Great, But Chilly, Start To The 2013 Sailing Season

Members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club celebrated the start of the 2013 sailing season over the Easter Weekend when they packed the Clubhouse on Saturday evening for the Fitting-Out Supper.  Following the traditional fish and chip meal Commodore Richard Walker thanked everyone for their support over the bleak winter months and looked forward to a full and varied programme of events in the months to come.

The following day saw the race for the March Hare Trophy in light northerly winds and an overcast sky.  First across the start line was Paul Davis, on starboard tack, in his Solution, whilst the rest of the competitors decided to take the port tack.  Fighting a freshly flooding tide the fleet stayed close to the shore and it wasn’t long before the leading craft rounded the Kingscliff buoy and headed out on a run to the Seaward mark.  At this point Robert Gutteridge, in his Topper, took the wrong course and lost so much time he chose to retire; Simon Clarke and Emily Cossens, in their Scorpion also retired.  Once out at Seaward the remaining boats beat back to the Kingscliff buoy and then took a broad reach outside of AWS and down the coast to the Eastcliff mark before heading back to the line.  By the end of the first lap Davis had a small lead, followed by Ken Potts in his RS600 but during the second lap Davis opened the gap considerably.  Despite Potts making a massive effort in the third and final lap to try and retrieve the situation it was Davis that took the winning gun.  In bitterly cold winds it was all credit to Eleanor Margetts and Cadets Beth Elliott, Alice Fuller and Darcie Baker who all braved the very chilly conditions to get afloat in their Topazes.