Tim And Finley Share The Honours

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the races split between medium/fast fleet boats, and those with a slower handicap on Sunday 20 July 2025.  After such a long spell of unbroken sunshine, high temperatures and light breezes, it was a bit of a shock to find grey skies, a noticeable fall in temperature, and a force four to five south-easterly wind; this coupled with a lumpy, grey North Sea.

The onshore wind meant a reaching start and first away was the race for the London Trophy; those with medium to fast handicap dinghies.  With the first leg being a reach the Race Officer ensured the competitors headed off fighting an ebbing tide which helped to keep the helms the right side of the start line.  John Heath lead the way in his Blaze, simply cutting through the water but hotly pursued by Tim Dye in his RS Aero.  It was not long before Dye had overhauled Heath who was hindered by being unable to tension his kicker due to gear failure; the Blaze mainsail developing a horrible twist when not sheeted hard in.  Dye was first to round the Eastcliff mark and then it was a reach back to the AWS buoy, the tide now speeding the competitors on their way.  After AWS there followed a beat out to the Seaward buoy and this certainly split the fleet, some tacking hard round and punching the tide as it drew them onto the offshore mark, whilst others simply hardened-up and put in a tack much further out to sea.  Dye took the former choice whist Heath went the latter way and this certainly paid off as he lead the fleet round Seaward.  A reach into the Preston Park buoy proved a rather uncomfortable leg in the swell of the waves, and there then followed a gybe, short run into the Kingscliff mark before heading back to the line.  At the end of the first lap it was Dye first, then Heath, and Brian Allen third in his RS Aero, and these places didn’t change on the second or third lap.  Allen unfortunately cut the Eastcliff mark a bit too sharp, touched it, and had to complete a 360 degree penalty turn whilst Paul Jackson had to be rescued in his Solo when the centre mainsheet block came adrift.  After three laps, Dye proved unstoppable.

Ten minutes after the first race got underway, it was time for the start of the Potterers Pot Race for slow handicapped boats.  Yvonne Gough in her Laser 4.7 surged past Finley Taylor’s Topper 4.2, whilst Gary Hollis was forced to retire early on in his Laser due to gear failure.  Try as she might, Gough was unable to shake-off Taylor who took the trophy after two gruelling laps.

London Trophy:
1.    RS Aero – Tim Dye
2.    Blaze – John Heath
3.    RS Aero – Brian Allen

Potterers Pot:
1.    Topper – Finley Taylor
2.    Laser – Yvonne Gough