Summer’s Here! – Race Report Wednesday 02/06/2021
A mid-afternoon glance from the office window promised a very pleasant evening sail with a cloudless sky and a steady breeze. A great day to go sailing rather than acting as OOD1; but then life is what you make it. A quick check on duty man pronounced that Don Bishop would be joining me as OOD2 and Bill Reid and a welcome new member Elaine Wilson would act as safety crew.
As I arrived the 5:00pm retiree series was well under way with half a dozen boats out enjoying the breeze that was still blowing down from the Visitors Centre. The duty crew arrived promptly and we prepared to get the show on the road. Warnings were given that the Jaffa Mercury outboard tilt system needed careful handling and this very much proved to be the case. Rumours of having to use a screw driver inserted into a strategic orifice abounded and eventually our resident outboard guru and retired aircraft engineer Roger Day, was summonsed and provided the required expert advice. Unfortunately, the screw driver insertion process had to then be repeated on the water and after the loss of one screwdriver overboard and attempts made by several heavier members who submerged the stern and the all-important orifice it looked doubtful whether the safety boat would be available. A quick “one to one” consultation with all the potential sailors took place and all agreed to sail at their risk without safety boat cover in the still steady breeze. Fortunately the OOD’s concerns were soon allayed as lightweight Paul Smith had stepped up to the mark, inserted an appropriate screwdriver into said orifice and the safety boat was once again operational. The new “totem pole” style pin end mark was set in place and a shore based start commenced just after 19:00hrs.
There was a clean start with Jeff Marshall in his Laser Radial (note to RC sailing regarding the results) getting away first and beating his way to No.9 taking 1st mark honours. Well done Jeff Marshall (the Marvell). His on the water lead was however short lived and Kevin Milton soon overtook him by the next mark (no.3) reassuringly making up the ground his Phantom PY handicap deficit required. Kevin pulled ahead as the race continued and left a significant gap between Kevin Last in his Supernova and the frustrated Jonathan Adams in his Phantom. Jonathan and Kevin continued to battle over the course of the race with Jonathan at times looking to be in an advantageous position but alas it was not to be and Kevin’s Supernova crossed the line 10 seconds ahead, 4 minutes ahead on corrected time. The other two Supernovas had a close race but the canny Bob Curestemont remained the lead boat and continued to open the gap between him and Andy Goodman throughout the race. The slower “bandit handicap” fleet formed a nice competitive group (Jeff Marshall and Jill Reid in their Laser Radials, Peter Hamphire (Solo) and Dennis King (Streaker) all of whom seemed to be sailing well and enjoying the unusual breeze for a Wednesday evening. Notably Peter overtook Jill on their 3rd lap. Never under estimate these sailors, their final results tell the whole story! Malcolm Davidson (Comet) and Rob Bridges (Laser) sailed an easy race in clear air towards to back of the fleet benefiting from their PY in the final results. Roger Day managed his multi-sailed craft well (nice to see a two sailed boat out amongst the fleet) and was seen to be goose winging (as in the bird; and not in “winge ing”) from 2 to 1 on the final leg. The faster boats were sent around again for a final 6th lap, the wind stayed fresh and so were not disadvantaged albeit limbs were beginning to weary.
All boats finished within 11 minutes, with the longest race time being 63 minutes.
Final top 5 position published results being:
1 Kevin Last SUPERNOVA
2 Jeff Marshall LASER 4.7 (disputed)
3 Kevin Milton PHANTOM
4 Roger Day GULL
5 Peter Hampshire SOLO
Well done!
OOD1 – Nick “Turbo” Ross