Lasers vs Solutions !
During the hours leading up to ‘playtime’ the weather misbehaved with a F3 from the south turning to a F1 from the west and the early periods of sunshine turning to on/off rain !
By kick-off things had improved a tad and there was a F2 from the west and it had stopped raining and brightened up. It was to be a Solution versus Laser evening with the only other class represented a Contender sailed by Darrell who decided to spend the evening practising
First Half – The two Solutions led the Lasers up the beat with Richard just a few seconds ahead of Joe and Mark at the head of the Laser pack. Rounding the leeward gate after the first lap Mark was the only one to opt for the pin end which proved the right end as he caught up to the Solutions and left a good gap behind him and the other two Lasers.
After the second lap only three seconds separated the two Solutions with Mark maintaining his position close behind. On the final lap Richard managed to open up a small lead with Mark just pipping Joe across the line. On corrected time Mark took the win, with Richard second. 1-0 to the Lasers
Second Half – as the wind had shifted slightly to the south our diligent OOD decided to quickly move the start line after which race two got under way. The Solutions once again headed the pack up the beat with Dave just ahead of the Laser gang. As the boats approached the leeward gate Richard held a small lead over Joe and Dave was just ahead of Keith. As the boats rounded gate the wind shifted to the south turning the course into a drag race. Dave managed to hit the mark and Keith took the opportunity to overtake. The next two laps were mainly about boat speed with very little differences within the two classes. After two laps the Solutions had opened up a small lead of just over a minute on the Lasers. On the final lap the wind eased a tad and the Solutions increased their lead to nearly three minutes. Richard crossed the line first to take both line honours and the win on corrected time with Joe and comfortable second.
So 1-1 after full time. Extra time was spent eating Lasagne, thanks to Chef Brown
Many thanks for Richard for OOD-ing, having to cope with some shifting wind conditions and also acting photographer, pictures now on the club flick site.