Solo Open Meeting at Fishers Green Sailing Club
by Bill Brockbank 15 Dec 2015 07:08 GMT
13 December 2015
Mark Maskell of Blackwater SC won the last open meeting of the season at Fishers Green on Sunday. The event, twice postponed because of weed, dawned to an ideal forecast. 7 visitors and 15 of the home fleet waited for the forecast to arrive. And waited. And waited.
An hour late drifting conditions whispered in, which - small mercy - at least kept a pretty constant direction.
This let PRO Nick Yanakoyorgos set a long, true beat as part of a triangle. The 4 laps were signalled in the hope that WindGuru was right, but both races ended up being shortened to one triangle plus the extra beat.
Godfrey Clark made a terrific start to lead the first race, winning by quite a margin. Mark Maskell was an ominous second, Paul Rayson of the home club third.
In a finely judged consultation the PRO 'suggested' we ditch the planned third race. To no dissent.
About a third of the fleet jumped the gun at the second race start, triggering a general recall. At the restart only one boat was over - first race winner Clark!
Finding it difficult to get back through the crowded line he restarted with an impossible task ahead. He did make it up to 6th but with his main rival 1st, Maskell was the clear winner. Steve Conroy, also of the home club, was second, Paul Rayson again third.
In such conditions, made worse by the remnants of the autumn's weed we'd expect some pretty random results. Not so, cream really does rise to the top. 4 of the top 5 boats finished within 3 points of each other. Only Richard Piper (FGSC) and Keith Smith (King George and FGSC) each with a 5th place breaking into the top 5 monopoly.
Top five results:
1st: Mark Maskell, Blackwater, 3pts
2nd: Paul Rayson, FGSC, 6pts
3rd: Godfrey Clark, FGSC, 7pts
4th: Steve Conroy, FGSC, 8pts
5th: Vince Horey, King George SC, 8pts