Byte Open at Haversham Sailing Club
by M.Radford 24 Oct 2013 07:41 BST
19-20 October 2013
Forecasts of bad weather probably led to a small fleet. On Saturday the Bytes shared the course with a four hour pursuit race. The wind was more or less southerly giving a beat down the length of the lake.
Race 1: Kevin Moore squeezed Mike Radford out at the start and had better upwind speed in the stiff breeze. Rachael Moore and Mike were quicker off-wind with Mike taking the lead after the second beat which he held to the end.
Race 2: Easing winds saw lightweights Rachael and Mike drawing away from Kevin and battling upwind with many close crossings. After finally getting ahead of Rachael Mike then proceeded to throw his advantage away by sailing through the pursuit race gate rather than the Byte gate halfway up the beat. After recovering from this navigational error Mike set about catching Rachael again and managed to get a few boats lead by the end of the race.
Race 3: Freshening winds brought Kevin back into contention although the fleet remained in a tight bunch for the first lap or two with Angela Oakley showing good performance after a full day's racing. Mike managed to ease away to a comfortable lead by the end of the race with Rachael just getting beaten by Kevin.
A Trafalgar Day dinner was held on Saturday evening where Haversham SC members made Mike very welcome.
Race 4: Sunday saw stronger winds with the Bytes starting 5 minutes ahead of the club racers. Mike failed to make a port end flyer stick (again) and tracked Kevin up the beat. There were some exhilarating down-wind legs and this time Mike was able to extend his lead over Kevin up the beat.
Race 5: After a brief shore break Mike made a start well clear of the rest of the fleet as Rachael and Stuart Moore (in Kevin's boat) made a late start after an extended tea break. Our race officer, and Supernova sailor, Gordon Tweedle, swapped duties with Angela and took out her Byte for the first time.
Race 6: Mike and Rachael were in close contact for the first half of the race. Gordon managed to avoid getting lapped by Mike in only his second Byte outing.
Despite the small fleet there was some close racing over the weekend. Haversham SC is a friendly club where everything is done to make sure you have a great time – I hope the Bytes can return next year, in which case don't miss out!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Club | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Mike Radford | West Oxfordshire SC | 1465 | ‑1 | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Rachael Moore | Weston SC | 167 | 2 | 2 | ‑3 | ‑3 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | Kevin Moore | Weston SC | 1241 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑DNS | ‑DNS | 10 |
| 4 | Angela Oakley | Haversham SC | 1433 | 4 | 4 | 4 | DNS | ‑DNS | ‑DNS | 17 |