Tappenden Takes First Race In Spring Series

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the first race in its Spring Series on Easter Sunday 1 April with John Tappenden gaining a convincing win in his Laser.

The weather conditions were typical of the Easter Holidays with a cold, but light, offshore breeze and a somewhat overcast sky; the grey sea adding little to the overall picture.  

As the seconds ticked-by before the start of the race Cadet Michael Gutteridge and his crew Derroll Pedder, in their GP14, edged ever-closer to the line but realised they were going to be just a fraction too early and quickly put a tack in.  Immediately leading the fleet was Tappenden’s Laser, with Paul Stanton, also in a Laser, hard on his heels.  Despite the flooding tide it did not take long to reach the first buoy at Kingscliff and then the fleet was heading out on a reach to the Seaward mark.  Despite Stanton laying second round the Kingscliff buoy, he had Robert Gutteridge driving his Laser very tightly windward of him and, almost immediately, he had slipped by.  On this leg it looked like the gap was now closing on Tappenden but, having rounded the second buoy, he sheeted hard in and pulled away on the beat back towards the shore; this being followed by a gybe around the AWS buoy and a clean run out to sea, again.  Further back Vice Commodore Dave Fowell was getting to grips with his new Solo and, for a while, overtook Peter Downer in his Comet, going on to pull away.  However, that sly old fox Downer was having none of it and regained his position ahead of the Solo as the race progressed.  Once back out at sea the dinghies headed down the coast, on a fetch, to the Eastcliff buoy, before gybing onto the final reach back through the line.  At the end of the first lap, Tappenden had carved out a solid lead with Rob Gutteridge in the number two position, just one second ahead of Downer.  During the second lap Fowell came adrift from his tiller whilst rounding a buoy and almost completed a 360 degree tack regaining control, and the GP14 of Michael Gutteridge and Pedder had an over-close encounter with the large AWS mark and were forced to carry out the full 360 degree penalty as a consequence; Tappenden now watching on from a safe distance.

Results: Spring Series – 1
1.    Laser – John Tappenden
2.    Laser – Robert Gutteridge
3.    Laser – Paul Stanton