Wind shifts greet competitors for the second Spring Series race

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the second race in their Spring Series last Sunday morning when thirteen boats took part. A couple of hours prior to the race a fresh onshore breeze promised the competitors some pleasant sailing but as the start time got close so the wind fell away. The Officer of the Day John Clarke set a course that would involve many points of sailing just in case there was a change in direction once the wind returned, and as it transpired this proved to be a very wise move. Just moments before the class flag was lowered, signalling the start of the race, the onshore breeze returned and the competitors headed off on a reach towards the Kingscliff buoy. First boats around the mark were the RS700 of Ken Potts and the RS600 of Kelvin Morton and both helms tightened their mainsheets and continued to beat out to sea, using the flooding tide to sweep them back towards the Seaward buoy. Others tacked instantly around the Kingscliff mark and later found themselves fighting the tide to make the next buoy. Once around the Seaward mark Paul and Katie Davis hoisted the asymmetric kite on their Xenon and started to steal places as they down wind tacked to the AWS buoy. At one point they were weaving in and out of the seven Lasers taking part but most of these helms were too busy concentrating on their class rivals to notice the Xenon. As the boats went around the Kingscliff mark for the second time so the wind decided to shift, mixing up the fleet still further and resulting in a case of being in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time.

After the first lap Morton had a clear lead, followed by Potts in second place, but further wind shifts caused a number of quite dramatic changes to the positions, and three quarters of an hour after the start it was still anyone’s race. For the second time that day the wind then faded to almost nothing and the shorten course flag signified a merciful relief for some helms, but a little gust caught Potts napping and he capsized his RS 700 close to the finishing line and such was his delay in righting the boat that he ended up taking last place on handicap.

Results:
Spring Series 2:
1. Laser – John Tappenden
2. Solution – Simon Clarke
3. Laser – John Heath