Enterprise) 5th and Newton & Ellen (RS200) 6th. Then came a trio of Lasers, Richard S, Jon and Hugh being rapidly caught by last starter Simon B (Blaze) who had just got past Rick (Laser). By this time the wind had dropped and the last four boats, Steve S (Aero), Gareth (Laser), Dean (Laser) and Adrian (Vago) were struggling to cross the line.
Most of the fleet managed to complete another lap and when the gun went the leader Chris H was just about to be passed by Simon.
The final positions were –
1st Chris H; 2nd Simon B; 3rd Peter R; 4th Newton & Ellen; 5th Jon; 6th Richard S

Handicap Race
Dave I and Steve S did not start the second race so the fleet was down to 14 boats.
By the end of the first lap Simon B was already well ahead with Nev in 2nd place with 20 seconds back to Hugh and Rick in 3rd and 4th positions. Then Jon and Richard crossed the line together battling for 5th place. The next three boats Chris H, Peter R and Gareth were evenly spaced in 8th, 9th and 10th places. There was a slight gap back to Dean in 11th place and a bigger gap back to Ron & lad and Adrian. Ellen & Newton had disappeared from the fleet, not sure why, but there was a kerfuffle at the first mark which may have a bearing.

On the second lap there was no change in the position of the first 8 boats, but Gareth had managed to get past Peter to move up to 9th. Further back Adrian had passed Ron.

By the end of the third lap Rick, Jon and Richard all moved up two places to 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Peter also gained two places by passing Gareth and Chris. Adrian and Ron received the gun at the end of this lap.

The fourth lap was the last and Simon crossed the line well ahead of the rest of the fleet. Jon and Richard moved up to 2nd and 3rd by passing Rick. Peter moved up another three places to move up to 5th place.

The final places on the water were –
1st Simon; 2nd Jon; 3rd Richard S; 4th Rick; 5th Peter; 6th Hugh

On handicap there should be a bit of a shuffle resulting in the following places –
1st Nev; 2nd Simon; 3rd Jon; 4th Richard S; 5th Chris H; 6th Peter R

Thanks to Mike A and the OOD Team of Robbie and especially to Sally, Bob W and Roland L who stepped in to ensure the race took place.