Enterprise Sailing Chandlery National Circuit event 8 at Looe Sailing Club

13 teams at the Looe National Circuit Event prepared themselves for what the forecast promised to be a breezy first day. Gill generously sponsored this leg of the Sailing Chandlery National Circuit with some great prizes.

As the boats were launching there was 16-20mph NE so coming off the land so not large waves we have experience in recent years for our annual open meeting. However when the boats had launched the breeze picked up to around 25-30mph causing several boats to capsize on the way out to the sailing area.

Many of the fleet then decided to sail in but the ones who manage to ride out the squall started the first race with the Jackman's having a good start and getting to the windward mark first. Behind was Paul Hobson who then pushed the Jackmans for the two reaches. The three boats behind that were Joe Jackman, Callum Dingle and Jeremy Stephens who had a good battle down the two reaches.

Going into the last lap there was plenty of boats experiencing gear failure, which meant more boats headed to shore, Paul Hobson and Jeremy Stephens were next to head in as well as Simon Bennett who was towed in with a broken mast. Three boats managed to finish and credit to Joe Jackman and Jack Sargent who kept going even with plenty of swims in the race.

The second race got under way with just three boats, the Jackmans, Callum Dingle and Paul Hobson who managed to mend his gear to come back out for another blast. Again the Jackmans were hard to keep pace with, and won the second race with ease.

The third race enticed some other enterprises to join the fun with Matt Jaycock and Brian Bowdler heading out to start the race with the other three from the race before.

The wind was much more manageable in the last race but with some strong gusts still going through particularly on the gybe mark.

The Jackmans again shown their dominance in their favourite conditions but Paul Hobson and Matt Jaycock had a good battle behind that.

After a great social on the Saturday night Sunday kicked off with a light North Easterly awaiting the remaining ten competitors.

As the first beat unfolded the wind started to fade and flick around Paul and Craig climbed up the left side of the beat and just pipped Steve and Elmo to the windward mark, closely followed by Johny and Ray, with Dave and Chris Jackman not far behind.

The wind was true to forecast remaining very light and swinging around to the South West with the next two legs both turning into beats.

Johny quickly dealt with Steve and Dave and Chris soon made their way up to third. This remained the top three for the rest of the race, while Esther and Brian Bowdler sailed smartly into fourth followed by Joe and Jack fifth with Alice and Chris sixth.

Race 6 started in a now settled force 2 to 3 South Westerly. Paul and Craig tussled with Johny and Ray for the early lead. Matt and Ivan along with Jeremy and Natalie started to show their form as the pack of four broke away to enjoy some tight racing for the top spots.

Matt and Ivan broke through on the penultimate beat to take the outright lead leaving Paul and Craig second, Jeremy and Natalie third, Johny and Ray fourth.

A big thank you to the Race team lead by Dave Juleff, and Karen & Kate for the catering. This was a great weekend of sailing and socialising!

On to Northampton SC for the final leg of the National Circuit on the 3rd and 4th of November

Overall Results:

1st Under 21 Helm - Esther Bowdler crewed by Brian Bowdler
2nd Under 21 Helm - Joe Jackman crewed by Jack Sargent