Easter Sunday saw the dawning of a glorious sunny day, even if the temperature was only 2c, and we had to get up an hour earlier..!! The lake had little patches of rippled water surrounded by huge, shiny, clear areas…….no wind or the dreaded ice?!!
Ice it was and Steve and his team did a tour of the lake, breaking it up so that the 12 keen, sailors – even the ‘old lady’ aka Monica – could get on the water to race. The 2 Europes are rarely seen together – Paul was out as well!! The course of Xs, 8s, 5p,9s,4p, S, was carefully set away for the icy bits and the race got underway, even if it was a little delayed. Curtis made a flying start at the pin end of the line and led for the 1st lap. There was, strangely, some confusion as to which way the 1st mark was to be rounded, some trying to leave it to port…….Steve in his 505 for one – Lynne had preferred to catch up on her beauty sleep!!
The wind did fill in to the forecast 10 mph with fluky winds around the windward mark X and lots of place changing – the finishing positions were 1st Newton, 2nd Chris and 3rd Newton.
The second race, another 45 minute one, saw Monica coming in, followed shortly after the start by Peter, both complaining how cold it was out there and the wind dropped to light airs. But that didn’t deter the rest of the fleet enjoying their sail, with Ian in his Supa Nova, crossing the line 1st, just half a second in front of Chris, followed by the 505 in 3rd place – though Paul was heard to say in the club house that he though he had won on handicap……we shall see??
Every one put their boats away as quickly as possible, drawn by the wonderful smell of hot soup coming from the warm club house – Kris had exchanged an hour and a half on the water for being the ‘galley slave,’ making the soup, while catching up with Gill’s news!
Easter Monday saw another 12 hardy souls taking to the water, but no sun – the less hardy preferring to stay at home / in the warm clubhouse. Andy and his team set a similar course from Tektona, Xp, 5p, 9s, 3p but with a longer beat. Peter returned to the shore with a broken main sail block and very cold, followed closely by Hugh, who found the gybes too much for him in the gusty winds. Even seasoned sailor Paul came in swiftly at the end of the first race with cold hands, while Lynne and Steve had a ‘lunch date’ and headed home after race 1. But those that stayed out were heard to say….it was a good sail….Steve looked good in the middle of the fleet in Kris’ Comet.
The last beat saw Ian getting ahead of Chris to be 1st over the line, followed by Chris, 2nd. while Richard, with another lucky puff, took 3rd from Paul, 4th.
The second race saw only 8 starters and looked very processional from the warmth of the club house, but apparently there was quite a few place swapping, gusty winds, light airs,plus a few ‘goings on’…..?!!.
During the light hearted banter over hot soup and rolls, post racing, thanks Monica – it transpired that both Mark and Curtis had hit marks and duly done their turns….though Newton thought Mark had totally lost his way going round and round…..all very amusing….
Finishing positions were 1st Ian, 2nd Chris and 3rd Richard……deja vue??
