Stanton Scoops First Spring Series Race

Gunfleet Sailing Club members had another great day on the water last Sunday 18 April when they took part in the first race of the Spring Series.  On arrival at the Club the competitors were greeted by a northerly wind but by the time they got afloat it had veered north-easterly and fallen away.  At the start Andy Dunnett was a tadge over-eager and found himself on the wrong side of the line in his Laser.  Peter Downer had also pushed his luck in his Comet but both reacted promptly, as the individual recall flag was hoisted, returning to correctly start and so minimise lost time.

The first leg was a fetch to the Preston Park buoy, the craft having to stem a fresh and strengthening flood tide.  First to get there were Brian Allen and Robert Mitchell in their F18 catamaran which then beat inshore to the Kingscliff mark before flying the asymmetric spinnaker out to the Seaward buoy.  Behind them was Paul Stanton in his Laser and then Dunnett and Downer, both having recovered very well from their earlier faux-pas.  Slightly further back there was a tussle going on between Carlo Bardetti in his Laser, Clare Giles in her Europe, and the two Solos sailed by Michael Gutteridge and Derroll Pedder.  Once round the Seaward buoy it was another beat into the AWS mark and that’s when the sailors really noticed the strength of the tide as it pulled all the craft towards the pier.  For Gutteridge it all proved too much and he decided to retire back to the shore, whilst the F18 dropped into a wind hole, the wind now continuing to veer.  Downer deployed some shrewd tactics and tacked-up to catch Stanton and Dunnett; the fleet then heading to the Lilley Farm mark with the F18 once more hoisting its kite.  The penultimate leg was down to Eastcliff, before heading back through the line but it was at this point some confusion arose amongst the competitors with a number of boats accidentally missing Eastcliff, and although some went back to correct their mistake, the extra time taken basically took them out of the race.  At the end of the first lap it was Downer in a strong first place but as the second lap got underway so the wind both swung south-easterly and freshened; this allowed the F18 to pull away and really start to move but Allen and Mitchell unfortunately missed a buoy and lost their golden opportunity.  Meanwhile Stanton worked hard to pull himself up on the remaining competitors and finished the race 4 seconds ahead of Downer.

Results – Spring Series 1:
1.    Laser – Paul Stantom 
2.    Comet – Peter Downer
3.    Solo – Derroll Pedder