Lasers Take Top Three Places

Gunfleet Sailing Club’s SOS – Sailing On Saturday, specifically for those members under 18 years of age, had its annual Bring A Friend Day on 4 June which saw 40 young people on the water; the experienced Cadets and Otters showing those new to sailing what fun and excitement can be had from the sport.  After the adventures afloat everyone returned to the Clubhouse for burgers and hot-dogs.

 

On Sunday 5 June the Gunfleet held its race for the Jubilee Cup, traditionally held on the Sunday nearest the Queen’s coronation.  Fourteen boats took part in a fresh northerly wind and it was the three Lasers of Ken Potts John Tappenden and Paul Stanton that got the very best start and continued to hold the top positions throughout much of the race.  Just behind this trio on the first leg, a beat up to the Kingscliff buoy, were Tom and Ed Philpot in their 405, but it wasn’t long before Dave Fowell and Derroll Pedder had overhauled them in their GP 14.  Ploughing through the fleet was Harry Swinbourne in his Laser and by the second leg, a very broad reach to AWS, he was in front of Tappenden and Stanton, and starting to put the pressure on Potts.  Meanwhile Yvonne Gough, having had to put a few tacks in at the start to avoid hitting the Outer Distance Mark, found herself at a real disadvantage and retired.  Everyone successfully gybed at the AWS buoy before heading Seaward, undertaking a second gybe, and then heading up the coast to the St. Michael’s buoy.  Doing particularly well, at this point, in the Topaz fleet, was Eddie White who had a commanding lead, but on the beat back to the line Steve Swinbourne pulled ahead of him.  It was at about this time that the wind veered north-easterly and strengthened.  After capsizing in their Topaz, Beth Elliott and Daisy Swinbourne retired to the shore after a surprisingly poor performance; only to discover the reason for this was that they had forgotten to put the bung in their boat.  Handling the conditions well were young Cadets Thomas Aiken and Jude Aylen, also in a Topaz, who really threw themselves into the race.  The second lap saw Harry Swinbourne drop back but Potts proved unstoppable and just continued to pull away from the rest of the competitors, taking a comfortable victory.

 

 

The previous Wednesday the second race in the Summer Series was postponed until a further date due to the very strong offshore winds.