Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series - Race 1
by David Greening 30 Oct 2016 16:30 GMT
29 October 2016
Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series Race 1 © Jon Lewis
Saturday saw the first race of the Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series with bumper turnouts in both the Solo fleet and the Mixed Handicap fleet.
The forecast Easterly breeze backed to a pleasant force 2 to 3 North Easterly, sufficient to keep the boats moving around the harbour.
Race Officer Julian Hereward set a course to Gerston, to Blackstone, Crossways and Mill Bay, and although the legs in the Bag were a follow your leader reach fest, the wind had backed further on the return to the harbour to provide beats back from Blackstone and Mill Bay.
First away were the nineteen strong Solo fleet, with the early starters getting the Nelson treatment when no individual recall flag was flown with the second sound signal; Graham Cranford-Smith nailed the start, but Julian Meek led through the Bag to Gerston. Simon Dobson on a rich vein of form emerged from the leading pack upon the return to the Harbour, with Ed Stephens very much in the mix.
With a dying breeze, the leading bunch underestimated the strength of the flood tide at Mill Bay, or possibly the amount of wind required to make the buoy, allowing the next pack of Cleaves, Greening and Jago to have a whiff of opportunity by staying out of the tide for longer, unfortunately for them, sufficient wind got the leading bunch around the buoy, not without Stephens having to complete a penalty turn.
Whilst Handicap Racing has been a somewhat fragmented affair for the later parts of the season, twelve assorted boats, including Yawls, Merlin Rockets, RS400s, National 12's, Laser Radials and Aeros came to the line together, though once again Peter Cook and Janet Exelby showed their mastery of the light conditions in their Merlin Rocket to secure the win over a brace of Yawls, in the hands of David Jayne and Andrew Stirling, who's edge may have been taken off by the opening of the Salcombe Gin Distillery the night before!
Race 1 Results:
Solo
1st 5676, Simon Dobson
2nd 5317, Julian Meek
3rd 5444, Graham Cranford-Smith
Handicap
1st Merlin Rocket 3616, Peter Cook and Janet Exelby
2nd Salcombe Yawl 159, David Jayne and Dan Bridger
3rd Salcombe Yawl 74, Andrew Stirling and Stephen Burton