Light Airs and Drizzle Fails to Deter Competitors

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the fourth race in its Winter Series last Sunday 16 November. Conditions once again proved to be very uninviting with a complete lack of wind, heavy grey sky and steady drizzle. However, this did not deter the enthusiastic competitors and as if to reward them a light offshore breeze appeared just before the start, and it stopped raining.

On a closely bunched line the first away was Simon Clarke in his Solution, followed by Geoff Battersby in his Blaze. Further back Cadets Bethany Ford and Deanna Cannavan sailing their Topaz Race kept up with both Peter Downer in his Comet and Mark Venables in his Solution. They held this position for three legs of the course before the other two managed to pull away, showing the Club that these youngsters are going to be a real challenge to the more seasoned sailors next year. With such light airs there was no fear of capsize, although the breeze did just freshen a little as the race progressed. The biggest risk was failing to compensate for the strong flood tide as the craft headed out to the Seaward mark from the AWS buoy. After the first lap it was Clarke in a convincing first position with Downer second and Venables third and despite the second lap being a quicker affair the top three positions did not change.

Results:

Winter Series 4:
1. Solution – Simon Clarke
2. Comet – Peter Downer
3. Solution – Mark Venables