Rooster 8.1 Nats at London Corithinan Sailing Club - Day 2

Rooster 8.1 nationals on the Thames © Martin Dixon

Rooster 8.1 nationals on the Thames © Martin Dixon

With the promise of more wind on Sunday the race officer set the sailors and his team a target of 5 races to complete the intended 8 race series and give the sailors their well deserved 2 discards. The wind was forecast to be North Easterly, and 6 to 9 knots, but still against the flooding current.

Race 4

Race 4 was a simple upwind start with a triangle course, going through the gate in both the upwind and downwind directions. The line was set with lots of port bias which meant crossing the line on Starboard was impossible. This encouraged some interesting river boat tacktics with some crossing from up stream on course side - to start at the pin - with hails of starboard. With the fleet away first time, there was lots to be gained with small wind shifts and increased pressure. It was Andy Le Grice who was quickest in the increased wind speed and he took an early lead from Steve Cockerill, rounding the last mark with a short beat to the finish in dying wind with tidal safety of the right hand shore. An unfortunate rounding of the mark by Andy allowed Steve Cockerill to tack and take a shift back to the left where there was more current and some extra pressure to roll Andy who was left with little wind under the right hand lee shore. Phil Robin came through strongly to take 3rd.

Race 5

Neil Peters came into the start line on starboard at the pin and caught Andy Le Grice port starboard and so he had to spin out and do a penalty. Nigel Edwards was in the perfect place to benefit from the collision, diving into the pin space on port and steeling a massive lead on the fleet. Neil managed to make the first mark in second from Gary Bullock and Phil Robin. Steve got the inside overlap on Phil at the leeward mark and then found the fleet floundering in strong current and no wind. Neil decided to capsize to test the temperature of the water whilst experiencing one of the rivers small windshifts. On the second upwind, Steve passed Gary and hauled Nigel in to take the lead. Both were well clear of the fleet, with just the last short upwind to go. As they approached the mark, the wind died leaving them with the fleet on their heels. Steve managed to hang onto first place, from Val, Simon Barrington, Garry Bullock with Nigel relegated to 5th.

Race 6

With the wind lighter now, it was the mid line starter that looked favoured as they were able to scramble for the bank sooner, leaving those who started near the pin - floundering in the strong current. Andy Le Grice had a storming start and was the lead boat to the bank. Val was the first of the battlers as he concentrated on defending his bank position. At the first mark it was Andy. Val, Neil, Phil Robin and Gary Bullock. Steve took a couple on the offwind to round in 4th and was lucky to find the fleet had been becalmed. Clive Kitson passed Steve and Neil rounding in more pressure -but at the finish it was Andy, Val, Steve Clive and Phil Robin from Neil.

Race 7

Still two races to go and 2 discards to consider. Andy and Steve were on equal points, Andy with the most firsts and Steve with a better discard. With the current starting to ease the course was changed to a windward leeward and the start line was made much more even, although still pin end biased. Chris Fyans won the pin - but was overhauled by Steve who had better acceleration. Both were quickly swallowed up by a right shift favouring those who started near the committee boat, giving Gary Bullock an early lead. Steve re took the lead on the off wind leg - which also saw Andy pull through. At the next windward mark, Steve misjudged the lay line which gave the lead briefly to Andy Le Grice as Andy Bullock passed them both on the offwind leg taking the lead at the leeward mark. Steve again took the risky shift to the left side of the stream in hope of finding some more pressure and a better shift but was covered by Andy who in turn was covered by Gary. Neil slipped by both Steve and Andy and then promptly sailed Andy into a passing rowing boat. Neil's protective starboard tack on Andy at the finish was enough for Steve to sneak in at the favoured committee boat end on port to take second.

Race 8

With current now finally moving to the wind, the port end had become seriously favoured. Neil won the pin with Steve on his hip. As Steve tacked and took the mid channel line upwind, the camera boat accelerated away to give him and Neil a large surf to windward which was enough to give them a large lead at the top mark. As Steve was catching Neil off wind, Neil reached to release a bit more vang at the same time a gust arrived which sent him into a death roll. Eager to pull his boat up, quickly he found himself with his mast between the daggerboard and rudder of Clive Kitson, leaving Andy able to break his overlap and round the leeward mark in 2nd. Despite his quicker speed to windward Andy only closed on the lead but never looked like he would take it, leaving Steve to take the last race from Andy, and Nigel Edwards in 3rd which secured him 5th overall behind Val. Nigel then sailed back to his home club of Ranelagh Sailing Club, capsizing his boat under Hammersmith Bridge to get there. The Championship was won by just 1 by Steve Cockerill from Andy Le Grice and a very consistent Gary Bullock.

Prizes were awarded to everyone taking place. A special prize for determination was given to Kevin Seebaluck who came 19th despite finishing all the races. Val Nedyalkov was 4th and first London Corinthian Sailor. Stokes Bay took the team prize with 1st and 2nd.

Despite the lack of and difficult direction of the wind, the race officer and his team managed to get in 5 races in one day - which was a club record. The food and beer had been excellent - and the hospitality second to none.

Overall Results: