2000 Millennium Series Round 6 at Carsington Sailing Club

2000 Millennium Series Round 6 at Carsington © Richard Harvey

2000 Millennium Series Round 6 at Carsington © Richard Harvey

2000 Millennium Series Round 6 at Carsington © Richard Harvey

The Carsington 2000 millennium series started on Saturday 29th September in warm sunny weather, with a light and variable south-south-westerly wind. There were only six entries due to a number of regular teams being unable to attend, but competition was stiff with all six boats being very evenly matched.

Tension soared at the start of the first race as the over-zealous competitors breached the start line and were pulled up by a general recall. When the race began again, those who spotted the light wind briefly pick up on the west side of the water on the final run gained a winning advantage; in the second race, the front four boats, having seen the advantage in the first race, stuck to the west side of the water on both runs and missed out on the increasing wind pressure on the opposite side of the water, which was eagerly spotted by Mick Steer and Kate Franklin which saw them sail home victorious from fifth place at the start of the final run, rounding the final mark into a tight spinnaker reach to the gate for good measure, much to the frustration of the other competitors!

The next two races on the Saturday witnessed very similar sailing conditions, and the close racing capabilities of all six boats meant that all four races were won by four different teams, leaving everything to play for on the Sunday.

The forecast for Sunday was for stronger winds but the day started off very dull, with a spot of rain and a very light wind, which delayed the start. When the race began, the light winds proved to be very tricky, especially when approaching the windward mark and, to make matters even more interesting, a 90 degree wind shift half way through the race, resulted in a reach rather than a beat back up through the gate; unfortunately the two boats that gained the most from the shift missed the gate and had to retire from that race.

The wind that had been promised in the forecast that morning finally kicked in for the final race, providing a good medium to strong westerly. Helen & Andrew Phillips took pole position from the start of the race and comfortably held the lead to the end. There was a game of cat and mouse between the next four boats as positions kept changing through the laps and all four fought to round the leeward mark on the final lap ahead of the other. The race to the gate was extremely close with the second and third place positions finally being split by only a fraction of a second.

All in all, it was a great weekend of fun and evenly-matched competitive racing.

A big thanks to Richard Harvey and Mick Steer for organising the event; to Henry, Keith, and Ray for their Race Officer duties and to Carsington Sailing Club for the venue.

2000 Millennium Series Round 6 at Carsington - photo © Richard Harvey

Overall Results:

2000 Millennium Series Round 6 at Carsington - photo © Richard Harvey