Boss Open Meeting at King George Sailing Club

A light fluky easterly greeted the Boss circus on their arrival at King George SC for the second Multi-Gala event of 2003, making for some bizarre and random racing in sunny conditions. The first race saw Chris Gandy from Draycote take the first mark, and pulling out a good lead, only to sit in a hole while local boy Julian Cramp strolled by to take the gun, with Peter Bennett from Shoreham taking third. The second race started in what could be described as a breeze, giving the promise of a real race, with Cramp, crewed by Patrick Carter, leading the field, followed by Bennett, who promptly dumped crew John Shelton into the pond by dropping the mainsheet. Despite this setback, Bennett nagged Cramp all the way round, but lost out on the last dash to the line, with Gandy, crewed by Rich Davison, arriving later in third.

The third race looked more straightforward with Bennett taking a long lead from the chasing pack, but in those conditions, no lead is unassailable. While Bennett sat in a hole, with the wind coming from all sides, Cramp pulled up on a private breeze to raise the stakes. The last 100 metres proved nail-biting, and either team could have won it in the last boat lengths, the result being a rare dead-heat for first place, again with Gandy bringing up the rear.

Sunday looked more promising, but a freshening easterly at King George always gives some very gusty conditions, and the wind was rapidly varying in both direction and strength as it rolled across the reservoir. The first race proved a close tussle between Cramp and Bennett, until the latter dropped it in while trying to pinch past the upwind gate, leaving Cramp to win, despite being slowly reeled in for the rest of the race. Gear failure decimated the rest of the fleet, the gusts taking their toll on the boats as well as the crews.

The final race saw Bennett and Shelton break clear to the end, keeping upright in the gusts, while Cramp and Carter tested the water temperature no less than three times.

Despite everyone having their fair share of luck, Cramp and Carter showed good consistency to take the series for the home club.

Overall Results: