Just A Gnat's Whisker Between Dye and Dunnett

The penultimate race in the Gunfleet Sailing Club’s evening Summer Series was held in somewhat overcast conditions and a stiff onshore breeze.  

Getting away to a flying start was John Heath in his Blaze.  He held back until ten seconds before the “off” and then put on the power, flying past the rest of the fleet and hitting the line tight; immediately pulling away.  He was followed by Tim Dye in his Laser, and then Ken Potts and Clare Giles in their RS 200, and Brian Allen in his RS Aero.  As the fleet reached down the coast to the Eastcliff buoy, Andy Dunnett sailed windward of the others, in his Laser, and started challenging Potts and Giles.  It was no surprise that first round Eastcliff was Heath, followed by Dye, and the then Potts and Giles, but as Dunnett went about, so Adam Kedge took his Laser tight inside Dunnett and slipped past him.  The second leg was a fetch out to the Seaward buoy before gybing round the mark and heading in on a run to the Outer Distance Mark.  Heath gybed at the offshore buoy, capsized, and allowed Dye to pass him.  Whilst the rest of the fleet headed straight to the ODM, many not compensating sufficiently for the pull of the ebbing tide, Potts and Giles hoisted their asymmetric kite and tacked down wind.  Dye held the lead round ODM, Heath now second but closing the gap, then Potts and Giles, Dunnett, and Allen.  The beat back out to Seaward saw Dye remain in top spot, and he held onto this as the boats reached down to the Kingscliff mark; but as he rounded the buoy so Heath cut inside him and pulled away.  At the end of the first lap it was Dye leading on handicap, followed by Dunnett, and then Heath; Potts and Giles laying fourth.  The second lap saw Dunnett putting on the pressure and eroding the gap against Heath, whilst Dave Ingle drove his RS Aero hard and moved up the ranking to overtake Kedge, and Potts and Giles, and as the race concluded he just missed out on the top three positions.  Heath, having struggled to make up for his earlier capsize, lay in third place, whilst Dye took the winning gun just one tenth of a second in front of Dunnett.

Results – Summer Series - 6:
1.    Laser – Tim Dye
2.    Laser – Andy Dunnett
3.    Blaze – John Heath