Red Hot Sailing At Gunfleet

The sun shone brightly on the members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club when they took part in the race for the Bill Geddes Trophy.  Blue skies, unbroken sunshine, and a force 2 to 3 East/North-Easterly breeze simply beckoned sailors onto the water.  Whilst the competitors were closely bunched at the start, all on starboard tack, the cluster kept the correct side of the line with Tim Dye leading the fleet in his RS Aero; he was quick to tack and head out to sea in order to gain the full benefit of the ebb tide on the beat up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy.  Several others peeled away to join him but a few, headed by Dale Steggles in his Laser, continued towards the shore.  This latte tactic certainly didn’t seem to disadvantage anyone, with Steggles. once he did tack, crossing in front of the bows of nearly all his rivals as they made towards the mark.  Ken Potts was first to round Kingscliff in his RS Aero, followed by Dye and then Andy Cornforth, also in an RS Aero; next came the Lasers of Steggles and Paul Stanton.  The second leg was a run to the Lilley Farm mark with Cornforth slipping into second place, and John Tappenden taking his RS Aero into third.  Another beat then followed, back up the coast to the Preston Park buoy; Potts being unable to shake off Cornforth whilst slightly further back there was a battle of RS Aeros taking place, with Derroll Pedder, Dave Ingle, Martin Chivers and Paul Jackson all challenging each other.  Just behind them was Emily Cossens in her Solo and Chris Maloney in his Comet.  After Preston Park it was a reach out to the Seaward buoy, a quick gybe and then a second reach into the Eastcliff mark before beating back through the line.  At this point, on handicap, it was Cornforth first, Tappenden next and Potts third.  The second lap saw only minor changes in positions although Steggles capsized on the run down to Lilley Farm which cost him a couple of places.

Bill Geddes Trophy:
1.    RS Aero – Andy Cornforth
2.    RS Aero – John Tappenden
3.    RS Aero – Ken Potts

The Club’s second event was the third race in the Class Points Series with separate starts and courses; the first away being the RS Aeros.  Five minutes later and it was the turn of the Lasers, followed by the Comets, the Toppers and, finally, the menagerie fleet.  Unfortunately two of the Comets jumped the line and, failing to return, were disqualified.  In an extremely light East/North-Easterly breeze, all the boats made slow progress but there was still a very competitive feel as, particularly in the Aero class, places changed as time went on.

Class Points3 – Winners:
RS Aero – Tim Dye
Laser – Paul Stanton
Comet – Keiith Lamdin
Topper – Finley Taylor
Menagerie – Solo: Michael Gutteridge