Boss Open Meeting at King George Sailing Club

by S Murray 4 Oct 2002 10:20 BST

28-29 September

A warm sunny morning, but little wind left the Boss fleet sat on the beach waiting for the breeze to fill. Eventually in a light wind, racing got underway. Julian Cramp failed to take advantage of local knowledge and was nowhere to be seen as Steve and Nick Murray rounded the windward mark first, followed by Chris Gandy and Rich Davison with Martin and Sarah Sully third. Gandy closed the gap finally taking the lead, which he held until the finish.

In the second race Gandy rounded the windward mark first but the Murray’s took the left hand side of the first downwind leg and stayed in the stronger breeze arriving at the leeward mark just ahead. On the final lap Gandy moved into first place but sailed into a whole in the wind a few yards from the finish, allowing the Murray’s through, with Gandy second and the Sully’s third.

Races 3 and 4 were sailed in a rising breeze which had all crews twin trapezing. This lead to some close and exciting racing with frequent changes of position, however it was Gandy who came out on top taking another two firsts.

For the 5th race the wind had increased further and after a port start the Murray’s were again first to the windward mark with Gandy second and Colin and Rob Clark third. On the second beat a large shift caught some of the fleet on the wrong side allowing Gandy through with the Murray’s and the Clarks battling for second.

The final race was a 5 lap marathon in probably the gustiest conditions of the weekend. The lead changed several times with Gandy finally breaking away to take line honours and 1st place overall.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Club	Pts
1st	Chis Gandy	Rich Davison	Draycote WSC	5
2nd	Steve Murray	Nick Murray	Datchet Water SC	9
3rd	Colin Clark	Rob Clark	Datchet Water SC	14