Salcombe Yacht Sailing Club Series - Race 3
by David Greening 8 May 2016 20:37 BST
8 May 2016
An easterly breeze coupled with the lowest Spring tide of the year was never going to provide the best of courses, but Race Officer Dan Bridger set about making the best of a bad job by sending the fleets to Crossways and then to a seaward mark sited on the Bar. This gave competitors the opportunity to pick up a North Easterly breeze at one end of the harbour and a South Easterly at the other end as the wind bent around the land mass that is East Portlemouth.
The twenty Solos were put on the General Recall naughty step after their first start, since the RO had difficulty distinguishing one white boat from another, and so the Solos were eventually to restart last, after the Yawls.
Tim Law, Peter Hammond and Simon Dobson got the first beat right and headed East Portlemouth, whilst David Greening led a breakaway movement toward Salcombe, this allowed most of the fleet to reunite at the entrance of the harbour, between Blackstone and Castle Point, this proved too much for some of the leading group, while Greening led a contingent over the Blackstone, Hammond made a break for the lead at Castle Point.
At the same place on the second lap, Hammond failed to learn from his previous success, and sailed out with Dobson into the tide, and out of the wind, which was to cost Hammond six places, and allow Greening and Robin Hodges to chase down Dobson, but to no avail, and Dobson took the win following a shifty and fickle beat back to the finishing line.
In the Cadets, Ruari McColl scored his first win of the series, from the RS Tera Sport of Will Meek, in a six boat fleet.
While in the Medium Handicap fleet saw Chris Booth score another victory over wife Claire in their RS Aeros.
Graham and Fiona Cranford Smith sailed to a fine victory in their Merlin Rocket in the Fast Handicap Fleet, but were somewhat aided by the tardy arrival of Alistair Morley in his Phantom... perhaps the Solo fleet could have a whip round to replace the battery in his alarm clock, which they so generously gave to him some years ago.
The Salcombe Yawl fleet was somewhat depleted following the excesses of the previous weekend's Open Meeting, though it was good to see Mr and Mrs Barney Greenhill's return to the water. Geoff Gilson and Chris Spencer Chapman prevailed, with the Lewis's and the Greenhills having a close battle for the remaining podium places.
Race 3 Results:
Cadet Handicap
1st RS Quba 2, Ruari McColl
2nd Tera Sport 1131, Will Meek
3rd Tera Pro 2136, George Alexander
Medium Handicap
1st RS Aero 7 1416, Chris Booth
2nd RS Aero 7 1517, Claire Booth
3rd Wayfarer 507, Not known
Fast Handicap
1st Merlin Rocket 3769, Graham and Fiona Cranford Smith
2nd Phantom 1357, Alistair Morley
3rd National 12 3480, Norman and Karen Brown
Solo
1st 5313, Simon Dobson
2nd 5617, David Greening
3rd 4813, Robin Hodges
Yawls
1st 170, Geoff Gilson and Chris Spencer Chapman
2nd 150, Jon and Clare Lewis
3rd 138, Barney and Juanita Greenhill