Toppo Takes Top Spot

Gunfleet Sailing Club welcomed the start of its 2017 sailing season last Saturday 25 March with the traditional Fitting-Out Supper in the Clubhouse; Commodore Richard Walker looking forward to a full and varied programme for the year, both on and off the water.

The next morning, Sunday 26 March, many of the Club’s members eagerly rigged-up their boats for the very first race of the year – the March Hare.  The blue skies and sunshine helped mask the strong winds – a force 5, gusting 6, north easterly that brought in some large rollers on a rising tide.

Tactics varied right from the start with Ken Potts choosing the shore end of the line and heading his Laser out to sea on port tack.  This plan immediately started to look bad as, aside from taking him out into a much stronger flood tide, he immediately had to bear away around the back of other dinghies that were beating towards the shore on port tack.  John Tappenden, Robert Gutteridge, and Andy Dunnett made an impressive sight as their three Lasers appeared synchronised when they all tacked in harmony.  Tom and Ed Philpot discovered that the mainsheet on their 405 was caught under the rudder blade, which itself wouldn’t lock down, causing an early retirement.  Also retiring on the first leg, a beat up to the windward mark off the Kingscliff hotel, was Cadet Commodore Harry Swinbourne who found conditions just a little too much for him in his Laser.  Potts, after his first error of judgement, then overstepped the Kingscliff buoy allowing Tappenden to take the lead.  The next leg was an exhilarating broad reach out the Seaward buoy followed by a lively gybe, a closer reach into the AWS mark before returning out to sea.  The Lasers certainly seemed to be dominating the front of the fleet although Derroll Pedder was constantly pushing them in his Solution.  The run down the coast helped clarify positions before a hard beat back to the line.  At the end of the first lap it was Tappenden in front, closely followed to Potts and then Dunnett.  On the second lap there were a few capsizes, Robert Lockett making quite a splash rounding the AWS buoy in his Laser.  

Try as he might, Potts failed to catch Tappenden who took the winning gun, whilst Dunnett capsized just yards from the finish line, so losing any chance of a second place.

Results:
March Hare Trophy:
1.    Laser – John Tappenden
2.    Laser – Ken Potts
3.    Laser – Andy Dunnett