Thursday evening 2nd June

Forestay failure, a risky port tack start but lovely weather, a very quick summary of the evenings sailing.

There was a good F3 from the SE on arrival at the club with the tide just about at low water. By the end of the evening the wind had settled to a F2 and the flood tide had just kicked in. Eight boats launched but just before the start of race one, onlookers initially thought Phil H was practising his 3RR bridge craft by lowering his mast, unfortunately this was not the case as the forestay on his RS700 had failed resulting in a hasty retreat to shore following a gentle push by the safety boat!

Phil & Lorna and Phil A battling for the lead

Race one – started with the last of the ebbing tide and saw a battle for the lead between two more Phil’s, with Phil A (Contender) leading Phil & Lorna (RS400) at the windward mark with a small gap to Richard B in his Solution. The two leading boats rounded the leeward gate together with the RS400 leading by just three seconds by the finish. However, the slower boats were not far behind and on corrected time Richard B took the win and Mark, sailing a club Laser recovering well after a late start second with the Contender third.

Race two – everyone bar one approached the line on starboard, unfortunately for Mark who was aiming at the pin end of the line on port, one starboard boat arrived later than expected resulting in some serious avoiding action and…….a swim. GYGSC 2 June 22 – YouTube

Phil A had a good lead on the fleet after the first lap followed by Phil & Lorna. Behind the two Richards were neck and neck with Richard B three seconds ahead of Richard F in his Vareo. On the final lap the RS400 overtook the Contender to take line honours. On corrected time the Richards took the top two podium places with Richard B first and Richard F second. It was close for third position with just eleven seconds between the next three boats with Phil A beating Adrian (Solution) by one second.

Race three – Phil & Lorna were clearly in a rush to get back to shore as they sailed away from the fleet opening up a gap of over 30 seconds on the first lap. Behind, Phil A was being closely chased by Richard B who was gunning for another race win. Behind them was another close battle between Mark, Richard F and Adrian. The RS400 took line honours but Phil A and Richard B had closed the gap a tad and Mark putting some space between him and the others. On corrected time Richard B made it three in a row, Mark second and Adrian third.