Crouch Yacht Club Autumn Series - Race 3
by Phillip Harbott 19 Oct 2017 08:53 BST
15 October 2017
Eight boats started in a good breeze against an ebb tide, heading up river to Cliff and Canewdon to get a beat between those two marks.
As the 10 second countdown to the starting gun began, four boats headed towards the line fully powered up. Exile were towards the South Shore, in the deeper water, with Mantra, Double Trouble and Glorious Fools right up under the North Shore, out of the tide.
On the fetch up to Number 15, Exile led the fleet, but in the IRC class, Double Trouble the Corby 29 was ahead, with the Aphrodite 101, Mantra just behind, with Glorious Fools next. Both the Corby and Digger Harden in the J88 Glorious Fools set kites, and this paid off, with Mantra ending up fourth on the water at this point.
Behind this pack, Jeannie, the Elan 31 owned by John Saunders and the higher rated Dehler 34 Martinique were enjoying close racing, with the SJ 27 owned by Andrew Courts, Stephen Gosling and Roger Noble, Grace and Danger, chasing hard. Thistle was closer to this group enjoying the fetching legs.
After Number 15 and a quick spinnaker leg for some to Cliff there was a good beat to Canewdon, then a running leg to Black Point, followed by a kite drop and a fetch to Number 13. This time on the leg back up to Cliff it was too shy for spinnakers, as the wind had headed. The boats then sailed for home.
Paul Trueman's X37 Exile took line honours, a long way ahead of the next in the Local Handicap division. Duncan Haley in Double Trouble finished next under white sails. Digger Harden and Pete Jackson's Glorious Fools set their pink kite off Essex Marina, needing to ensure that they could save their time on Phillip Harbott's Mantra who were following close behind. They also popped a kite at the marina, trying to claw back the seconds they had lost by not going kite on the first leg of the race. Mark Lyons in Martinique came next with a small kite, being chased very hard all the way by the lower rated Jeannie. George Clarke helming Grace and Danger finished next, with the Jaguar 21 Thistle belonging to Alan Hanna finishing last.
On corrected time in Local handicap, Exile won from Jeannie, with Martinique third, Grace and Danger fourth and Thistle fifth. The top three were very close. In IRC, Glorious Fools won by just over 40 seconds from Mantra with Double Trouble third.