Salcombe Yacht Club Sailing Club Series - Race 5

The 40 plus boats competing in the 5th race of Salcombe Yacht Club's Sailing Club Series were treated to fabulous sunshine and light but steady south westerly breeze.

Race Officer Peter Hammond dispensed with conventional course setting and sent the fleets out to a mark just past Bar Lodge. This proved to be a true beat with plenty of opportunities for gains and losses. A long run against the tide back to the Saltstone mark was then followed by a lap around Blackstone and Crossways.

The Cadet fleet numbered nine starters in a variety of Teras, Toppers and Qubas. Ben Meek once again lead the fleet home by a healthy margin, followed by James Alexander and Gus Howells in their Toppers. The Medium Handicap fleet saw eight entries with the Firefly of Peter Cook and Janet Exelby leading off the start line and sailing away to another comfortable victory. James Alexander, a recent graduate from the Cadet fleet, was a creditable second and Andrew Groves third. Only four boats competed in the Fast Handicap fleet and the absence of most of the usual front runners allowed Chris Cleaves to record a maiden victory in his new Phantom. Bruce Hattersley in another Phantom was second and the Merlin Rocket of Simon and Laura Evans third.

In the Solo fleet there were sixteen starters, a welcome uptick in numbers from recent levels. Tom Campbell, a visitor getting in some practise before next weekend's Solo Open Meeting, made a good start and although the lead changed hands a couple of times, he emerged to lead at the first mark from Ed Stephens and Simon Dobson. Possibly lacking local knowledge, Campbell made a tactical error early on the run, allowing Stephens and Dobson past and they sailed away from the chasing pack. The two leaders remained nose to tail all the way to Saltstone but on the beat back through the Bag, Dobson got the better of a wind shift and crossed ahead of Stephens. He then doggedly covered his rival all the way to Blackstone, pulling out a decent gap when Stephens was unlucky enough to catch some weed. Behind these two Roger Guess finished third on the water only to be adjudged to have infringed the fairway allowing David Greening to take the final podium spot with Tom Campbell a respectable fifth.

A mixture of 5 Modern and Classic Yawls lined up for the final fleet start with the Modern boat of Charles Thompson and Alistair Morley leading the fleet around the course after getting the better of Geoff Gilson on the first beat. However, on corrected time it was the Classic fleet boat of Barney Greenhill that took the honours with Barney's son James on the tiller.

Race 5 Results:

Cadets
1st Tera Pro Ben Meek
2nd Topper James Alexander
3rd Topper Gus Howells

Medium Handicap
1st Firefly Peter Cook and Janet Exelby
2nd Laser 4.7 George Alexander
3rd Laser Radial Andrew Groves

Fast Handicap
1st Phantom Chris Cleaves
2nd Phantom Bruce Hattersley
3rd Merlin Rocket Simon and Laura Evans

Solo
1st Simon Dobson
2nd Ed Stephens
3rd David Greening

Yawl
1st James and Barney Greenhill
2nd Charles Thompson and Alistair Morley
3rd Geoff Gilson and Chris Spencer Chapman