It was the start of the Autumn series at Gorleston today. Now it normally feels like the season at Gorleston is coming to a conclusion when we are sailing the Autumn series however, today it was more like summer with sunshine and the temperature still around 20 degrees with most people still wearing’ shorties’.
The wind was around a F2 from the NE which became shifty and variable in strength between F1 and F3 at times. With HW just before the start of racing there was still a gentle flood tide flowing. This made for interesting days racing with different strength and eventually direction of tide on each round of the course.
Race one saw an unusual event at Gorleston, an individual recall. Although only one boat was considered over by the OOD, three boats went back. obviously the other two felt guilty.
The RS400’s and D-One led the fleet round the course with Dave & John ahead at the finish line. At the other end two Solutions, RS Vareo and Europe were separated by a few seconds after lap one with Richard (Solution) just ahead. By the third lap Richard had managed to ‘wiggle’ clear of the group finishing over three minutes ahead.
On corrected time Dave & John held their time to win, Richard second and third was Steve (Europe) just beating the other Solution sailed by David.
There was very little tide during race two so deciding whether to go offshore or stay inshore really depended on the shifty wind and hooking onto a lift. The wind had also dropped a little and at times around a F1. The two RS400’s led the fleet with Don & Ed rounding the windward mark first, which and soon after become a busy spot with the rest of the fleet tightly packed.
On the second beat Phil’s trapeze line failed resulting in an unplanned and expected swim….and apparently some laughter from those nearby !
After three laps Dave & John had edged ahead to cross the line first and managed to hold their time. There was only a few seconds between the next three boats with Steve 14 seconds ahead of Richard who was just 11 seconds ahead of Harry in a Laser Radial.
Race three started with a hint of ebb tide. Dave & John led from the start to the finish. Behind Don & Ed were ahead of Nick who was being pursued by Keith in the RS Vareo. The wind picked up a little during the race and by the final lap Nick was closing in on Don & Ed at the finish. On corrected time it was very close between the first three boats with Steve beating Dave & John by 3 seconds with Richard a further 12 seconds behind.
Thought(s) of the day
If there is an individual recall, if your name is ‘yelled’, check there’s not another person with same name who was over – just ask Dave
Hitting a mark is not good, but hitting the Committee boat and capsizing on it is really bad – just ask Nick
Solutions may be tricky to tack…but they surf really well – just ask Richard
Many thanks to the race team. A great course and inch perfect line made for a most enjoyable day, made even more complete when finishing off with a bit of surfing when arriving back at the beach!
Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr
Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Autumn