Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe Sailing Club

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe © Rick Newcomb

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe © Rick Newcomb

Twenty Supernova Travellers missed the turning for the Radio 1 big weekend and ended up joining 5 local boats for a great weekend of sunshine and mixed wind conditions at Exe Sailing Club for a Noble Marine Travellers Event.

The forecast was for a weekend of light winds which put a few people off, but they missed out on a chance to practice the infamous gate starts which will be used at the nationals later on in the year. Many Travellers turned up on Friday night and were graced by blue skies, drinks on the balcony and a band playing on the local recreation ground!

Saturday dawned and the fog which had come in overnight never really dissipated as the day went on and led to a very fickle sea breeze. The fleet was launched at 12 and they drifted out on the tide to where the course was laid. The wind was very on and off and very rarely peaked over 4knts so the decision was made to postpone until about 2pm, by which point any sea breeze which there might have been would be settled.

As 2pm came the wind had swung round again and the RO decided to give some racing a go. It paid off as all three races were sailed. In race one a large shift came in from the left hand side of the course leading to a few unfamiliar faces near the front of the fleet. The race was won by the ever consistent Paul Earnshaw. The following two races were sailed in very similar conditions to the first, and Gavin Young made the most of the light airs to record a 4, 1, 1 to lead overnight.

People came back in with various arrangements of sunburn on their arms and shoulders. Curry and beef bourguignon were the dishes of the evening, served on the balcony as the sun went down along with a few beers.

Day two was forecast to be another light affair with f2-3 predicted. What actually arrived was far from that. The fleet launched into a f3-4 northerly which had some big gusts in it. Taking the cut through close to Dawlish warren meant that the fleet were ready to race before the race officer was! It was the perfect day to practice some gate starts and Iain Horlock was chosen by his home club to be the first pathfinder. The gate was open for a minute and a half.

In race one Iain chose to continue out on port even though the race officer had said he was clear to tack...a bad decision as the right didn't pay. However the fleet was very close together and over the next two laps he regained the lead and held on to the finish. Second was current national champion Cliff Milner who missed Saturdays racing but was clearly still on form! Third was Iain's younger brother Alex who had borrowed a boat for the weekend.

Race two and the new pathfinder was Saturday's winner Gavin Young. Similar conditions to the first race but with a few bigger gusts. It must pay to be the pathfinder as Gavin too managed to beat the rest of the fleet from Iain in second and Alex Horlock in third. In the third race Horlock junior got the best on the fleet from Robin Kirby in his new boat and Iain in third who just held off Gavin already basking in overall event victory.

The sailors enjoyed a brilliant weekend down in Devon especially with tea and cake provided after each days racing.

The race officer Tim Graham did a fantastic job fitting all the racing in and the Supernova class will hopefully be back again next year. The nationals at Llandudno are fast approaching and the racing looks to be closer than ever!

Overall Results:

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe - photo © Rick Newcombe

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe - photo © Rick Newcombe

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe - photo © Rick Newcombe

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe - photo © Rick Newcombe

Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Exe - photo © Rick Newcombe