The Thursday Finale series kicked off with a warm F3 from the North and a rather overcast sky. Twelve boats made it to the beach although only eight joined in the racing. There was just a hint of ebb tide for race one.
Richard Fryer, sailing his RS300 hit the line just right and headed inshore. Several others decided to go offshore only to see Richard round the windward mark a long way ahead leading by well over a minute after the first round. Behind Team Brown in their RS400 were just ahead of Team Commodore (RS400) and Curtis in hIs RS700. Behind them, less than a minute separated the three Lasers with Richard Foster leading the pack. The RS300 crossed the line well ahead for a comfortable win on corrected time with Gordon, sailing a Laser Radial taking second from Richard. Phil Allison (Contender) made a great recovery after a poor first lap to finish second on the water to finish fourth.
Unusual for evening sailing the wind held up and was still a good F3 for the second race. Richard (RS300) led the fleet after the first lap although not far behind was Team Commodore and Gordon who had a great start and first beat. Team Brown suffered a timing issue thinking the start was the one minute and so did not enjoy a good start! Mid race Richard had opened up a small lead with Team Commodore holding on to second with Phil, Curtis (RS700) and Gordon rounding the leeward gate together. Richard crossed the line two minutes ahead. Team Brown had a ‘stonking’ final downwind leg crossing the line with Team Commodore. On corrected time Gordon beat Richard by over thirty seconds with Richard Foster recovering well to just edge out Dan at the line for third position.
As we headed for shore, the overcast skies, the slight chill in the wind and hint of a sea mist made for a distinctly autumnal feeling. And with the night drawing in we probably had sailed as long as we could. Big thanks to Des for volunteering to do Safety and Photography!