Williams Brothers Take Winning Gun

Gunfleet Sailing Club slipped into its busy mode last weekend with the start of its SOS – Sailing On Saturdays for the Cadets and Otters.  This first SOS of the season, which now runs until September, focused on sail/race training with some 30 young members taking part, assisted by seven of the Club’s top adult sailors.  There were four groups, the first for those just starting off their sailing careers, another for young sailors looking to further their basic skills, whilst the third group focused on the young Laser sailors seeking tips to increase their performance, and the final group was for Hobie 405 sailors and concentrated on trapezing techniques and spinnaker work.  Unfortunately the weather was playing its own games and brought in strong winds gusting up to 34 mph – touching force 8 which kept the first two groups firmly on the shore being taught theory in the Clubhouse.  However, the more experienced Laser and Hobie 405 sailors put to sea and, with the help of one-to-one tuition from the adults, put their boats through their paces.  After gaining some top-tips, and with only one capsize during the whole session, the sailors completed the course with a much better understanding of how to get the most from their craft.

 

The next day the Club held the race for the Bill Clarke Shield, which also counted towards the Cadet and Otter Spirit of the Wind series, and there was certainly no lack of wind.  In a force four to five south/south-easterly wind and an ebbing tide it was the Scorpion of Simon Clarke and Emily Cossens that lead the fleet across the start line, followed by Andy Dunnett and Yvonne Gough, both sailing Lasers.  There then followed a long reach down the coast to the St. Michael’s buoy, fighting an ebbing tide but finding little resistance, before a fetch out to the Seaward mark.  The next leg was a run into the Outer Distance Mark, then a beat back out to sea followed by a gybe round the buoy before heading up the coast to the Kingscliff mark and back through the line.  As the first lap progressed it appeared that the Scorpion was unable to pull away from the Hobie 405 of Conor and Finlay Williams, the brothers putting into practice what they had learnt on the previous day’s training session.  Dunnett suffered a minor technical failure when the knot on the end of his Laser’s mainsheet came undone and he was forced to limp into shore to put right the problem, so knocking him out the race.  Derroll Pedder and Michael Gutteridge, sailing a Topaz, put up an impressive performance with the spray flying from the hull on the downwind legs, especially when the wind gusted up to force six part way through the race.  At the end of the first lap it was the Williams brothers that were leading and although they were pushed very hard on the second lap by their rivals they proved to be unstoppable and romped home to a well deserved victory.