Jubilee Race Attracts A Good Entry

Gunfleet Sailing Club held its race for the Jubilee Cup last Bank Holiday Monday, 31 May, and fourteen dinghies took part.  Under heavy grey skies and a stiff offshore wind the boats headed off, with Paul Davis in his Solution leading the competitors, on a reach to the Kingscliff buoy.  There then followed a broader reach out to the Seaward mark before a beat inshore to the AWS buoy.  A number of members suffered from slight wind shifts as they aimed to slip round this last buoy and found themselves having to put in an extra tack, losing valuable time.  There then followed a very long reach down to St. Michael’s mark and then back through the line.  There were some spectacular capsizes during the race with many competitors going over at least once.  After the first lap Simon Clarke had the lead, on handicap, in his Solution, with Kelvin Morton second in his RS600, but during the second lap further capsizes occurred and a number of positions changed.  However, Clarke maintained his lead throughout.

Results: Jubilee Cup
1. Solution – Simon Clarke 
2. Solution – Paul Davis
3. RS600 – Ken Potts

The previous Wednesday evening saw the start of Gunfleet’s Summer Series, as well as the Cadet and Otter After School Sailing.  Eighteen boats took to the water and the area around the Club proved quite a spectacle to those members of the public out for a walk.  In a fresh north easterly breeze Davis ran his Solution along the edge of the line towards the shore and as soon as the race started, went about and headed out to sea on port tack.  Despite the risk of falling foul of the rest of the competitors, who had right of way on starboard tack, he managed to slip across their bows and head for clean wind.  After that things settled down and by the end of the first lap John Tappenden was leading in his Blaze with Davis second, Morton third, and Paul Stanton fourth in his Laser.  The second lap proved uneventful, although Morton did manage to move up to second place.

Results: Summer Series – 1
1. Blaze – John Tappenden
2. RS600 – Kelvin Morton
3. Solution – Paul Davis