Frostbite 12 – 24th February 2019

This was actually the eleventh race in the Frostbite Series but scheduled as Race 12 on the calendar as Race 9 did not take place, because the lake was frozen.

Now that is cleared up, this was the last race in the Frostbite Series and going into this race Newton was one point clear ahead of Mike Trussler for the series win. In fact, Mike won the race on the water, which was all he could do, but neither Mike nor Newton won the race on corrected time. However, congratulations to Newton as he did win the overall series.

James was SOOD today and he had to cope with a very light wind of only 2-3 mph, but it did increase slightly towards the end of the race. He used a Tektona start and the first mark was X (near the buoy line roughly halfway between 4 and 5), then 4, 2, and back though the start. A prudent short course in case the wind disappeared completely!   

There were 16 starters and Mike T (Laser) and Nev & Mike (Leader) were over eager and across the line at the gun. Mike because he was chasing the series win and Nev & Mike because they were locked in battle with Sally & Mike C for the series Leader honours.  

At the end of the lap Richard S (Laser) was first back through the line closely followed by Steve S (Solo) with a slight gap back to Bill (K1) and a recovering Mike T (Laser) in 4^th place. Newton (Solo) was not far behind them in 5^th place with Adrian (Laser) in 6^th and Chris H (Comet) 7^th. Despite the dodgy start Nev & Mike were through next, just ahead of Sally & Mike C in the second Leader, which set up a good race long battle. Ellen (Laser), not enjoying the light wind, was next through in 10^th place. Then there was a delay of two minutes before Jeremy (Laser) crossed in 11^th place and he was well ahead of Ron (Mirror), who in turn was well ahead of Emily (Topper). Chasing her was Rick (Laser) and Will (Radial) followed by Sam (Laser).

By the end of the second lap Mike T had come to the fore setting Newton the challenge of trying to stay within handicap time of him. Steve was still 2^nd with Richard and Bill slipping back to 3^rd and 4^th places. Nev & Mike had passed Chris to move up to 7^th place. The 9^th to 12^th places remained unchanged, but Will and Emily both gained a place.

On the third lap with the light wind and a bunched fleet there was quite a lot of movement ! Adrian gained three places to move up to 3^rd, Chris gained four places to move up to 4^th place, Nev & Mike gained two places to 5^th and Sally & Mike C moved up one place to 8^th. Ellen decided that she had had enough and retired.

At the end of the fourth lap there was no change in the order of the first five boats, but Richard repassed Newton to move up to 6^th spot. Bill regained two places to move to 8^th and everyone else maintained station or lost places. Sam received the finish gun at the end of the lap.

The fifth lap saw the first three unchanged with Newton moving up to 4^th place and Richard repassing Nev & Mike to move to 5th. Sally & Mike C regained a place to move right behind Nev & Mike in the battle of the Leaders. There were no other changes in position and Will, Rick and Emily received the finish gun at the end of the lap.

Mike crossed the line in 1^st place at the end of the last lap with Steve keeping the 2^nd place he had held right from the first lap. Ominously for Mike, Newton had gained another place to finish 3^rd and Chris and Nev & Mike gained two places to finish in 4^th and 5^th places at the expense of Adrian and Richard.

The final positions on the water were –

1^st Mike T; 2^nd Steve S; 3^rd Newton; 4^th Chris H; 5^th Nev & Mike; 6^th Adrian

The final positions on corrected time were always going to be a problem for the leaders on the water and were – 1^st Ron; 2^nd Chris; 3^rd Steve; 4^th Mike T; 5^th Newton; 6^th Nev & Mike

Thanks to James and the OOD Team of Angela M, Bea P, Jeremy T, Mark D, Mike T, Nick J and Rhys P.