Long Distance Race A Bit Of A Blast

The bright sunshine and warm airs masked the strength of Sunday 21 July's wind as twelve boats competed in Gunfleet Sailing Club’s long distance race for the Jim Suckling Shield.  It was only as competitors launched from the lee of Star Point that they realised the wind was force five, gusting six, from the north/northeast; this resulted in quite a confused start.  The first leg was a beat up the coast to the Haven Outfall buoy and early on there came a number of retirements.  First to return to shore was Robert Gutteridge in a Laser, then George Venables, also in a Laser, and then Tommy Martin in his Topper.  Andy Dunnett was the next to retire, gear failure being the cause of his problems, and then Aaron Baker capsized his Laser and turtled the boat, requiring the assistance of the Club’s Rescue Boat and so forcing another retirement.  The rest of the fleet battled on but next to head back to the Club was Sonny Hart in his Solution.  The long slog up to the Haven was made easier by the ebbing tide, and once round the buoy the boats ran back down the coast.  Capsizes came thick and fast but the helms soon got their craft up and were hurtling back on the journey.  On reaching the Seaward mark the boats then fetched into the Kingscliff buoy, reached back out to Seaward, gybing at the mark, before careering onto the Pier buoy.  It was then a beat back to the line.  It soon became obvious that Ken Potts had built up a strong lead in his RS600 and was simply loving the conditions, John Tappenden sat in a comfortable second position but third place was still very much up for grabs.  Paul Davis and Bethany Ford, in their new RS400, were fighting hard on handicap to stave-off Ben Richardson in his Topper; Richardson having capsized three times on route and turtling the boat once.  However, it was the RS400 that got third place by a whisker.  Amongst all this the star of the show had to be veteran Eddie White who, exceeding three score years and ten, sailed his Solution well, only capsizing at the gybe mark, and driving his boat into fifth place. 

 

 

Fifteen boats took part in the penultimate race in the Tony Chadd Series the previous Wednesday, when blue skies and sunshine, plus a light easterly breeze, made for very pleasant conditions.  High tide occurred just before the start and all the competitors hovered right on the line; the freshly ebbing tide helping them on their way as they beat up to the Kingscliff buoy.  Surprisingly the majority of the fleet tacked in towards the shore but Peter Downer in his Comet, Yvonne Gough in her Laser, and the Kurtulus brother in their Hobie 405 all speedily went about and headed out to sea where the full beneficial effect of the tide could be felt.  This smart move meant that as they went on the opposite tack to make the buoy they passed well in front of their rivals.  On the next leg out to the Seaward buoy Downer, Gough and the Kurtulus boys all had commanding leads and demonstrated that they weren’t going to give them up without a fight.  With the wind shifting slight offshore the subsequent leg, which should have been a run, turned into a second reach, which was followed by a beat back out to sea.  After the first lap it was John Tappenden in the lead in his Blaze, followed by Paul Davis in his Solution.  Apart from Gough, who was in a strong fourth place the other five Lasers were all closely bunched further back, but as the second lap got underway the mast on Andy Dunnett’s Laser suddenly snapped in two, although there was no great wind strength; the damage being put down to earlier fatigue and fracture.  Positions changed for several boats during the second lap but the top three places remained unaltered.