Gillette Series 14 – 17th July 2019

Another pleasant evening with a light SW wind of about 8 mph. Ellen set the first mark as A (somewhere near Tektona – at a guess – can’t see that far!) then 9, 3, 2, 5, 7 and back through the start.

It was another good turn out with 18 starters and Dave & Ann (Leader) were first back across the line with Mark (Laser) in 2^nd place some 30 seconds behind them. Will (Radial) was going well in 3^rd place but the following boats were all close to one another with Nigel L (Laser) leading the procession of Dean & Nick (Vago), Curtis (Laser), Jon (Laser), Paul H (Laser), Joe (Radial) and Chris H (Comet) without any room to swing a seal between them (sounds a bit more nautical than a cat!). Then there was a huge gap (for tonight) of one minute before Chris A crossed in his Solo, aptly named as he was nearly two minutes ahead of next man Mike T (Laser), who in turn was 20 seconds ahead of Rhys (4.7) and Ron (Mirror), then the girls at the back were even more spaced out with Jemima (Oppie) ahead of Emily (Topper) , Phoebe (Oppie) and then Levi (Oppie).

Second lap and no change in the 1,2,3, but Dean & Nick moved up to 4^th with Jon up to 5^th, Chris H up to 7^th and Chris A up to 8th. Further back Ron passed Rhys. Emily received the gun at the end of this lap and Phoebe and Levi had decided to come in for refreshments earlier on.

The third lap was the last and Mark B had found the booster button and pulled out a lead of nearly two minutes on Dave & Ann, and Dean & Nick gained another place to finish 3^rd. Further back Chris H gained two places to 5^th and Chris A, Paul H, Rhys, Ron and Jemima all gained a place due to the retirement of Curtis.   

The final order on the water was – 1^st Mark; 2^nd Dave & Ann; 3^rd Dean & Nick; 4^th Will; 5^th Chris H; 6^th Nigel L

On corrected time this becomes – 1^st Jemima; 2^nd Dave & Ann; 3^rd Chris H; 4^th Mark; 5^th Ron; 6^th Will

Thanks to Ellen and the OOD Team of Ken, Ralph, Sally and Sam