It was an overcast day with a noticeable drop in the temperature compared with recent days. A few opted to stay ashore but five boats decided to launch. There was a F3 from the NW initially but that soon started to shift to the east eventually settling somewhere between N and NE.
Kevin appeared to get distracted by the wildlife !
By the time of race one, the wind had more or less settled, with a F3 from the NNE with a relatively flat sea. With HW at 12.30 it was a beat into the tide. Nathan in his ILCA6 nailed the start closely followed by Team Ed in the Spitfire and Abby in the 700. Nathan’s upwind boat speed was almost matching the faster boats on the water rounding the windward mark not long after the Cat and 700.
Getting ready to race
Team Ed did their usual and proceeded to disappear into the distance eventually lapping everyone. Abby capsized and spent some time righting the 700, Darell suffered a similar fate and decided to head back to shore for an early shower.
Race 1
Race two, the wind had begun to increase to a F4 and the sea state had become rougher. Nathan again got the prime start position. Team Ed appeared to have had an issue as they started a little while after the others. There were some big gusts which proved challenging for the faster boats. After three laps Nathan somehow managed to cross the line first, closely followed by the Cat and the 700.
Richard swaps the Vareo for a club Laser
Race three and now there’s just three boats remaining after Richard decided to retire for the day. Team Ed led the way closely followed by the 700 and the Laser. On lap two Abby had an issue with the rudder which turned out to be a broken pintle. Despite this she managed to steer the 700 back to the shore safety. After three laps the Cat finished nearly four minutes ahead of the Laser.
We were joined for a while by an ‘electric’ surfer !
Returning to shore proved eventful as the waves and surf had picked up. Whilst all the dinghies got back ok one of the RIB’s was caught by two enormous waves.
On corrected time it was three convincing wins for Nathan, with a five minute lead in the final race. Team Ed managed second place in races 1 & 3 with Richard in the Club Laser taking second in the second race.
Full results http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2026/2026Summer.htm
More pictures on the club Flickr site – https://www.flickr.com/photos/gygsc/albums/with/72177720333188767