Sun Sets on End of Season Cruise

Last Saturday 18 September Gunfleet Sailing Club held its End of Season Cruise when ten dinghies, accompanied by one of the Club Rescue Boats, headed up the coast on the last of the ebb tide. The sky was blue and the sun shone but the wind was both light and fickle in direction.  The fleet made slow but gentle progress and landed on the golden sands of Frinton for the crews to enjoy refreshment.  On the return journey the wind freshened and swung to a south westerly direction, resulting in a lively but pleasant beat back to the Club.

On Sunday the Club held the first race in its Autumn Series under grey skies and a force four, gusting five, south westerly wind.  Capsizes were inevitable and first to go over were Ben Richardson and Bethany Ford in their Topaz Tres, followed a little later by Aaron Baker in his Topaz Uno; both boats retiring back to the beach.  The beat down to the Eastcliff buoy saw the dinghies heading close inshore to try and cheat the ebbing tide, and this was followed by an exhilarating reach out to the Seaward buoy.  The two leading RS600’s both capsized on the gybe at the offshore mark, putting the two Solutions following close behind in a strong Last Saturday Gunfleet Sailing Club held its End of Season Cruise when ten dinghies, accompanied by one of the Club Rescue Boats, headed up the coast on the last of the ebb tide. The sky was blue and the sun shone but the wind was both light and fickle in direction. The fleet made slow but gentle progress and landed on the golden sands of Frinton for the crews to enjoy refreshment. On the return journey the wind freshened and swung to a south westerly direction, resulting in a lively but pleasant beat back to the Club. On Sunday the Club held the first race in its Autumn Series under grey skies and a force four, gusting five, south westerly wind. Capsizes were inevitable and first to go over were Ben Richardson and Bethany Ford in their Topaz Tres, followed a little later by Aaron Baker in his Topaz Uno; both boats retiring back to the beach. The beat down to the Eastcliff buoy saw the dinghies heading close inshore to try and cheat the ebbing tide, and this was followed by an exhilarating reach out to the Seaward buoy. The two leading RS600’s both capsized on the gybe at the offshore mark, putting the two Solutions following close behind in a strong position. However, the closest competition was between Paul Stanton and Andy Dunnett, both sailing Lasers. They stayed neck and neck throughout the race with one edging ahead, only to be overtaken by the other. Just after the first lap Stanton seemed to have just got the lead only to be caught out by Dunnett on starboard tack. Throughout the second lap they were inseparable but as they beat towards the finish line Dunnett put a tack in to try and break away, lost his foothold on the toe straps and flipped out of the boat. Meanwhile a little further back Yvonne Gough chased in hot pursuit in her Laser whilst Peter Downer found the conditions heavy going in his Comet but managed to stay upright throughout the event. Results – Autumn Series 1: 1. RS600 – Ken Potts 2. Solution – Simon Clarke 3. Laser – Paul Stanton