Streaker Open at Girton Sailing Club
by Brian Rennie 30 Jun 2009 10:18 BST
27 June 2009
Not the strongest of winds for the Girton Streaker open © Brian Rennie
8 visitors turned out to make a fleet of 10 boats despite the very light and variable wind and grey skies. In conditions which could best be described as fluky, the leaders showed through the consistency of their performances that winning was not just a matter of luck,
In race 1 an unwise port tack approach to the start line by Girton’s Commodore disadvantaged Ian Bradley (1619). However, Adrian Cripps (1210) saved local honour with a flyer from the start line. By the end of the race Bradley had worked his way through the fleet to take 2nd place behind the leader, Dave Smith (1670), with Peter Cogill (1683) coming in 3rd. At the back of the fleet positions changed markedly over the last couple of marks with Brian Rennie (1596) coming up from the rear to take 6th place.
In the second race Bradley overtook Smith to hold on to the lead till the finish, reversing the positions in the first race. Peter Cogill retained 3rd place. Graham Nelson (1626) was also consistent in retaining 5th place, kept out of 4th by Adrian Cripps.
So the 3rd race started in with an even lighter and more fickle wind than before and with the leaders having everything to play for. Bradley was in the lead at the first mark. By the time the fleet had run, reached and drifted to the 2nd mark, it had spread out and closed up again, but it now started to spread out again. Smith fought hard, but at one point the wind seemed to shift against him on every tack, and Bradley hung on to finish 1st with Smith 2nd and Cogill once again 3rd. Further back Cripps and Nelson had been battling for 4th place with Nelson finally getting in front at the penultimate mark to put Cripps in 5th place.
Overall Results:
1st Ian Bradley (1619)
2nd Dave Smith (1670)
3rd Peter Cogill (1683)
4th Graham Nelson (1626)
5th Adrian Cripps (1210)
6th Paul Jago (1215)
7th John Woffinden (1182)
8th Brian Rennie (1596)
9th Mark Hill (1554)
10th Steve Abbott (1572)