Cobley Series 11 – 25th November 2018

The forecast was for a fairly light wind, about 8 mph, from the SE (at least the last time I looked) Peter S was on SOOD duty but did not record the actual wind or the course on the race sheet, but I guess we can let him off that, as he has more important priorities as a new Dad!

Pursuit Race
There were 18 starters and at the end of the lap Chris H (Comet) and Karen (Radial) crossed the line together with Nev & Mike (Leader) next through in 3rd place with Newton & Ellen (RS200) 4th and another Leader in the hands of Sally & Mike C 5th with Richard S (Laser) 6th.
At the gun Karen had got away from Chris and the final positions were –
1st Karen; 2nd Newton & Ellen; 3rd Richard S; 4th Nev & Mike; 5th Chris H; 6th Mike Tr

Handicap Race
First back through the line was Simon (Blaze) followed by Ken (Laser) who obviously has not lost his touch despite not having raced recently. Ellen & Newton (RS200) came through in 3rd place not far ahead of the Lasers of Mike Tr, Richard S, Jon, Rick and Mark with Karen (Radial) in 9th and not far behind them. There was a small gap back to Chris H (Comet) and James (Laser) and then the Lasers of Ralph and John W crossed the line together just ahead of Adrian (s/h Vago). Behind them Nev & Mike (Leader), Frantz (Laser), Jeremy (Laser) and Sally & Mike C (Wanderer) were having a close battle of their own.

On the second lap Ellen & Newton moved up to 2nd place and Mike Tr up to 3rd. Ralph gained five places to move up to 7th but there were no other changes in the order.

No change in the leader on the third lap, but Mike Tr had passed Ellen & Newton to move up to 2nd place and Richard S and Jon were up one place to 4th and 5th respectively. Further back James gained a place and Frantz gained four places and Sally & Mike C relinquished the lanterne rouge by passing Jeremy.

At the end of the fourth and last lap, Simon who had led from start to finish crossed the line well ahead of Ellen & Newton who had regained 2nd spot and behind them Richard S had passed Mike Tr to take 3rd place. Further back Mark and Ralph could not be split as they contested 7th place. Rick regained a place and Nev & Mike moved up four places and Adrian also regained a place.
The final order was –
1st Simon; 2nd Ellen & Newton; 3rd Richard S; 4th Mike Tr; 5th Jon; 6th Ken

On corrected time Simon was not quite far enough in front to retain his 1st place and Ellen & Newton pushed him down to 2nd. Mike, Richard and Jon keep their positions, but Ken loses his 6th place to Karen.

Thanks to Peter S and the OOD team of Issy and Ron (and may also have included Al, Paul W and Marcin).

With only one more race left in the series, it looks as if Karen should take the Pursuit Series as she holds a 3 point advantage over Chris H in 2nd place. Ellen & Newton are in pole position in the Handicap Series with a 6 point advantage over Mike Tr,