Paul On Top Form In Potts Pursuit

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the first of its pursuit races on Sunday 18 May 2025, for the Ken Potts Trophy, with a comfortable victory going to Paul Stanton in his Laser.

This event turns the race on its head as each class of dinghy starts at a different time, depending on the official dinghy handicap and if all the entries sail to their official performance then the fleet would be completely bunched together at the end.  The wind, what there was of it, ghosted off the shore, whilst the freshly flooding tide was gathering in strength.  The first class away was the Topper with Belle Hart leading Finley Taylor as they rather painfully fought the tide, fetching up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy.  Ten minutes later it was the turn of the Comet class and Peter Downer gave chase although, because of the lack of wind, it appeared somewhat like a slow motion action replay!  After a further four minutes the Laser Radials were released, with Adam Kedge getting every ounce of power out of his craft.  By now Hart was round the first mark and heading out to sea, but soon found the tide dragging her towards Clacton Pier; Downer hot on her heels and doing everything to remain on course.  Simon Clarke and Paul Jackson were, by now, away from the starting block in their Europe and Solo respectively and finding the odd wisp of air to propel them forward.  The Laser full rigs then set off with Paul Stanton slipping away from Simon Kedge as he managed to find his own little breeze.  Unfortunately Derroll Pedder mistook their start as that for the RS Aero 7 and also started, being joined a minute later, and still a minute too soon, by John Tappenden also in an RS Aero 7.  The Club’s Safety Boat pointed out the error of their ways and as they returned to the right side of the line to re-cross it, now a little late, so the Blaze of John Heath got underway.  Finally, some twenty-three minutes after the Toppers started, the RS Aero 9’s of Dave Ingle, Martin Chivers and Brian Allen set off, having to chase all the other boats; albeit most appeared stationary.

With the wind shifting in direction, and varying in strength from almost nothing to just a tad more, it was a painful sight to watch, but Stanton made sure he maximised every opportunity and, reading the wind and tide right, was first to reach the second buoy at Seaward.  Further back, positions changed, and changed again, particularly on the beat into the AWS buoy and run back out to Seaward.  Clarke held onto second place for half of the race whilst Downer stuck to third, but as time ticked on the RS Aero 9’s weaved their way through the fleet until Allen was in second place whilst Chivers was just behind and closing the gap all the time; however, as the finish horn echoed over the water, Stanton was the very clear winner.  

Ken Potts Pursuit Trophy:
1.    Laser – Paul Stanton
2.    RS Aero – Brian Allen
3.    RS Aero – Martin Chivers