It was a full and varied bank-holiday weekend for the members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club. Saturday 25 May saw the first of the SOS – Sailing On Saturday for Cadets and Otters; there being one every week right the way through until September. This week it was sail and race training with two separate levels – a basic course for novices and an improvement course for those already able to sail. Twenty of the Club’s youngsters took part with fifteen dinghies going out on the water, including Toppers, Topazes, Lasers and Hobie 405’s. Following some classroom theory in the Clubhouse the Cadets and Otters went afloat; the variable offshore winds keeping the water flat but also keeping the sailors on their toes as gusts suddenly hit their craft. At the end of the afternoon the enthusiastic sailors returned to shore to put their boats away and demolish the hot dogs and burgers ready for them in the Clubhouse.
On Sunday morning the last race of the Spring Series, postponed from April due to gale force winds, was held under blue skies and bright sunshine; the previous day’s offshore winds continuing to blow. After a clean start the fleet headed down the coast on a reach to the St. Michael’s buoy, the boats having to gybe before heading back up the coast to the Eastcliff mark and then out to the Seaward buoy on a broad reach. It was the next leg, a beat in to the AWS buoy, which split the competitors as some took advantage of the sporadic wind shifts that occurred. A dead run back out to sea provided the perfect opportunity for those boats with spinnakers to gain that extra bit of power before a fetch to the Kingscliff buoy and back through the line. At the end of the first lap John Tappenden had carved out a reasonable lead in his Blaze, followed by Paul Davis in his Solution. Third position was a battle between Yvonne Gough and Andy Dunnett, both in Lasers and during the second lap it was Gough that managed to pull ahead. However, disaster was to strike on the fetch from Seaward to Kingscliff when the kicker broke as Gough pulled on the tension, allowing Dunnett to slip by. A win for Tappenden gave him not only the race, but the series overall.
Results – Spring Series overall:
1. Blaze – John Tappenden
2. RS600 – Ken Potts
3. Scorpion – Simon Clarke and Emily Cossens
By Bank-holiday Monday the wind had swung south-westerly and was blowing the top of a four as ten boats came to the line for the second and final race in the Egg and Bacon Series. As the class flag fell from the yardarm, signalling the start, it was Ken Potts in his RS600 and Simon Clarke and Emily Cossens in their Scorpion that timed it just right as they reached along the edge of the line on starboard tack; immediately sheeting in and pointing high at the “off”, heading out to sea and using the full strength of the flood tide to help them on their way. The rest of the fleet, on port tack, soon went about and followed suit. It was a long but fast beat to the St. Michael’s buoy with Potts first round it, followed by Clarke and Cossens, and then Cadet Beth Ford in a Laser. The course, which was the same as the previous day, took the boats on a run to Eastcliff and then a broad reach out the Seaward buoy. It was on this reach that Sonny Hart was forced to retire when the kicking strap on his Solution parted; the Rescue Boat towing him back to shore. The rest of the competitors were lapping-up the conditions as the wind strengthened to a force six and began to swing southerly. By the end of the first lap Potts was in the lead, Tappenden had pushed through to second place and Ford continued to remain in third position. Making steady progress was Lesley Sacre in her Sea Ranger, coping well with the conditions on the boat’s maiden voyage of 2013. Unfortunately on the second Lap the Scorpion developed technical troubles resulting in Clarke and Cossens also retiring. Meanwhile in the Laser fleet Cadet Aaron Baker, racing his Laser for the first time, kept several of the more seasoned sailors at bay to take a very creditable fifth place, with Potts and Tappenden taking first and second place respectively. However, the star of the race had to be Ford who sailed a fine course in her Laser, despite a broken kicking strap, and stormed home in third place.
Results – Egg and Bacon Series overall:
1. RS600 – Ken Potts
2. Blaze – John Tappenden
3. Laser – Andy Dunnett
