WOW..!! What a day and what a race…!!
The day was beautiful and sunny, with a Westerly 10-15 knots of breeze blowing straight down the lake.
Which made setting a course very simple, with the start line between Mark-K and the now regular small marker flag, being directly in front of the main pontoon, and more importantly me, in the race hut on top of the grass bank. The course then headed off towards the Bricklayers, or more importantly Mark-A, which was to be rounded on the starboard side. The next mark, on the far side of the lake was Mark-C, again rounded on the starboard side, which would therefore also require a gybe. Then the last mark before heading back to the finish line was Mark-D, just in the narrow area of the lake. After rounding this mark, again on starboard, boats then needed to luff up to close hauled, then start tacking, in order to make their way back to the “end of lap gate”, between Mark-K and the small flag.
With that to look forward to, it was great to see 17 keen racers turn up for the battle!
And the racing did not disappoint us, with lots of tussles, and maybe a few actual “clashes” ongoing throughout the race. A couple to mention were:-
The race long fight between the Red Torpedo of Peter Gregory, and Paul Hagan (ably assisted by Bruce Hebbert) in the RS Venture. They were so close, that even at the end of their 4 laps, they were only 34 seconds apart..!!
Also worthy of note, was the excellent performance from Andy Wallace, who did so well in his trusty Martin16 that he finished only 2 minutes behind Mike Blatchford (a regular front runner in the fleet)!.
Now for a little bit of “NEW” information.
At he’s own request and because he is almost a guaranteed winner of every race he takes part in, Peter Gregory has agreed to have a ‘personal handicap’ applied to his race results. (FYI. I’m happy to discuss in more detail if any is that interested, but every boat has what is called a Portsmouth Yardstick handicap number, which is meant to even out the speed difference between faster and slower boats.) Quite simply what this means is that the handicap number for Peter will not be the same as the other two 2.4m’s. So Peter will have to sail that much harder and faster to have a chance of winning…..!! Also, Peter’s new handicap has been retrospectively applied to all the previous races in the Spring Series….so have a look at the overall race sheet to see what effect this has had…!!
Peter may start to regret this very soon, when he realises where this new handicap puts him in this last race…
Anyway, to the actual race results. The positions were:-
- 1st Kim Sparkes
- 2nd Mark Cayzer (crew Fleur Bryant)
- 3rd Mike Blatchford
- 4th Fay Watson (crew James Thomas)
- 5th David Mason
- 6th Andy Wallace
- 7th Paul Hagan (crew Bruce Hebbert)
- 8th Brian Mc
- 9th John ? (crew Nigel)
- 10th Peter Gregory
- 11th Peter Wagner
- 12th Steve Farmer
- 13th Phil ? (crew Papa Pete & Helen)
- 14th Bill Garry
- 15th Sam ? (crew Jemma)
- RETIRED – Bob Fisher
- DOES NOT COUNT – Pole who is a volunteer sailing without a client
Peter you have been very honourable but as you still finished ahead of me I think a stiffer handicap is required. But my intention is not to be personal, so Mike please arrange a stiffer handicap for the rest of the fleet. Of course no change needs to be administered to Bob Fisher as he applies his own handicap. Brian I hope that Bob’s efforts did not jeopardize the reputation of the club in the eyes of the visiting correspondent.
Oh and apologies to whomever I clashed with in the race. I did the required 360 and forgot which direction I was heading in. And many thanks for taking us out in the Lugger in the afternoon, it was absolutely lovely and will definitely stay in my memory.