With the Beach Regatta being rescheduled to last week this was the first instalment of the Autumn series. However, with a full day of sunshine and the temperature reaching the mid-twenties it felt more like summer. Nine boats ventured out onto a smooth North Sea with a SW’erly F3.
Curtis, sailing his RS700 led the fleet from start to finish in race one. Close behind were the Contender and D-One of Phil and Steve who were separated by only a few seconds the whole race with Phil ahead at the finish line. Further back were the Lasers and Solution, Richard was the leading Laser with Mark in a club Laser second. These two were well ahead of the others at the finish with Richard claiming first on corrected time and Mark second.
In race two Steve led the fleet after the first lap just ahead of Curtis and Phil. Keith led the Lasers with Mark just 6 seconds behind. After lap two Phil had closed the gap on Steve with Curtis deciding to participate in some alternative water sports delaying his progress somewhat. Mark hooked up to a good lift approaching the windward mark to sneak in front of Keith to earn a win on corrected time by just 7 seconds over Phil with Steve just a few seconds behind in third.
One of the boats had decided to cruise rather than race. Enjoying the near perfect catamaran conditions Pawal, sailing his Sprint 15 decided to head down to Hopton. When the race team had lost sight of him they radioed to check his position only to hear him reply he had reached Gulliver and was now on his way back!
There was barely a trace of the ebb tide left by the start of the final race. The fleet were split on the beat up to the windward mark. Mark and David (Solution) took the far right path which paid handsomely as they rounded the windward mark amongst the ‘fast three’. After the first lap Steve had pulled ahead with Mark holding on the second position. On the final lap Steve and Phil opened up a good lead with Steve crossing the line first. Phil looked destined to cross second but only a few metres from the line managed a death roll allowing Mark to cross second and David third. It was another good race the for ‘slow fleet’ with Mark first on corrected time, David second and Richard third.