Perth Sailing Club Long Summer Points Series - Day 2

The Points series continued on Saturday 29th June with eight boats taking part in the first race. The wind conditions were very fickle, with the wind coming from all directions.

Only two boats Euan MacDonald in his RS Aero 7 and James Curley (Bear) managed to reach the correct side of the line before the start. The other competitors were held back by the strong incoming tide. Euan held onto his lead and was a full minute ahead of James at the first lap with everybody else trailing behind. There was close racing between the Albacore of Sandy Rodger/Jenny Casebow, Hunter Williamson in his Solo (Whoof) and the Enterprise Aeolian crewed by Bob & Anne Watson. Anne Bryson and her son Jamie were talking part in their first race in a Club Enterprise. The race was shortened to two rounds only with Euan taking first place with James some 3 minutes behind in his Solo.

The wind had picked up slightly for Race two and nine boats took to the water. Three other boats also headed out on the water but did not take part in the race. The wind gathererd pace allowing the Solos to gain advantage and at the end of lap one Hunter Williamson was in the lead followed by Euan in the RS and Ian Noble in the Club Laser and James in the Solo Bear. The lead changed at lap two and the Albacore of Sandy and Jenny were ahead from Hunter in the Solo by some twenty seconds. However by lap three it was the two solos of Hunter and James that managed to overtake the Albacore. The wind decreased as high tide approached and those further down the fleet struggled to finish after Hunter (Whoof) took the line first followed by James (Bear) then Sandy & Jennifer in the Albacore (Dash) in third position.

Only two boats took to the water on Sunday afternoon with a very strong N/W wind, force 4 gusting 6. John Ferguson helming his Albacore, crewed by new club member Anne Bryson got off to a good start to the first mark of a figure of 8 course, while Chris Watson helming his Laser thinking he had been the wrong side of the line restarted just in case. However, by the first mark he had caught up with the Albacore - they were neck and neck with Chris taking the lead as he planed his way down river towards the third mark. John and Anne did manage to shorten the gap between the two boats on the beats back upriver, but Chris always managed to hammer his way to a greater lead on the downwind runs. Incredibly there were no capsizes, despite the gusty conditions and the two rescue boats manned by Eric Taylor and Bob Watson did not have any rescue manoeuvres to carry out. First over the line following the final 3rd lap was Chris followed just under a minute later by John and Anne.

Peter Bevan joined the 2nd race of the afternoon helming his Streaker rigged with a slightly smaller sail. Just as the countdown for the start procedure had begun the helm of the tourist boat Badger radioed in to say he was on his way downriver and kindly waited a distance away until all Club boats had started before moving through the fleet chaperoned by the Club safety boat. The Albacore led to the 1st mark of the figure of 8 course ahead of Chris and Peter. Chris capsized just before the 2nd mark while preparing to do a gybe allowing Peter to pull ahead, while John and Anne planing downriver on a run were well ahead of the single handers. Chris, now righted was shortening the gap between himself and the Streaker and managed to overtake Peter at the 3rd mark, both boats experiencing a "rocky" moment, but recovering well as they took the 4th mark. Chris went on to enjoy a further capsize between the 2nd & 3rd mark of the final round. There was terrific planing experienced by all boats on the downriver runs. First over the line was John and Anne followed by Chris with Peter in 3rd position.

Results after Handicap:

Sat 29/6/19

Race 1
1st RS Aero (E.MacDonald)
2nd Bear (J.Curley)
3rd Whoof (H. Williamson)

Race 2
1st Whoof (H. Williamson)
2nd Bear (J.Curley)
3rd Woodpecker (J. Galloway)

Sun 30/6/19

Race 1
1st Blue Meanie (C.Watson)
2nd Mirage (J.Ferguson/A.Bryson)

Race 2
1st Mirage (J.Ferguson/A.Brysone)
2nd Blue Meanie (C.Watson)
3rd Marsh Daisy (P.Bevan)