Salcombe Yacht Club Festive Series - Races 2 & 3
by Simon Dobson 2 Jan 13:01 GMT
26 December 2017 & 1 January 2018
Salcombe Yacht Club held the final two races of the season over the holiday period, the first on Boxing Day, the second on New Year's Day.
The Boxing Day race saw a welcome return of south westerly winds and 17 competitors lined up for the start in a force 3 breeze that strengthened steadily as the race wore on. Race Officer Barney Greenhill set a windward leeward course with a leg down to Yalton being followed by a couple of laps around the Mill Bay mark and Crossways. The Phantoms of Alistair Morley and Paul Ellis pulled away to lead the race on the water but the lack of any reaching legs meant that the Solos kept in touch on corrected time. Amongst the Solos, Billy Jago got through Simon Dobson on the first run down to Yalton to establish a lead that would never be threatened and these two sailed away from the rest to take the first two places with Alistair Morley in third.
New Year's Day saw some bleary-eyed sailors rigging up in the dinghy park for the 11am start. A return of the north westerly breezes that have been a feature of recent weeks made getting away from the start line tricky but, as is often the case, Paul Ellis did it better than most to establish an early lead in his Phantom. Amongst the Solos behind, Simon Dobson made some gains through the Bag but had Graham Cranford Smith close behind in hot pursuit. A tight fetch up to Gerston was followed by a blistering broad reach back to Crossways in 25 knots of breeze during which Cranford Smith sailed past Dobson whilst up ahead the Phantoms and the Aero of Dan Bridger revelled in the fast planning conditions. After Crossways the fleet headed back to Saltstone and from there back into the main Estuary. The north westerly wind played havoc with conditions here as the wind gyrated wildly causing many to capsize. Ellis and Cranford Smith stayed upright and finished in that order on corrected time with Dobson in third.
These results meant that Simon Dobson took the Festive Series overall with Billy Jago in second and Paul Ellis in third, thereby bringing an end to racing for the 2017 season. Competition recommences on March 10th with the Commissioning Race for the 2018 season.
Festive Series Results: (top three)
1st Simon Dobson, Solo 5676
2nd Billy Jago, Solo 5598
3rd Paul Ellis, Phantom 1413