Comet Trio Inlands at Llangorse Sailing Club

A wide open field for the Comet Trio Inlands at Llangorse © LSC

The Comet Trios made their way to Llangorse for their 2008 Inland championships. Some of the previous years winners were not able to come so the field was wide open.

On Saturday several boats went out to test the waters before the racing on Sunday. The race officer Simon Dangerfield aided by David Hemingway set a figure of eight course covering the expanse of the lake. At the first mark the new boat (White Lightening) of Mike Sydenham and Colin Broady was first to the mark followed by two not so new local boats: David Morgan with John Kennedy (Comet Shoemaker), and Ian Howie with Nigel Wrigley. The spinnaker run was made more exciting by a fisherman sitting right between the two marks. There were some gusts, a capsize and a lot of changing places but not right at the front as White Lightening finished first, Guy Farrant and Marilynn Booker finished second but were DSQ'd later after a protest. Finishing in forth place had been deemed to qualify for writing the report, maybe for that reason, there was another protests around 4th position!

Lunch was made more exciting by a young boy falling off the jetty. Freddie Woodcock sprinted off, but was beaten to the rescue by Keith Spring.

The second race was really open as about ten boats approached the second mark in parallel, after a lot of shouting for water all boats got round and after several tussles the final winner was Comet Shoemaker from White Lightening and Steve and Helen Whittle in third place.

The third race was again exciting with 17 knot gusts. The race officer reported that the starts had all been excellent with the fleet crossing the line just after the bell. This time David and Richard Talbot were in the lead at the second mark after goose-winging the asymmetric, that did not last and they had to do turns after being luffed up while their spinnaker was caught half down. At the last mark the race was being led by White Lightening, closely followed by Comet Shoemaker. Some advantageous wind shifts were found by Comet Shoemaker and White Lightening were kicking themselves for not having covered all the way to the finish. There continued to be close racing all through the fleet.

That evening more excellent food was server in the clubhouse by Steve and Mike. Many thanks to them. This was followed by team games arranged by Debbie Woodcock, assisted by Freddie. Miming whispers, egg protecting competitions, sucking, eating and blowing games were thoroughly enjoyed by all.

On Sunday we were all ready for the 10.30 start, but there was no wind. A few boats went out and managed to get to the other side of the lake and back in an hour. At midday the racing was abandoned and the results were based on three races with no discards. Congratulations went to David Morgan who had previously won the inaugural Comet Trio Inlands and was now champion again 11 years later.

Overall Results: