It’s a sure sign that that we are approaching the final period of the season when the Thursday Evening series finishes and we start the Autumn series. The weather played ball and there was a good mixture of boats for the first Act of the Autumn series with an even split of two handed and single handed boats, unlike most weeks where single handers have dominated. The shifty NW F3 provided some good sailing and the occasional gusts producing some hairy moments for some. Two ‘new’ crews were out, Keith teaming up Steve in a 500 and Dave with Cliff in a 400.
There was a strong ebb tide flowing for race one. The wind was relatively stable offshore but as the fleet headed inshore and approaching the windward mark it got noticeably shiftier. Dave and Cliff led round the windward mark followed by Steve (D-One), Steve & Keith and the 400’s of Mark & Robert and Phil & Lorna a short way behind.
Off wind Steve began to pull away from the fleet opening up a good lead by the finish and winning on corrected time.
Race two, with the ebb tide easing there was a split in the fleet heading for the windward mark. After lap one Dave & Cliff had a small lead on Steve with Steve & Keith close behind and Phil (Contender) leading the rest of the fleet about a minute behind. On lap two Steve & Keith had taken the lead, four seconds ahead of Dave & Cliff with Steve thirty seconds behind. On the final off wind leg the two leading boats caught a big gust, resulting in Steve & Keith to capsize and Dave & Cliff trawling their spinnaker. Steve, having headed to the other side of the course hooked up on a gust which saw him take the lead. Behind two of the slower boats, had put in a fast final lap with Richard (Vareo) taking second on corrected time and David (Solution) third.
By the time race three started the tide was negligible, Steve and Keith read the shifts well on the first beat to lead round the mark with Phil following close behind. These two opened up a big lead finishing six minutes ahead of the rest of the fleet with Phil winning both line honours and winning on corrected time by 12 seconds. After a slow first lap David put in two quick laps to take third place.
Thanks to the race team of Tom and Adrian, and to Carl who volunteered to assist on the day which really helped as one of the marks needed shifting midsession. Also thanks to Christine for sorting out lunch for everyone.
Next week will be another autumn series day AND…. ‘Pizza on the Prom’ is back, so the pizza ovens will be fired up after sailing providing freshly baked pizzas. If you intend to eat could you let us know please, a reminder has been posted on the club WhatsApp group. We just need a rough number for catering requirements. The current forecast is looking very good with a sunny afternoon predicted.
Results are on the club site Autumn Series results