Contender Open at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club

The forecast for the weekend was for light winds on the Saturday but looked good for the Sunday with sunshine throughout. On arrival at the club the sun was out and shining and a light breeze was in the air. With the event being shared with the Hornets and a large fleet of Finns, a small but friendly group of Contender sailors made up of mainly Tony's had assembled in the boat park.

With the first race set for 10am we were soon making our way to the start line. Race 1 started cleanly possible due to Chris Boshier trying to work out how his new watch worked. With flat sea's and a light easterly shifting breeze the first mark was rounded with Peter Noble first followed by Tony Brooks and Tony Cook, with Tony White not far behind. By the gybe mark the wind was filling in from behind giving most of the fleet a chance to get up close and personal with each other at the rounding. With the wind now playing games and filling in on one side at a time a number of place changes were made up the next beat, after a long run and a short beat to the finish it was Rodger White who crossed the line first followed by Tony Cook with Peter Noble 3rd.

After a long delay waiting for the wind to return and settle race 2 was started, with the tide now playing its part and a shift in the wind the pin end was busy with most of the fleet opting for a port start, but with the wind dying and then filling in on the left side first, those that had gone left were able to make the mark first. With the wind coming and going and the tide now rushing out at a pace the race was shortened with Chris Boshier taking first, Tony cook 2nd and peter noble 3rd making a good recovery on the last reach/run having hooked his rudder to the gybe mark due to the strong tide. With a pleasant sale back to the club in the best wind of the day and a helpful tide.

After an evening of food a drink at the club, Sunday dawned looking like a repeat of Saturday with Sunshine and light winds. The course was set for race 3 and as the five minute gun sounded the promised wind for the day kicked in giving a 30 degree shift, so the race was abandoned. With a new course set we were off, with full trapezing on the upwind legs. Peter Noble sailed well to finish 1st with Rodger 2nd and Chris 3rd.

Race 4 was another clean start, with the wind increased a little, this was good racing with a lot of place changing in the fleet to the end, with the top four places a repeat of race 3 with Peter 1st, Rodger 2nd, Chris 3rd and Tony Brooks 4th.

Race 5 and the wind was now blowing 16-18mph and the sea was now choppy with a few good waves on the reaches and run to make things more interesting, This was Chris Boshier's race that he led from the start and had a good lead by the finish, with the rest of the fleet having personal battles throughout. At the end it was Chris 1st with a large gap to Tony Brooks 2nd and Peter Noble just getting Tony Cook at the finish for 3rd.

With such good racing, race 6 was on, with the tide now pushing the fleet toward the line Chris was a little premature on his port flyer and had to return, giving Peter a head start and a chance of the overall win. Peter sailed a text book race to the finish to win the race and the event making him Eastern Champion, with Chris climbing his way back up to second giving him 2nd overall. Rodger held off Tony Brooks to the finish to finish 3rd giving him 3rd overall and Tony Brooks 4th and 4th overall winning the battle of the Tony's by 2 points.

A big thank you to Thorpe Bay Yacht Club for proving us with great racing, food and drink.

Overall Results: