Capsizes are the order of the day

Strong winds on Sunday 22 June forced the Gunfleet Sailing Club to postpone its race for the Bill Clarke Shield, which will now be sailed at a later date in the year. However, lively conditions the previous Wednesday evening didn’t deter members taking part in the third race in the Summer Series. A brisk force five southerly wind greeted the competitors, along with a grey overcast sky, and capsizes began to occur as soon as the boats got on the water. As the start gun echoed across the water so Kelvin Morton’s RS 600 capsized putting him at an immediate disadvantage, whilst Andy Dunnett and John Heath headed down to the Eastcliff buoy neck and neck in their Lasers. The reach out to sea proved quite exhilarating and the fleet simply flew along, when they could stay upright. Ken Potts wisely chose not to try and use his asymmetric spinnaker but this didn’t prevent him capsizing a number of times. Many avoided the gybe at the Seaward mark and whilst it might have taken a little longer it avoided time lost if they had otherwise capsized. As the spectators lost count of the number of times some boats went over it was always reassuring to see the Club’s Rescue Boat on hand, although it was never needed.

Rather like the hare and the tortoise the RS’s careered around the course at alarming speeds when upright, but spent much of the time upside down, whilst Derroll and Michael Pedder sailed the much slower handicapped Q’ba at a more steady pace and didn’t capsize once; eventually taking a very creditable second place.

Results:

Summer Series 3:
1. Laser – John Heath
2. Q’ba – Derroll and Michael Pedder
3. RS 600 – Kelvin Morton