Busy Weekend for Gunfleet

Gunfleet Sailing Club had a very full and varied programme of events over the last weekend, starting on Saturday with the Xenon Challenge when boats travelled from Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Gloucester and Sussex to take part. A force four westerly wind provided some lively conditions for the competitors although at one point a sudden squall blew through, knocking all the boats over as they reached out to sea with their asymmetric kites flying. With three races during the day the event proved a great success and all the visitors went away with good memories and a great enthusiasm to return next year. It was a local victory with Gunfleet’s Paul Davis winning all three races and taking the Xenon Challenge Trophy.

Winds moderated on Sunday, and with sunshine and blue skies the Club took the opportunity to catch up on its backlog of races. The first event, held over from May, was the race for the Hertford County Shield that also counted towards Class Points.

Eleven boats took part in a light offshore wind and flat sea. No sooner had the starting flag fallen from the yardarm than the wind dropped away and the boats struggled to stem the ebbing tide in order to make the St. Michael’s buoy. As the race progressed great holes appeared in the wind, and then it shifted direction and shifted again. Eventually it swung round 180 degrees, becoming onshore, and picked up just a little. The Officer of the day wisely shortened course to one lap but for some the race still took nearly two hours to complete.

Results:

Hertford County Shield:
1. Solution – Simon Clarke
2. RS600 – John Tappenden
3. Laser – Yvonne Gough

Class Points Solution:
1. Simon Clarke
2. Mark Venables
3. Sonny Hart

Sea Ranger:
1. Scallywag – Richard Walker
All other Sea Rangers retired.

The second race was for the London Trophy, exclusively for the faster handicapped boats, and eleven boats took part in this. This race also counted towards class points. On a very bunched start line Clarke was a little over eager, jumping the line and having to return to correct his error. Derroll Pedder led the fleet to the St. Michael’s buoy but was unable to shake off the Solutions and the Lasers as he then headed out to the Seaward mark. In fact almost all the boats failed to make the offshore buoy in one tack; the only exceptions being Peter Downer in his Comet and Sonny Hart in his Solution. This put both of them in very strong positions and Downer managed to build on this to take first place and the London Trophy.

Results:

London Trophy:
1. Comet – Peter Downer
2. Solution – Simon Clarke
3. Laser – John Tappenden

Class Points Solution:
1. Simon Clarke
2. Mark Venables
3. Dave Fowell

Lasers:
1. John Tappenden
2. Yvonne Gough
3. Tony Merryweather

The previous Wednesday evening the first race for the Tony Chadd Trophy took place under grey skies, continuous rain and heavy south westerly winds. It proved to be a lively sail, albeit without incident, and the competitors were quite glad to get back to shore.

Results:

Tony Chadd Trophy 1:
1. Laser – John Tappenden
2. Laser – Ken Potts
3. Solution – Simon Clarke