Albacore Open at South Cerney Sailing Club
by Ruth Holmes 1 May 2011 21:44 BST
30 April - 1 May 2011
Fifteen boats heard the forecast 20 gusting 41, but came anyway and the gusty northerly did not disappoint. Nick’s first Open with Liz on Hamish was heard to cry AAAARgh as they left the lee of the beach.
The first race saw the long-awaited Gran Turismo start well, but a capsize followed by exploding rigging sent them back to shore for the day. Reckless Rat pulled out an impressive lead followed by Monarch, Supersonic, Te Wero GAl and iWoof. A lap before the end iWoof’s moral fifth was snatched as they saw Blaec ashore and mistakenly finished the race a lap early. Guy and Emily in their borrowed boat in their first Albacore open were consistent around 6th and we look forward to many more races with them.
Race 2 saw a shorter first beat and phenomenal reaches, with the drifting windward mark deftly retrieved by the safety boat. The results mirrored race 1: Rat, Monarch, Supersonic. Gunship Diplomat came through to take fourth with iWoof actually finishing and achieving fifth.
Race 3 was even gustier and leading places changed with Rat hitting a mark and Monarch catching a gust. Monarch was unnerved by a near miss but despite a feet-in-the-air moment maintained their lead followed by Rat, Supersonic and Avatar.
Sunday morning dawned with very similar conditions, with Gran Turismo finishing a race in grand promised style. Monarch, Rat, iWoof followed with Supersonic fast recovering from a swim at the gybe mark.
The wind increased and the new course included two tighter reaches making even more testing conditions for those left racing. Rat returned to winning form followed by Monarch, Avatar, Supersonic and iWoof.
A great limb-aching leg-bruising weekend was enjoyed camping, drinking beer and eating good food. Looking forward to next year when Neil promises a nice force 3!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Club |
|---|
| 1 | Reckless Rat | Judy Armstong | Paul Armstrong | Scaling Dam |
| 2 | Monarch | Normal Halstead | Sue Morris | South Cerney and Tor Point Mosquito |
| 3 | Supersonic | Jean Simmons | Liz Macdonald | South Cerney |
| 4 | Avatar | Mike Banner | Blair Jamieson/Al Sim | Winsford Flash |