Challenging racing for the Bembridge Illusion fleet

Windy weekend racing at Bembridge in early April 2016 © Mike Samuelson

Windy weekend racing at Bembridge in early April 2016 © Mike Samuelson

There was mixed weather over the weekend, however a small fleet of Illusions managed to get three races in each day. In the expectation that the breeze was not going to increase too much on Saturday, nine Illusions raced outside the harbour.

With launching a bit delayed by the large spring tides, the first race started about quarter of an hour later than scheduled in the SSW'erly F3-4 breeze.

Although Andy Christie was very nearly OCS, the X Flag remained down and everyone got off to a good start; Mike Toogood's mid fleet port tack flyer paid off and much to his delight he was first round the windward mark and held off Bruce Huber on the first run to the leeward gate, however disappointingly his steering then broke and he had to retire.

This left Bruce well ahead of Raymond Simmonds, Philip Bown, Andy Christie & Serena Gosling as they went into the second round. Raymond managed to catch up a bit on the third round and Philip dropped back to fourth; Serena held onto fifth just ahead of John Raymond & Hugh Doherty.

Another clean start (just) for the second race which began with the black clouds over Culver Down ominously heading northwards. Bruce was again out in front at the first windward mark, closely pursued by Philip & Raymond; although Philip dropped back to third when he had a problem with his spinnaker, there was not a lot of other place changing as everyone was concentrating on remain upright when the breeze picked up as the squall came through.

Although it was still raining at the start of the third race, the wind had dropped back to F4 and veered SW'erly which caused a few problems at the start. However, after quite a lot of shouting everyone eventually got away; with Bruce & Philip towards the back of the fleet, Raymond was first round the windward mark with Serena, John & Mike in hot pursuit.

By the end of the second round Bruce had caught right up and with Raymond having a problem with his spinnaker it was Bruce's green boat that took first place at the windward mark finish line. Serena took third just ahead of John & Mike.

With the rough conditions outside the harbour on Sunday keeping the One-Designs on their moorings, conditions inside the harbour on Sunday were breezy but relatively smooth so eight Illusions launched and had three challenging races. With the previous day's winner, Bruce Huber not racing, the way was open for Raymond Simonds to see if he could take over as the fleet leader.

He did not disappoint and finished the day with three wins. Mind you it was not without a number of broaches during the downwind legs that must have got his adrenaline flowing. The first race saw Bill Daniels making up a lot of ground on the second round to come in ahead of Serena Gosling & James Axtell.

The start of the second race had Raymond & Bill almost OCS but they both somehow managed to remain clear. After the first round Raymond was well ahead but Bill clawed back quite a bit on the second beat; interestingly he hardly lost any distance on the runs despite not flying his spinnaker. Andy Christie who had been second on the first round had a close battle with Serena and just managed to hold onto third place.

In the final race of the day, with only the brave risking using their spinnakers, Mike Toogood managed to get himself into third place behind Raymond & Bill and just held off a late challenge by Serena who ended the weekend in overall second place.

Watch the start of the second race on Saturday:

See also:
Start of the second race on Sunday
Start of the third race on Sunday

Although not a trophy weekend, there was certainly some challenging racing on both days. The final two trophies of the Illusion Winter season (St George's Day & the Woodford Long Distance) are in a fortnight's time.

Overall Results:

Windy weekend racing at Bembridge in early April 2016 - photo © Mike Samuelson