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Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series - Race 4

by John Burn & Mark Waterhouse 22 Nov 2021 08:52 GMT 14 November 2021

The sailors were in for yet another light wind affair and subsequently this led to a much lower turn out.

Handicap fleet (by John Burn)

The Course 3-2-3-2-3-2. The fleet all opted for a town side start except Amy Cleaves in an Aero 7 who decided the Portlemouth shore was the place to be. Initially it looked promising but unfortunately for her it did not pay off and the rest of the fleet eventually pulled clear.

Andrew & Sheila Squire in the Albacore, Dan Bridger in an Aero 7 and Mike Hoyle with Sian Hodges in a N12 all opted to stay up towards the town moorings out of the tide but ran out of wind as they got closer to Snapes. Ross Borne & John Burn in a Merlin Rocket ignored the tide and headed for the wind, sailing down the middle of the estuary.

This tactic appeared to pay off as they rounded crossways first just ahead of the Squires. On the beat back from Millbay the Albacore caught the Merlin and cruised past to take the lead. Mike and Sian were next to pass the Merlin just before the ferry slip-way and began chasing down the Albacore.

By the time they reached Cross Ways for the second time the N12 had caught the Albacore and they were now heading back to mark 2 side by side.

Upon rounding Milbay thankfully the OOD shortened the course, Mike and Sian in the N12 that took the race win, Andrew and Sheila bagged 2nd with Dan Bridger taking 3rd.

Handicap Fleet Results after 4 Races:

PosClassSail NoHelmCrewPY30/10/202106/11/202113/11/202120/11/2021Pts
1stLark2527Tim FellsBen Meek10701OOD3(DNC)6
2ndALBACORE8252Andrew SquireSheila Squire1040(DNC)4228
3rdMerlin Rocket3682Ross BorneJohn Burn98042‑13410
4thRS AERO 71752Dan Bridger 10653‑54310
5thNATIONAL 123537Mike HoyleSian Hodges10646(DNF)5112
6thLaser Radial209997Andrew Groves 11472111(DNC)14
7thRS AERO 72060Amy Cleaves 1065(DNF)OOD9DNF24
8thLaser Radial156215Charlie Evans 1147(DNC)DNF12DNF31
9thRS AERO 71746Simon Ballantine 1065(DNC)37DNC41
10thrs 4001471John McLarenAnnie McLaren9428(DNC)8DNC47
11thPHANTOM1417Olly Alexander 10045(DNC)14DNC50
12thNATIONAL 123494James GreenhillCharlie Evans1064DNF(DNC)10DNC52
13thRS AERO 71517Clare Booth 1065OOD(DNC)6DNC55.5
14thRS AERO 73024Geoffrey Cox 1065(DNC)7OODDNC57
15thLaser Radial210001Henry Evans 1147(DNC)DNF15DNC58
16thMerlin Rocket3726Will HendersonMary Henderson980(DNC)DNC1DNC63
17thMerlin Rocket3769Graham Cranford SmithFiona Cranford Smith980(DNC)6DNCDNC68
18thLaser Radial200841Penny Guess 11477(DNC)DNCDNC69
19thLASER 4.7175687Ethan Jones 1207(DNC)DNFDNCDNC74
20thLaser Radial213150Esther McLarty 1147(DNC)DNC16DNC78
21stRS FEVA XL2749  1240(DNC)DNCDNFDNC80
22ndMerlin Rocket3621Tris SquireShelia Squire980(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndMerlin Rocket3725AJ SquireTris Squire980(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndMerlin Rocket3641Mark WaterhouseFran Gifford980(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndrs 4001329Peter ColcloughPete Benett942(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndLark2157Will HendersonMandy Henderson1070(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndLaser195867Tris Squire 1098(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndRS AERO 92607Paul Engleman 1014(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndRS AERO 71505Tim Fells 1065(DNC)DNCDNCDNC93
22ndRS AERO 71416Chris Booth 1065OOD(DNC)DNCDNC93

Solo Fleet (by Mark Waterhouse)

"No wind" the forecast said. "There'll be wind" Chubby said.

A fraction above no wind is what we got which kept some sailors away. Excuses for non-attendees were, "gone cycling in the living room" and "on such a light wind day, DIY is preferable" - Fools, it was awesome! Course 3,2,3,2,3,2 or, for those not in the know, Crossways/Millbay x 3. Non the wiser? Come to Salcombe.

Nine Solos meandered over the start line and split to both sides of the estuary. Those on the East Portlemouth side looked like they'd nailed it until they got to the ferry landing! Gavin Stevens, with his pretty yellow sail, rounded no.3 in the lead followed by a bunch of boring old grey sails with another lovely yellow sail/pink deck just after that and then more grey sails.

On the ebb tide the leaders were whisked away leaving two distinct groups. At the penultimate mark the second group caught the back of the first group just as the wind blew up to a whopping 4 knots providing some exciting racing and place changing right up to the finish line. Boring grey sails were 1,2,3. Lovely yellow sails were a little after that.

Who said light winds cant be fun?

Huge thanks to the Malcolm Mackley's race box team and those trudging around in the rescue boats.

Solo Fleet Results after 4 Races:

PosSail NoHelm30/10/202106/11/202113/11/202120/11/2021Pts
1st5879Chris Cleaves2‑3114
2nd5574Paul Ellis(DNC)2327
3rd5951Billy Jago5‑72310
4th5734Adrian Griffin(DNC)44917
5th5898Simon Dobson459(DNC)18
6th4857Mike Hodges‑1096419
7th5096Robin Hodges6OOD8(DNC)21
8th5453Bruce Hattersley7(DNC)7822
9th5792David Greening1616(DNC)23
10th5876Gavin Stevens1110.5(DNC)627.5
11th5966Tim Law31(DNC)DNC31
12th4940Geoff Allen1212‑17OOD36
13th5183Malcolm Mackley(DNF)1312OOD37.5
14th5220Andrew Borne910.5DNF(DNC)38.5
15th5313Jonathan ReynoldsOOD1513(DNC)42
16th5411Stuart Cartwright1314(DNC)DNC54
17th5088Tristan Squire14(DNC)14DNC55
18th5364Mark Waterhouse(DNC)DNCDNC559
19th5769Ed Stephens(DNC)DNC5DNC59
20th5303Andy Savell(DNC)DNCDNC761
21st5749Mike Hicks(DNC)8DNCDNC62
22nd5601Simon Yates8(DNC)DNCDNC62
23rd5107Martin Hodgson(DNC)DNC10DNC64
24th5747Roger Lumby(DNC)DNC11DNC65
25th5311Mike Knowles(DNC)DNC15DNC69
26th5744Ian McGregor(DNC)OODDNCDNC81

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