Noble Marine Supernova Travellers at Cotswold Sailing Club

The Cotswold SC Nobel Marine Supernova travellers held on the 23rd March. The forcast was for a shifty Easterly and it delivered with 6-10kts, lots of pressure differences in the gust and big shifts across the course to keep the healthy 33 entries on their toes.

Race one got under way with the left looking good until it wasn't, this would be the story of the day for most sailors: "I was looking great, then not."

The boats on the right led by Horlock, Anderson and S Hawley held a big lead at the first mark. They extended away as the wind behind brought the rest of the fleet to the mark at the same time, causing much entertainment. They were slowly reeled in, with Milliner fighting back from the pack to catch Horlock on the long reach across the lake. A few laps of match racing by Horlock followed but eventually Milliner took the lead and held on to take the win from Horlock, S Hawley and Young.

A fantastic lunch was put on by the host club and the sun started to break through.

Race 2 and it was the same story, the left looked good until everyone looked up to see Ellen Clancy miles ahead at the first mark from the right hand side. She held onto her lead for the first lap, with Gibson, Butterfield and Milliner chasing hard. This was a hard course with the RO taking the fleet to some of the less windy parts of the lake, so there were plenty of place changes in the big chasing pack. Gibson got past Clancy and Milliner soon followed, these three put a big gap on the fleet behind. Milliner pull passed Gibson for the win with Clancy in third.

Race 3 and this time the left did hold key to the first beat, with Chris and Steve Hawley leading at the mark from the home trio of 'Just visiting' Kirby, Young and Workman. The chasing pack hooked into some extra pressure on the next run and pulled past the trio at the bottom mark. Again Milliner managed to join the pressure and shift together to slowly pull back the Hawley brothers and take the lead.

Chris Hawley wants it noted that he briefly regained the lead on the final beat but Milliner squeezed ahead at the mark to hold on for the win from Chris and Steve Hawley, with Gibson, Young and Horlock battling hard just behind right to the line.

The fleet was treated to the traditional tea and cakes for prize giving, one entrant was overheard saying, "It's important at Cotswold to have a good last race so you can get a piece of the Guinness cake before it runs out." A big thank you to the Whittles and race crew, with a special guest appearance from Supernova veteran Sam Hood, for some great courses and the ladies in the galley for another great spread of food.

Three wins for Milliner gave him the overall win, but the pack behind had a mixed bag of results with Gibson taking second and first Master on countback from Steve Hawley in third. Ellen Clancy in ninth was first Lady, and Steve Johnson in eleventh was first Veteran.

Overall Results: