Spring Series 6 – 16th May 2021

A WSW wind this morning which varied between 10 and 15 mph throughout the morning. Mike A set a first beat to 4 then 9, 5, 8, 6,7 and back through the start.

Just before the start there was a coming together between James and Chris & Hilary, but fortunately they managed to untangle themselves before the start gun!

Pursuit Race

Shortly after starting Mike T (Laser) had to return to shore to untangle his twisted main sheet. The wind picked up during the race but coming to the end of the first lap early starters Jewels & Talia (Mirror) still led with Papa Ron in another Mirror in 2^nd place. Unfortunately, Jewels missed out No 8 and subsequently retired.  Rhys (4.7) was 2^nd across the line followed by Karen and Richards S, both in Radials. Darren, Jon, and Mark (Lasers) were next through having caught and passed Chris H (Comet) and Dave & Ann (Leader). Aileen (Comet) prudently retied when the wind got a bit frisky.

At the gun, the order was – 1^st Darren; 2^nd Rhys; 3^rd Jon (who just passed Karen before the gun sounded!); 4^th Karen; 5^th James; 6^th Mark.

Handicap Race

The wind had eased a bit for the second race and Darren was first back across the line followed by Mark and Mike T (all in Lasers). Dave & Ann (Leader) and Ralph (Laser) crossed the line together battling for 4^th place with a slight gap back to James (Laser) in 6^th spot. Chris & Hilary (Wayfarer) were 7^th followed by Adrian (Laser) just ahead of the Radials of Karen and Richard S competing for 9^th.  Jon (Laser), missing the stronger wind, crossed in 11^th place just ahead of Chris H (Comet) and then Ron (Mirror) who was hanging on to minimize the gap. Bringing up the rear of the fleet were Gareth (Laser) and Rhys (4.7), who was also missing the stronger wind of the first race!

At the end of the second and last lap, Mike T took the victory with Mark still in 2^nd and Darren down to 3^rd.  Ralph had eased away from Dave & Ann to take 4^th place with James and Chris & Hilary still 6^th and 7^th respectively and managing to stay apart! Karen and Richard had passed Adrian, but Jon had passed all of them to take 8^th place. There were no other changes behind them.

The order on the water was – 1^st Mike T; 2^nd Mark; 3^rd Darren; 4^th Ralph; 5^th Dave & Ann; 6^th James.

On corrected time the final positions are – 1^st Ron (up from 13^th!); 2^nd Mike T; 3^rd Mark; 4^th Dave & Ann; 5^th Ralph; 6^th Chris H (up from 12^th).

Thanks to SOOD Mike A and Helen, Issy, Frantz, Peter R and Roland L (who stepped into the breech to accompany Issy when the wind got up).