Paul Davis And Beth Ford Have Winning Streak

Fifteen boats took part in Gunfleet Sailing Club’s single handed race for the Toppo Trophy last Sunday 14 July.  As this also included the Cadet Single Handed Trophy for the first under 18 year it was not surprising that seven of the entries came from the junior side of the Club.  At a closely bunched start line it was Matt Gough who was “right on the button” in his Laser and he lead the fleet away, with Andy Dunnett, also in a Laser, and Paul Davis in his Solution literally snapping at his feet.  In a light north easterly breeze and quite a strong flooding tide the competitors beat up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy, staying close to the shore in order to mitigate the effects of the current.  Unfortunately Cadet Commodore Matt Downing had technical trouble with his Contender and was forced to retire on the first leg.  In the Laser fleet there was stiff competition and pushing hard were Cadets Aaron Baker and Beth Ford, both showing the more senior members they were a force to be reckoned with.  Back in the slow handicap group Tommy Martin, Robert Gutteridge and Ben Richardson all had their Toppers flat out but it was Martin that soon opened up a clear lead.  The boats made a fine sight as they reached out to the Seaward mark, gybed and then came into the AWS buoy before gybing again and running down the coast to the St. Michael’s buoy.  At the end of the first lap Davis had a very small lead but it was clearly still anyone’s race, with the exception of Barry Peters who was disqualified for passing the wrong side of the Outer Distance Mark.  The second lap saw a number of positions change but Davis hung onto his lead to take the Toppo Trophy whilst in the Cadet fleet it was Ford that had a convincing win.

 

 

 

On the Saturday the Gunfleet’s SOS - Sailing On Saturday continued with fourteen dinghies, plus the Club’s two Rescue Boats, heading down the coast to Martello Bay.  Over 30 youngsters joined in and, with an onshore breeze, made the destination in good time.  As well as having a good time this long distance sail helped the youngsters to sharpen-up their sailing skills.

 

The previous Wednesday evening it was blue skies, bright sunshine, but strong north/north-easterly winds that greeted the competitors for the second race in Gunfleet’s Tony Chadd Series.  On a busy start line Kelvin Morton unfortunately capsized his RS600 just as everybody was off which put him well behind as he lost time righting his craft.  On the beat up to the Kingscliff buoy it was Simon Clarke and Emily Cossens leading in their Scorpion, closely followed by Ken Potts in his RS600 and Andy Dunnett in his Laser.  The subsequent reach out to the Seaward buoy proved exhilarating and with a number of craft capsizing at this gybe mark, several of the helms decided to tack their boats round, a slower but safer method.  Having made their way in to the AWS buoy and then run down to the St. Michael’s buoy, hooking round the Eastcliff mark on the way it was not surprising that a few more capsizes occurred.