Miracle Open at Redoubt Sailing Club

Miracles at Redoubt © Abbey Mumford

With the original forecast for this weekend being a washout only 7 boats took part in this year's event. Those that chose to travel were greeted with a nice breeze and sunshine for the best part of the day.

The program for the day was 3 races with the best 2 results counting overall. The first race was held in a moderate easterly breeze and course set to make the most of the wind direction. At the start Yvonne & Brian Mumford sailing 4047 got off to a flyer and were quickly round the windward mark 1st. The chasing fleet were tightly bunched and slowing each other down but eventually Neal Gibson & Keith Macey Sailing 4040 got clear and set out to try to bridge the gap to the leading boat. They chased hard but Yvonne & Brian did enough to finish the race in 1st place with Neal & Keith 2nd, Brian Jones & Paul Cook 4021 3rd.

After lunch, 2 races were held back to back and change of course set. The 2nd race saw a good start from Tracy Amos & Gemma Gibson sailing 3692 who were first round the windward mark, closely followed by Brian Jones & Paul Cook 4021, Neal Gibson & Keith Macey and Yvonne & Brian Mumford further back after a poor start. With the wind shifting at times up to 45% playing the shifts and headers became quiet challenging; one poor decision to tack too soon could be costly at times. After such a poor start Yvonne & Brian eventually pulled their way back up through the fleet to be leading after the 2nd lap, with Neal & Keith keeping them honest at times but good boat speed meant that Yvonne & Brian Stayed in front to finish 1st and with it taking the Open.

Going into the last race and 1st place decided all was still to be decided in the fight for 2nd & 3rd overall between Neal Gibson & Keith Macey and Brian Jones & Paul Cook. An even line was set with most of the fleet starting on starboard tack, however just before the starting gun the breeze shifted and made the buoy end very biased. Yvonne & Brian Mumford and Brian Jones & Paul Cook noticed this shift and tacked onto port at the buoy end and with it pulled away from the fleet behind. This decision meant that for the remainder of the race there was two boats up front battling for the win with the rest of the fleet far behind. Brian Jones & Paul Cook were first round the windward mark closely followed by Yvonne & Brian Mumford, the race lead changed several times throughout and at the finish a drag race ensued. Brian Jones & Paul Cook rounded the final up wind mark in the lead but Brian & Yvonne Mumford were chasing them down, at the gun only a second was between the two boats but a hard thought win went to Brian Jones & Paul Cook; taking 2nd place overall.

Overall Results: (top three)

1st Yvonne & Brian Mumford, 4047
2nd Brian Jones & Paul Cook, 4021
3rd Neal Gibson & Keith Macey, 4040