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Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series - Race 2

by John Burn & Simon Dobson 8 Nov 2021 06:19 GMT 6 November 2021

A strong ebb tide, the wind, again, predominantly from the west and some pretty punchy gusts ripping down the estuary made for some exciting racing.

Tim Fells was OOD and set a course of 1, 7, 1, 3, all to port for both Handicap and Solo fleets.

Handicap Fleet (by John Burn)

Capsizing was order of the day for some and gear failure for others, notably Simon Ballantine who's Aero 7 halyard decided to let him down shortly before the start but, I'm glad to say, he succeeded in a repair and made the start of the race.

Mike Hoyle and Sian Hodges in the N12, had their fair share of problems; issues with the T-foil rudder as they entered The Bag meant they had to head for the nearest pontoon to attempt a repair. A miscommunication saw Sian jump overboard but, it was later discovered that what Mike in fact meant when he said "lets get out of here" was to sail off the pontoon and not abandon ship!

Henry Evans had a great start in his Laser Radial. His brother, Charlie, also in a Laser Radial, managed to stay in close contention with the faster Aeros for much of the race. In fact, the three Radials, N12 and Aeros all bunched up and rounded Snapes Point in one group. Both Charlie and Henry's race was unfortunately cut short; Henry's rudder broke so he headed for Batson and Charlie, after numerous capsizes, felt he was also done for the day and followed him in.

Ethan Jones, sailing a Laser 4.7, also suffered multiple capsizes and in the end, thought better of it and also headed home early.

Dan Bridger and Simon Ballantine both in Aero 7's, had a close race with each-other all the way round the course, both capsizing (some more than others) and were perfectly suited for the blast back from Gerston. It was ultimately Simon who won out though, finishing strongly; taking 3rd on corrected time, with Dan taking 5th. Geoffrey Cox also in a 7-rig took 7th.

Ross Borne and John Burn in the Merlin, were fast out of the blocks again, they rounded Blackstone 1st followed by Graham and Fiona Cranford-Smith also in a Merlin. The faster Merlins stretched their lead over the fleet throughout the race, Ross and John finishing 1st but it was only good enough for 2nd place on corrected time, with Graham and Fiona taking 6th.

Andrew and Tristram Squire in the Albacore, held station in 3rd position. They managed to fend-off the very fast chasing pack of Aeros and Radials and put enough time between them to take 4th on corrected.

It was Andrew Groves in his Laser Radial though, that took the bullet. He relished the conditions and was extremely fast on all parts of the course, on current form he is going to be very hard to beat!

Solo Fleet (by Simon Dobson)

Billy Jago made a great start on port, managing to cross the fleet of starboard-tack boats. However, further up the first beat, Tim Law nailed the starboard lay line from a long way out to round Blackstone in the lead closely pursued by Paul Ellis and the chasing pack. Law and Ellis managed to break clear on the run to Gerston whilst the rest of the fleet got involved in a dog fight through The Bag.

Adrian Griffin and David Greening profited by taking the low route close to Halwell Woods to come through to 3rd and 4th respectively. The blast reach back from Gerston was fun, for some more than others; Jonathan Reynolds unfortunately clipped the mark and whilst executing his penalty turn, ended up going for a dip.

It was a very demanding beat in a gusty westerly back up to Blackstone, Chris Cleaves caught Greening and eventually Griffin to finish 3rd whilst up ahead, Law held a narrow margin over Ellis at the Windward Mark. Ellis gybed at the buoy and floundered in a light spot whilst Law, surfing on a puff down the Portlemouth shore sailed off to victory.

Handicap Fleet Results after 2 Races:

PosClassSail NoHelmCrewPYR1R2Pts
1stLark2527Tim FellsBen Meek10701OOD2
2ndLaser Radial209997Andrew Groves 1147213
3rdMerlin Rocket3682Ross BorneJohn Burn980426
4thRS AERO 71752Dan Bridger 1068358
5thNATIONAL 123537Mike HoyleSian Hodges10646DNF18
6thRS AERO 72060Amy Cleaves 1068DNFOOD22
7thRS AERO 71746Simon Ballantine 1068DNC335
8thALBACORE8252Andrew SquireSheila Squire1040DNC436
9thPHANTOM1417Olly Alexander 10045DNC37
10thMerlin Rocket3769Graham Cranford SmithFiona Cranford Smith980DNC638
11thRS AERO 73024Geoffrey Cox 1068DNC739
12thLaser Radial200841Penny Guess 11477DNC39
13thrs 4001471John McLarenAnnie McLaren9428DNC40
14thNATIONAL 123494James GreenhillCharlie Evans1064DNFDNC43
15thLaser Radial210001Henry Evans 1147DNCDNF44
15thLaser Radial156215Charlie Evans 1147DNCDNF44
15thLASER 4.7175687Ethan Jones 1207DNCDNF44
18thLaser Radial213150Esther McLarty 1147DNCDNC64
18thMerlin Rocket3621Tris SquireShelia Squire980DNCDNC64
18thRS AERO 92607Paul Engleman 1019DNCDNC64
18thRS AERO 71517Clare Booth 1068OODDNC64
18thRS AERO 71505Tim Fells 1068DNCDNC64
18thRS AERO 71416Chris Booth 1068OODDNC64
18thMerlin Rocket3725AJ SquireTris Squire980DNCDNC64
18thMerlin Rocket3726Will HendersonMary Henderson980DNCDNC64
18thMerlin Rocket3641Mark WaterhouseFran Gifford980DNCDNC64
18thrs 4001329Peter ColcloughPete Benett942DNCDNC64
18thLark2157Will HendersonMandy Henderson1070DNCDNC64
18thLaser195867Tris Squire 1098DNCDNC64

Solo Fleet Results after 2 Races:

PosSail NoHelmR1R2Pts
1st5966Tim Law314
2nd5879Chris Cleaves235
3rd5792David Greening167
4th5898Simon Dobson459
5th5951Billy Jago5712
6th5096Robin Hodges6OOD12
7th4857Mike Hodges10919
8th5220Andrew Borne910.519.5
9th5876Gavin Stevens1110.521.5
10th4940Geoff Allen121224
11th5411Stuart Cartwright131427
12th5183Malcolm MackleyDNF1329
13th5313Jonathan ReynoldsOOD1530
14th5574Paul EllisDNC241
15th5734Adrian GriffinDNC443
16th5453Bruce Hattersley7DNC46
17th5749Mike HicksDNC847
18th5601Simon Yates8DNC47
19th5088Tristan Squire14DNC53
20th5364Mark WaterhouseDNCDNC78
20th5308Philip MageeDNCDNC78
20th2952Mark SanckenDNCDNC78
20th5021William WallDNCDNC78
20th5427Roger PopeDNCDNC78
20th4324Robert SmithDNCDNC78
20th5595Jon‑Paul BrockDNCDNC78
20th5543Jonty WhiteDNCDNC78
20th5769Ed StephensDNCDNC78
20th5755Graham Cranford SmithDNCDNC78
20th5955Jon BrockDNCDNC78
20th5471Rob LangleyDNCDNC78
20th4813Chris TurnsDNCDNC78
20th5757Julian MeekDNCDNC78
20th5743Tim LawDNCDNC78
20th5303Andy SavellDNCDNC78
20th5107Martin HodgsonDNCDNC78
20th5744Ian McGregorDNCOOD78
20th5747Roger LumbyDNCDNC78

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