DF95 M&S District Travellers Trophy at Gosport Model Yacht and Boat Club

“A” fleet enjoying the warm breeze on the windward leg during the DF95 Open at Gosport © Jacque Cook

A cool morning with bright sunshine and a fickle wind from the North greeted the 24 skippers who had travelled from East Kent, Datchet, London, Guildford, Coalhouse Fort, Hampton Court and Emsworth to join an excellent turn out of local skippers at Gosport for the start of the open event.

With air temperatures rising and following a coffee and bacon sandwich from the café above the club house, Principal Race Officer, (PRO) for the day, Paul Edwards, deemed there was enough wind to get going and at 10:00 prompt the first of 8 races (16 heats) took place. It was a bit of a slow affair for both fleets with Gosport skippers Paul Heaney (422) and Chris Treagust (06) using local knowledge to find the gusts and dodge the holes in the wind to take line honours. East Kent skipper Dave Adams (358) and Guildford skipper Martin Crysell (152) proved once again how quick they are to learn the foibles of different waters, and both came home second pushing local skippers Pete Copsey (58) and Greg Swift (62) into third.

The light wind continued for the next couple of races making things difficult and a bit frustrating, especially if you dropped into a windless hole and had to sit and watch the whole fleet sail serenely by just feet away. But, as the day progressed the sun warmed the land and the sea breeze made a welcome appearance, so by midday there was a decent wind to make racing fair and competitive. The course was lengthened to reflect the pressure increase and the skippers, now keen to go and enjoy the strengthening wind, started to get the bit between their teeth, resulting in 3 consecutive general recalls! A patch of underwater weed was dragged by the wind around one of the marks, stopping the leaders dead in their tracks in one of the races, but a quick relaying of the buoy removed that issue. Places regularly swapped during the event with only a couple of skippers successfully avoiding the dreaded B fleet drop. 6 different skippers posted firsts with Greg Swift (62), Phil Holliday (66) and Paul Heaney (422) all posting 2 firsts.

“A” fleet enjoying the sunshine at the start of race 8 during the DF95 Open at Gosport - photo © Jacque Cook

Paul kept the races moving slickly supported by Phil Hampson counting the boats in with Jacque Cook and Eric Meighen updating the HMS board. Richard Smith made sure everyone was involved, recruiting 3 skippers as observers for each race, which certainly cut down on any incidents. Richard Filer was on hand to update the score card with Peter Dove keeping skippers and race crew hydrated and fed in the club galley.

It came as a bit of a surprise to the competitors when Paul suddenly announced "last race" prompting everyone to look at their watches and wonder where all the time had gone! Had we really done 16 heats?

The best indicator of an enjoyable day.

Consistency proved the key with Dave Adams posting an impressive set of results to quietly build an unattainable lead and take line honours for the day. Paul Heaney finished 2nd and Phil Holliday 3rd, all 3 receiving beautifully engraved glass tumblers to mark their successful day. Chris Treagust in 4th received a Brad Gibson waterproof radio muff kindly donated by Rooster Sailing and Greg Swift, 5th and Rob Andrews, 6th both took home bottles of wine. Top Lady was Celia Greetham who left with a box of chocolates to mark her day's racing.

The next and final event of this hard-fought series is on the 7th of November at East Kent Radio Sailing club which promises to be another good day out, but for now it's goodbye and a big thank you from Gosport MYBC.

Overall Results: