Easter Weekend Buzzing Down The Gunfleet

The Easter Bank Holiday was a particularly busy time for the Gunfleet Sailing Club.  On Good Friday a large number of the younger members of the Club took to the water, many for the first time, and under the watchful eye of the new Safety Boat had a great time learning how to handle their craft.

On Sunday morning the Gunfleet held the second race in its Spring Series under blue skies and bright sunshine, with a light offshore wind.  With the first leg of the course being to the Kingscliff buoy most of the fleet started close to the Outer Distance Mark, but Paul Davis and Dan Challis cunningly kept close to the shore in their Xenon, which gave them the opportunity to hoist the spinnaker.  This pushed them past the rest of the boats and make the first mark just behind Ken Potts in his RS600.  The Lasers were once again having their own battle but Paul Stanton kept at bay John Tappenden, who found he had Cadet Matt Murray-Downing constantly challenging him, whilst slightly further back was Antony Reeve.  The strengthening flood tide caught one or two of the competitors out as they headed to the Seaward buoy, and the beat back inshore to the AWS mark split the fleet still further.  At the end of the first lap it was Potts that crossed the line first followed by Davis and Challis and then Derroll Pedder in his Vortex, but on the second lap the wind started to fall away and the tide strengthened still further.  Some of the slower handicapped boats struggled and it proved a real game of tactics, a game that paid off for Peter Downer in his Comet, who finished on the water ahead of all but one of the Lasers and the Solution despite a slower handicap and gave him a very creditable third position.   

Results:

Spring Series – 2
1.    Xenon – Paul Davis and Dan Challis
2.    Laser – Paul Stanton
3.    Comet – Peter Downer

On Easter Monday, despite a sea mist and overcast sky, the Club’s younger members were out in force again, sharpening up on their sailing technique.  The Club continues to attract a lot of new members and is providing a programme of training that focuses on the fun that can be had from being skipper of your own boat, whatever your age.