Exmoor Beastie at Wimbleball Sailing Club
by Tony Paine 28 Mar 2020 18:12 GMT
15 March 2020
Exmoor Beastie at Wimbleball Sailing Club © Tim Moss
A rainy start to the day saw 26 boats from across the country being prepared around the grounds of Wimbleball Sailing Club for the open 3 hour pursuit race.
After torrential rain in the morning the race started at noon with a very unexpected lull in the wind which left the early starters not going anywhere fast.
The exception being Val Millward in her Challenger, Legless Jester, who glided through the glassy waters to pull out an impressive lead over a pack of K1s who kept looking like overhauling her but never quite making it until the final few minutes.
Whilst the K1s with a couple of Aeros chased the Challenger the real threats were gaining places at a pace. This being a pair of RS400s expertly helmed which slid through into the lead with not long left on the 3 hour race.
There then ensued a neck and neck tussle in the final few minutes with first one then the other gaining a small advantage. At the end there were just feet in it!
Congratulations to Jon Heissic and Nick Griffin from LLangorse SC in their RS400 (1st), Bob Warren and Olly Croft from Restronguet in their RS400 (2nd) and Peter Barton from Lymington SC in his RS Aero 9 (3rd). Val had a cracking race and came in a commendable 6th place.
We were lucky to get a good race away especially as sailing will now be curtailed for the foreseeable.