International 14 PoW Week: Lowestoft Bowl Trophy Race 2
by Isabella Hartland 30 Jun 2015 12:41 BST
27 June - 3 July 2015
Day 2 of the OceanAir Prince of Wales and Europeans week dawned with sunshine and blue skies. 10-12 knots of breeze greeted the competitors from France, Germany, Australia, Italy and United Kingdom at the start.
The first windward mark saw a tight pack headed up by Truswell/Pascoe in their new boat "Scrumpet". A number of boats loped towards the start and just about dropped their kites in time for the start, with a few moments to spare. The fleet split up the first beat, trying to decide which side was preferable, although this seemed to vary from lap to lap. Four time world champion Archie Massey worked hard to avoid the persistent advances of the brand new boat "Roxanne" sailed by Jones/Fitzgerald but eventually broke free.
Further down the fleet, a number of boats embarked on a game of snakes and ladders, allowing the usual suspects further down a chance moment of glory to snare International 14 guru Pearson/Martin after a late start and a stuck kite halyard. The new teaming of Edge/Sherratt were pushing hard to prove themselves, but a brief rest after a hoist caused a swim, allowing others to creep through.
Truswell/Pascoe's convincing lead was under significant threat due to dying variable breeze on the last lap, although they just managed to hold on for the win followed by Massey/Hillary and Jones/Fitzgerald. As a result of the first two series races, Massey/Hillary bagged themselves the fabulous "Lowestoft Bowl Trophy".
Weymouth Town Trophy - Race 3
The second race of the day saw more sunshine for the competitors who had now grown in numbers, with the arrival of the Partington family less than an hour before the second start. The wind having softened saw the fleet changing gears in the interval between the preceding race, in addition to getting the obligatory chocolate bars in.
A left hand shift immediately before the start saw the mad rush to the pin 50 seconds before the start. At the gun, Truswell/Pascoe and Massey/Hillary were leading the fleet out at the pin end whilst Doug Pattison/Mark Tait had opted for an early port tack at the committee boat into good pressure heading for the right hand side and less tide.
At the windward mark, the right won over the middle leaving Pattison/Tait with a sturdy lead over Truswell/Pascoe, by the leeward mark the gap had closed to 50 yards. In other areas of the fleet, the painful reach saw a number of boats playing chicken as to who could hold the kite to the bottom mark.
Up the next beat, greed got the better of the leading pair, sailing too far into the shift, allowing Truswell/Pascoe to tack 50 yards under their line on the starboard approach to the windward mark a further 15 degrees starboard lift. This secured their lead at the windward mark, which was held to the finish. Behind the leading duo, Massey/Hillary were finding the ladders in what was otherwise a relatively processional race (at least at the front), taking third from Jones/ Fitzgerald.