Blue Sky, Sun, But Little Wind

Glorious blue skies, unbroken sunshine and a light easterly breeze greeted the early morning sailors of Gunfleet Sailing Club when they took part in the second race of the Egg and Bacon Series last Sunday 27 June.

Leading the fleet away from the start line was Derroll Pedder in his Q’ba and he held the rest of the boats back for quite some time as they fetched along the first leg of the course to the Kingscliff buoy.  By the time the boats reached back to the AWS mark and then beat out to the Seaward buoy the Blaze of John Tappenden and Solution of Simon Clarke had both pulled ahead and were jostling for first position.  With the flooding tide strengthening all the time it certainly caused the slower handicapped boats to struggle to round the Seaward mark and for Robert Gutteridge it proved a bit too much in his Topper and he retired back to the beach.  Unfortunately the course caused some confusion to the competitors and whilst a few of them completed it correctly there were several that believed the leg from Seaward down to Eastcliff required each boat to hook once more around the AWS buoy.  Whilst this did not result in any disqualifications it added unnecessary time to many of the sailors.  On the second lap the breeze freshened a little and assisted the craft around the course, with the competitors being greeted back at the clubhouse by a full English breakfast.

Results: Egg and Bacon Series – 2
1. Solution – Simon Clarke
2. Blaze – John Tappenden
3. Comet – Peter Downer

The previous Wednesday evening the Gunfleet held its third race in its Summer Series, once again in very pleasant conditions but with rather a lack of wind.  As the boats jostled for position at the start the strong flood tide caught the competitors out and they found themselves jumping the line resulting in the Officer of the Day signalling a General Recall.  A quarter of an hour later the race got underway and after their previous error the boats sedately sailed around the course without incident.

Results: Summer Series – 3
1. Blaze – John Tappenden
2. RS600 – Ken Potts
3. Solution – Simon Clarke