Today was the first day of the 2022-2023 Summer Series.
4 impulses, 5 corsairs, 4 lasers and 3 pacers set sail with a 10 knot gentle NE breeze at close to high tide.
Thanks to Bryan and Muriel on the start boat, Brennan and Finn on the other safety boat, and Kate A and daughter Charlie for timekeeping.
With 3 laps to complete and a 5 minute start, the racing began! In the Impulse fleet, Dave in MATCHBOX and Lex in SPLITTER were well placed towards the start boat when the hooter went for the start, and were 2nd and 3rd around the first windward mark, behind Matt A on corsair MONOPOLY who started at the pin end. Peter in Mr PLOW also elected to start nearer the pin end but was in the wind shadow of the windward boats and had to settle in behind the leaders.
Adam in ROSIE got caught up amongst the fleet at the start, showing the long layoff added a layer of rust, and spent most of the race slowly working his way back through the fleet. Adam admitted to a collision or two with the course marks along the way which didn’t help his cause.
MATCHBOX and SPLITTER tussled for the lead over the first lap before MR PLOW was able to squeeze past Lex, who followed the name of his boat by splitting from the direct route to the green mark, tacking between the cardinal mark and the shore (don’t do this kids!) and along the west bank before a long tack back to the green. This brought Lex back alongside Kate in laser BLUEY, and they continued their duel until the end of the race, with BLUEY shading SPLITTER at the line.
MATCHBOX continued to lead until the end of the second lap when a fortuitous lift allowed MR PLOW to cross in front of MATCHBOX. The lead swapped again more than once on the run to the golf course mark before MR PLOW edged away for the win.
Overall winner was Peter on MR PLOW, and Dave on MATCHBOX, placing 2nd, and Kate on BLUEY coming third.
There was a minute finishing difference between corsairs – Matt (with crew Aidan, Mia and Posie) on MONOPOLY, Guy (with crew Charlie), on SQUIRTLE and Craig (with crew Tschem and Sal) on GIDGET. MONOPOLY was the winning corsair, coming 5th overall. SQUIRTLE came in second corsair but had to take a 10% penalty for 2 pax onboard only, which bumped them back to 4th placed corsair.
The “boat full of kids” on MONOPOLY really enjoyed the close racing today and cheered like they had won the America’s Cup when they crossed the finish line!
Other corsairs, Mark (with crew Kynan and Lyn) on KEENAS and Michael (with crew Denise and Cruz) on EXHALE enjoyed a good day on the water, sailing well.
Radial laser sailors, Doug in LIZARD DRINKING and Monique in ROLLING STONE enjoyed great racing against each other, with Doug’s “race tactics” coming to the fore. Debbie on FLYING DRAGON, had a great sail too, sailing a 4.7 rig.
The pacer racing was a different story.
Champion laser sailor, Gary “Macca” McCrohon sailed with Gail, declaring “.. first and last time on a pacer”, with the tiller extension getting tangled up around his ear and then the pin falling out of the tiller. They retired early due to equipment issues. Gail is now looking for someone else to sail with.
Young sailor Maddie sailed with Mireille, but had time constraints and retired before the end of racing.
After taking Day 1 of the club’s second Learn to Sail course, John still had the energy to sail with Debbie, following the fleet over the finish line, BUT FINISHED!! First place in the emerging pacer division.
All welcome to stay after sailing to enjoy a sausage sizzle, relax and debrief.
Next race day is on Sunday 30th October, with a handicap race. We are a small, friendly club, who love to sail on the Tweed River.
Collaboratively written by club members
