Tappenden Dominates The Easter Sailing

 Last Sunday 8 April thirteen boats came to the line for the first race in the Gunfleet Sailing Club’s Egg and Bacon Series.  The weather was anything but inviting with grey skies, a fine drizzle and a chilly force four to five southerly wind – in fact typical Easter conditions.  The Contenders of Simon Clarke and Matt Downing had a cracking start and, with the flood tide helping them on their way, the whole fleet made short work of the close-hauled sail down to St. Michael’s buoy.  From there it was a lively reach out to the Seaward mark, followed by a gybe.  For John Tappenden conditions were perfect in his Blaze and he flew in front of the two Contenders, as well as Derroll Pedder in his Vortex – all three being faster handicapped craft.   The cold did get to some though and Cadet Robert Gutteridge retired in his Topper; also forced to retire was another Cadet, George Venables, who was out racing his Laser for the first time but, having capsized and then turtled his boat a couple of times trying to right it, headed back to the safety of the shore.  However, some of the more seasoned racers also capsized, with Paul Davis going over at the Seaward buoy in his Solution and Clarke flipping his Contender over at the Kingscliff mark.  At the end of the first lap Paul Stanton was ahead in the Laser fleet but Tappenden lead overall on handicap, going on to take the winning gun.  Sailing consistently, and gaining a third place for the second week running was Cadet Commodore Downing who has clearly mastered his Contender and looks set to be regularly challenging the top spot.

 
Results: Egg and Bacon - 1
1. Blaze – John Tappenden
2. RS600 – Ken Potts
3. Contender – Matt Downing
 
Easter Monday’s race, for the first of the Spring Series, took place in miserable conditions with a south/south westerly force five gusting six wind, thick grey cloud and a steady drizzle.  Moments before the start Tom Fadden capsized his Laser and on righting the boat found that the mast had snapped; fortunately the Club’s Rescue Boat was standing off and immediately towed the stricken craft into the beach.  By this time the remaining competitors were close hauled and heading for the St. Michael’s buoy, Ken Potts pulling ahead all the time in his RS600.  Once round the mark it was a lively reach to the Seaward buoy and then, as with the previous day, a quick gybe before hurtling towards the AWS buoy.  Yet again this gybe caught several of the competitors out and Mark Venables and Andy Dunnett, both sailing Lasers, found themselves in the water with their boats turning turtle very quickly.  Having reached to the AWS mark it was a beat back out to Seaward, another lively gybe, before a run down to the Kingscliff buoy and then back across the line.  As Simon Clarke headed towards the end of the first lap in his Contender the halyard snapped and he found the sail sliding down the mast, but there was sufficient remaining to get him back to shore and an early shower.  During the second lap the wind freshened and the seas became larger, requiring the helms to be totally alert and quick to respond to all that the elements were throwing at them.  With Potts capsizing a number of times this gave the opportunity for John Tappenden to slip into the lead in his Blaze and take victory by just a couple of seconds.
 
Results: Spring Series - 1
1. Blaze – John Tappenden
2. RS600 – Ken Potts
3. Laser – Andy Dunnett