Adam Beats Them All

Early arrivals at Gunfleet Sailing Club, for the third race in the Tony Chadd series last Wednesday evening 21 May 2025, were met by a stiff north-easterly force five wind and a sea of white caps, as the top of the tide edged ever nearer.  Undeterred, Team Aero all rigged “5” sails, whilst the Lasers sported 4.7s or radials.  As the competitors launched they already sensed a slight decrease in wind strength but time was against any thought of a rig change.  With the tide turning as the start got underway, the fleet, all on starboard, beat down on the Outer Distance Mark end of the line; John Tappenden taking the lead in his RS Aero but soon finding Ken Potts’ Aero passing to leeward.  Not to be outdone, Derroll Pedder bore away a little in his Aero and edged in front of Potts.  It was good to see Tim Dye back in his Aero after an earlier injury had kept him off the water at the start of the season, and he was quick to tack and head out to sea; breaking away from the pack to gain a cleaner wind, as well as gaining the benefit of the now freshly ebbing tide.   

The beat up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy did not take long, with Potts rounding first, followed closely by Brian Allen in his Aero, Dye now laying third with Pedder just behind.  The Lasers of Simon Kedge, Adam Kedge and Yvonne Gough followed, again closely bunched, before Dave Ingle in his Aero and then Tappenden.  The second leg was a broad reach out to the Seaward buoy and at that point the gaps appeared to have closed.  Also noticeable was a further dropping of the wind strength and what had been anticipated as an exciting beam reach into the AWS buoy turned into rather an anticlimax.  Dye managed to get in front of Allen, and Ingle and Tappenden had overtaken Gough.  On the leg back out to Seaward, Tappenden pulled ahead of Ingle, whilst father and son, Simon and Adam Kedge, went round the offshore buoy side by side.  

With the wind continuing to drop, what had been predicted as a lively event started to turn into a far more sedate affair; however, as the competitors made for the Eastcliff buoy so Dye took the lead, followed by Allen.  The front runners immediately tacked out to sea to benefit from the tide but, as they did so, the wind seemed to fade away and then back northerly; this had the effect of stalling the front of the fleet allowing everyone to bunch up.  Luck would have it for some, whilst others found the conditions most unfavourable and it was very much a case of being in the right place at the right time.  For fear of a complete loss of wind, the shorten course flag was hoisted and hung limp from the yardarm as a flicker of breeze caught a sail or two; Pedder taking advantage of this to cross the finish line first, followed just five seconds later by Tappenden and Adam Kedge, then one second later by Allen.  But with Adam sailing his Laser 4.7, on handicap he won by an impressive margin.

Results – Tony Chadd Series - 3:
1.    Laser – Adam Kedge
2.    RS Aero – Derroll Pedder
3.    RS Aero – John Tappenden