Salcombe Yacht Club Autumn Series - Race 4
by John Burn & David Greening 25 Sep 21:11 BST
24 September 2022
Family/Cadet Fleet
Two of the Ladies that Launch, Suzy Andrews and Janet Hawkins, took club Toppers out on Saturday afternoon to compete in the club racing.
After a close battle throughout the afternoon it was Suzy that came out on top adding yet another 1st to her growing tally of wins.
It is great to see them out pretty much every weekend whatever the weather and as such this pair have both improved hugely this season, keep it up ladies!
Medium Handicap
There were only two Laser 4.7 rigs, Edward Alexander and Karen Ballantine.
They remained in close contention up the first beat with the lead regularly changing up until they reached the bag. This is where Edward managed to pull clear of Karen hitting the better breeze first by Saltstone he established himself a sizeable lead.
This is how it now remained to the finish with Edward 1st and Karen 2nd.
Fast Handicap
A mix of six different boats hit the start for the fast handicap race.
Andrew and Shelia Squire in the Albacore were on top form through the shifty, patchy section of the bag which saw them leading the fleet up towards Mark 7 where the breeze had built nicely.
In the more stable wind and with the sailors hiking the fleet made short work of the 7-5-7 loop before heading back to the main harbour.
Unfortunately the wind had dropped on all parts of the course and this somewhat slowed their progress back through the bag against an ever increasing tide.
Andrew and Shelia didnt put a foot wrong all day though dealing with the changeable conditions best, they claimed their 3rd victory in the series.
Olly Alexander in his Phantom after a slower start than he would have liked ended his day with a well earned 2nd whilst Tim Fells in an Aero 7 finished 3rd.
Yawls
There were 3 Blue fleet Yawls and 1 red fleet Yawl out on Saturday. Andy and Elizabeth Savell took the early lead as they made their way to Gerston.
Unfortunately for them as the wind died throughout the afternoon they were caught and eventually passed by Mike Knowles and Nicky Bass who sailed on to take 1st place ahead of the Savells in 2nd. Andrew Wood and Tim Petit sailing Y99 finished off the podium in 3rd.
Solos by David Greening
Sixteen boats turned out for the Solo start, in a light, patchy and shifty North Easterly breeze over a strong flood tide.
The smart money chose the middle of the start line in anticipation of anything that could happen in the seconds leading to the start. As it was, it was the boats at the town side that found the first pressure with Simon Dobson pulling clear of Gavin Stevens. As the fleet turned into the Bag the front runners found sufficient pressure to stretch their legs, with Tim Law pulling through to third place alongside Bill Jago and David Greening.
The leading group felt assured of the top places and headed along the eastern shore. With either a great plan or nothing to lose a chasing Robin Hodges crossed at Saltstone to Tosnos followed by the remainder of the fleet to emerge with a strong lead by Snapes Point.
With the early leaders trapped by the flood tide on the eastern shore, they bailed one by one, with the running order into the harbour being Hodges, Law and Dobson. Two loops of the harbour saw Dobson snatch second place from Law, with Bill Jago working through to fourth place along the final run.
Thank you to Race Officer Will Henderson and his team for overseeing Saturday's racing.
Salcombe YC results can be found here...