Spring Series 2 -17th March 2019

Spring Series 2 races should have taken place last Sunday, but with winds of 40 mph plus, SOOD Roland S wisely decided that it was a non-starter, much to the relief of most!

This week was a little better with a West wind of about 20 mph and stronger gusts. Most of the Lasers had opted for radial rigs and Will had dropped down to a 4.7. Julian B turned up with his new Devoti D-Zero, a new addition to our mixed fleet. Mark B set the first mark as 4, then 2, 5, 9, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit race

17 starters which was pretty good considering the testing conditions. At the end of the first lap, early starters Ron (Mirror) and Chris H (Comet) were still ahead, but Mike T and Jon (Lasers) were closing in on them. Sally & Mike C (Leader) came to grief early on and retired. Everyone else persevered, including Emily in her Topper and by the finish gun Jon had taken the lead and the final order was –

1st Jon – Laser; 2nd Mike T – Laser; 3rd Ron – Mirror; 4th Julian B – D-Zero; 5th Adrian – Laser; 6th Steve S – Aero

Handicap Race

Sally & Mike C having got warm and dry decided to stay that way and Julian joined them, which took us down to 15 for the second race. This was further reduced to 13 when Mike T and Ralph both retired on the first lap. First back through the line was Steve S followed about 30 seconds later by Jon and then Newton, with new crew Sam in the RS200 with James (Laser) on their transom. About a minute later Adrian crossed in 5th place with Will (Radial but flying a 4.7) not far behind. Another minute passed before Dean & Nick (Vago) hove into sight, just ahead of Ron, Chris H and Jeremy (Laser) with Rick and Alistair also in Lasers slightly further back but enjoying a good battle of their own. Emily bravely battled on at the rear of the fleet.

On the second lap Rick and Alistair caught and passed Jeremy and that was the only change in position, but on the third lap we lost two more when Steve S retired from the lead and Alistair got a nasty bang on his nose, splitting it across the bridge and was forced to retire. Jon was now in the lead, but there was no change in the order of next five boats. Rick gained two places to move to 7th by passing Ron and Chris H. Ron, Chris, Jeremy and Emily all received the gun at the end of this lap.

On the last lap the only change in position was Rick gaining another place up to 6th by passing Dean & Nick. The final positions on the water were –

1st Jon; 2nd Newton & Sam; 3rd James; 4th Adrian; 5th Will; 6th Rick; 7th Dean & Nick

On corrected time Jon takes the victory, but Ron moves up to 2nd with Newton & Sam down to 3rd place. James takes 4th with Adrian and Will 5th and 6th.

Emily did a great job sailing in difficult conditions which deterred many from sailing at all. Well done Emily!

Thanks to Mark B and the OOD Team of Ann & Dave, John H and Richard S. In fact, Ann & Dave and Richard all volunteered on the day, as there were four no-shows! So special thanks to them or we would not have had a race at all.