Shoreham Sailing Club Cooler Series - Day 2

Following the observance of 2 minutes silence the second weekend of the Shoreham Cooler series got away cleanly, much to the race officer's relief, with the IC 'Ska'd for life' (well you would be, supporting Leeds all your life) disappearing off the pin end at warp speed.

The northerly wind kept everyone on their toes, and with the shifts getting larger the closer they got to the windward mark set towards the shore, the upside of this direction is that with an ebbing tide it keeps the sea nice and flat - a feature the Mr Leeds took full advantage of trying (successfully, as it turns out) to build a big enough gap over the pursuing Merlin Rocket of Al Warren and the Phantom of Steve Popple.

Behind these two were a group of D-Zeros, another Phantom, an Aero and Lasers of various sail sizes. The D-Zeros sailed by either end of the weight range proved to be a tight affair with Martin (light) Walker having the initial edge over Steve (not so light) Southall, who in a master stroke (well that's what he said) managed to turn the tables on the last leg.

The Aero, sailed by the smiling assassin, Adam T (a recent defector from the D-Zero) was keeping them on their toes. Adam, mind you, was also looking over his shoulder as partner Fiona in her Radial was, as it proved, still to close behind at the finish. 1-0 to Fi.

There was a great display of gentlemanly behaviour through out the fleet with mention to the Laser of Mark Trott and the Firefly of the McTaggart/Jones having a civilized conversation down each run. I am not sure the content of this conversation as it went quiet as they passed the committee boat!

While this was going on Mr Leeds was extending and the Warren-Popple battle continued. Lurking at the rear of the fleet, but by no means far enough back for the majority, was the Topper of Ed Smith who sailed a blinder to finish second on corrected time to the IC overall.

Race 2 again saw Mr Leeds disappear off the pin end but all the excitement was at the other end where the youth section of two 4.7s (who made it to the line in time, this time) and Ed in his Topper gave the grandfather of Shoreham, Al Warren, a lesson on boat handling on the line, shutting him out!

The racing was tight throughout again with the Popple-Warren battle resuming, this time it turns out in favour of the Merlin. The D-Zeros were again swapping positions with Martin getting his own back on Steve, but Adam in the Aero had the last laugh on them both and partner Fi 1-1! Fi was having her work cut out keeping the to 4.7s of Samson and Edwin at bay, both of which stayed close enough to come out on top on corrected.

Meanwhile Ed was still in very close attendance in the Topper; would he be close enough to worry Mr Leeds? As it turns out, very, very close indeed only missing out by 25 seconds! Very well sailed young man! We all look forward to you putting us to shame again soon.

The overall lead in the series still remains with the Alex Warren / Jonty Freeman Merlin due to their perfect score from last week and average points for duties this week - but with discards due in next week this could all change. Results are at shorehamsailing.org/racing/results

There are two more weeks in this series so if you fancy some sea sailing to finish the season, please come and join us.