Having had beautiful weather all day, sunshine, temperatures in twenties and a F3-4 from the west it was a little disappointing to see the wind drop to a F2 from the SE just prior to launching.
Ten boats launched comprising of seven different classes, all single handers bar one, a Magno sailed by newcomer Damon with Keith at the front.
As the countdown for race one was in progress it was noticeable that the wind was dropping further, so clearly we were in for a challenging sail. Commodore Nick F, fresh back from the D-One Gold Cup in Italy, but opting to sail his Phantom this evening, successfully pulled of a port end flyer to take an early lead.
With the light wind most headed inshore to avoid the ebb tide. After lap one Nick was well ahead of Dave (Laser) with Adrian (D-One) and Phil (Phantom) just behind.
At the finish Nick F had increased his lead further easily taking the race on corrected time, Dave finishing second and Nick C, sailing his Vareo, almost catching Adrian and Phil at the line, but taking third on corrected time.
For race two there were light and patchy winds around the start area with a ‘sloppy’ sea, making it difficult to get going with some a bit late over the line. For those who started on time most stayed offshore as the wind had shifted a tad plus the wind had filled allowing some lee-bowing of the tide.
Most waited until half way up the beat before heading inshore but Mark (Laser) held his nerve and stayed offshore and found a little more wind arriving at the windward mark at the same time as Nick F. Unfortunately an incident with Nick F resulted in turns for Mark which allowed Dave to slip past to follow Nick down the run with Mark rounding close behind and Nick C not far behind.
Nick F led over the line but finished second to Dave on corrected time with Mark just beating Nick C for third.
With the wind becoming even lighter and patchy, and a few choosing to head for shore early, the race team decided not to run a third race, much to the relieve of those still on the water.
Many thanks to the race team of Richard and Michael who sat patiently in the RIB, it least it was warm ! To past the time they did take several pictures which are now on the club Flickr site..
Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Thursday.htm
Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr