There was a light NW’erly wind and smooth sea conditions for the eleven boats which took to the water for the final outing of the season. However, as the fleet approached the windward mark the wind decreased. Phil led the fleet round the mark in his RS700 followed by Nick in his Phantom. Richard Fryer sailed his RS300 into the lead by the leeward gate just ahead of Nick, with Steve in his Europe leading the rest of the fleet.
Thankfully the wind began to pick during lap two. Richard and Nick opened up a two minute lead on the fleet with Richard crossing the line five seconds ahead on Nick. Steve managed to hold onto his third place on the water and had a comfortable win on corrected time with Nick second. There was some close racing between the Lasers and Solution with Richard Brown leading at the line and claiming joint third position with Richard Fryer.
By the start of race two conditions had improved, the wind had filled in again and it had brightened up somewhat. Nick won the start just ahead of Richard Fryer. After the first lap Richard had edged ahead of Nick followed by Phil and Adrian in his D-One. The rest of the fleet were closely bunched with Steve just ahead rounding the leeward gate. After lap two the leading three boats had opened up a clear gap on the chasing pack where there was several place changes. Richard Foster enjoying a good lap and managing to slip ahead of Adrian.
On lap three Richard Fryer managed to open up a clear lead on Nick and Phil. With these three well ahead of the others they were rewarded with an extra lap. After the final lap there was only a few seconds between the ‘pack’ with Richard Foster crossing the line just four seconds ahead of Phil Allison who was testing the club Phantom. Four seconds behind was Steve followed by Richard Brown. On corrected time the RS300 had a good win, Nick second and Steve third.
Race three – the fleet split up the first beat
With the wind shifting a tad to the North during the final stages of the previous race the race team shifted the course accordingly. The wind by now had improved to a force 3 providing lovely conditions for the final race. This suited Phil in his RS700 as he lead from start to finish, lapping in about seven minutes and lapping most of the fleet. Richard and Nick continued their battle for second with Richard Brown close behind them after the first lap. After the third lap Phil had almost caught up with the fleet and Richard had pulled clear ahead of Nick. In the ‘pack’ things were much closer with Richard Brown just ahead of Adrian closely followed by Phil Allison and Richard Foster. First across the line was the RS300, followed by Nick. Five minutes later Adrian led the pack followed by the RS700 (after an extra lap) with Phil Allison overtaking Richard.
On corrected time Richard Fryer had a good win, the ever consistent Nick claimed another second place and Steve had keep close enough to the pack to claim another third.
Another big thanks goes to ‘Team Commodore’ for ensuring yet another enjoyable days racing.
With two race wins Richard Fryer claims the End of Season Trophy with Steve and Nick equal on four points with Steve claiming second courtesy of a win in the first race
And with points added to the Autumn series in first place is Nick, Steve second with Mark Porter and Richard Foster equal on 17 points with Mark taking third thanks to two race wins compared to Richards one.