Salcombe Yacht Club Autumn Series Race 1
by John Burn & David Greening 5 Sep 09:47 BST
2 September 2023
Fast Handicap (by John Burn)
Course 3-1-3-1-3-1
Twelve boats arrived at the start line, made up solely of Yawls. They were greeted by wall-to-wall sunshine, a NE 8 knot breeze, and a slack tide in the very last stages of its cycle.
Will and Mandy Henderson in Y168 took control, reaching Crossways first, with Olly Turner and Chris Skelhorn in Y68 in close quarters.
Alas for the rest of the fleet, the Hendersons proceeded to extend their advantage throughout the race, never troubled and ultimately winning by a hefty margin both on the water and on corrected time.
Turner and Skelhorn, for the second week in a row, showed great boat speed and kept pace with the two Red Fleet boats of Y170 and Y145. This trio battled it out for position all race, and it was only as they approached the last mark when the breeze turned light that the red fleet boats managed to edge ahead.
It mattered not though, as Olly and Chris had comfortably secured second place after another great performance.
After an afternoon of close racing, Robert Smith and Robin Piggott in Y123, along with Simon and Jonty Dawes in Y150, finished with nothing to split them and so found themselves sharing third place.
It was great to see so many Yawls continuing to participate in club racing, and for the fourth week in a row, we saw another two new crews out on the water who had never stepped foot in a Yawl. Im pleased to say they loved it. Well done, Jonty Dawes Y150 and Nick Gilbert Y170.
Solo Race (by David Greening)
Course 3-1-3-1-3-1
A slightly depleted fleet of nine Solos came to the Salcombe Yacht Club start line for the first race of the Autumn series, the reduced numbers partly due to the no wind forecast and that most of the race team was made up of Solo regulars.
As it happened, there was a useable Force 3 North Easter which gave Race Officer Simon Dobson plenty to work with on a low slack tide, and who set a four lap windward leeward course between Crossways and Blackstone.
Paul Ellis drove over the fleet at the start, to arrive at the windward mark first, a position that he was never to relinquish. Gavin Stevens played a blinder by sailing the long route via Snapes Point to feed into second place on more pressure than Tim Fells, Bill Jago, David Greening or Simon Yates. Though it was this group that proceeded down the run in a line to Blackstone.
On the ensuing beat leader Ellis had the choice of the shifts, whilst the pursuing pack was shuffled with Fells and Greening working through to the podium places.
As the tide changed, the wind dropped off a notch on the final run, causing the fleet to spread out to the extent that there were no longer any passing opportunities, so at the shortened finish, Ellis took the win from Fells, from Greening, with Jago securing fourth place.