Reports 2008
Gunfleet Sailing Club held the final race in its Winter Series on Sunday 7 December 2008 in very pleasant conditions, with a light west/north-westerly wind and flat sea coupled with blue sky and sunshine greeting the competitors. It didn’t take long for the competitors to make the first buoy, at Eastcliff, before a run out to the Seaward mark. At this point, whilst Ken Potts had forged ahead in his RS600 the Lasers and the Comet were unable to shake off Bethany Ford and Lydia Ward in their Topaz.
The penultimate race in the Gunfleet Sailing Club’s Winter Series took part in a fresh north/north easterly wind last Sunday with eight boats taking part and victory going to Simon Clarke in his Solution. Before the start Geoff Battersby was forced to come back to the beach when his tiller broke, but undeterred he borrowed a Solution and headed back into the fray. As the class flag fell from the yardarm, denoting the start of the race, Paul Stanton took an immediate lead in his Laser, followed closely by Clarke.
Gunfleet Sailing Club Cadet Week proved an overwhelming success with over 20 youngsters taking part. Despite the beginning of the week proving very windy it didn’t stop, amongst a variety of fun and games, sail training on the first day including rigging and de-rigging a boat plus “dry” sailing on the greensward in Toppers. The following day there was an organised visit to White Formula at Brightlingsea to see how modern dinghies are built and on Wednesday, in slightly lighter winds, the Cadets and Otters took to the water and gained experience in different points of sailing.