Potts' Laser Leads The Way

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the second race in its Autumn Series last Sunday afternoon 2 October with a flat sea but strong offshore winds, which made for some interesting sailing; Ken Potts taking a convincing win in his Laser.

 

Coming up to the start line with absolute perfect timing were Tom and Ed Philpot in their 405 but last minute nerves saw them tack the boat and head back just as the horn sounded, dropping the boat back several places.  As the competitors reached down the coast to the Eastcliff buoy Derroll Pedder capsized his Solution but had it righted in seconds and was back underway with minimal effect on his position.  First to round the mark was Potts in his Laser and the craft then all headed directly out to sea to the X buoy, at which point the competitors all gybed without a single ducking.  The third leg of the course was a beat to the AWS buoy and this split the fleet, with some staying well out to sea, the freshly ebbing tide sweeping them on their way.  However, others tacked early and headed closer to the shore, which lost them a little of the tidal benefit, but gained them a slightly less aggressive wind; the gusts at the time hitting force six.  A very broad reach took the boats out to the Seaward mark and then there followed a second beat into the Kingscliff buoy before reaching back to the line.  Potts made it all look so easy, although conditions clearly ensured it wasn’t, and by the end of the first lap he had carved himself out a strong lead.  The second lap proved uneventful, with no further capsizes, but it was interesting to see that Potts took exactly the same time, to the very second, in completing the final lap to that of the first – proving what a consistent sailor he is. 

 

 

The planned Ladies Race for the Austin Trophy, that day, had to be postponed due to strong winds and has now been rescheduled for Sunday 16 October, with an 11:00 a.m. start.