Comet open meeting at Burghfield Sailing Club

Comet open meeting at Burghfield - Jacky Stagg (2nd), Peter Mountford (1st), Ben Palmer (3rd) © Chris Robinson

Thirteen competitors arrived at Burghfield Sailing Club to find a good breeze down the lake allowing race officer, Dereck Lovegrove, to set a roughly figure of eight course with a long beat. The event was shared with the Lightning Inlands and Solo open.

In race one Jacky Stagg took the lead by the first mark. On the first reach a big shift practically turned it into a beat resulting in place changes with some competitors having to tack to round the mark. Peter Mountford, Ben Palmer and Kevin Druce broke away to form a group chasing Jacky. On the down wind legs of lap two the wind dropped and they came right up behind her. Kevin got past but tangled with a tail end Lightning at the final mark and dropped to fourth. Peter got water at this mark which put him ahead, giving him the win with Jacky second and Ben third.

A big wind shift during the start sequence of race two forced the race officer to postpone. After two attempts to reset the course, he elected to go in for an early lunch hoping the wind would settle down in the afternoon.

After lunch the course for race two, a similar course to the mornings race, was set. Chris Robinson took the lead at the first mark followed by Jacky, Ben and Peter. On the second beat Ben and Peter went up the left side of the beat, but Jacky went right and to the far side of the island. Chris tried to cover both and went up the middle, a strategy that didn't work as Jacky got to the windward mark first followed by Ben. Peter then caught Chris on the downwind legs. There were no further changes in position, with Jacky winning followed by Ben, and then Peter.

Race three was the windiest of the races. The favoured end of the line was the committee boat end and Chris was right at this end of the line with Ben just to leeward. Eventually Chris had to tack off and when the two crossed Ben was ahead. These two stayed close for the entire race, with Ben covering Chris closely on the beat, but Chris was unable to get past. So, Ben won with Chris second. Further back the fleet spread out with Kevin taking third and Alun Bevan fourth.

The wind had dropped for race four. The race officer reset the line and now the pin end was favoured. John Coppenhall and Kevin started from this end of the line and were in front. However, at the windward mark Jacky appeared from the right-hand side of the course to take the lead. She began to pull away on the downwind legs. On the first part of the beat of lap two a large wind shift left the fleet reaching to get past the island half way up the beat. This resulted in anyone who had gone left up the beat losing places - Jacky just managed to keep her lead, but Kevin dropped right back.

On the second half of the beat the wind reverted to its normal direction but was very shifty. Jacky used the shifts to good effect and increased her lead. Second around the mark was Heny Jaggers followed by John. On the downwind legs some big gusts came through and those that caught them and got planning were able to make up places. On the final mark Jacky was confronted by a tail end lightning stranded on the mark. She hit the mark trying to get past it and this allowed Peter to get through while she did her penalty turn.

So, Peter took his second win of the day ahead of Jacky with Chris getting past Henry on the final leg to take third.

Overall both Peter and Jacky were on five points. But Peter's two firsts to Jacky's single first gave Peter the Open with Jacky second overall. Ben, with one more point, was third.

Overall Results: