Well, what a day…..a beautiful sunny morning (at 9 am), followed by drizzle and diminishing sun, followed by heavier rain. BUT where was the promised 7 to 14 knots of WIND?? Alas..it never arrived – until a few strong gusts charged across the lake after lunch and they heralded a deluge that soaked the volunteers as they derigged the boats and took them ashore.

Nevertheless 10 eager WS Racers (and two boats sailed by volunteers. Ed) were on the water and sailing…slowly… up and down and around the Start Line as the clock ran down….and then they were off…slowly…towards the first Mark J (which was a Reach, given that the wind was blowing – hardly – from the South)…but it took a few mnutes to get there…and here’s a video of the Start as the fleet made its way en masse to Mark J. The leaders sorted themselves out rounding Mark J and during the short run to Mark D and then starting the broad reach up the lake to Mark C. Here are some pictures showing the leaders and then that man, who somehow always manages to push his boat to the front, rounding Mark C 100 yards in the lead and heading of on the leg that was designed to be a Beat, to Mark A.

By the time Peter Gregory started to make his way down the lake from Mark A to the Start/Finish Line, the racing fleet had spread itself across the lake, and even though he had taken 20 minutes to do one lap, the Race Controller decided to let him enjoy it all over again! The next wave of finishers on the water were…Ian Gubb and Anne Burrell in their Martin #125, then Mike Blatchford in the other Martin #126 and the first Liberty #24 sailed by Derek Preston, a newish WS Racer, who finished 1 minute ahead of Martin Norman in Liberty #23. Then there was a longish gap until the first 303 finished, being Ben Gubb and his carefully selected crew Helen Fairfax in 303 Sail #2 and they pipped Peter Wagner in Liberty #21 by just 5 seconds. Imogen Fletcher and her crew Kevin Read in 303 Sail #7 finished 30 seconds later. Peter Gregory in his 2.4m had got a move on in his second lap (just 15 minutes! Ed) and came in 2 minutes ahead of Mark Cayzer, Fay Watson and Tom Phillips in 303s. All in all a patient sail when you couldn’t find any wind and a relief when it arrived to fill your sails.

Next week will be the FINAL RACE of the 2019 Summer Series and there are just 8 places separating the Racers lying between first (13 points) and seventh (21) as they start that race.

Result of the race

  1. Peter Gregory in 2.4m Sail #102
  2. Derek Preston in Liberty Sail #24
  3. Ben Gubb and his crew Helen Fairfax in 303 Sail #2
  4. Martin Norman in Liberty Sail #23
  5. Imogen Fletcher and her crew Kevin Read in 303 Sail #7
  6. Mike Blatchford in Martin Sail #126
  7. Peter Wagner in Liberty Sail #21
  8. Mark Cayzer and his crew Jim McEwen in 303 Sail #4
  9. Fay Watson and her crew James Thomas in 303 Sail #11
  10. Tom Phillips in 303 Sail #5

Keith Eeles and David Mason did not finish (Apologies to Keith for an equipment failure! Ed)

4 comments on “WS Racing – Summer Series 11 – October 17th

  • Hi Peter, thanks again for your excellent report, It was obviously quite crowded in Martin 126.
    Not sure it’s within the rules to sail one three handed.

  • Thanks Martin – between you and David Mason, I hope all my flights of fantasy are picked up. Of course you were in Liberty #23 this week and Mike Blatchford was in Martin #126. The other Martin #125 was out on the water (and in the race) but helmed by a volunteer – Anne Burrell – with Ben Gubb’s dad, Ian, as her crew. Hence that boat was not taken into account when working out the Results (if it had been, they finished 6th).

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