Jubilee Weekend Sailing Suffers From Weather
Bill Clarke Shield Course....Kingscliff - AWS - Seaward - Eastcliff - Seaward - Eastcliff - Line
Sunday 3 June's race at Gunfleet Sailing Club for the Bill Clarke Shield was held in fairly unpleasant conditions with a cold east/north-easterly force four gusting five wind, overcast skies and intermittent rain; all this coupled with a rather lumpy sea. The first three legs of the course; a beat to the Kingscliff buoy, broad reach to the AWS mark and a fetch out to Seaward proved uneventful, but at the latter gybe mark Ken Potts capsized twice and allowed John Tappenden in his Blaze and Simon Clarke in his Contender to catch-up. The run down to Eastcliff was a lively affair before a hard slog back out to sea, a second run to Eastcliff and then close hauled back to the line. After the first lap Tappenden had a strong lead with Potts trailing. However, on the second lap Potts snapped his rudder blade and promptly capsized, requiring the assistance of the Club’s Rescue Boat to tow him back to shore. The fight was now clearly on as to whether Clarke could pull ahead of Tappenden but it was not to be. Mention should be made of Yvonne Gough who sailed a clean course in her Laser and took a very convincing third place.