West Country Boat Repairs 2000 Class Millennium Series Round 4 at Thorney Island Sailing Club

West Country Boat Repairs 2000 class Millennium Series at Thorney Island © Alice Hermione

West Country Boat Repairs 2000 class Millennium Series at Thorney Island © Alice Hermione

As the weekend approached there was a somewhat interesting forecast, particularly for the Sunday, cue extra items required to be packed. This was the second trip to Thorney Island this season, the first an excellent coaching weekend earlier in the year. This time we were lucky enough to be able to camp on site so really had a sense of getting away from it all for a few days.

At the briefing on Saturday morning the Race Officer shared the plan for the weekend, with tips shared on how to launch and recover which mainly involved mud! Fortunately, we avoided that thanks to the wonderful shore team. More importantly a good safety brief including what to do if lightning approached, either beach or capsize! Two boats took this advice very seriously practising their capsizing in <5kts of breeze, thanks to Joe Gallivan & Mike McEwing for joining us in a swim and saving our red faces.

The boats launched on the Saturday morning for a 11:00 first warning. The flood tide and light winds led to the AP being flown awaiting the 28 strong fleet and the wind to join the PRO. Light winds and a strong current it appeared that dipping across the line from windward seemed to be the favoured plan given the conditions and for those that successfully executed the plan were able to get away from the fleet and reaped the rewards. Others were not so lucky and either got caught up in traffic at the start and struggled to get across the line or struggled to get to the line from further back in the disturbed air. Race one finished with Katie Burridge and Simon Horsfield in first place, Chris and Gill Jordan in second and Rob and Sarah Burridge in third.

With the wind building toward 8kts and the ebb tide taken the fleet across the line race 2 saw the first black flag of the day, after general recalls from the start line. The racing got under way some of the boats were notified they had been over the line and were DSQ at the windward mark, meaning a few of the boats peeled off. The wind was dropping off and the front-end boats with clear air were getting further from the fleet and by lap 4 the lead boats were lapping the back of the fleet. At this point the wind almost completely disappeared and it was a game of patience with many boats going backwards at times. Katie and Simon finished first, Rob and Sarah managed to make it across the line, followed by Matt Wright and Alex Pepper in third who almost lost their place to Chris and Gill Jordan who somehow found some wind and were flying their spinnaker towards the finish to everyone's envy. By now the sun was out and the finishing boats congregated in the shallows for a bit of a cooling down swim whilst the rest of the race continued.

Race 3 was a race home. The black flag was out again and another general recall. This race was one lap and then back to the club line. The tide was a significant factor and there were gains to be made for those brave enough to hug the shallows and play the game of is there enough water, is that a piece of grass or weed! Katie & Simon finishing first, Rob & Sarah second & Chris & Gill in third.

Day one finished with three races complete and Katie and Simon in first place with just 3 points, Sarah and Rob in second with 7 points and Gill and Chris in third with 9 points.

Thorney Island Sailing club laid on a great supper for all to enjoy the views and relax into the evening.

With a number of boats with 29points from a single race having been DSQ when the black flag was out everyone was keen to race the second day to either maintain positions or try and improve positions, particularly by discarding a 29 DSQ score. The forecast for Sunday looked tricky with a threat of rain, thunder and lightning. The boats launched and made their way out for the 11:00 start, but with light wind and tides running no-one had made it to the Committee boat for the start time and the AP was flown.

As the boats started to congregate the wind dropped further, so here came the wait to see if it picked up. There were various forms of entertainment, mainly with the aim of keeping warm. The most popular became paddling with the bucket lids to some safe haven. Cy and Lisa Grisley started a trend of tying off on a buoy having paddled to the Thorney buoy, this was soon a line of four 2000s all tied on together. The other destination was an area of beach where the remaining 2000s congregated to see if there would be any racing. Just after 12:00 we were informed a decision would be made at 12:30 and shortly after the boats started heading in to the club.

So, after day two the scores remained unchanged with the points from Saturday the only ones to count. The weekend was well organised and presented sailors with some interesting challenges and will be a good warm up for the Nationals in a few weeks' time. Currently the Astral Azure Ltd UK Nationals (8 - 13 Aug 2021) entry list stand at 48 entered. The class would love to reach 50 boats so if you're interested you've still got time to enter. See rtyc.org/event/2000-national-championship

Overall Results: