There was a solid F3 blowing from the north welcoming the early arrivals at the club. Conditions looked promising for a lively sail however, by the time racing had started it had eased and continued to do so to a weak F2 by the end of the evening.
Keith judged the conditions well in race one, heading inshore first to avoid the tide while others remained offshore for a while in what appeared to be more wind. By the windward mark Keith had a good lead on all bar the RS400 of Phil & Lorna. With the fleet well spread out the race officer decided to finish after one lap and attempt to get two more races scheduled. Keith crossed the line first, five seconds ahead of the 400. The rest of the fleet crossed a few minutes later and on corrected time nine seconds separated the next three boats with Phil sailing his Contender crossing the line third (despite adopting a very relaxed attitude to the evenings sailing!), ahead of Richard (Vareo) and Don, sailing a club Laser Radial.
Things were a lot closer in race two with Keith again leading the fleet at the windward mark, closely followed by Richard, sailing his Vareo and Phil & Lorna. Whilst the boats headed upwind the race officer did a sneaky shift of the leeward gate as the wind had moved to the NW/NNW! On lap two Phil & Lorna worked their way into second place and by the third lap they were leading, crossing the line first ahead of Keith and Richard. Behind Phil’s relaxation was interrupted as he needed to concentrate as he had Ed, who was sailing Nick’s ‘spare’ Vareo hot on his heels and was now getting the Vareo going well and eventually crossing the line at the same time as Phil.
By the time race three was underway the wind had eased to a gentle F2. Phil & Lorna made good use of the RS400’s extra speed to combat the tide to arrive at the windward mark first with a good lead. Behind, Phil was locked in another tussle, this time with an in-form Keith, followed by Ed, now leading the battle of the Vareo’s. Don was finding the Radial under powered in the light winds and probably wishing he had a full rig (or even a Rooster 8.1!). On corrected time Keith made it three out of three with another win. Ed, clearly enjoying the Vareo finished second, with Phil & Lorna third.
Overall a very pleasant evenings sail with a surprisingly shifty northerly which oscillated between NNE and NW. We managed to get back ashore in the last of the evening sun. Once the boats were packed some stayed for a little beer and a Chinese takeaway in the clubhouse……don’t tell Chef Brown!
Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Thursday.htm
Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr