Autumn Series Ends In Sunshine And Light Airs

Gunfleet Sailing Club held its last race of the 2012 season on Sunday 7 October under blue skies and glorious sunshine, but with a very light offshore breeze.  The fleet reached to the Kingscliff buoy on the first leg and it proved the perfect opportunity for Conor and Finlay Williams to hoist the asymmetric kite on their Hobie 405, which immediately saw them accelerate past a number of their competitors.  The boats then gybed and headed out to the Seaward mark, pointing a little bit higher to compensate for the strengthening flood tide, before beating down to the AWS buoy and then running back out to Seaward.  As the race progressed the light wind became more fickle and the craft limped out to sea before a fetch to the Eastcliff buoy and a reach to St. Michael’s; these legs assisted by the tide.  However, the reach back up the coast to the line proved a real struggle as the wind faded to nothing and the competitors now had to stem the tide.  Such was the progress, or rather lack of progress, that the Officer Of the Day wisely hoisted the shorten course flag and as the competitors finished it was Simon Clarke that took first place in his Phantom, followed by Peter Downer in his Comet, and in third place was Ken Potts in his RS600.  These positions were not good enough though to claim victory overall and this honour went to Paul Davis in his Phantom.