Lively Conditions for Jubilee Cup

Once again Gunfleet Sailing Club members were out in force last Sunday 31 May when fourteen boats took part in the race for the Jubilee Cup.  The race had attracted a lot more entrants but the strong winds and lively conditions resulted in several would-be competitors watching the action from the shore.

As the boats jockeyed for position on the start line the north easterly wind freshened to a force five and small white horses started appearing.  The beat to the Kingscliff buoy split the fleet straight away with some helms heading out to sea to gain the full strength of the ebbing tide, whilst others chose to stay closer to the shore where the waters seemed slightly flatter.  Once around the first mark it was a broad reach out to the Seaward buoy, followed by a gybe, a fetch to AWS and then a long run to St. Michael’s buoy before beating back to the line.  Surprisingly all the competitors seemed to survive the gybe mark but it was the run along the coast that caught several out.  Bethany Ford and Eleanor Margetts capsized in their Topaz, followed by Paul Davis and Dave Fowell who were downwind tacking their Xenon with the spinnaker up when the boat went over.  For the two RS600’s capsizes were a regular occurrence throughout the race, but the helms soon had their craft up and were hurtling off again.  In the Laser fleet Yvonne Gough chose to put her 4.7 sail up and this paid dividends as she coped with the conditions well, squeezing between Paul Stanton and Antony Reeve, both in Lasers, on handicap.  Simon Clarke lost a lot of time when the out-hall on his boom gave way, but he managed to make a temporary repair and came a creditable fifth.  Two younger members that did particularly well were Matt Downing and Charlie Venables sailing a Topaz.  They had the boat going extremely well and managed to beat a number of more experienced helms.

Results – Jubilee Cup:
1.    RS600 – Ken Potts
2.    Laser – Paul Stanton
3.    Laser – Yvonne Gough

The previous Wednesday saw the start of both After School Sailing for the youngsters and the first race in the Summer Series for all Club members.  Yet again lively conditions were the order of the day and a force four south westerly wind had the competitors on their toes.  The long beat to the St. Michael’s buoy was hard work but once completed the broad reach out to the Seaward mark was both fast and extremely exhilarating.  There were one or two capsizes during the event but the Club Rescue Boat was always on hand, giving assistance where needed.  Because of the very low tide one or two competitors touched ground when beating close to the shore, but no damage was done.

Results – Summer Series 1:
1.    Laser – John Tappenden
2.    RS600 – Ken Potts
3.    Laser – John Heath