Jono Leads The Way

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the final race in its Spring Series last Sunday 30 April in weather more reminiscent of summer, with blue skies, unbroken sunshine, and a light onshore breeze.

Under a strengthening ebb tide, the competitors edged their way to the start line, the south/south-easterly wind just reaching the lower end of a force three.  Rather over-eager was Belle Hart in her Topper, resulting in the individual recall flag being broken-out on the yardarm immediately following the start, and a number of helms unnecessarily turning back for fear they might have been the wrong side of the line too.  Making a welcome return to the racing scene, after his success in 2022, was Jono Dunnett in his Laser and he lead the fleet down the coast to the St. Michael’s buoy, closely followed by John Tappenden in his RS Aero, and then the two Lasers of Andy Dunnett and Yvonne Gough.  This sequence remained the same as they rounded the first mark, with Dave Ingle next in his RS Aero, then Robert Mitchell and Brian Allen, both in Lasers, followed closely by Chris Maloney’s Solo.  A little further back was Eddie White in his Comet, then Ian Barker, sailing solo in his GP14, and Finley Taylor in his Topper.  With the tide now under them, the dinghies made a speedier return up the coast, on a reach to the AWS buoy, before the helms hardened up and beat out to the Seaward mark; all the competitors immediately tacking in order to be pulled onto the offshore buoy by the tide.  At this point there seemed little change in the order, except Jono seemed to increase his lead.  A further reach took the boats to the Preston Park buoy where a short run followed to the Kingscliff mark, and finally a close reach back through the line.  At the end of the first lap it was Jono Dunnett in the lead, on handicap, with father Andy in third place, and Tappenden sandwiched between them.  Things certainly changed on the second lap with Maloney moving up from ninth place to third and Mitchell similarly slipping into fourth place; Jono Dunnett and Tappenden still retaining the top two positions.  However, with two first places already under his belt, it was Ken Potts that took the Series overall in his Laser.

Results:  Spring Series Overall
1.    Laser – Ken Potts
2.    RS Aero – John Tappenden
3.    Laser – Robert Mitchell

The next day, Monday 1 May, saw the first race in the Class Points Series with the Lasers being first away, and providing the biggest fleet.  In light and variable winds it was Jono Dunnett that, once again, took his Laser into an early lead, but the sudden lack of wind saw some interesting position changes as helms looked for pockets of wind blowing across the water.  By the time the fleet rounded the first mark, Jono had set the pace, followed by Joff Strutt second, Brian Allen third, and then Ken Potts; Andy Dunnett had, by now, found the conditions so frustrating that he headed back to the Club, leaving Robert Mitchell and Dale Steggles to try and work their way up the Laser fleet.  Meanwhile the Menagerie fleet had got underway and John Tappenden managed to keep his RS Aero ahead of Dave Ingle’s.  Ian Barker and Vince Crabtree, despite being relatively new to sailing, kept their craft first in the GP 14 class, whilst in the Solo & Europe fleet it was Clare Giles, in her Europe, that showed a clean pair of heels to her nearest rival, Dave Fowell in his Solo.  Malcolm Smith lead the Comet fleet, holding back Eddie White who had to be content with second place, and in the Toppers it was Belle Hart who lead the way to the first mark, but Finley Taylor slipped passed her and pulled away, giving him a convincing win.

Results: Class Points 1 Winners
Lasers:  Jono Dunnett
GP14s:  Ian Barker and Vince Crabtree
Solos & Europes:  Clare Giles
Comets:  Malcolm Smith
Toppers:  Finley Taylor
Menagerie:  John Tappenden