Spring Series 3 – 24th March 2019

It was not quite as windy as previous Sundays this morning about 8 – 10 mph, but it kept swinging from WSW to WNW, which made Mike A’s job of setting the start line very tricky. For the first race he set the first mark as X (on the buoy line about halfway between 5 and 6).

Pursuit race

20 starters and there was a reasonable breeze at the start of the race, but by the time the Lasers started this had died away, which resulted in a mass rounding of the first mark. In fact, Ron (Mirror) was approaching X just as the Lasers were clearing it! Fellow early starters, Chris H (Comet), Rhys (4.7), Mike C & Sally (Leader), Will (Radial) and Dave & Ann (Leader) occupied 2^nd to 6^th places at the end of the first lap.

The gun went about halfway through the second lap with the final order as – 1^st Chris H; 2^nd Will; 3^rd Mike C & Sally; 4^th Rhys; 5^th Dave & Ann; 6^th Simon (Blaze)

Ron would have been 2^nd, but unfortunately missed out the first mark on the first lap!

Handicap Race

 The wind got up a bit more for the second race and swung to the South, so the start line was adjusted, and X dropped, so the first mark was now 5, and 6 and 7 were added to the end of the course. Steve S (Solo) joined the fleet making 21 starters for the handicap race.

Simon (Blaze) was first back through the line with Julian B (D-Zero) chasing him. Then there was a slight gap before Newton & Ellen (RS200) crossed the line in 3^rd place followed closely by Mike T (Laser) in 4^th. About one minute later Jon (Laser) came through in 5^th place followed by Bill (K1) and the Lasers of Ralph and Richard S. Chris H (Comet) was next along in 10^th place, just ahead of Steve S (Solo) and Rick (Laser). About a minute later James (Laser) crossed in 12^th spot with Alistair S (Laser) not far behind him and Dave & Ann (Leader) overlapping him across the line and the other Leader with Sally and Mike C right on Dave & Ann’ transom. Jeremy (Laser) was only 5 seconds behind them leading another tight group consisting of Will (Radial), Gareth E (Laser), Adrian (Laser), Ron (Mirror) and Rhys (4.7). So, the back half of the fleet was enjoying some very close sailing.

Simon increased his lead slightly on the second lap, as did Julian on the 3^rd placed boat of Newton & Ellen with Mike T still chasing in 4^th place. Ralph moved up two places to 5^th by passing Jon and Bill. Rick also moved up two places to 9^th just behind Richard S passing Chris H and Steve S in the process. Alistair also moved up two by passing Chris and James and in the Leader battle behind them Sally & Mike C had got past Dave & Ann. Further back Adrian was another to gain two places passing Will and Gareth E and Ron also got past Gareth with Rhys not far behind them.

By the end of the third lap Julian had made up some ground on Simon, but Simon was still leading. No change in position for the next two, but Jon had regained 5^th place from Ralph. The 8^th, 9^th and 10^th positions were still held by Richard, Rick and Steve, but James had moved up two places to 11^th. Further back Adrian and Gareth both gained a place and Gareth, Ron and Rhys received the gun at the end of this lap.

At the end of the fourth and last lap, Simon crossed in 1^st place with Julian not far behind in 2^nd place and Newton & Ellen claimed 3^rd with Mike T not far behind in 4^th (coming home in pairs!) Ralph just pipped Jon for 5^th place and Richard just pipped Bill for 7^th place!  In the fleet behind there were no other changes in position. The final positions on the water were –

1^st Simon; 2^nd Julian; 3^rd Newton & Ellen; 4^th Mike T; 5^th Ralph; 6^th Jon  

On corrected time there was no change in position, which is quite unusual for our mixed fleet!

Thanks to Mike A and the OOD Team of Mike Todd, Steve George and Tony Riley.