Comet Open at Baltic Wharf Sailing Club

6 visitors joined the 1 local Comet on what looked to be another cold wet and windy open at Baltic Wharf Sailing Club. The OOD had been considering for the past 24 hours if a race to the head of the harbour was possible and on viewing the weather decided to proceed.

John Coppenhall had already taken a walk to scope out the course but was later informed that the SS Great Briton (that looks a long way from the club) is about the half way point. And the run to the head of the harbour would be about a mile up the dock. Before the briefing was made hastily a map was acquired as the board used to draw the courses does not show a large enough area.

The course was laid with a short beat from the start line followed by a run to the city centre, passing the Matthew, SS Great Briton with the leeward mark placed in front of the Arnolfini (sight of the election debate). Competitors were required to complete the course by rounding two marks between the cottage in and Bristol Marina.

Ben Palmer was over the line at the start and was required to restart, a photograph from the race officer left no doubt that he was the only one over the line despite concern from Dave Harris. With the short beat and long run there were six boats abeam passing the SS Great Briton with the seventh boat trying to find a space through. All boats arrived at the leeward mark together after jostling for position and fighting for intermittent patches of wind.

On the beat back to the cottage inn Ben Palmer (the local) caught a lift to open a small lead as the fleet passed the SS Great Briton again.

Ben was able to hold the lead to the finish. Dave Harris, John and Brian arrived back at the windward mark together with the resulting calls of “Starboard” and “water at the mark”. Dave seized the opportunity to take second with John taking third and Brian fourth.

The visitors are to be congratulated for completing a course that the local sailors normally find difficult.

Lunch was taken in the Cottage Inn by many competitors even though the “lasagne was off”. For the second race the course was re-laid. The two windward marks were place at the Baltic Wharf end of the dock with a gate outside the marina. At this time the sailing school, Sailability, Scouts and occasional sea cadet all decided to use the water as well.

The first start was abandoned when a drascombe lugger attempted to sail through the start line with 20 seconds to go and impacted John Coppenhall.

The restart was uneventful. Chris Robinson took the lead and held it for the first five laps just to be over taken by Dave Harris who held the lead until the end. The leading two were hotly pursued by Brian who took third.

Race three saw the first and second mark switched but retained the leeward gate. The wind increased with substantial gusts. The run saw most boats rocking and rolling. Rhiain capsized and took a sample of the Bristol mud but was unable to recover. Dave led from start to finish, with Chris following him. Ben, John and Brian had a close race with less that 30 seconds between the three until lap six when a particularly strong gust flattened Ben and John as they approached the start line. Ben recovered quickly but the gap to Brian was reduced to 14 seconds as they crossed the line. John in a repeat of last year acquired a sample of mud from the bottom of the dock using the top of his mast, and allowed Henry to pass.

Overall Results:

1st Dave Harris, 763 (Severn Sailing Club) 2, 1, 1 = 2pts
2nd Ben Palmer, 597 (Baltic Wharf Sailing Club) 1, 4, 3 = 4pts
3rd Chris Robinson, 63 (Burghfield Sailing Club) 5, 2, 2 = 4pts
4th Brian Welham, 711 (Maidenhead Sailing Club) 4, 3, 4 = 7pts
5th John Coppenhall, 532 (Hunts Sailing Club) 3, 7, 6 = 9pts
6th Henry Jaggers, 436 (Beer Sailing Club) 6, 6, 5 = 11pts
7th Rhiain Bevan, 724 (Cransley Sailing Club) 7, 5, DNF = 12pts